Elvis Presley Facts
1-On the evening of 27 August 1965, Elvis Presley and The Beatles, the music world’s biggest stars, met for the first and only time.
“We met Elvis Presley at the end of our stay in LA. We’d tried for years to, but we could never get to him. We used to think we were a bit of a threat to him and Colonel Tom Parker, which ultimately we were. So although we tried many times, Colonel Tom would just show up with a few souvenirs and that would have to do us for a while. We didn’t feel brushed off; we felt we deserved to be brushed off. After all, he was Elvis, and who were we to dare to want to meet him? But we finally received an invitation to go round and see him when he was making a film in Hollywood.” Paul McCartney It took place at Presley’s mansion at 565 Perugia Way, Bel Air, Los Angeles. The Beatles arrived at 11pm and were greeted by Elvis in his large circular living room. The room was bathed in red and blue light, and contained a colour television, jukebox, crescent-shaped couch, games tables and a bar. The meeting had been arranged by Presley’s manager ‘Colonel’ Tom Parker, and was highly anticipated by The Beatles and Brian Epstein. As they arrived Presley took The Beatles into the enormous living room; Epstein and Parker stood aside to watch the meeting. The encounter was not a great success, with a somewhat stilted atmosphere and little conversation at first. Eventually Elvis told them, “If you damn guys are gonna sit here and stare at me all night I’m gonna go to bed.” As the two teams faced one another, there was a weird silence and it was John who spoke first, rather awkwardly blurting out a stream of questions at Elvis, saying: ‘Why do you do all these soft-centred ballads for the cinema these days? What happened to good old rock ‘n’ roll?’ Elvis was fairly quiet – that was my first reaction. He smiled a lot and shook hands with everybody. The ice didn’t really break in the early stages at all. The boys and Elvis swapped tour stories, but it hadn’t got going. Tony Barrow With the ice broken, Presley called for guitars to be brought out and a brief jam session took place. Among the songs performed was You’re My World, a ballad which Cilla Black had recorded in 1964.
2-Elvis Presley met President
When Elvis Presley met President Nixon in December of 1970, he read aloud a six-page letter to the President, in which he revealed his desire to be made a “Federal Agent-at-Large” in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Presley accused The Beatles of being ‘un-American’ for their open drug-taking and anti-Vietnam politics. “I’m on your side, ” Elvis told Nixon. Then the singer asked if he could have a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. (Ollie Atkins / Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum)
3-Songfellows
In 1954, just two years before his big break, Elvis auditioned for an amateur gospel quartet called the Songfellows… And they turned him down. (So, never give up!) In August of 1950, the Blackwood Brothers, perhaps the most popular radio quartet in the nation, moved their operations from Shenandoah, Iowa to an office on Jefferson Avenue in Memphis. Native Mississippians, they were ready to come home. They began twice daily programs on WMPS, continued to develop their own record label, and started a series of concerts at Ellis Auditorium. In June 1954 the Blackwoods got to take their music to national TV audience when they appeared on the hit CBS show ‘Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts’. Memphis Mayor Frank Tobey issued a proclamation designating the date asBlackwood Brothers Quartet Day for the ‘great credit’ the group brought to the city. Ironically, two weeks later two members of the quartet were killed in a plane crash. Their funeral was attended by 5.000 fans. A newspaper announced that ‘the galleries were reserved for Negroes’. Three days after the funeral 19-year-old Elvis went into the Sun studios to make his first recordings. It is quite likely that he was one of those mourners who filed past the caskets of R.W. Blackwood and Bill Lyles, as he had been a fan of their music since he was fourteen. It was shortly after the Blackwood plane crash that Elvis actually had a chance to join a gospel quartet – not the Blackwood Brothers, as has been widely reported, but one that was an off-shoot of the Blackwoods. It was called the Songfellows and was formed by Jim Hamill and Cecil Blackwood, a nephew of James Blackwood. Elvis knew both and asked for an audition. After some awkwardness, the group turned him down. Elvis couldn’t hear harmony. As long as he was singing lead, he was fine, but when the baritone or the tenor took the lead, someone had to sing harmony, and he couldn’t harmonize. Elvis listened, continued to improve, and a few months later the Songfellows gave him a second shot when Cecil moved up to the regular Blackwood Brothers. But Elvis already signed a contract with Sun records. The Songfellows wanted the contract to be broken, but Elvis wouldn’t. Or couldn’t. Later Elvis would sing an occasional solo with the Blackwoods backing him up.
4-Elvis wore a cross
Elvis wore a cross, the Hebrew letter chai, and a star of David around his neck. “I don’t want to miss out on heaven due to a technicality,” he said.
5-Elvis and Karate
Elvis wasn’t only The King Of Rock And Roll…he was also a black belt in karate! If you were lucky enough to see him in concert, you might wind up getting a free demonstration.
6- Elvis and Johnny Cash
Elvis was really good friends with Johnny Cash, and the two used to impersonate each other
7-Elvis Presley’s first TV appearance
After Presley’s first TV appearance in 1956, Jackie Gleason said, “The kid has no right behaving like a sex maniac on a national show.”
8-Having Fun With Elvis On Stage
Elvis released an entire album of between-song stage banter called “Having Fun With Elvis On Stage” just to fulfill a contractual obligation in ’74…So it’s an album of Elvis talking. In between songs
9-peanut butter, bacon
Elvis’s favorite sandwich was peanut butter, bacon, banana, and honey
10-Elvis Presley – Bike
On his 11th birthday, Elvis received a guitar. This was a massive disappointment. He’d been hoping for a bike
