1. “We just got in there and played with him,” John Lennon recalled. John Lennon was probably the most nervous about the meeting since Elvis was literally John’s hero. Elvis and Priscilla met them at the door. Back Row: Elvis, Alveena the maid, Patsy Lacker. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr along with their manager Brian Epstein, publicist and assistants came to Presley’s house at 525 Perugia Way in Los Angeles (Bel Air) to meet their rock and … He told Sonny West: “[That was] a lot better than I thought it would be. Evans, who happened to be a huge Presley fan, said: “There was Elvis playing bass, Paul and John on guitars – and I just sat there with my mouth open all night.”, The Beatles’ chauffeur, Alf Bicknell, described the impromptu jam session: “There was no singing, it was more a case of showing each other different guitar licks. ( Log Out /  Elvis Presley: The Beatles’ bizarre journey to the King’s house in first meeting revealed June 26, 2020 In a series of unearthed video and audio interviews put together by fans, The Beatles John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr shared their experiences of meeting the icon that was Elvis Presley. JOHN: It was nice meeting Elvis. When Elvis met the Beatles Aug 1965. Many can recall the time Elvis met President Richard Nixon, and they ended up talking a great deal about the Beatles. He was playing a bass guitar, which even to this day I find very strange. Change ), Not affiliated with Elvis Presley’s Estate or EPE, ELVIS AND THE BEATLES: Love and Rivalry Between the Two Biggest Acts of the 20th Century, Elvis Presley and the Black Community: Dispelling the Myths. The Beatles were the ones who pushed for the meeting with Elvis. You just aimed it at the telly and – wow! The house was very big and dark. RINGO: I was pretty excited about it all, and we were lucky because it was the four of us and we had each other to be with. On August 27th of 1965 the Beatles met Elvis Presley at his home at 525 Perugia Way in Los Angeles (Bel Air) around the end of their second American tour. I felt I was more thrilled to meet him than he was to meet me. ( Log Out /  But we finally received an invitation to go round and see him when he was making a film in Hollywood. Elvis was in the den when The Beatles arrived. I could actually talk about the bass, and we sat around and just enjoyed ourselves,” McCartney said. Copy link. PAUL: So although we tried many times [to meet Elvis], Colonel Tom [Parker, his manager] would just show up with a few souvenirs, and that would have to do us for a while. We were in a Cadillac limousine, going round and round along Mulholland, and we’d had a couple of “cups of tea” in the back of the car. And a year after finishing my book and while in Los Angeles at a Beatle fanjets convention, I met David E. Stanley, who was Elvis' half brother. On their return to America's west coast a year later, they met Elvis at his house … “One of the highlights. The most infamous rock and roll meeting of all time occurred when Elvis Presley met The Beatles. On August 27, 1965, the day the actual meeting took place, a story ran in the NME by Hutchins with the headline “NME is arranging a meeting between Elvis and Beatles!”, Finally, on September 3, 1965, the NME ran their exclusive story on the meeting. Elvis appeared to have enjoyed himself. Instead, Colonel Parker visited with The Beatles and gave them gifts of Elvis souvenirs. After all the introductions, The Beatles sat down on the couch next to Elvis who was watching a muted TV, while music was playing in the background on a jukebox. According to Express, the photo of Elvis shaking President Nixon’s hand was the … The meeting was not publicized and there were no recordings and unfortunately no professional photos taken. It didn’t really matter where we were going – it’s like the comedian Lord Buckley says, “We go into a native village and take a couple of peyote buds, we might not find out where we is, but we’ll sure find out who we is.”. The most infamous rock and roll meeting of all time occurred when Elvis Presley met The Beatles on August 27, 1965. Since there was no drum kit, Ringo went into the other room to play pool, and George supposedly went outside to smoke a joint. Epstein, the BBC reports, thought that he could convince Parker to do something he'd never done before: take Elvis international. That’s some good times there.”, Later that year, Paul and John called Graceland to speak to Elvis. Parker had been famously gun shy about … Maybe a lot of American houses are like that, but it seemed amazing to us. We walked in, and Elvis was sitting down on a settee in front of the TV. PAUL: These were great times, so even if you didn’t enjoy all of the events that much, you could still go home to Liverpool and say, “Well, you know who I met?” I mean, to meet Elvis, or anybody like that, or to say you’ve been to Sunset Strip – it was very impressive.”