Friday, September 12, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Prodigal Daughter

Lisa Marie Presley talks about her first solo tour, critics and, of course, Elvis

Lisa Marie Presley recalls spending childhood time with her dad atop the Hilton: "I lost my first tooth up there. I remember that. I bit into a big apple. And he put a big giant thing of coins under my pillow."

At 35, Lisa Marie Presley begins her first solo concert tour in the city her dad helped build. But her first show was scheduled for Las Vegas on Saturday as just a scheduling convenience, she says. She's a little wary of how the media will bill the show.

"I don't particularly want the pressure of Presley-playing-in-Vegas on me," Presley says and chuckles in her deep, straightforward tone. "I would just rather not have extra expectations on me. Because the bottom line on me is, I just started. It's the truth. This is my first headline" tour.

Actually, Presley has played her adult-pop rock music in Vegas, in May when she joined Queen Latifah, Celine Dion and other singers at the MGM Grand Garden arena for "VH1 Divas Duets." Presley also just wrapped up a gig as the opening act for crooner Chris Isaak.

Elfman: How did you like (touring with) with Chris Isaak?

Presley: It was good for me, but it was a bit difficult because ... I had stomach problems, then acid reflux, and then this, and then that. And it was affecting my singing. ... Pretty much every show was a struggle.

Elfman: How would you get through a show like that?

Presley: I would usually stand there and hold the mike and pray that I was not going to vomit or pass out onstage.

Elfman: Was he helpful at all?

Presley: Yeah, he was great. ... He's such a professional, and I'm such a nightmare. ... It was kind of funny. The reviews were usually "Chris is perfect; Lisa's a nightmare." And I was thinking, "This is my initiation."

Elfman: Well, you had to expect some sort of backlash from the critics. That's how critics are.

Presley: I get 'em more than your average opening act, you know what I mean? So it was a little rough on that front. Because it was definitely affecting me a little. ... I've not been doing this my whole life. This is my first tour. Give me a ... break.

Elfman: Well, at least you have nowhere to go but up, right?

Presley: I guess. ... The music and the creating and the singing -- I love. But then sometimes, it's felt difficult for me to want, or feel like I can relish in, approval from an audience -- which I love; I'm not bagging on that at all. But you have to have some vanity in you to be a lead singer, which I don't really have. ... I don't want to whine, either.

Elfman: It seems to me that all the interviews I've seen with you, you've seemed relaxed and fearless.

Presley: That's kind of my personality, anyway. The only time I really got my feathers rattled was the circumstances of the last tour.

Elfman: Is that because your creativity was on the line?

Presley: No, it was that I'm out there in different cities (while ill). The one night Rolling Stone (magazine) came was the worst gig on the tour. (Fans) were eating. ... They eat their cheese and their wine, and they're sitting there, and nobody told me this. I walked out and looked at the band and said, "What is this?" And they knew Rolling Stone was there. And I'm dizzy and ill, and I knew it was the worst.

Elfman: The thing that shocked me was when you played "VH1 Divas" here. I thought, "That must be such a nerve-wracking way to inaugurate your way to the stage."

Presley: Exactly, especially since that was so last-minute. And we rehearsed it three times. I'm thinking: "Why am I up here with Chaka Khan and all these amazing people, and these singers? I'm the new kid on the block. I've never done this before."

Elfman: I need to ask you this Vegas question, which is: Elvis is still Vegas is still Elvis. So I was curious, when you come here, do you feel an affinity or a presence?

Presley: I do. I spent a lot of time there with him, actually. I do try to get out there as much as I can with friends. It's fun for a weekend. It's great. I go out there and take a bunch of girlfriends and have fun. I love the place.

Elfman: When you were here with your dad, what did you do?

Presley: It was the Hilton hotel. ... The top floor. I just remember spending a lot of time up there and going to the shows. He had the whole floor. I lost my first tooth up there. I remember that. I bit into a big apple. And he put a big giant thing of coins under my pillow. And there was a slot machine in the room, I know that. I remember it being fun. And my mom would put me in the youth motel. And I hated that. It was where a bunch of us kids went during the day in the hotel, like a baby-sitting group.

Elfman: When you come here with your girlfriends, what do you do?

Presley: I love to see Carlin when I'm in town, George Carlin. It's depending on what's happening there. We went to see the Blue Man Group. Every time, it's different, we'll see shows. ... There's a couple of roller coasters there I love.

Elfman: Do you get around town without being bombarded by people?

Presley: Yeah, pretty much.

Elfman: You've got two kids, right? Danielle's 14 and Ben's 10? Are they musical at all?

Presley: Very. I told my daughter yesterday -- I was driving her to school -- and I was, like, "You really have something in you." Rhythm. Harmonies. I hear her singing, and she just has something going on. So does my son.

Elfman: Runs in the blood, I guess.

Presley: Also, they've got their dad (musician Danny Keough) in the mix.

Elfman: On Howard Stern, you said you'd gotten into music partly because you were tired of doing nothing.

Presley: I don't know if I meant that like that. ... But I know I wanted to have my mark, something I did that affected people. That wasn't very comfortable, just getting attention for no apparent reason, just for existing and being in the tabloids all the time.

Elfman: It's got to be strange to be a celebrity for celebrity's sake.

Presley: Yeah, I don't think I really thought of it that way until I started working the record, and I'd go out, and I'd realize how much was out there along those lines.