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John Lennon and Elvis Presley
In the fall of 1980, John and Yoko were finishing up their new album, 'Double Fantasy', and I headed to New York for John's first newspaper interview in five years. John raced into Yoko Ono's home office in the mammoth old Dakota building with a copy of Donna Summer's new single, The Wanderer. 'Listen!' he shouted to us as he put the 45 on the record player. 'She's doing Elvis!' I didn't know what he was talking about at first. The arrangement felt more like rock than the singer's usual electro-disco approach, but the opening vocal sure sounded like Donna Summer to me. Midway through the song, however, her voice shifted into the playful, hiccuping style Elvis had used on so many of his early recordings.
'See! See!' John shouted, pointing at the speakers.
One day in 1975, he took me to his son, Sean's playroom, where he kept one of his prized possessions, a vintage jukebox. Plugging it in, he punched one Elvis Presley record after another and bopped around playfully. As Elvis sang Don't Be Cruel in the background, John recalled his first and only meeting with our mutual rock hero. It was a story he relished sharing as much as he did his Beatles memories.
'It was probably 1965 and we had a break in L.A. during a tour. We went up to his house and we were terrified. I can't remember the first moment I saw him, but he looked great. We started singing some of his songs. That's what we always did when we met Chuck Berry or Carl Perkins or any of them'.
I asked if Elvis had known how big the Beatles were and if he had felt any hint of competition.
'Are you kidding?' John replied with a laugh.
'He knew damn well who we were -- from the word 'go'. He was terrified of us and the English movement because we were a threat to him. I heard he was so paranoid all afternoon that he kept practicing things to say to us, asking the guys around him if we were any good. It was like Ali wondering if he could handle Frazier. To us, he was a god. We'd like to beat his record and become the champion, but we would always give him credit. It always hurts and infuriates me when Mick Jagger puts Elvis down. Maybe he's jealous because Elvis was the original body man in rock and it's too near to Mick's game for him to admit that Elvis' movements were at least as good as his and that maybe Elvis could sing a damn sight better than he could'.
Excerpted from 'Corn Flakes with John Lennon (And Other Tales From a Rock 'n' Roll Life),' by Robert Hilburn. Copyright ©2009 by Robert Hilburn. Permission granted by Rodale, Inc., Emmaus.
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Recommended Shop items : CDs, DVDs and Books
Special Delivery : The Ultimate Elvis Presley Collectors Box
48 Hours To Memphis FTD CD : 7" Packaging [FTD Stereo Concert CDs*]
Elvis : The King Of Las Vegas : Deluxe Hardcover Book : 1300 + pictures [Photo Books]
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King Creole : Frame By Frame : Deluxe Hardcover Book : 400 pages
Elvis My Best Man by George Klein [Information Books]
The Elvis I Knew by Charlie Hodge DVD [Elvis Presley Documenetary and Concerts on DVD]
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Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD [Elvis Presley Documenetary and Concerts on DVD] [Below]
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* 48 Hours To Memphis is actually not stereo but it has been mixed from a two track tape and very high quality 'hi-fi' and not only is it not a soundboard it compares perfectly with normal stereo releases.
Video Preview: Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD
Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD. Digipack with a 16 page booklet. Never before have we seen an Elvis concert from the 50's with sound. Until Now! The DVD Contains recently discovered Unreleased Film of Elvis performing 6 songs, including Heartbreak Hotel and Don’t Be Cruel, live in Tupelo Mississippi 1956. Included we see a live performance of the elusive Long Tall Sally seen here for the first time ever. This is an excellent release no fan should be without it. The 'parade' footage is good to see as it puts you in the right context with color and b&w footage. The interviews of Elvis' Parents are well worth hearing too. The afternoon show footage is wonderful and electrifying : Here is Elvis in his prime rocking and rolling in front of 11.000 people.
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