KING-SIZE CHANGES PLANNED

If the managers of Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn., have their way, some king-size renovations will be made to the surrounding area.

Currently, there's a visitors center, souvenir stores and museums across from Graceland. But the plan is to replace that with an 80,000-square-foot, high-tech visitors center, which would be erected on the same side of the street as Graceland.

"To put that in perspective, that's about six or seven times the size of the mansion," Robert F.X. Sillerman, chairman for New York-based CKX, told The Associated Press.

No timeline has been set, Jack Soden of Elvis Presley Enterprises told the AP, yet he added, "We're probably looking at something in the neighborhood of a three-year process."

That said, the clock is ticking to check out the area around Graceland before it changes dramatically. It has a certain vibe to it, and there's even a degree of subtlety to the exhibits featuring Presley's planes and cars.

Whether that subtlety translates to an 80,000-square-foot, high-tech visitors center remains to be seen.

STAX ON PBS

In other Memphis-related news, PBS will premiere the documentary Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story on Wednesday night (Aug. 1).

Stax -- along with companion label Volt -- was the home to Otis Redding, plus Sam and Dave and Booker T. & the MG's, among others.

For more about Stax, visit www.soulsvilleusa.com.

COOL ARTISTS, COOL SOUNDTRACK

Speaking of documentaries, the soundtrack to Arctic Tale -- a National Geographic Films production featuring narration by Queen Latifah that's now in theaters -- features songs performed by Brian Wilson, Grant-Lee Phillips and The Shins, among others.

Look for it in stores now via Bulletproof Records (www.bulletproofrecords.com).

THE FAB FEMALES

Cynthia, Yoko, May, Jane, Linda, Heather, Pattie, Olivia, Maureen and Barbara -- that doesn't have the same ring as John, Paul, George and Ringo, but they certainly are on a first-name basis in The Beatles' universe.

Those 10 women -- whose last names, respectively, are Powell, Ono, Pang, Asher, Eastman, Mills, Boyd, Arias, Cox and Bach, for those not in the know -- will be the subject of a new profile airing on Bio, a.k.a. the Biography channel. The Beatles' Women is set to premiere at 9 p.m. ET on Aug. 8.

That same week, the Biography channel will air episodes about Tina Turner (9 p.m. ET on Aug. 9) and Aretha Franklin (9 p.m. ET on Aug. 10).



A CLASSY MOVE

Throughout his career, Dwight Yoakam (left) has proudly carried on the twang-with-a-kick "Bakersfield sound" that country legend Buck Owens popularized in the 1960s.

Yoakam pays tribute to Owens, who died in March 2006 at age 76 in California, on his next album, appropriately titled Dwight Sings Buck, due Oct. 23 via New West.

A portion of the proceeds will go to the Buck Owens American Music Foundation.

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Well, an eye-catching music video might lead to something worth much more than that -- a recording contract.

The producers of Fox's American Idol are behind The Next Great American Band, and to be in the running, a group has to submit a video -- either via the TV series' own MySpace page or by mailing a DVD along with a completed application form.

There are eligibility requirements, of course.

For starters, each band should have at least two members and include "some form of musical instruments."

Also -- each member of a band that advances to the final round "must be able to demonstrate that he/she does not have (either alone or as a member of a group) a contract for talent representation (for example, a talent agent or manager), a music recording contract, a merchandising agreement, or any other contractual arrangement that would prohibit you, or any member of your band, from entering into a management contract, recording contract, talent contract and/or merchandising contract."

The deadline is July 31. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/americanband.

BECK/YARDBIRDS UPDATE

Jeff Beck's manager has told Billboard.com that the guitarist will not be touring this fall with The Yardbirds.

Still no confirmation or denial from Jimmy Page about his possible involvement.

RUMOR OR REALITY?

In 2003, The Yardbirds released Birdland, a reunion album, so to speak, featuring original members Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty, plus such guest lead guitarists as Billy Gibbons, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Brian May.

Despite the star power, the album didn't set the world on fire.

If a report on Rolling Stone's Web site is to believed, two of the Yardbirds guitarists those big names essentially stood in for will be joining rhythm guitarist/bassist Dreja and drummer McCarty for a fall tour that certainly will be a hot ticket.

Word has it that Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck have agreed to a Yardbirds tour that will start in October. Meanwhile, there's no mention of this on the official Yardbirds site, which only lists concert dates through late August.

As for Eric Clapton, he reportedly does not plan to take part in the tour, and it's not known who would stand in for late lead singer Keith Relf.

Stay tuned.

A&E GOES PRIVATE

Waking up at 9 a.m. on a Sunday is not very rock 'n' roll. Come to think of it, that's around the time when some hard-core rockers hit the sack after a night of debauchery.

No matter what your sleep pattern or lifestyle may be, setting an alarm clock -- or a TV recording device of choice -- for 9 a.m. Sundays might be worthwhile starting July 22. That's when A&E will premiere its Private Sessions series. Filmed in New York with host Lynn Hoffman, Private Sessions will feature exclusive artist interviews and performances.

