Last Train to Memphis
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they just showed up: Thomas Sancton, “Elvis Dates Biloxi Girl,” New Orleans Item, July 11, 1956; also interviews with June Juanico.
In the course of the evening: Ruth Sullivan, “Slim Elvis Presley Is Heavy on the Diet,” “The Grapevine” (column in a New Orleans newspaper), July 1956.
“Did I kiss him good night?”: New Orleans Item, July 11, 1956.
The crowds at the beachfront hotel: Kay Freeman, “Elvis Presley Catches Spanish Mackerel; Dodges Crowd of 500 Coast Rock, Roll Fans Thursday,” Biloxi Daily Herald, July 15, 1956.
“It’d be a sin to let something like that go to waste”: Miami News, August 4, 1956.
Meanwhile, Elvis got so sunburnt: Harry Reeks, “During Vacation on Gulf His ‘Mob’ Proves Active,” publicity handout, July 1956.
Toward the end of July: Memphis Press-Scimitar, July 23, 1956.
a vaudeville redoubt from the 1920s: Philip Chapman, “The Girl Who Got Presley,” TV Radio Mirror.
she reportedly stroked [Elvis’] brow: Sandy Schnier and Damon Runyon, Jr., “Hey, Gals! Elvis Has 2 Steadies,” Miami News, August 4, 1956.
“Now this is the way it is”: Bella Kelly, “Elvis Denies Biloxi Beauty Is His ‘Steady,’ ” Miami News, August 5, 1956.
Mrs. Mae Juanico was quoted: Ibid.
“The biggest freak in show business history”: Miami News, August 4, 1956.
“aroused fans ripped”: “Elvis—a Different Kind of Idol,” Life, August 27, 1956.
a fashion that “put obscenity and vulgarity”: Jacksonville Journal, August 10, 1956 (as quoted in Morrie and Virginia Kricun, Elvis: 1956 Reflections).
(“I can’t figure out what I’m doing”): Ibid., August 11, 1956.
Dewey was just about to start: Memphis Press-Scimitar, August 22, 1956.
“I don’t think that you learn to become an actor”: August 6, 1956, interview.
LOVE ME TENDER
All quotes from June Juanico and Scotty Moore are from the author’s interviews, unless otherwise noted.
“I’m strictly for Stevenson”: New York Herald-Tribune, August 18, 1956.
“I have no trouble memorizing”: Harold Stone, “Meet Mr. Rock ’N’ Roll,” Top Secret, November 1956, p. 54.
he was “plenty scared”: Army Archerd, “Presley Takes Hollywood,” Photoplay, December 1956.
Elvis blurted out to Weisbart: Ibid.
On his second day on the set: Ibid. There is also a charming account of his friendship with Elvis by Nick Adams in the May 1957 issue of 16 (vol. 1, no. 1), begun under the editorship of Memphis’ Robert Johnson.
Colonel Parker was staying up nights: Martha Lopert, “The Boy with the Big Beat,” Celebrity, winter 1958.
Elvis was eager to perform: Photoplay.
It was a job like any other: Memphis Press-Scimitar, September 1, 1956.
The director, Robert Webb: New York Post, October 3, 1956.
Webb would break down the lines: Jerry Hopkins interview with Mildred Dunnock (MVC/MSU).
“Before I met him”: Albert Goldman, Elvis, p. 218.
Trude Forsher, a Viennese émigrée: Interview with Trude Forsher, 1993.
“I could make you like me if I tried”: Joe Hyams, “All Alone with Elvis Presley,” New York Herald-Tribune, September 23, 1956.
“From the time I was a kid”: Atra Baer, “The Real Presley,” New York Journal-American, September 23, 1956.
To True Story staff writer Jules Archer he confessed: Jules Archer, “Is This Unassuming Rocker America’s Newest Rebel?,” True Story, December 1956, as reprinted in DISCoveries, January-February 1988.
He and Gene spent $750: New York Journal-American, September 23, 1956.
“We’ll have to check you over”: Photoplay.
“Presley has the same smoldering appeal”: True Story.
On the Friday before Labor Day weekend: Interviews with Freddy Bienstock, Scotty Moore, Thorne Nogar, Bones Howe, Gordon Stoker, D. J. Fontana, and Trude Forsher.
“Well, do whatever you can”: Peter Cronin interview with Scotty Moore, 1992.
the picture, which had now been officially renamed: Bob Thomas, “Vul-gah? Not Me,” New York Post, September 4, 1956.
Mildred Dunnock as his mother: Jerry Hopkins interview with Mildred Dunnock (MVC/MSU).