. Rare and Adorable Photos of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson With His Father Rocky Johnson During the 1980s, 20 Gorgeous Portrait Photos of German Actress Kaaren Verne in the 1940s, “Night Glasses” Train Soldiers To Fight in the Dark, 1940. Elvis Presley and The Beatles met for the very first - and only time - on the evening of August 1965, but new details of the visit to Elvis' Beverly Hills Home have just emerged. Every item on this page was hand-picked by a House Beautiful editor. Reflecting on the experience, Harris shared: “On one trip or another we met Elvis. It was billed as perhaps the most legendary meeting in rock 'n' roll history. Elvis didn’t usually have entertainers at his house. A lot less talk, not much more action. In truth, it was more like a “Lennon-McCartney-Presley” jam session. The Beatles were the ones who pushed for the meeting. Why Elvis Presley was censored on The Ed Sullivan Show. But what else happened during the Elvis and Beatles meeting? Your email address will not be published. Priscilla Presley Reveals Elvis by Presley: intimate stories from Priscilla Presley, Lisa Mar… As The Beatles walked into the den, John Lennon launched into an imitation of Peter Sellers’ character, Inspector Clouseau, by saying “Oh, zere you are, Elvis!” Everyone laughed. After all, it was Elvis who was one of the main influences for John Lennon to start the band. Meanwhile, Beatles manager Brian Epstein was grinding through a side quest off in the corner with Elvis's longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Vintage Everyday About sharing. When we went through all the lawsuits, it looked as if everything was bleak, but when I think back to before that, I remember we used to laugh all the time.) The headline stated: “NME has only reporter present when Elvis meets Beatles.”. It was a typical night at Presley’s home with members of Elvis’ entourage on hand as well as a few of their female companions including Presley’s live-in girlfriend and future wife, Priscilla Presley. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Larry Geller: On August 27 th, 1965, Elvis Presley had a home in Bel Air, a cool place overlooking the Pillar Golf Course, only this night was a Friday night, and there was this music group that was coming to meet him, called the Beatles. He just looked like Elvis-we were all major fans, so it was hero worship of a high degree. Little blues riffs, a bit of 12-bar and so on.”. JOHN: We were always in the wrong place at the wrong time to meet him, and we would have just gone round or something, but there was a whole lot of palaver about where we were going and how many people should go and everything, with the managers, Colonel Tom and Brian [Epstein], working everything out. We couldn’t stand not doing personal appearances, we’d get bored – we get bored quickly. 0. Elvis Presley met The Beatles for the first time on August 27, 1965, at his California home. At the time of their meeting, there were rumours of rivalry between the two acts. The most infamous rock and roll meeting of all time occurred when Elvis Presley met The Beatles on August 27, 1965. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Therefore, this historic event is recounted solely through eyewitness accounts from the people who were there. Elvis Meets The Beatles by Chris Hutchins and Peter Thompson is now available as an eBook on Amazon at £7.48. Finally, in August 1965, the stars seemed to align since The Beatles were in L.A. for their concert at The Hollywood Bowl and Elvis was in L.A. having just returned from Hawaii where he was filming, Elvis’ friend and confidante Jerry Schilling was there on the night, and revealed it started with an awkward silence: “It was a little strange right in the beginning. We pulled up at some big gates and someone said, “Oh yeah, we’re going to see Elvis,” and we all fell out of the car laughing, trying to pretend we weren’t silly: just like a Beatles cartoon. It is said these photographs were taken by a fan from an adjacent tree somewhere between 2:30 and 3:30 AM. ELVIS AND THE BEATLES: Love and Rivalry Between the Two Biggest Acts of the 20th Century, Click here to take the Elvis Vs. “Without Elvis, there would be no Beatles,” Lennon famously remarked in later years. “They used language of music!” a callout in the article read. At the time, The Beatles were at the top of their career. He had all his guys around him, and we said, “Hi, Elvis.” He was pretty shy, and we were a little shy, but between the five of us we kept it rolling. It was an exciting night.”. Instead, manager Colonel Parker visited with The Beatles and gave them gifts of Elvis souvenirs. He was playing [Charlie Rich’s] “Mohair Sam” all evening – he had it on a jukebox. It’s 50 years ago that the Beatles finally met their idol, Elvis Presley, at his Home in Los Angeles, or more precisely, the Beatles met Elvis. February 26, 2021 The Beatles arrived at 11pm and were greeted by Elvis in his large circular living room. On August 27, 1965, John, Paul, George and Ringo along with their manager, publicist and assistants came to Presley’s house on Perugia Way in Los Angeles to meet their rock and roll idol. He said, “Hello, lads – do you want a drink?” We sat down, and we were watching telly, and he had the first remote switcher any of us had ever seen. I think he enjoys making movies so much. But the facts are this: on a balmy August night in 1965, inside a rented mansion up in the tony hills of Bel Air, Elvis met The Beatles. A rare meeting of legends occurred when The Beatles met Elvis Presley. And it was funny because the nearer we got to his house we forgot where we were going and we are in this Cadillac Limousine, and you know what it’s like in LA everything goes round and round and round. Elvis Presley often