Avril Lavigne (above) is the guest on July 22; upcoming acts include the Goo Goo Dolls (July 29), Toby Keith (Aug. 5), Blues Traveler (Aug. 12) and Meat Loaf (Aug. 19).

Nine other episodes are planned for production this year.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

With a recorded message from ex-Beach Boys guitarist Al Jardine, followed by the band's "Do It Again," New York's WCBS-FM (101.1) officially marked its return as an oldies station early Thursday afternoon.

Technically speaking, WCBS-FM says it is playing "New York’s Greatest Hits" -- and more specifically, hits from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Prior to its roughly two-year, DJ-free run as Jack FM, WCBS-FM did play some 1980s music. It was in the minority, and more often than not, the songs were from early in the decade.

That seems to be the case so far in the post-Jack FM era. For example, in one 10-song stretch this morning in the 9 o'clock hour, only two songs were from the 1980s: Billy Joel's "Allentown" (which hit its chart peak in 1983) and Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" (a Top 5 pop hit in 1985).

One gets the feeling it won't get much broader than that, as there seems to be fear shared by oldies/classic pop hits stations that some 1980s music sounds, well, too modern compared to everything else.

Furthermore, it's a shame that the "new old" WCBS-FM isn't making room for the doo-wop and early rock 'n' roll sounds from the mid-to-late 1950s. When the station was at its best, that music really set it apart from all others with similar formats.

That said, in order for WCBS-FM to stand out from the pack this time around, it needs to expand the limits in the other direction: If the station really is committed to playing 1980s music, then feature the various sounds and hit songs from the entire decade -- and by artists other than those who first hit it big in the 1960s and 1970s.

OUT OF SIGHT

Calling all John Lennon fans with lots of money to burn.

Starting today, the frames of a pair of gold-rimmed "granny" sunglasses that Lennon wore during the last Beatles tour are up for auction. Bidding will continue through the end of this month, and the winning bid is expected to be in the $2 million range, according to the music memorabilia site 991.com.

As with most things Lennon-related, the story behind this particular pair of glasses is interesting. He reportedly gave them to translator Junishi Yore during the band's tour of Japan in 1966.

After Lennon's shooting death in 1980, Yore -- in accordance with Japanese folklore -- pushed out the lenses as a sign of respect. In a note from Yore that accompanies the up-for-auction frames, he writes that Lennon will "see us after death in Japan."

It remains to be seen how much money it will take to nab the frames.

For more information about the auction, visit www.991.com or e-mail lennon@991.com.

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

About two years ago, New York's WCBS-FM (101.1) pulled the plug on its longtime rock 'n' roll oldies format and became Jack FM, playing a DJ-free mix of hits akin to an iPod set on shuffle.

At 1:01 p.m. Thursday (July 12), a freshened-up version of the WCBS oldies format will return to the airwaves, along with veteran CBS air personalities Bob Shannon and Dan Taylor.

"Above all else, it is an honor to bring CBS-FM back to New York," said Jennifer Donohue, the station’s vice president and general manager, in a press release issued today. "Having been a longtime employee and personal fan of the station, I truly understand what an emotional moment it was when New Yorkers had to say goodbye to their favorite radio station."

In the WCBS-FM press release, the word "oldies" is noticeably absent, but the familiar slogan "The Greatest Hits of All Time" is used, and so is the phrase "signature sound." And by that, the station means a mix of music from the 1960s (Beatles, Beach Boys, the Motown sound) through the late 1980s (Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp).

It might be too much to ask for WCBS-FM to bring back the pre-Beatles portion of its programming -- in other words, classics from the likes of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and the other artists who ruled from the mid-1950s through the early 1960s.

But stranger things have happened -- namely, WCBS-FM's stunning switch to Jack FM in 2005, and now the decision to return to the way things were (for the most part).

A FOURTH TO REMEMBER

John Fogerty has a new studio album due in late September, and according to the June 28 issue of Rolling Stone, it features some of his "most charged-up and swampy music" since his days leading Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The disc is called Revival, and it includes a track called "Creedence Song." So, at the very least, he's tipping his hat to his CCR days.

It's hard to imagine Fogerty doing something so innocuous 20 years ago. Back then, he pretty much kept his distance from all things Creedence due to a legal dispute with CCR label Fantasy Records over royalties and copyright ownership.

It didn't help matters when Fantasy sued Fogerty for plagiarizing himself, claiming that "The Old Man Down the Road," a song from Fogerty's solo album Centerfield, sounded too much like the CCR tune "Run Through the Jungle."

On July 4, 1987, in the nation's capital, Fogerty took his first step at embracing his past catalog, which he now performs regularly.

"I gave a special concert for veterans," he recalled two years ago for CMT.com, "and I started the show with the riff from 'The Old Man Down the Road' . . . and then I went into 'Born on the Bayou.' It was kind of mind-blowing. Everyone knew I wasn't playing my old songs. But this was kind of a gift to the veterans and kind of symbolic to me."

Ever since then, the line "I can remember the Fourth of July" in "Born on the Bayou" has had a deeper meaning.