BILL & SUE-ON HILLMAN: A 60-YEAR MUSICAL ODYSSEY
The Hillman Musical Odyssey
ELVIS PRESLEY ON STAGE!
VANCOUVER ~ AUGUST 31, 1957
RED ROBINSON :: VANCOUVER EMPIRE STADIUM MC
A Series of Memories Posted By Red To Facebook
www.hillmanweb.com/elvis/canada
ELVIS IN VANCOUVER - 1957
https://www.facebook.com/redrockdiner
In the summer of 1956, Red wrote to Elvis Fan Club director Jimmy Rose asking if Elvis could come to Vancouver. Jimmy forwarded the letter directly to Elvis' management in Nashville.
On September 19 Red received this letter from Colonel Tom Parker's right-hand man, Tom Diskin:"Regarding your request for information on a personal appearance by Elvis Presley, all I can say is that we have had quite a few requests from other Canadian promoters as long as six months ago. As yet, due to heavy commitments in pictures, recordings and personal appearances it has been impossible for us to get up to that part of the country. And even at this time it is impossible to predict when we might be able to play that area.
Keep up the fine work and we all want you to know we sincerely appreciate your interest and enthusiasm. There has been tremendous reaction to the ballad Elvis sang on The Ed Sullivan Show entitled 'Love Me Tender' and the record company officials are predicting that this will be one of his greatest hits. And of course all of Presley's fans are anxiously awaiting the release of his first movie performance, the picture entitled 'Love Me Tender'.
Thanks again for your wonderful support and very best from all of us here.
Sincerely, Tom Diskin"
Next: Elvis in Vancouver!
Red Robinson's Legends
Red says, "On August 31 1957, Vancouver hosted the appearance of the King of Rock'n'Roll. Elvis Presley's Empire Stadium concert had been anticipated with great fanfare. More than 26,000 tickets were sold for the event.Presley arrived in Vancouver by train as his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, did not want Elvis to fly. The train arrived in the morning at the Great Northern railway station, catching the media off guard as they had anticipated he would be arriving by plane. He was then driven by limousine to the Georgia Hotel where he took over an entire floor.
The local promoter of the show was Hugh Pickett of Famous Artists, working with Zollie Volchok of Seattle. Knox Coupland and Ernie Henn, two good friends from Elvis' label RCA, spent the day with me. Ernie, Knox and I met Zollie in the lobby of the Georgia Hotel. Zollie and I took the elevator to the 12th floor of the hotel and started walking down the hall toward Elvis’ room. About two doors from the room Elvis was staying in, a giant of a man stopped us in our tracks. After Zollie explained who we were, we were allowed to pass. The guards for Elvis were ex-U.S. Marines.
Zollie knocked on the door. It flew open and Tom Diskin, Elvis Presley's road manager, greeted us. After further introductions I was allowed inside the doorway to meet Elvis. The meeting was brief. A handshake, a question here, an answer there. Like most performers I have met over the years, Elvis was tired and really just lounging about in his room.
Elvis was cautious at our initial meeting but relaxed after he was told by his management people that I was a true supporter of his music and an honest to God fan. When he realized that I was not there to interview him or to explore his personality for faults to publicize, he was most cordial. The exchange of words was basically small talk. We talked about his success, the types of music we both enjoyed and his enjoyment of live performances where he could see immediate reaction to his stage act.
I found him to be most polite and interestingly a shy man. His tone of voice during our talk was low-key and soft spoken. There was nothing pretentious about the man. It was obvious he knew who he was and what he was all about. I guess one of the main reasons I have always been a Presley fan is that I met him and discovered a down to earth individual who had not been affected by the incredible success that fell upon him. The basic purpose of the short visit was to introduce Elvis to his Master of Ceremonies for the evening. We said goodbye, and I said that I was looking forward to his show and would see him later that day at the stadium."
Next: the press conference.
