... with Elvis?

Started by raxo, Mar 11, 2006, 06:00 AM

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BlueMeanie

Quote from: 185He was a major control freak. Maybe he was afraid of loosing power over Elvis. (whether Parker was Frankenstein and Elvis his monster is as debatable as the Epstein-Beatles thing.)
The most charitable thing to say (and I'm no expert) is that not all decisions were made with elvis's best interests at heart.

Well, Elvis was a bit of a dumb Hick wasn't he, so I guess he was pretty easy to exploit. But Parker was probably constantly paranoid that someone else would start talking some sense into him, and Elvis would see the light.

Kevin

Yeah. And for Elvis there were no reference points. How was a rock and roll career supposed to go? A drift into light entertainment might have seemed the sensible thing to do. Noone could have forseen the longevity of the genre in 1962.
don't follow leaders

rand

John was worried about meeting Elvis because he was the biggest thing in music. Paul told John the Beatles were bigger than Elvis...
http://www.angelfire.com/music3/BeatlesTapes/ElvisBeatles.jpg
John was misquoted about the bigger than thing too.

wingsman

Is it true that Ringo played football with Elvis?  :P
I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't eat trash... I work out hard everyday and have a healthy life. And I'm proud of it.

Andy Smith

Quote from: 713Is it true that Ringo played football with Elvis?  :P

That's what Ringo said on the Anthology so... ;D



          Turn off your mind, Relax and float downstream. It is not dying

adamzero

Andreas Cornelis (Dries) van Kuijk was born Dutch.  He joined the U.S. Army and changed his name to Tom Parker.  He worked in carnivals and later took on the "Colonel" nickname.  He had a management company with Hank Snow, but signed Elvis and split with Snow (some have claimed "stole" from Snow).

He never formally acquired U.S. citizenship, so some speculate that he feared to leave the U.S. for fear of being denied reentry.  Others have speculated that the Colonel might have murdered someone in the Old Country or committed some other kind of crime that might have come to light and prevented him from getting a Visa or citizenship.  

So that's why Elvis seldom played outside the U.S.  When he played in Canada, the Colonel stayed on this side of the border.

Bobber

Something of that meeting did survive after all:

QuoteBeatles' Autographs on Elvis' Personal Stationery - August 27, 1965. Iconic is an understatement! It was August 27, 1965. The Beatles were on the eve of playing the Balboa Stadium in San Diego. Elvis was in the midst of shooting Paradise, Hawaiian Style in Hollywood. That night, between 10 and 11 p.m., John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr arrived in limousines at Elvis's domain, 565 Perugia Way in Bel Air, and Elvis personally greeted them at the door for what forever after became known as the "summit meeting" of Pop music and Rock and Roll.

"If you guys are going to stare at me all night," joked Elvis, "I'm going to bed!"

In fact, Elvis was awed too, but the ice broke and the evening found Elvis and John, Paul and George playing guitars (while Ringo, without drums, banged the side of a chair), the group admiring Elvis's new sauna, laughing at a fan who had infiltrated the house and began screaming hysterically, and discussing the terrors of fame. In one moving (and retrospectively chilling) moment, John noted that Elvis was very brave to perform in public before the wildly screaming and actually dangerous fans -- after all, onstage, the Beatles had each other.

A relic survives from that legendary meeting -- Jerry Schilling, a member of Elvis's "Memphis Mafia," got the autographs of all four Beatles on a 5" x 8" piece of Elvis Presley's personal stationery, dated "8/27/65." The autographs are sharp and clean in blue ink, the word "Elvis" is pre-printed in the upper left corner, and the dynamic of the signatures of the "Fab Four" on the stationery of "the King" is -- for lack of a better word -- magical.

Accompanying the lot is a copy of Disc Weekly (September 4, 1965), with the front page headline "Beatles Meet Elvis!" and The National Blast Weekly (October 10, 1965), also with the headline, "Beatles Meet Elvis!!!" All items are in Excellent condition.


Kevin

I've always thought there was some debate about the "jam." John is the only Beatle who remembers it, and his memory isn't too reliable. Other "witnesses" who claim it happened - Priscilla for example - weren't in the room when it supposedly took place. I can't be arsed looking it up, but wasn't George's only memory trying to score and Ringo's was playing football. Paul says it never happenerd. But then again they were all very stoned.
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Bobber

Bear in mind that the above text is a press release from the auction hall.

alexis

Quote from: 748elvis is an overrated asshole.

Disagree respectfully and entirely. Without Elvis there would have been no RxR as we know it. He WAS the one, like that dude in the Matrix. John Lennon ("Before Elvis there was nothing") wasn't the only one of his musical generation who put a religious-type description of the King.

Debatable of course, his importance post-Army, but 1956-then ... as essential to RxR as gravity is to rollercoasters.
I love John,
I love Paul,
And George and Ringo,
I love them all!

Alexis

alexis

Quote from: 9The Beatles idolized Elvis--particularly John and Paul.  Elvis wasn't a writer, but he was a consummate performer and vocalist.  His greatest stuff is from the Sun Sessions--his Mystery Train and Blue Moon of Kentucky are incredible.  Some of the early RCA is great too, but by the 60s he was toast.  He couldn't reinvent himself.

In some ways, the Beatles were the perfect response to Elvis.  To his "hot" style and pelvis gyrations they played it cool.  The Beatles did their cowpoke kneebends and that was about it.  Though they could do rock shouters like Money or Long Tall Sally, there was always a little bit of irony, ice, to it.  

As far as I know none of the Beatles ever covered an Elvis song.  Even on John's Rock and Roll album.  Maybe a bridge too far . . . ?

The Beatles performed the first song that Elvis got on tape in Sam Phillip's Sun Studios ("That's All Right Mama"). it was apparently part of their standard stage set list. It's also on the BBC tapes.


As far as the Elvis name, it's Norse.  All-wise.   El-vis.    I've always doubted that Vernon and his wife had Elvis explicitly in mind when they named Elvis and were probably thinking of the more popular Elvin and just sorted screwed up.  Or thought they could make it "better"--who knows.  I don't think Vernon Presley was a Norse language scholar or anything.   Elvis Aron Presley is his full real name.  They couldn't spell Aaron right either.  

I love John,
I love Paul,
And George and Ringo,
I love them all!

Alexis

Kevin

Quote from: 568

Disagree respectfully and entirely. Without Elvis there would have been no RxR as we know it. He WAS the one, like that dude in the Matrix. John Lennon ("Before Elvis there was nothing") wasn't the only one of his musical generation who put a religious-type description of the King.

Debatable of course, his importance post-Army, but 1956-then ... as essential to RxR as gravity is to rollercoasters.

Agree with this totally. The guy set the template. His importance is immeasurable. And his pre-army image wasn't contrived or invented. He was what he was and rock as most of us know it is thanks to him.
don't follow leaders

raxo

The Elvis Presley Story - Elvis Meets The Beatles

Broadcast on:BBC 6 Music, 3:00am Wednesday 2nd June 2010
Duration: 60 minutes
Available until: 4:02am Wednesday 9th June 2010

Listen here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00srvfx/The_Elvis_Presley_Story_Elvis_Meets_The_Beatles/

Bobber

Elvis singing Old McDonald had a farm? How low can you get? That's even worse than Paul singing Mary Had A Little Lamb!