MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 27, 2020--Elvis Week™ 2020 will mark the 43rd anniversary of Elvis’ passing and Graceland® is preparing for the gathering of Elvis fans and friends from around the world for the nine-day celebration of Elvis’ life. He was a old road dog, he spent his whole life on the road. We went though and picked out cloths, he would hold them up to us. It was top of the heap for me, JD was a fun guy. Strickland’s passion for gospel started early and ran deep. So I felt for sure I was going to be on the next plane. Actress Ashley Judd was primed for depression as a child - because she was left on her own while her mother, singer Naomi, toured the world. Larry Strickland's voice rarely has been front and center. No one noticed'. Mar 28, 2014 - Performance during intermission at the screening of Elvis' Aloha Concert in Memphis at the Orpheum Theatre August 16, 2013 More information Former Members of J D Sumner's STAMPS: Bill Baize, Donnie Sumner, Ed Hill, Larry Strickland. “When Richard Sterban left The Stamps and went with the Oak Ridge Boys, they asked me to come to Nashville and audition, and I got the job,” recalls Strickland. I think its amazing, I would expect it on some level. But there were some nice little gestures like he bought us tour jackets one year. He certainly did a lot for the group. … When I heard that I mean my heart just went to my knees, what in the world have I done? Anything he would pick out you would go 'yeah elvis I like that', 'yeah Elvis that would fit'. A revered bass vocalist, whose distinctive voice complimented Elvis Presley on stage and in the studio, Larry Strickland "continues to carry the torch for the music that he and Elvis, and so many others loved," ( The Commercial Appeal) with his first solo project, Legacy, available everywhere now. There were times he would leave the stage in the middle of the show to go to the bathroom so we new that he had that problem. But this is the truth. I was wondering what was going on with him. You were able to go up and pay your last respectS? You know I can, it was 1974 when I was hired by the stamps and this was not long after they did the show in Hawaii. It really sank deep inside of me early as a young child. You know there was only a couple of times where I saw him onstage and he didn't look well. We we were on the bus, we were on tour way out west. Terry Blackwood of the Imperials will be the only original backup singer appearing. You can imagine as a preacher’s kid I spent a lot of time in church, and these songs were the ones that were sung my whole life, that I lived with, and loved.”. One of the popular things that people were wearing, and I can't explain why. Nobody bothered to tell me that Elvis, he hated them kind of cloths, he hated all kinds of denim. It was the second time that when we went to record. Working on my voice learning how to read music. "I still sing every chance I get. Highly recommended. "That sound and feeling, it was in his soul. NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A revered bass vocalist, whose distinctive voice complimented Elvis Presley on stage and in the studio, Larry Strickland “continues to carry the torch for the music that he and Elvis, and so many others loved,” (The Commercial Appeal) with his first solo project, Legacy, available everywhere today. I hope I’ll be the last one standing," he says. But a few nights later he came over and gave me what was his apology. Brown-and-White Diamond Pattern Button-Down Shirt Gifted to Stamps Member Larry Strickland During 1976 Jungle Room Recording Sessions: What a thrill it must have been that night in the Jungle Room when Larry Strickland was told by Charlie that Elvis was redoing his entire wardrobe and wanted the guys to come upstairs and pick what they wanted. Every time the doors were open I was expected to be there. Man that sends a chill down my spine. Did you get gifts from Elvis for the holidays? Luckily I did not got to vietnam I went to germany instead. After Larry and Naomi were married 18 years ago, Larry stopped touring and singing to … You guys head home and we will contact you with further information. Did you always want to be an entertainer? "My dad was a minister. But I guess he didn't care, but when they got it back to the studio they just did wonders with it. What I wouldn't do to have something that was his. Most of the singing I’ve done was backing Elvis or singing with a … He also co-managed the mother-daughter duo’s reunionearlier this year when Naomi returned from a 10-year hiatus, which was forced by a case of chronic hepatitis. We would wait for him to come down to record. Yes we did, in fact we sang at the funeral. Larry decided to include the shirts in the benefit auction. So he is hugging Ed and all that stuff. Plus every person he greeted past me he said did you catch the f###ing farmer? Until Now! The afternoon show footage is wonderful and electrifying : Here is Elvis in his prime rocking and rolling in front of 11.000 people. I did it was not until a year later, it was at the end of 1974. But I hear everything that he says. So one night he had all of us come out and see the plane. He said guys the tour has been cancelled. My first time I went to Graceland was in the middle of the night so I didn't get a full sense of what it was. Its hard for me to tell this story and to get people to believe it. He says 'Ed where in the world did you get the f###ing farmer?'. Donnie Sumner, Ed Hill and Larry Strickland will perform at the Gospel Homecoming on August 17. He was going around be real friendly and cordial, he finally came over to where I was standing and Ed Enoch. He is a world-class bass singer and got his start in the 1970’s in The Stamps Quartet, lead by JD Sumner, who used to perform with Elvis. So he was calling us all up one at a time to his closet. A valued band member during the last two-and-a-half years of The King's career as part of J.D. “My dad was a huge quartet fan in the late-'40s and early-'50s and he started taking me to gospel concerts,” says Strickland. How was it recording inside of Graceland? He liked the low voices. I do that and I sing once and a while with a gospel group called the classic sound quartet. Larry Strickland has been singing nearly all his life. Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD Video with Sound. Members during the group's time spent with Elvis include: J.D. But I knew everything was going to be alright. Sumner and The Stamps vocal group, Strickland always focused on being a harmony vocalist … That changes on his new EP, "Legacy." Mr. Strickland got to perform and record with Elvis during the last years of his life, until his sudden death at age 42 on Aug. 16, 1977. ), Interview with Larry Muhoberac Interview with Michael Jarrett, songwriter, I'm Leavin' Interview with James Burton Interview with James Burton Sydney Australia 2006 James Burton : First Call For The Royalty Of Rockabilly Interview with Ronnie Tutt Interview with Ronnie Tutt #2 Interview with Jerry Scheff Interview with Glen D. Hardin Interview with Sherrill Nielsen Interview with Terry Blackwood & Jim Murray Interview with Tony Brown Duke Bardwell Interview with Scotty Moore Bill Black Interview with D.J. I know, I look back on it now and it was funny. So he hated all denim, and here I was thinking I was all so cool. . So there was a couple of times I got some one on one. Most of the singing I’ve done was backing Elvis or singing with a group like The Stamps,” says Strickland. “Both the white gospel and Black gospel," he says. We are always adding new things to the website such as photos, videos and links to download and purchase my album, Legacy. So I felt for sure I was going to be on the next plane. So that you could control it. One night in vegas, this probably after I had been with him a year, he turned to me in the show. With “Legacy,” Strickland continues to carry the torch for the music that he and Elvis, and so many others loved. That little gesture helped settle me. Thankfully, he didn’t get the gig — 'cause history might’ve been a lot different if he had. In a few minutes the doors almost burst open, that's the way it was in my mind. But he loved that sound, and so he always had a quartet — whether it was The Jordanaires, or The Imperials, or The Stamps — backing him up though the years.”. Because anyone that's been in a recording studio. I started very young as a teenager singing. I did it. Elvis puts out his hand and shakes it and then he takes Ed and pulls him about three steps away from me but not far enough that I can't hear them. So I had no clue about what was about to happen. Do you remember any of the times that there was a threat on his life? But some of the recordings I got to do with him was accurately done in Graceland in what they call the jungle room. Larry strickland: Where I was born and raised, I have very little memory of that. I don’t know what it sold for then, but in 2017, it brought $4,400.. I saw stuff that was not cool to see, I wasn't around him much but you know he didn't have a lot to do with us. He never said sorry and he didn't to me. He didn't hand those things out as much as he did in the early days. Nobody bothered to tell me that Elvis, he hated them kind of cloths, he hated all kinds of denim. Then he's going around the room greeting everybody, everybody was like a family to him, he was hugging people and saying great to see you. We all said wow what's happened. Sumner and The Stamps. Of couse all of us baby boomers were all elvis fans and we think as long as we are still around it will still be so. So I was not a good night. “People have asked over the years why I’ve never recorded [solo] before — well, I’m a harmony singer, I’m a bass singer. I was born in Raleigh North Carolina in 1946. I didn't have my normal, natural little-girl needs met'. But not as big as it is. The two singers alternate and harmonize over piano and pedal-steel on the ballad, which, in its original form, appeared on Elvis Presley’s 1967 LP How Great Thou Art. The record also has a country influence. The interviews of Elvis' Parents are well worth hearing too. Fontana (drums) and Millie Kirkham (soprano). When I heard that I mean my heart just went to my knees, what in the world have I done? Start the day smarter. I was fascinated with it, to me at that time it was just a unbelievable world. get the full look of this amazing home with stories from : Linda Thompson (Elvis´girlfriend in the 70´s) Sandi Miller (friend of Elvis) Larry Strickland (who sang backup for Elvis with J.D Sumner and the Stamps quartet. So I was a preachers kid. There does not seem like a lot of room. That was just so weird. This was the second Elvis shirt in the auction that he gave to Stamps member Larry Strickland. Can you tell me a little about yourself ? But a few nights later he came over and gave me what was his apology. Another year we were working on thanksgiving and he came by and gave us an extra ten dollars. Read More. He we are people close to him as anybody. One of the great names in Southern gospel, J.D. After the show elvis wanted everyone to stay and sing all night. Like we would really cut it. "Randy has that low voice, and I sing down in that range… so I took a lot of inspiration from that.”. Did you get one? A red nylon jacket with patch at left breast that reads "Elvis in Concert," identified on the Apollo by Holloway clothing label that it belonged to Larry Strickland, who sang with Elvis Presley's Stamps Quartet. I was working another job during the week. Sorry to announce that it looks like I won’t be appearing at Elvis week this year. He came down one night and he just wasn't ready to sing, he said to me he was going through his closet and he wanted to get rid of a bunch of stuff. So the next gig was in vegas at the Hilton, and of course it was my first time in vegas. I wanted this job, so I was really staying to myself. Strickland’s first performance was with Elvis in Las Vegas, and he would remain employed and part of the TCB inner circle for national tours and studio sessions until The King’s death in 1977. He had one hand on JD's shoulder and one on mine. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet were Elvis' male back-up singers from 1971 to 1977. So no we didn't have a clue that anything like this was happening. Strickland would go on to perform 204 concerts with Elvis. On one of the shows, Strickland opened for iconic vocal group J.D. So you can imagine the engineers inside the recording truck going what the world is going on in there. “I was the last one hired into the Elvis family, and I’m probably the youngest one left. Out of all the concerts that you did is there one that sticks in your mind? “I’m a quartet singer. Most especially disliked bib overalls because as a child I think that's all that he had to wear. He wanted to get a whole new wardrobe. Where No One Stands Alone is a compilation album by American singer Well I had bought a pair, I thought they were really cool, I figured I was this really hip guy.