On this day in 1957, Elvis Presley's concert tour hits Vancouver's Empire Stadium. Before the show, Elvis held a press conference for local media, and Red was there:“On the way down into the cavernous depths of the stadium we passed by concessionaires who were hawking 'I Like Elvis' buttons and 'I Hate Elvis' buttons. I bought one of each. Both buttons were produced by the Elvis people, a sign that manager 'Colonel' Tom Parker was one smart dude.
At the press conference, I discovered that only the newsmen had brought tape recorders. The other deejays had not. I hadn't been used to doing interviews with a press group and was determined to get my piece in. As the microphones were pushed into Presley's face I fought to ask him questions mostly related to his music. He seemed to understand that I was not out to gather any sensational news.
CKNW's Marke Raines was firing questions about 'confidential' magazine reports on his likes and dislikes. I could see that Elvis was not ready to jump into the world of controversy. He tried to avoid the question but gave a reasonable answer. Elvis was hunched down on his knees on top of a large table and the reporters and deejays were surrounding the table. It amazed me that he could sit like that for forty minutes, shifting now and then from one leg to another.
As the interview progressed I realized something. As Elvis faced a sea of reporters, he would look from time to time over their heads in the direction of Colonel Parker, who was just behind the bank of reporters. When Elvis was in doubt about how he should answer a question, he would look in the direction of the Colonel, who would nod or shake his head accordingly. Elvis would then give an answer.
Colonel Parker was leaving nothing to chance and had even positioned Elvis for the interview so subtly that the reporters were unaware of the situation. At one point I hopped up on the table with Elvis and knelt down beside him. I was able at last to fire questions and get answers that excluded the reporters from the interview. My thoughts at the time were, 'I have taken all the flak and abuse for playing rock'n'roll from this same group of reporters and to hell with everything. This is my day and my listeners' day, they aren't going to hog the scene.'
The interview went off beautifully and when the reporters had run out of gas, I asked my questions with regard to his music. It was my guess that many of the reporters on hand were there more for curiosity and autographs for their sons and daughters than they were there for their radio, TV or newspaper editors.
A local Elvis fan club presented Elvis with a giant Panda to commemorate the success of 'Teddy Bear', which by then was #1 on the Pop, R&B and Country music charts. Elvis didn't want to take it on the train to his next show in Seattle so he gave me the bear, saying 'You know, Red, grown men don't collect bears.'”
Next: Red and Elvis wait backstage, "The King" performs for 25,000 fans.
It's August 31, 1957 and Elvis Presley's Empire Stadium press conference is drawing to a close. Red recalls what happened next:
"When the press conference ended, Elvis and I were joined by two Vancouver policemen. We stayed there together for what seemed like an eternity waiting for the stadium to fill up with fans. These were intimate moments with 'The King'. We talked about growing up poor. We discussed the changing world, his family, my family, his love of rhythm and blues, country and gospel music. Elvis discussed at great length his ambitions with regard to his music. He asked me about my radio show, the kids that listened, how they reacted to his television appearances and his records.
Elvis was restless. He was literally a bundle of nervous energy. There was nothing to do in that waiting area. He and I just stood talking. At one point he went to the door and asked one of the policemen to come into the room. He asked him if he could borrow his handcuffs. Elvis handcuffed me to the shower rod and threw the key away. He laughed like a madman. This was his way of relieving the tension of waiting. Of course the police officer thought it was funny too and I could see that he sensed the pressure building up in Elvis' mind in anticipation of his performance.
Just before I left the dressing room to go out and bring on the opening acts, Elvis stood up, stretched out his hand and said, 'It was nice meeting you. Good luck with your radio career and I hope we get to see each other again down the road.'
With my heart pounding with excitement, I left Elvis and walked toward the stage at the north end of Empire Stadium. I can't describe the feeling of looking out at a sea of 25,000 faces. It was the biggest crowd of his early career. I had to gather up every ounce of courage. My knees were shaking as I introduced Elvis. I walked out to thundering applause and said 'On behalf of the Teen Canteen, Canada’s largest teen show, I'm proud tonight to present to you, ELVIS PRESLEY!' The crowd went berserk.
