Henry Aldridge & Son

The Devizes Auctioneers

Press Release

Important Elvis Presley

75^th Anniversary Auction

January 2010 marks the 75^th anniversary of the birth of the one of the most important figures in the history of Rock and Roll. Elvis Presley was born on January 8th 1935 and to mark this momentous date 75 years later Henry Aldridge and Son will be auctioning a number of important items of Elvis material. Interest is high in the sale of Elvis memorabilia with a number of prominent objects having been sold around the world for significant sums in the past few years.

The lots going under the hammer will offer collectors around the world the chance to own their own piece of Elvis history. These include a guitar pick from his final 1977 tour. This reddish-brown triangular guitar pick with E.P. imprinted was used by Elvis Presley for his final tour in the spring/summer of 1977. The style of picks changed over the years, with the early ones being made by Fender. This guitar pick, which was used onstage, was one of the last used by Elvis during his lifetime and was acquired directly from the estate of Elvis Presley. It was on display for many years at the world famous ELVIS-A-RAMA MUSEUM in Las Vegas and is estimated at £700-£900. Other items include an autographed copy of a Blue Hawaii LP. Elvis has written 'Thanks Elvis Presley' in red ink, The LP was owned by Joan Schmidt-Powell. Elvis had known Joan since 1956 with their first meeting being at Paramount Pictures and they stayed in touch until Elvis' Death. Elvis' nickname for her was Jo, Jo-Jo and in the seventies Jo Go-Go. Also included with the lot is a copy of a letter from Elvis’s father, Vernon Presley to Joan regarding Elvis' funeral. This item is estimated at £500-£700.

One particularly notable item in the auction is a reel of 16mm film which was obtained directly from Jimmy Velvet, the president of the world famous Elvis Presley Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. Jimmy was a friend of Elvis’s for a number of years as well as being a popular entertainer in his own right. The footage itself gives a fascinating insight into Elvis private life and lasts for 17 minutes. It starts off with Priscilla walking over to an old stage wagon in the desert in Westworld just outside Las Vegas and explaining that these are her most precious memories of the days she had with Elvis. It appears to have been come from Priscilla’s' own personal home movies of Elvis and gives the viewer a snapshot of life behind the scenes.  Other scenes show Elvis and Priscilla at their Wedding Eve party, then Graceland, the Presley's arriving home from the hospital with Lisa Marie and Elvis and Priscilla with Baby Lisa driving around the city waving at fans, holding Lisa to the window. The 16mm film reel is being sold as is without any copyright or other rights whatsoever. It is estimated to sell for £4000-£6000.

Other lots being sold are the original registration card/document issued on 08/10/70 for Elvis’s 1966 Harley Davidson Motorcycle, Colonel Tom Parkers original registration card/document issued on 02/02/72 for his 1972 Mercedes, original pages from the flight logbook of Elvis’s private Convair jet The Lisa Marie and personal items owned and used by Elvis Presley in his Monovale Drive home in California.

The auction will be held on Saturday 16^th January at 10am GMT and the lots can be viewed online at www.henry-aldridge.com from Tuesday 12^th January.