“He’s a real pixie”: Tupelo Daily Journal, September 13, 1956, as quoted in Morrie and Virginia Kricun, Elvis: 1956 Reflections.
“Finally met Elvis Presley”: New York Journal-American, September 20, 1956.
“He was the first person”: Goldman, Elvis, pp. 219–220.
Elvis sent Sullivan a get-well card: Photoplay.
“We’re the perfect combination”: Interview with Cliff Gleaves, 1991.
sing a couple of songs in the picture: This was cited as a hundred-thousand-dollar offer on occasion.
William Campbell was convinced: Goldman, Elvis, p. 201.
the Colonel was simply a very smart man: March 24, 1956, interview.
“He’s a very amusing guy”: August 6, 1956, interview.
“We more or less picked each other”: Ibid.
Colonel liked Nick: Sidney Skolsky, “Tintyped: Elvis Presley,” New York Post, November 21, 1956. Skolsky had Colonel and Nick writing a book together called Elvis Presley: Actor, Singer and Man.
On Monday they visited Humes: Mildred Scrivener, “My Boy Elvis,” TV Radio Mirror, March 1957. On December 1 the Memphis Press-Scimitar ran a picture of the drill team modeling the new equipment and carrying a banner which stated the band’s new name, the EP Rebels.
Nick put his feet up: Jerry Hopkins interview with James and Gladys Tipler (MVC/MSU).
“It made me feel bad”: Elaine Dundy, Elvis and Gladys, p. 260.
Bowen was now general manager: Interview with Ernest Bowen, 1990.
“And just think, you’re paying me”: New York Post, October 2, 1956.
He couldn’t “hardly remember”: Tupelo Daily Journal, September 27, 1956.
“The city limits”: Peter Dacre, “Eyewitness to Presleymania.”
There were forty city police: Tupelo Daily Journal, September 27, 1956.
“I was right at the back of the stage”: Interview with Ernest Bowen.
in Dallas Nick was even served: Dallas Morning News, October 12, 1956.
“It looked like a war out there”: Interview with D. J. Fontana, 1988.
teenagers in Temple: Memphis Press-Scimitar, October 13, 1956.
Reporters were pestering: Dallas Morning News, October 12, 1956.
Elvis had been in a fight: Memphis Press-Scimitar, October 19, 1956.
“I’ll regret this day as long as I live”: New York Post, October 19, 1956.
advised by Acting Judge Sam Friedman: Memphis Commercial Appeal, October 20, 1956.
THE TOAST OF THE TOWN
“The idol of the rock ’n’ roll juveniles”: New York Times, October 29, 1956.
“Teenagers are my life and triumph”: Gordon Sinclair, “Sinclair Says Elvis ‘Fine Lad,’ Hopes to Last for 40 Years,” Toronto Star, October 29, 1956.
The ratings were not quite as spectacular: Variety, October 31, 1956.
he played the scene: There are pictures of Elvis shooting the scene in his white bucks in Ger Rijff’s Faces and Stages.
In the offing were hound dogs and houndburgers: Chester Morrison, “The Great Elvis Presley Industry,” Look, November 13, 1956; additional background on merchandising in Mike Kaplan, “Elvis a Millionaire in 1 Year,” Variety, October 24, 1956, and Louis M. Kohlmeier, “Heartbreak Hound Dogs Put Sales Zip into Presley Products,” Wall Street Journal, December 31, 1956.
“like a circus come to town”: Joseph Lewis, “Elvis Presley Lives,” Cosmopolitan, November 1968.
According to her sister, Lana: Lana Wood, Natalie, p. 45.
“the nation’s first police-sponsored behind-the-wheel driving school”: Memphis Press-Scimitar, November 6, 1956.
Meanwhile, Cliff Gleaves was back in town: Interviews wi
th Cliff Gleaves, Lamar Fike, and George Klein. Needless to say, Cliff, Lamar, and George do not agree on every detail.
“At that point my life changed”: Interview with Cliff Gleaves, 1990.
Elvis seemed “a little nervous at first”: Interview with Pallas Pidgeon, 1990.
“The only thing I can say is they don’t know me”: Jerry Hopkins interview with Marion Keisker (MVC/MSU).
(the Colonel indicated): Dick Kleiner, “20 Questions with Elvis Presley,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, December 1, 1956.
Then he met Dottie Harmony: Interview with Dottie Harmony, 1993.
he attended Liberace’s opening: Memphis Press-Scimitar, November 15, 1956.
Perhaps the most interesting review: Gerald Weales, “Movies: The Crazy, Mixed-up Kids Take Over,” The Reporter, December 13, 1956.
