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Location:
New York, Warwick Hotel.
Interviewer: Hy Gardner.
Watch the
movie with the complete interview:
Hallo, Elvis.
Hallo.
Did you have fun tonight on The Steve Allen Show?
Yes, sir, I really
did, I really enjoyed it.
First time you ever worked in tux or tails?
It’s the first
time I ever had one on, period.
You mean you’ve got, they say, four Cadillacs but no tuxedos?
No tuxedos, I
usually drive the Cadillacs in blue jeans.
Well, that’s very interesting, particularly when the cops stop you
and want to know if you own the car, eh?
That’s right, you
have to show them all your ownership, papers and different things.
You know, less than two years ago you were earning fourteen thousand
dollars a week as a movie usher, and then thirty-five dollars a week
for driving a truck in Memphis. Today you’re the most controversial
name in show business – has this sudden notoriety affected your
sleep, your appetite or the size of your head?
Not the size of my
head, it’s affected my sleep.
How much sleep do you get?
Oh, I average
about four or five hours a night, I guess.
Is that enough?
It’s really not,
but I’m used to it and I can’t sleep any longer.
What do you keep in mind mostly, I mean, some of the songs you’re
going to do or some of your plans or what – what goes through your
mind?
Well, everything
has happened to me so fast in the last year and a half, till er,
that I’m all mixed up, you know. I mean, I can’t keep up with
everything that’s happened and er…
I think that you’ve got very good company in Colonel Tom Parker, his
feet are on the ground and I think he’s doing a wonderful jog of
keeping things rolling nicely. You know I want to give you an
opportunity here to go over a lot of the rumours that have been
printed about you, including a few that I’ve printed myself, because
some of these can be checked and some can’t and I think that we
ought to sort of fix up the record. Now your style of gyrating while
you sing has been bitterly criticized even by usually mild and
gentle TV critics like Ben Grose, now do you bear any animosity
towards these critics?
Well, not really,
those people have a job to do and they do it.
And do you think that you’ve learned anything from the criticism
leveled at you?
No, I haven’t.
You haven’t, eh?
Because I don’t
feel that I’ve been doing anything wrong.
Do you read the stuff?
Do I read, you
mean the…
The reviews.
Not if I can help
it.
Do you keep a scrapbook at all?
Only of the good
stuff.
Only of the good stuff – that’s smart. Tell me, what kind of a
teenager were you – did you consider yourself well behaved?
Yes, well, I was
raised, you know, in a pretty decent home and everything. My folks
always made me behave whether I wanted to or not.
 
Now how do they feel about your success and the things that come or
the critics have said about you, both good and bad?
Well, I guess that
they’re just like myself, they’re very thankful for it, I mean we
always lived a kind of common life, we never had any luxuries, but
we were never real hungry, you know, and I guess that they’re just,
you know, they’re real proud just like I am.
Well, now there are two or three columns this week that carry items
that you have bought four Cadillacs – not what is there to that,
Elvis?
Er, er, it’s…
What?
It’s the truth, I
do have, I do have four Cadillacs.
What do you do with four Cadies?
Well, I, er… I, I
don’t know. I haven’t got any use for four, I just, you know – maybe
someday, I’ll go broke and I can sell a couple of them.
Well, some people collect stamps and government bonds and I guess
Cadillacs are probably in the same category. I understand you gave
one of them to your folks, is that right?
Well, anything
that’s mine is theirs, I mean, all four of them is theirs. I’m
planning for seven, I mean, I want seven, you know.
You want seven?
Yes.
Well, you know what’s going to happen, you’ll wind up and be the
Presley car renting corporation.
Yeah, I was
thinking about the Presley used car lot, you know.
I understand that you’ve bought a home for your folks and even
though your father is only thirty-nine, you’ve insisted that he
retire, is that true?
Yes, well, he’s
more help for me, he’s more help at home than he is anywhere else,
because he can take care of all my business and he can look after
things when I’m gone and everything.