took great interest in politics and American life when he was still alive. On August 27th 1965, The Beatles (on a break during an American tour) left their rented house in Los Angeles and were driven to a Bell Air mansion, where they would spend time in the company of the father of their feast; the reason they picked up instruments and first played rock n’ roll; Elvis Presley. The story has come up more than a few times since I've been doing Scotty's site and did so also several times in a newsgroup I used to frequent that also included Marty Lacker and Larry Geller, two of Elvis… It became an exclusive story for NME reporter, Chris Hutchins. Finally, in August 1965, the stars seemed to align since The Beatles were in L.A. for their concert at The Hollywood Bowl and Elvis was in L.A. having just returned from Hawaii where he was filming Paradise Hawaiian Style. A few years later the Beatles were infuriated when they heard that Elvis had gone to the White House — and badmouthed the Beatles to Richard Nixon. It has been speculated that the Colonel let it be known to some though because there were fans outside the gates. That’s one thing we forgot about for a few years – laughing. The Beatles QUIZ, For more Elvis news, follow me on Twitter and Facebook. He had been documenting the anticipation of The Beatles’ possibly meeting Elvis since Paul McCartney called and spoke to Presley on the phone a year earlier. Elvis Presley: The Beatles’ bizarre journey to the King’s house in first meeting revealed In a series of unearthed video and audio interviews put together by fans, The Beatles John Lennon , Sir Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr shared their experiences of meeting the icon that was Elvis Presley. After all, it was Presley who was one of the main influences for John Lennon to start the band. It was the only time Elvis and The Beatles ever met. That’s Elvis! The most infamous rock and roll meeting of all time occurred when Elvis Presley met The Beatles. Elvis sits down on the couch and the guys didn’t know what to say. The Beatles arriving in San Francisco, California, in 1964. It has now been 50 years ago since the most infamous rock and roll meeting of all time occurred when Elvis Presley met The Beatles on August 27, 1965. They wanted to thank him for the visit in Los Angeles…. 1960s, California, celebrity & famous people, event & history, Los Angeles, music Anyway, we were just having fun, we were all in hysterics. ( Log Out /  They tried to see him a few times, because he was the King, but tonight was the night! Next Thursday, August 27, will mark the 55th anniversary of the one and only time the Beatles met Elvis Presley. Beatlemania was at its height when the group met Elvis during their US tour. ( Log Out /  He says he misses it a bit. A British journalist who also attended the infamous meeting was Chris Hutchins, a reporter for the New Musical Express (NME) at the time. Unfortunately, Colonel Parker, with the agreement of The Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, insisted that no pictures or video be taken of the infamous meeting. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr along with their manager Brian Epstein, publicist and assistants came to Presley’s house at 525 Perugia Way in Los Angeles (Bel Air) to meet their rock and roll idol. PAUL: He showed us in, and he was great. Elvis started playing a Fender bass which excited Paul McCartney: “It was a great conversation piece for me. During their concert tour in the summer of 1964, The Beatles tried to arrange a meeting with Elvis, but they could never coordinate their schedules. Elvis Presley House. Initially, there was an awkward moment of silence as The Beatles appeared star-struck and just stared at Elvis. He seemed normal to us, and we were asking about his making movies and not doing any personal appearances or TV. (We laughed a lot. He said to them, ‘If you’re going to sit here all night staring at me I’m going to bed.’ They laughed and that broke the ice. “We all plugged in whatever was around and we played and sang…”, The Beatles’ roadie, Mal Evans, remembered Elvis asking for a guitar pick. However, there was no drum set for Ringo. While many stories circulated in later years that the meeting was a flop or that either The Beatles or Elvis were disappointed, that doesn’t seem to be the case. During their summer tour of 1964 I took Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker (who became something of a mentor to me) to meet the Beatles at their rented home in Benedict Canyon and he promised them in front of me ‘that Chris here and I will do whatever we can to make sure you meet him.’ image caption. Copyright © 2021 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes. However, George Harrison and Ringo Starr claimed in The Beatles Anthology documentary that they never jammed with Elvis. By Rory O'Connor. Elvis walking alongside the limo. “Without Elvis, there would be no Beatles,” Lennon famously remarked in later years. Elvis Meets The Beatles’ 2015 concert tour celebrates the 50th anniversary of the famous meeting between the world's most iconic and influential recording artists of the 20th century. The Beatles arrived at Elvis’ home on 565 Perugia Way, Bel Air, around 10.00 p.m. At the house was Elvis, Priscilla, Joe Esposito, his wife and a bunch of the guy's girlfriends and wives.