The following story has found its way onto Elvis fan sites and message boards everywhere:
I just want to let my fellow Elvis fan's know that I just got off the phone with a Customer Service Rep from EPE and she told me that the Aloha DVD is just about completed. All the songs have been included so the copyright problems have been cleared up. She also said that the show is complete from start to finish and the extra songs have been put after the show which means no breaks. All that they are waiting for now is the packaging to be completed. She would give no release date which she said would be posted very soon on EPE's website. The 68 Special Edition just got completed with "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" now being included. I just thought I would pass this news on to my fellow Elvis fans because I know some would be interested in hearing this.
It is true that the songs Elvis taped on stage after the concert for later insertion in the Aloha broadcast show will be grouped together for viewing rather than remaining as interruptions to his live show. But, that's nothing new. That's how they appear on the DVD that has been available already and we do expect to keep it that way. But, other than that, all the information in that article is not true.
If someone at Graceland is indeed the source of the false information, we are very sorry and we trust that she was simply trying to be helpful and did not realize she was incorrect in what she said. Although how anyone here could be so wrong in such a detailed way, we can't imagine. It sounds bizarre. We thought our front line people on the phones were all properly informed. We're taking extra measures to be sure they have correct information.
We still have much work to do on our Aloha from Hawaii project and even more work to do on our 68 Special project. The releases are not about to happen soon - they will be quite a bit later this year. Exact release dates have not been determined. Also, all the music publishing problems are not resolved, but we're working on it. Johnny B. Goode is still a problem for Aloha and Are You Lonesome Tonight? is still a problem for '68. Problems for two other songs in Aloha did get resolved. All of this is exhaustively explained in our FAQ/Status of Elvis' TV Specials, which we updated a couple of months ago. All the information in that FAQ is still accurate and up to date. When we updated the FAQ, we posted a notice about it in News and issued an E-newsletter alert. Still, we keep seeing all kinds of wrong information out there and it appears from the many E-mails we get and all the talk on message boards that a lot of people aren't aware of our FAQ or that it's up to date. Many of the things we see people speculating or asking about are covered in the FAQ.
As promised, anytime there is new and concrete information to report, we will immediately update the FAQ again, post an article in News and issue an E-newsletter alert. Via these means you will always know immediately whatever new information we have to share. We are very excited about these projects and look forward to giving you absolutely every detail as soon as we can. Please hang in there with us. Thanks!