The Colonel’s only public comment: New York Journal-American, October 8, 1956.
Elvis himself was embarrassed: Interview with Cliff Gleaves.
“I’m not going to quit”: Toronto Star, October 29, 1956.
THE END OF SOMETHING
a “chicken coop nested in Cadillacs”: Jerry Hopkins, Elvis, p. 107.
Sam had the tape recorder turned on: Interviews with Sam Phillips, Jack Clement, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash, 1979.
“I heard this guy in Las Vegas”: The Million Dollar Quartet (RCA 2023-2-R).
One of the engineers at the station: Interviews with George Klein and Louis Cantor, 1993. Cantor’s Wheelin’ on Beale is an invaluable source of information on the radio station and the era.
“I was fourteen,” said Carla Thomas: Interview with Carla Thomas, 1980. Sam Cooke’s brother L.C., then a member of the Magnificents, also remembers the show, and Elvis’ enthusiasm for his brother’s gospel singing, vividly.
“I told them, If you put Elvis”: Interview with Rufus Thomas, 1988.
“To all who were in earshot”: Tri-State Defender, February 2, 1957.
the Memphis World cited an account: Memphis World, June 23, 1956, and July 6, 1957, as supplied by Louis Cantor.
“Maybe it’s the Indigo Avenue’s blase blues”: Pittsburgh Courier, December 22, 1956, as cited in Beale Black & Blue, by Margaret McKee and Fred Chisenhall, and Wheelin’ on Beale, by Louis Cantor.
Elvis met Kanter at the airport: Interviews with Hal Kanter, 1993, and Freddy Bienstock, 1992.
“‘Man, that screen test ain’t nothin’ ”: Interview with Hal Kanter for Elvis in Hollywood, 1993.
“He awoke in late afternoon”: Hal Kanter, “Inside Paradise,” Variety, January 9, 1957.
“That’s the night my car got stomped in”: Interview with Horace Logan, 1991.
“I saw a young girl open her purse”: Interview with Hal Kanter for Elvis in Hollywood, 1993.
Even Sandi Phillips: Interview with Sandi Phillips Kallenberg, 1992.
Dottie Harmony flew in: Interview with Dottie Harmony, 1993.
June saw the pictures in the paper: Interview with June Juanico, 1991.
“We were broke, flat broke”: Interview with Bobbie Moore, 1992.
an interview to the Press-Scimitar: Robert Johnson, “These Are the Cats Who Make Music for Elvis,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, December 15, 1956.
his pre-induction physical: Interview with Dottie Harmony and Cliff Gleaves, 1990.
the gold lamé vest that Barbara had given him: “Elvis Likes Barbara,” 16, May 1957.
they will have to pay a $300,000 fee: Newsweek, October 8, 1956; see Time, November 4, 1957, for a slight variation.
Elvis for his part is just as genuinely thrilled: Interview with Gordon Stoker, 1989.
“This is a nice boy”: TV Star Parade, April 1957.
he was happy to serve: Memphis Press-Scimitar, January 8, 1957.
LOVING YOU
while “rock ’n’ roll has its place”: John Jackson, Big Beat Heat: Alan Freed and the Early Years of Rock & Roll, p. 146.
“He was a genius”: Hal Wallis and Charles Higham, Starmaker, p. 148.
on the second or third day of his visit: Interview with Freddy Bienstock, 1992.
Elvis thought was a good phrase: October 28, 1957, interview.
On Monday Elvis reported to the studio: There has always been a good deal of controversy about when exactly Elvis started to dye his hair. Given his experimentation with hairstyles from high school on, this confusion is certainly understandable, and not of any great critical importance, but according to George Klein, he had never seen Elvis with black hair before he came back from the filming of Loving You, and this was the story that Elvis told George of how it came about.
Songwriter Ben Weisman, too, showed up: Interview with Ben Weisman, 1989.
(“I need them like I need a hole in the head”): Memphis Press-Scimitar, September 14, 1957.
“I was fascinated by the way Elvis recorded”: Wallis and Higham, Starmaker, p. 151.
He liked Wendell Corey: Interviews with Glen Glenn, 1990, and Hal Kanter, 1993.
“a lot of fun to be with”: Robert Johnson, “Elvis’ Hollywood Diary,” 16, July 1957.
the situation that seemed to be developing: Interview with Glen Glenn; also interviews with Scotty Moore.
“a little homesick[ness]”: Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 7, 1957.
“I was suffering some nausea”: Memphis Press-Scimitar, January 29, 1957.
On their first morning at the lot: Dick Williams, “Behind the Scenes with Loving You,” as cited in Bill DeNight et al., eds., Elvis Album, p. 90.
