Lennon ended up spending so much time talking about Elvis and other favorites from the 1950s that I was afraid we weren't going to get to the Beatles and his solo career. As Elvis sang 'Don't Be Cruel' in the background, John recalled his first and only meeting with our mutual rock hero.
John Lennon was once asked what he thought about Elvis Presley and replied, “He's one of my heroes. I saw him in '56 in Liverpool. I was just a kid then, but I've loved him ever since.” It was John Lennon who suggested that The Beatles' song 'She Loves You' could be inspired by an Elvis Presley song.
'When Elvis died, people were harassing me in Tokyo for a comment. Well I'll give it you now - he died when he went into the Army. That's when they killed him. That's when they castrated him.
A secretive meeting between the Fab Four and the King. On August 27, 1965, a turning point in pop culture occurred at 525 Perugia Way in Bel Air, California, one that few knew about while it was taking place: the meeting between the four Beatles and Elvis Presley, in Elvis's home.
It is well-known that John Lennon was a huge fan of Elvis Presley as a teenager. Lennon formed The Quarrymen in response to his love of Elvis and rock and roll, and the band went on to become The Beatles.
The admiration of Elvis expanded greatly when Paul got to see Presley's sense of humor and good looks in the movies. “We all loved Elvis – he was so hot,” Paul McCartney gushed years later. “We were just so in love with him.
He says Elvis's favorite groups were the Harmonizing Four and Golden Gate Quartet and his favorite gospel singers included Jimmy Jones, Jake Hess (who sang with the Statesmen and later formed the Imperials) and Mahalia Jackson.
They were two of the biggest stars in the entire history of music. They only met once, at Lennon's urging, but it ended badly with both sides disappointed with each other. However, Elvis also felt mocked and disrespected. He never forgot his fury and would erupt in anger at the mere mention of the Beatles legend.
Paul McCartney recalls meeting Elvis Presley in the summer of 1965 in a new interview with Wired Magazine. In the video, McCartney talks about what it was like to meet Elvis and how the king's television technology wowed the Fab Four.
The meeting was famously awkward at first, but Elvis broke the ice by saying to the Beatles, "If you're just going to sit around and stare at me, I'm going to bed", and led the group into an impromptu jam session.
PBS reported that at the time of Presley's death two pathologists "found evidence of severe and chronic constipation, diabetes and glaucoma." The painkillers Presley used are believed to have contributed to his severe constipation.
Reportedly the last song Elvis sang in private was a rendition of 'Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain,' performed on his piano in Graceland hours before his death. It would become the first exposé on Presley's years of drug misuse.
The King's life came to an end on August 16, 1977. He was found unconscious by his then-girlfriend, Ginger Alden, on the bathroom floor in his Graceland mansion home. He was rushed to the hospital but after several attempts to revive him failed, Presley was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. He was only 42 years old.
As teenagers, The Beatles, especially John Lennon, were strongly influenced by Elvis Presley. They started wearing their hair slicked back like Elvis. They admired his rebelliousness and his appeal to women, not to mention his musical talent. “Nothing affected me until I heard Elvis,” John Lennon said.
The Beatles guitarist was, like so many of his generation, indebted to Elvis. Discussing Presley's music in the 1980s, Harrison said: “It had an incredible impact on me just because I'd never heard anything like it. I mean, coming from Liverpool, we didn't really hear the very early Sun Records.
Lennon formed his first band, The Quarrymen, which would later become The Beatles, as a result of his love for Elvis Presley and rock and roll. 'Without Elvis, there would be no Beatles', John Lennon stated matter-of-factly in a 1980 interview.
“I never met Elvis either, because John Lennon once told me he was a real disappointment,” Jagger said.
Elvis and the Beatles were, at best, frenemies
At best, Elvis and the Beatles had a strained relationship. There's only one well-publicized meeting between the two, which occurred on August 27, 1965 when the Beatles visited Presley in his Beverly Hills home.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, British rock band The Beatles are top of the list for best-selling artists worldwide, with 183 million units certified sales. Second is Garth Brooks with over 157 million units sales, followed by Elvis Presley with 139 million units.
Pete Shotton, known in Beatles lore as John Lennon's best friend during their childhood days in Liverpool and a member of Quarrymen, has passed away. He was 75.
Marty Lacker and Elvis' cousin, Billy Smith, were probably the closest true friends of Elvis according to some in the group.
Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley were his idols. In 1956, Lennon founded the Black Jacks, renamed the band as The Quarrymen and recruited Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
"A few days later when I mentioned Marilyn to Elvis, he said, 'She's a nice gal, but a little tall for me'." "I knew that this was the sort of thing that could ruin their careers."
Did Ginger Alden Attend Elvis' Funeral? Yes. As his fiancée at the time, it is believed that Ginger Alden was present for Elvis' funeral. Following the funeral, however, she was reportedly banned from Graceland by Presley's family and had to receive permission to visit his grave.
That's Someone You Never Forget.