Celebraties I have met - Part II

As the family well knows, I have an old joke I tell whenever Elvis Presley’s name comes up. It goes: “I met Elvis three times. Twice before he died.”

I actually did see Elvis on three occasions, and spoke to him twice. In fact, the picture is a photograph that was autographed by Elvis on April 13, 1955 as I stood and talked to him backstage at the Breckenridge High School Auditorium. His autograph is on the back, along with those of Scotty (Moore) and Bill (Black), the guys he started out with.

This was in the very beginning of the Elvis saga; he was recording for Sam Phillips of Sun Records and he sang songs like “Hound Dog”, “That’s All Right Mama”, and “Blue Suede Shoes.” This was before Colonel Tom Parker, before the Ed Sullivan show, and before all the pelvic controversy. The three of them were touring in a big pink and white Cadillac; they all sat in the front seat and Bill Black’s upright bass filled the back. The next night they performed at Owl Park Baseball field in Gainsville Texas, and the night after that they did two shows in Stamford, Texas.

I suppose the picture is worth something to someone, but somewhere along the way it has become torn and the signatures have almost faded away. Plus, in order to sell it I would have to have it authenticated and I have no idea how to go about that.

I saw the three of them again at the gas station just west of the old church building in Breckinridge on Saturday, June 11^th of that same year. They had appeared at the American Legion Hall the night before (somehow I missed that show – maybe it was because I didn’t have a key to the back door like I did to the High School). This time they were in a pink and white Ford Crown Victoria. The pink Cadillac caught fire and burned in Fulton, Arkansas on June 5th – the Crown Vic was a car Elvis had given his folks and they quickly had to borrow. I didn’t speak to him then, but I did walk over to the station and gawked before they drove off. They were really crowded in the Crown Vic.

The next time I saw Elvis I was working for the radio station in Abilene. This was after he got out of the Army (by the way Rob, Colin Powell was quoted as saying, “He served his country for two years. I saw him in the field – I ran across him in the woods while he was doing what every other GI does…”). The station news director had learned that Colonel Tom Parker’s private rail car (he hated to fly) would be stopping in Abilene for a short time that afternoon, and he figured that if Colonel Parker was there Elvis probably was too. I don’t know how he found out about the rail car – probably from the Colonel. We drove down to the station on South 1^st street and walked up on the track; Parker’s car was the last unit on the train and he (Parker) was standing on the rear platform talking to a couple of people standing below.

The news director asked Parker if Elvis was inside, and Parker hemmed and hawed a bit and finally said he was. We asked if he would come out and Parker went inside for a while and then came out and said Elvis would join us shortly. He did, about 5 minutes later; it was obvious he had been asleep. He talked to us politely for a while; several folks asked about life in the Army, which he said wasn’t bad, and I asked him where he was headed, and after asking Parker where they were going, he said “Las Vegas.”

There was more to the conversation – at one point I told Elvis that I was a disc jockey for the local rock and roll station and that I played his records a lot. He said, “Thank you very much.” I know there was more said – we were there about thirty minutes before the train pulled out – but that was some 50 years ago and I can’t even remember what I told Mom this morning (so how am I so sure of the dates and facts above? Would you believe that there is an Australian website that has recorded every known fact ever unearthed about Elvis Aaron Presley?).

So there you have it. Me and Elvis. We were tight.

Next: A plethora of other Stars