“There’s somebody to comb his hair”: C. Robert Jennings, “There’ll Always Be an Elvis,” Saturday Evening Post, September 11, 1965, p. 79.
One time they went to the movies: Albert Goldman, Elvis, pp. 231–232.
Scotty Moore’s wife, Bobbie, came out: Interview with Bobbie Moore, 1992.
One day when they visited the set: Interview with Hal Kanter.
It was, remarked Time magazine: Time, May 27, 1957.
He blew up at Gordon Stoker: Interview with Gordon Stoker, 1989.
he was really beginning to miss his road trips: Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 19, 1957.
At the wrap party Hal Kanter: Interview with Hal Kanter.
He sent a telegram to June: Interview with June Juanico, 1991.
Built in 1939: Ida Clemens in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, October 27, 1940, as cited in Jane Brown Gillette, “Elvis Lives,” Historic Preservation, May/June 1992.
Accompanying the family was Mrs. Virginia Grant: Graceland, pp. 30–31.
“This is going to be a lot nicer”: “Singer Is Interested in Purchasing Graceland,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 23, 1957.
(“I think I am going to like this new home”): William Leaptrott and Tom Johnson, “Presley Is Eager to Redecorate,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 26, 1957.
Sam Phillips had just moved into: Interview with Knox Phillips, 1989.
“the darkest blue there is”: Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 26, 1957.
there were two priorities: Shelley Ritter interview with George Golden, 1993; additional information on Golden from Dewey Webb, “Goodness Graceland! Elvis’ Interior Decorator Tells All!” Phoenix New Times, July 28–August 3, 1993.
He had another disturbing run-in: Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 22–26, 1957.
Elvis would be returning to Tupelo: Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 22, 1957.
“I had gotten fired”: Interview with George Klein, 1991.
“Hysterical Shrieks Greet Elvis”: Press coverage from this tour is extensively documented in Ger Rijff, Faces and Stages.
In Canada, Oscar Davis finally made his move: Interviews with Scotty Moore, Gordon Stoker, and D. J. Fontana.
(“All those sweet little girls out there”): Interview with Hal Kanter.
(“as public reparation for excesses”): New York Journal-American, March 31, 1957.
In Philadelphia, speaking to a group: Carol Gelber, “Press Conference: High School Reporters Keep Their Poise Interviewing Elvis,” P
hiladelphia Evening Bulletin, April 6, 1957.
Yvonne Lime came to visit: Yvonne Lime, “My Weekend with Elvis,” Modern Screen, 1957.
On Saturday night they went over to Sam’s new house: Ibid.; interviews with Sam and Knox Phillips; Dot Phillips’ recollections in “Memories of Elvis Shared by Close Friend” by Larry Johnson, Trenton Herald Gazette, August 17, 1978.
JAILHOUSE ROCK
All quotes from Scotty Moore, George Klein, Russ Tamblyn, Cliff Gleaves, and Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are from the author’s interviews, unless otherwise noted.
He was staying at the plush Beverly Wilshire: Interview with George Klein, 1993.
“‘Get him off this stuff’ ”: Jerry Hopkins interview with Gordon Stoker (MVC/MSU).
“They came in because we pushed them in”: Interview with Freddy Bienstock, 1992.
“Most artists,” said Gordon Stoker: Interview with Gordon Stoker, 1989.
“Elvis looked at me”: Interview with George Klein for Elvis in Hollywood, 1993.
He told the assistant director: Interview with Bob Relyea for Elvis in Hollywood, 1993.
Cliff met Lamar at the door: Cliff’s account essentially bears out George’s.
“Cliff, Arthur, and I”: Interview with George Klein for Elvis in Hollywood, 1993.
“Whenever there was a break”: Interview with George Klein, 1993.
scared the hell out of Elvis: Sammy Davis, Jr., et al., Why Me? The Sammy Davis, Jr., Story, pp. 77–81. This is supported by interviews with George Klein et al., as well as newspaper accounts.
Mitchum himself stopped by: Interviews with George Klein, Russ Tamblyn, and D. J. Fontana.
“The Clan of Elvis Presley”: Interview with Vince Edwards, 1990.
“When I get married”: AP report, June 6, 1957.
“I don’t feel like I’m property”: Joe Hyams, “The Highest Paid Movie Star Ever,” New York Herald-Tribune, May 16, 1957.
“I always criticize myself”: October 28, 1957, interview.
he sought tips: Interview with Bob Relyea for Elvis in Hollywood, 1993.
Before he left, Elvis played: Robert Johnson, “These Reports True—Elvis and Dewey Had a Falling Out,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, summer 1957.