Country music legends Vince Gill and The Oak Ridge Boys will receive the Humanitarian Award and Living Legend Award, respectively. Ieba board member Joe Guercio will be the recipient of ieba's Founders Award. The awards will be presented during this year's International Entertainment Buyers Association's (ieba) annual conference iebaLIVE! The 35th iebaLIVE! will be held in Nashville, October 2-4, 2005 at the Hilton Suites-Downtown Nashville.
About Joe Guercio
Joe Guercio has enjoyed a prolific career, but he is probably best known and admired for his work with Elvis Presley. He was musical director and conductor for Elvis' concert shows from the summer of 1970 to the summer of 1977 when Elvis made his last concert appearance. Guercio was musical director for the International Hotel in Las Vegas when the work with Elvis began. Along with the obvious contributions he made to Elvis' shows, including many of the triumphs of Elvis' "concert era", it was Joe Guercio who created the now almost iconic six-note theme for Elvis' stage entrances and bows. It was also Guercio who suggested that Elvis' shows open with the theme from 2001 - A Space Odyssey (Also Sprach Zarathustra). The inspiration came when Guercio and his late first wife saw the now-classic science fiction movie in a theater, for when the music began Mrs.Guercio whispered to her husband, "You'd think Elvis was about to enter."
Joe Guercio first left his native Buffalo, NY as an accompanist for Patti Paige. He has lived in Las Vegas since 1967 and has been a musical director for Diana Ross, Jim Nabors, Florence Henderson, Diahann Carroll, Ann Margaret, and Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, among others. His arrangement of the medley Sweet Inspiration/Where You Lead was a 1972 hit for Barbra Streisand, and his arrangement of The Way We Were/Try to Remember was a 1975 hit for Gladys Knight. Guercio's work with Natalie Cole to reunite her on stage in duet with her late father, Nat King Cole, pre-dated her famous early 1990's duet recordings and videos with Mr. Cole. Guercio accompanied blues legend B.B. King to Rome to meet Pope John Paul II and perform in the Vatican's fifth Christmas concert.
Joe has been instrumental in helping ieba move forward lending his talents to the iebaLIVE! Showcases and has been a long time Board Member.
Joe Guercio To Receive Honours At IEBA Live
July 13, 2005 | People
bray1977 wrote on
July 13, 2005
Great news. Well done to Joe Guercio. All Elvis fans have enjoyed countless hours of pleasure listening to the music he was so deeply involved in making.
Viva wrote on
July 13, 2005
Well done and well deserved Joe. A truly essential part of Elvis' live shows, and an amazing talent to boot.
Presleygirl wrote on
July 20, 2005
Wonderful news! Glad to hear this. Mr. Guercio is very talented and a gracious man.