The only known photograph connected to the meeting
August 27, 1965: The 2nd great summit of rock and roll occurs, exactly 365 days after the 1st, on August 28, 1964: The Beatles met Bob Dylan. It went great.
This 2nd one was The Beatles meeting the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. It didn't go nearly as well.
The Beatles were huge fans of Elvis, and considered him an inspiration for their career. However, Elvis was initially reluctant to meet them. Both record labels and managers from both sides pushed for the meeting to happen, knowing how iconic it would be.
It took place at Elvis' villa on Perugia Way, in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles. When the Beatles arrived, they were excited, but also intimidated. Elvis welcomed them with a relaxed attitude, sitting on a couch and playing an electric bass. However, the first moment was a bit tense: No one knew exactly what to say.
Breaking the ice, Elvis said, "If you guys are just going to sit there and stare at me, I’m going to bed!" This joke put everyone at ease, and kicked off the conversation.
The evening soon turned into an informal and fun moment. It is said that Elvis and the Beatles played together in an improvised jam session, although no official recording or photograph of the meeting was ever released. Among the songs played were probably some of Elvis' hits and a few classic rock and roll tracks that both sides knew well.
John Lennon was particularly fascinated by Elvis, and bombarded him with questions about his career and movies. However, Lennon didn't hide his disappointment with the musical direction Elvis had taken in the 1960s, preferring the early rock and roll style from his beginnings.
Paul McCartney was the most diplomatic, and showed enthusiasm for everything. He must have realized that, here, he could not be the control freak.
George Harrison was intrigued by the fact that Elvis had multiple televisions to watch different channels at the same time. Elvis had heard that President Lyndon Johnson had 3 TV sets installed in the Oval Office, so he could watch the evening news on ABC, CBS and NBC at the same time, and he wanted a similar setup. He had it at Graceland, too.
Ringo Starr spent most of the time playing with Elvis' pets, especially his dogs.
The Beatles were struck by Elvis' charismatic presence, while Elvis was impressed by the group's humility and liveliness. However, there was a subtle note of rivalry: Although Elvis respected the Beatles, he feared their popularity might overshadow his own.
The meeting ended on friendly terms, but there were no further contacts between Elvis and the Beatles. Nevertheless, they continued to influence each other: The Beatles always kept their admiration for Elvis alive, while when Elvis returned to live performing in 1969, he included "Yesterday" and "Hey Jude" in his repertoire.
In 1970, the Beatles broke up. And Elvis... well, he didn't quite rat them out, but he sent a letter to President Richard Nixon, telling him that he was concerned about the rise of drug culture in America, and partially blaming the Beatles. That set up an even more famous meeting, at the White House, between the King and Tricky Dick.
*
August 27, 1965 was a Friday. Australian-born soccer manager Ange Postecoglou was born. And these baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Athletics, 1-0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Whitey Ford and John O'Donoghue were both pitching shutouts until the bottom of the 9th, when Dick Green singled José Tartabull home. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 9-2 at Shea Stadium. Willie McCovey hit 2 home runs, and Willie Mays hit one, the 469th home run of his career. Warren Spahn, formerly of the Boston and Milwaukee Braves, was the winning pitcher. He had been with the Mets earlier in the season. It was his 2nd win of the season, and the 362nd game he won. There would be one more, and then he finally hung up his spikes.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-8 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Don Drysdale was the winning pitcher. The Phils had the tying run on 1st in the bottom of the 9th,but couldn't get him home.
* The Washington Senators beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (D.C. Stadium was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in 1969.) Jim King singled Ken Hamlin home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-5.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 10-9 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Andre Rogers singled Al McBean home, off future Baltimore star Mike Cuellar, in the bottom of the 11th inning. McBean was also the winning pitcher, having gone 2 innings. Pirate starter Vernon Law, the 1960 Cy Young Award winner, only went 4. Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell each went 1-for-4.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Ken Boyer doubled Lou Brock home with what turned out to be the winning run in the top of the 14th inning. Boyer went 3-for-7 with 2 RBIs. So did the Reds' Frank Robinson. Pete Rose went 1-for-7.
* A doubleheader was split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Chicago White Sox won the opener, 3-2. The Boston Red Sox won the nightcap, 6-1. Over the 2 games, Carl Yastrzemski went 4-for-7.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Braves, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Ernie Banks went 0-for-4, but Billy Williams hit a home run. For the Braves, Hank Aaron went 0-for-4, but home runs were hit by Felipe Alou and Mack Jones.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-0 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Jim "Mudcat" Grant pitched a 2-hit shutout. Harmon Killebrew did not play.
* And the California Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels groundshared until their Anaheim stadium was ready the next Spring. Al Kaline did not play.
No comments:
Post a Comment