The influence Elvis Presley had on the four members of the Beatles (and Mal Evans) was huge and the Beatles had wanted to meet the so called "king of rock n roll" for a long time. Thanks for Chris Hutchins, they finally had the opportunity at 10:00pm on August 27, 1965. The Beatles, who smoked a joint and laughed a lot on the car ride over went to Elivs' house at 565 Perugia Way in Los Angeles, California.
There was not to be any photographs taken and the press was not to be told about the event. The only press person was Chris Hutchins who arranged the meeting. According to his book, he was allowed to write about it event after the fact, but was told not to take notes during the event. So Chris went off into the bathroom all night and made notes on a small notebook he had in his pocket.
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Everyone was nervous when they first arrived and no one really spoke to each other. The television was on without the sound up and Paul enjoyed playing around with the remote control---first time he had seen such a thing. Then Elvis said something along the lines of "If you are just going to sit around, I'm going to go to bed." And then the party started up and everyone was chatting and playing pool.
The biggest debate among fans about this event is: Did the Beatles jam with Elvis. In the Beatles' Anthology, John Lennon is heard saying that the Beatles jammed with Elvis. Then you see Paul, George and Ringo talking about how THEY didn't play with Elvis and that John must have done it when they were out of the room, as if John wasn't telling the truth. However others that were there that day including Tony Barrow, Ivor Davis and Chris Hutchins all claim that the Beatles played guitars with Elvis. Some of them claim that the song "I Feel Fine" was played and others claim that some of the songs Elvis was known for such as "Blue Suede Shoes" was played. And most also talk about Paul giving Elvis tips on bass playing because Elvis had been learning how to play bass. The guys were interviewed the very next day by Larry Kane and they talked about meeting Elvis and notice what Ringo had to say:
RINGO:"It was... When we first arrived it was sort of a bit funny, you know. 'cuz he's still the King, man. No matter what anyone says, you know. And we sort of shook hands... said hello, and then we sort of went to the bar and we had a drink, and that. He had a lot of friends there - and we had Malcolm who's his biggest fan, and a couple more of our road managers. And we just started mingling. In about half an hour it was just like old friends, you know.. we knew everybody. Just sat 'round and walked 'round playing."
Q:"Played guitar, right?"
RINGO:"Yeah, well, the boys played guitar. I don't play, though. I played pool with three of his friends."
Catch that? Less than 24 hours after the event, Ringo says the "boys" were playing guitars. And George is quoted in that article that Hutchins wrote about how they jammed with Elvis!
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So I personally think that it happened. Maybe it wasn't big, long "jam session" but I think Elvis and the Beatles plunked around on guitars and played bits and pieces of songs at least for a little bit. Maybe it wasn't a big deal and it wasn't something that stuck out in Paul, George or Ringo's mind 30 years after the fact, but I think it happened. Maybe George doesn't remember because he was too busy hanging out by the swimming pool trying to get reefer from one of Elvis' guys! Haha!
I also LOVE the part of the Larry Kane interview where Mal Evans gets to talk about meeting Elvis. Mal was as big of an Elvis fan as we are Beatles fans...so this was a huge thing for him:
RINGO:"Okay. Mal, it was a big thrill for you last night. Tell us about it."
MAL EVANS:"It was the greatest thrill of my life, Richard. I really enjoyed it."
RINGO:"You notice that? He calls me Richard."
MAL EVANS:"He was everything I expected him to be. You know, he's good-looking... made you feel at ease. He was just every bit as I expected him to be after nine years being a fan."
RINGO:"Seven-foot-six, he is, folks. Well, back to your local DJ."
Q: Alright. If you had a million dollars, Mal, what's the first thing you'd buy?"
MAL EVANS:"I don't really know. 'Cuz I've got everything I want at the moment - my Elvis records and all the Beatle records, so..."
Q:"You notice the order he put that? The Elvis records and then the Beatle records."
RINGO:"Well, we know this. That's the great thing about Malcolm, our road manager. And he's Elvis's number one fan. He gets his 'Elvis Monthly' and his records and everything. We don't mind. It's great, you know. 'Cuz we like him, too."
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| These photos show what Elvis' L.A. house looked like |
Everyone was nervous when they first arrived and no one really spoke to each other. The television was on without the sound up and Paul enjoyed playing around with the remote control---first time he had seen such a thing. Then Elvis said something along the lines of "If you are just going to sit around, I'm going to go to bed." And then the party started up and everyone was chatting and playing pool.
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| This artwork by Klaus Voorman is an interesting take on the pool playing that went on. |
The biggest debate among fans about this event is: Did the Beatles jam with Elvis. In the Beatles' Anthology, John Lennon is heard saying that the Beatles jammed with Elvis. Then you see Paul, George and Ringo talking about how THEY didn't play with Elvis and that John must have done it when they were out of the room, as if John wasn't telling the truth. However others that were there that day including Tony Barrow, Ivor Davis and Chris Hutchins all claim that the Beatles played guitars with Elvis. Some of them claim that the song "I Feel Fine" was played and others claim that some of the songs Elvis was known for such as "Blue Suede Shoes" was played. And most also talk about Paul giving Elvis tips on bass playing because Elvis had been learning how to play bass. The guys were interviewed the very next day by Larry Kane and they talked about meeting Elvis and notice what Ringo had to say:
RINGO:"It was... When we first arrived it was sort of a bit funny, you know. 'cuz he's still the King, man. No matter what anyone says, you know. And we sort of shook hands... said hello, and then we sort of went to the bar and we had a drink, and that. He had a lot of friends there - and we had Malcolm who's his biggest fan, and a couple more of our road managers. And we just started mingling. In about half an hour it was just like old friends, you know.. we knew everybody. Just sat 'round and walked 'round playing."
Q:"Played guitar, right?"
RINGO:"Yeah, well, the boys played guitar. I don't play, though. I played pool with three of his friends."
Catch that? Less than 24 hours after the event, Ringo says the "boys" were playing guitars. And George is quoted in that article that Hutchins wrote about how they jammed with Elvis!
So I personally think that it happened. Maybe it wasn't big, long "jam session" but I think Elvis and the Beatles plunked around on guitars and played bits and pieces of songs at least for a little bit. Maybe it wasn't a big deal and it wasn't something that stuck out in Paul, George or Ringo's mind 30 years after the fact, but I think it happened. Maybe George doesn't remember because he was too busy hanging out by the swimming pool trying to get reefer from one of Elvis' guys! Haha!
I also LOVE the part of the Larry Kane interview where Mal Evans gets to talk about meeting Elvis. Mal was as big of an Elvis fan as we are Beatles fans...so this was a huge thing for him:
RINGO:"Okay. Mal, it was a big thrill for you last night. Tell us about it."
MAL EVANS:"It was the greatest thrill of my life, Richard. I really enjoyed it."
RINGO:"You notice that? He calls me Richard."
MAL EVANS:"He was everything I expected him to be. You know, he's good-looking... made you feel at ease. He was just every bit as I expected him to be after nine years being a fan."
RINGO:"Seven-foot-six, he is, folks. Well, back to your local DJ."
Q: Alright. If you had a million dollars, Mal, what's the first thing you'd buy?"
MAL EVANS:"I don't really know. 'Cuz I've got everything I want at the moment - my Elvis records and all the Beatle records, so..."
Q:"You notice the order he put that? The Elvis records and then the Beatle records."
RINGO:"Well, we know this. That's the great thing about Malcolm, our road manager. And he's Elvis's number one fan. He gets his 'Elvis Monthly' and his records and everything. We don't mind. It's great, you know. 'Cuz we like him, too."
