Only His Hairdresser Knows For Sure -- Elvis Conference Shows Just How Much Clout The King Still Has

Millions of people think Elvis Presley still lives, but his hairdresser just isn't one of them.

Why? Because on Aug. 17, 1977, Lawrence "Larry" Geller did the singer's hair for the last time in 14 years - at the mortuary.

Geller's long service to Presley gives him an overview of the Elvis phenomenon, which is why he will speak at the annual University of Mississippi International Elvis Conference opening Saturday in Oxford, Miss.

Claims the event's founder, Vernon Chadwick: "This is international diplomacy! It's human relations!" It's even enrolling participants via the Internet and running a Web site.

Certainly the conference exemplifies Elvis' global stature. Under this year's title, "Elvis and the Sacred South," an impressive range of nations will participate. Musically, it features J.D. Sumner and the Stamps, who backed Elvis for his Vegas gospel concerts, and the Rev. Cleo Robinson, prolific preacher and singer. But it also hosts a French rockabilly band (the Frantic Rollers), an authority on "Japanese-American Elvis relations" ( Ayako Maeda), and the director of an English criminal justice center (David Walls, author of "Policing the Soul of Elvis").

Then there is Jukka Ammondt, a literature professor at Finland's University of Jyvaskyla - a premier center for the study of Latin.

If you think Elvis far from that sort of classic, you just haven't heard Ammondt's CD, "The Legend Lives Forever in Latin." A set of Elvis hits sung in the tongue of the Caesars, "The Legend" is an outgrowth of two Ammondt passions: melancholic poetry (his academic specialty) and tango music (his hobby, which he credits to his Elvis-worthy vocal delivery).

Ammondt, like all the rest, takes Elvis seriously - he will be arriving with the Finnish ambassador. "For the world," he says, "Elvis symbolizes an era. The 1950s are huge in Finland now. You see nostalgia in design, ads, entertainment."

Taking the "pop" in "pop culture" seriously is the conference target, according to Chadwick. But his gatherings usually attract controversy. Last year saw a war with William Faulkner fans when a Faulkner conference preceded Elvis'. While some academics warred over who was King, Oxford's mayor briefly blocked civic funding.

This year, trouble came from a different quarter: guest Leigh Crow, better known as "Elvis Herselvis."

Crow, who calls herself "the first-ever lesbian Elvis," fronts a band of four called The Straight White Males. It's a role, she says, she chose with calculation. "We see Elvis out of his context now. When he started out, he was thought very effeminate. He wore makeup, loud clothes, scarves and hair dye."

Combined with the promise of a gig by "Elvis' love child" ("a man with a unique claim to the Presley legacy"), Crow's views proved too much for two of the sponsors. Both the Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau, which advises tourists who visit the Presley birthplace, and Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. (which runs Graceland) have withdrawn their promised financial support.

In the spirit of the late King, however, a Hollywood talent agency stepped in with financial help. One of the agency's clients, it turns out, is "Elvis Jr." With a plug from Time magazine, the show will proceed.

What does Larry Geller think? "Well, when it comes to fans, I've seen it all. It was always just a part of being with Elvis."

He has never, however, groomed an ersatz Presley - with the sole exception of actor Kurt Russell, who played the King in the John Carpenter film "Elvis."

"I stay far from all those things. But the Elvis fan clubs, the sightings, the `flying' Elvises, all the magazines and souvenirs - I think Elvis would love it. He would laugh, but he would analyze it."

Conference info

The International Conference on Elvis is Aug. 4-9 in Oxford, Miss., with excursions to Memphis and Tupelo (cost: $70 per day, $350 total). To register, call 601-232-7282, or visit the Web site at http://www.olemiss.edu/conferences/ elvis96/elvis.html "The Legend Lives Forever in Latin" is available on K-Tel Records, Finland, phone (358-0) 757-1522 (U.S.: 213-852-1043). Paul Dowling's "Elvis: The Ultimate Album Cover Book" showcases 226 album sleeves from 37 countries. It will be published in October.