Elvis performed for only 27 minutes. He sang many of his hits including 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'Don't Be Cruel', 'That's When Your Heartaches Begin', and 'Hound Dog'. As the crowd grew more alarming, Presley was ordered by his manager to wrap up the show and depart in his Cadillac, now parked conveniently behind the stage.
After his departure from Empire Stadium, Elvis retired to his hotel room where he stayed overnight. Vancouver was the biggest success story on the whole tour. I saluted Elvis on my CKWX late night show following his appearance. The show ended up running all night long with a steady flow of everything Elvis had ever recorded up to that time. Elvis called me in the small hours of the morning and expressed his thanks. He left town later that morning and continued with his tour in Seattle and Portland."
Vancouver morning newspaper The Province featured fan reaction from Pauline Winter: "At 14 years old, I was the only one of my friends allowed to go to this concert. My cousin Denise and I made our way down to the field and elbowed our way to the front. We were so close and totally enthralled. And there he was: Elvis."
Anita Montague recalled: "Oh God, when he walked on that stage, I’m tellin’ ya, my heart was just racing. I can’t really remember the songs. I was just kind of mesmerized. Oh God, he was good lookin’… he was wiggling his little pelvis there. I’m just sitting there with my mouth open."
Red says, "I was proud to be part of the success that day as I had tried in vain to get Elvis here for a year and a half. Vancouver was one of only three cities Elvis played outside the United States, and the Empire Stadium show was the last performance he ever gave outside the U.S."
A big "thank yuh" to a couple of local Elvis fans for keeping the memories alive: Red's favourite Elvis tribute artist Aaron Wong and his band, who performed at numerous events this summer; and Brandon Yip, author of "Elvis Presley: ‘All Shook Up’ in Canada",
Barb Dobie
Hard to believe this was 67 years ago and such a huge event for Vancouver!!!!!...still talked about today!!!....i was there day before and being only 9 we set off for Victoria on the CP ferry on the 31st....i cried I wanna see Elvis as we left the harbour!!!! I did get to meet him 10 years later.Vivian Awram Anderson
My Grama was his chambermaid. She said he was the perfect gentleman and always “ yes ma’am” . She also said he was so polite and down to earth. Our family still has his autographJohn Einarson Remembers
On this date, August 31, 1957, Elvis Presley performed before some 26,000 people jammed into Empire Stadium in Vancouver for his last show outside the United States. He had appeared in April in Toronto and Ottawa. Vancouver was the second stop of a tour of the Northwest that had started the day before in Spokane. Presley and his band took the train from Spokane to Vancouver. By this time Elvis had recorded eight No. 1 singles in two years, had made three movies and was about to release "Jailhouse Rock" as his latest single. The concert was organized by 20 year old CKWX deejay Red Robinson who also hosted the show (photo with Elvis below). There were 25,898 paid admissions and at ticket prices of $1.50, $2.50 and $3.50, the gross receipts came to $61,099.86 of which Elvis probably earned $21,936.32. Joining Elvis, Scotty Moore, Bill Black and drummer D.J. Fontana were backing singers The Jordanaires.The show was held on the BC Lions football field and security attempted to keep fans back from the stage. However fans pushed their way forward to see Presley up close. The concert had lasted all of 22 minutes. Frightened by the surging fans, Parker told Elvis to cut the show short. When Elvis abruptly left the stage Scotty and the others were left onstage to face the fans alone. Unknown to the audience, Elvis had gone into an alcove aside the stairs behind the curtain, gave his Gold jacket to one of his entourage (possibly Gene Smith) who then ran to the car to be whisked away pursued by the fans. Vancouver Sun photographer Ralph Bower said, 'they knocked the fence over and chased him, and that's when he got away. They came like a herd of cattle. I was standing there and they run right over the top of me'. Elvis walked across the field to the dressing rooms unnoticed in his black shirt.
Elvis interview; August 31, 1957 - Vancouver, Canada
https://youtu.be/43kNq36GvLQ
https://www.scottymoore.net/vancouver57.html