Well I think, I think that’s very smart. On your personal
appearances, you create a sort of mass hysteria amongst your
audiences of teenagers. Is your shaking and quaking in the nature of
an involuntary response to this hysteria?
Would you say that
again, sir.
Well, I say when you shake and you quake when you sing, is that sort
of an involuntary response to the hysteria of your audience?
Involuntary?
Yeah.
Er, well, I’m
aware of everything that I do all the times, but er it’s just the
way I feel.
I mean, for example, if somebody is playing ball they play just a
little bit harder when the fans rout and I was wondering whether
this had anything to…
Oh sure, well, I
guess any artistes’ audience acts like they’re enjoying it, if they
act like they’re with you, well, it makes you put more into it, you
know.
Do you think that your rocking and rolling has had an evil influence
on teenagers or do you think that…
I don’t see that
any type of music would have any bad influence on people, it’s only
music, I mean, I can’t figure it out, I mean in lot of the papers
they say that rock’n’roll is a bad influence on juvenile delinquency
– I don’t think it is, er juvenile delinquency is something that er,
that’s er, well, it’s just, I don’t know how to explain it, but I
don’t see how music can have anything to do with it at all.
I understand that Mitch Miller at Columbia Records defines
rock’n’roll as a safe form of rebellion against mother, father and
teacher – do you go along with this analysis?
I don’t know
exactly what he means by rebellion, I mean er, how would rock’n’roll
music make anybody rebel against their parents?
Well, I guess that answers to Mr. Miller. Now I’ve got a couple of
questions here that I’ll like to sort of clear up, one of them and
it sort of is a silly one to me, after having talked with you some
length earlier, what about the rumour that you once shot your
mother?
(laughs)… well, I
think that one takes the cake, I mean er, that’s about the funniest
one I ever heard.
Where did that one come from, have you any idea?
I have no idea, I
can’t imagine, when you mentioned it to me, it’s the first time I
had ever heard it.
Is that right?
The first time I
ever heard.
Well, there’s another one too that you may not have heard before,
several newspapers stories hinted that you smoked marihuana to get
the bop, in order to work yourself into a frenzy while singing, what
about that?
Er, I don’t know.
You don’t even bother answering that, well, here’s one that’s very
interesting. I don’t know whether or not you noticed the column the
other day, they predict that Elvis Presley will be another James
Dean – now have you heard that?
Well, I heard
something about it, but I would never compare myself in any way to
James Dean, because James Dean was a genius at acting, although I’ll
say that er, that er, I sure would like to, I mean I guess that
there’s a lot of actors in Hollywood that would like to have the
ability that James Dean had, but I would never compare myself with
James Dean in any way.
Now if you had your choice, would you prefer to be an actor than be
a singing entertainer?
If I were a good
actor, ‘cause I’m not a good singer, but if I were a good actor I
think that I would like it a little better, although if I ever break
into the acting completely, I’ll still continue my singing, I’ll
still continue making records.
Well, that’s always a very, very good sideline. Well, it was just
fine talking with you and I hope that you’ll enjoy a long career,
whether it’s acting or anything else and I think that all the things
said about you, while they’ve been extremely critical, I think they
have helped to make you the kind of a big name, that has made it
possible for you to do the things for your folks that you always
wanted to, so I’d sort of think that I’d look at it that way, Elvis.
Well, sir, I tell
you, you know, you got to accept the bad along with the good. I’ve
been getting some very good publicity, the press has been real
wonderful to me and then I’ve been getting some bad publicity, well,
you’ve got to expect that and er, I know that I mean that I’m doing
the best that I can and er I’ve never turned a reporter down, I’ve
never turned a disc-jockey down, because they’re the people who help
make you in this business and er, as long as I know that I’m doing
the best that I can, that’s, that’s…
Well, you can’t be expected to do any more and I want to tell you
that’s it’s just been swell talking with you and you make a lot of
sense.
Thank you very
much.
Give my best to the Colonel.
Sure will.
Bye, bye.
Source:
Elvis Word for Word book, by Jerry Osborne. |
