MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — It looks like Elvis Presley’s airplanes are staying at Graceland after all.
Graceland released a statement Sunday saying the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II, two custom-designed airplanes once owned by Presley, will remain permanently at the Memphis tourist attraction centered on the life and career of the late singer.
The announcement ends confusion about the future of the planes, once used by the King for travel to performances after he bought them in the 1970s.
The larger plane, a Convair 880 named after Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie, is like a customized flying limousine, complete with a large bed, a stereo system, conference room and gold-plated bathroom fixtures. It was renovated after Presley bought it from Delta Air Lines. Presley took his first flight on it in November 1975.
When Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977, Presley’s pilot flew the Lisa Marie to California to pick up Presley’s ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, to bring her back to Memphis.
The smaller jet, a JetStar named the Hound Dog II, was also used by Presley.
The planes were sold after Presley’s death, and they were eventually purchased by a company called OKC Partnership.
OKC Partnership and Graceland agreed to park the planes at Graceland in the mid-1980s, and tours of their opulent interiors became popular with visitors. Their agreement called for OKC Partnership to receive a cut of ticket sales in return for keeping the planes at Graceland.
But the fate of the planes became cloudy last year.
In an April 7, 2014, letter to OKC Partnership, Elvis Presley Enterprises said it was exercising its option to end the agreement and asked OKC “to make arrangements for the removal of the airplanes and the restoration of the site on or shortly after April 26, 2015.”
Fans responded with critical postings on Priscilla Presley’s Facebook page. She answered fans by asking them to “please calm down.”
Earlier this month, Shelby County’s land use board approved a proposal by OKC Partnership to move the planes to a lot not far from Graceland. The plan called for the planes to be installed as an outdoor display and museum for tourists to visit. The plan was approved Tuesday by the Memphis City Council.
It seemed like the planes were destined to move after the council vote. But Graceland’s statement on Sunday appeared to end such plans.
“Graceland is pleased that an agreement has been reached for Elvis’ two airplanes, the Lisa Marie and Hound Dog II to remain at Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis permanently,” the statement said.
Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, said on Twitter that Graceland now owns the planes and they will remain at Graceland “4 ever.”
“We own them and have fun plans 4 them as well,” she said on Twitter. She did not elaborate further.
OKC Partnership declined immediate comment Sunday.
Associated Press By ADRIAN SAINZ
Elvis Presley’s planes to stay
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Mesa County Libraries Looking for Help in Supporting Local Music
My name is Joseph Sanchez, and I am the library director at Mesa County Public Libraries. We are currently in the early stages of an ambitious project to support local and regional artists in a variety of ways. We are currently working with fine artists, photographers, and fly fishing fly tiers to develop, digitize, and disseminate their materials. You can see a video of our Fine Arts digitization program here Later this month I can send you a link to our new website that will have about 500 images and videos of local and regional content if you would like to see more.
We are also interested in supporting and producing local music. Currently we are in the development stages of building a 3000 sq’ production studio, and are developing a custom software interface for delivering our content. This is somewhat similar to what Denver Public Library recently did with some local musicians, but on a much broader scale. I want to avoid siloing local content the way Denver did and more actively push the content to our public. I would be happy to send you copies of the initial designs of the software if you are interested. We are hoping to launch the software later this year, as we have been working on it for about 8 months already. We are also the lead library of a 35 library consortium that will be using the software and hopefully licensing the music we find as well.
I am trying to consciously develop an alternative business model to the Spotify/Pandora one that scales out artists profits more equitably. I know there is a lot of argument across the ecosystem, but as a tech guy who used to buy into the “give it away, and monetize it some new way”, I want to develop a model that is actually more musician friendly and fair for the all artists. I no longer believe the naive things I once did, and want to try and help the arts community. We are looking for labels with decent catalogs of quality music who would like to discuss licensing either portions of or their entire catalog to us. On our part, we would market and promote the content as much as possible in our communities, and want to develop an open ongoing conversation with the labels and artists with the intent of building a better business model together.
If you are interested or know anyone who would be please let me know.
Thank you,
Joseph Sanchez
mesacountylibraries.org
thebookmyfriend.com
jsanchez@mcpld.org