Elvis World - Japan presents
Mike Stoller remembersThe Elvis Presley songbook by Ken Sharp (Goldmine)
The roll call is staggering - Elvis Presley, The Beatles,
The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, John Lennon,
Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, and Frank Sinatra are
just some of the artists who have recorded songs written by the
golden team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. They boast a rich
catalog of songs that will live forever. Among the luminous
jewels framing the Leiber And Stoller songbook include standards
such as "Stand By Me," "Love Potion Number Nine,"
"On Broadway," "There Goes My Baby," "Kansas City" "Young
Blood," "Ruby Baby," "Along Came Jones," "Yakety Yak,"
"Poison Ivy" "Is That All There Is?" and numerous others.
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees, Leiber And Stoller
created a wondrous array of timeless and eminently tuneful
rock 'n' roll classics that endure generation after generation.
Graced with Stoller's sublime and inventive melodic contours
and Leiber's evocative and sophisticated wordplay, the duo are
rightly acknowledged among popular music's most important
and groundbreaking songwriters of the past century.
Goldmine had the immense pleasure of sitting down with
Stoller in Beverly Hills to reminisce about his work writing the
music behind many of Presley's most quintessential recordings.
Most recently, four Leiber/Stoller songs ("Hound Dog," "Jailhouse
Rock," "Don't" and "She's Not You") have taken their proud place
on the new smash Presley compilation, Elvis 30 #1 Hits.
Goldmine: Initially you didn't even know who Elvis Presley was.
Mike Stoller: The first time I got a sizable royalty check was
in 1956, and it was $5,000. I thought I'd never see that much
money at the same time again. And I went to Europe for three
months and came back in style 'cause $5,000 took you a long
way in those days, especially in Europe. My first wife and I
came back on an Italian ocean liner, the Andrea Doria. We
almost made it to New York. The Stockholm ran into the Andrea
Doria. There were a lot of people killed, nor as many as there
could have been, fortunately. But there were over 50 people
who were killed. The boat sank. We climbed down a Jacob's
ladder swinging wildly over a broken lifeboat, which we got
into. We couldn't steer the boat because the rudder was broken.
We were ultimately picked up by the Cape Ann, a freighter
standing by. From the Cape Ann, I sent a telegram to Atlantic
Records. I was supposed to have met Jerry and Lester Sill at
Atlantic's offices. Until that time, all of our productions for
Atlantic had been done in Los Angeles, so I hadn't really met
anybody at the label except for Nesuhi Ertegun. Anyway when
the Cape Ann pulled into New York harbor, Jerry was waiting
for me [laughs]. He said, "Hey you're alive!" I said, "I guess
so." "Great to see ya, man!" He said, "Listen, we have a smash
hit!" I said, "You're kidding!" And he said, "No, 'Hound Dog.'"
And I said, "Big Mama Thornton's record?" And he said, "No,
some white kid named Elvis Presley." I said, "Elvis who?"
What was your first impression of Presley's version of "Hound Dog"?
It sounded kind of stiff and a bit too fast - a little nervous.
It didn't have that insinuating groove like on Big Mama's record.
Did you grow to like it?
After it sold seven million copies it began to sound better,
yeah [laughs].
Who pitched "Hound Dog" to Presley?
Elvis knew Big Mama's record, but Big Mama's version of
"Hound Dog" was written for a woman. And so Elvis couldn't
perform it that way. There was a group, Freddie Bell & The Bell
Boys, working in the lounge in Vegas who had recorded it.
They had altered the lyrics - the altered lyrics don't really
mean terribly much. They made it sound like the song was
written about a dog. Big Mama's record had the original lyrics,
which were written about a freeloading gigolo. After that, Elvis'
music publishers, the Aberbach brothers, Jean and Julian, contacted us.
We had known them out in L.A. They used to have
a home and office out here on Hollywood Boulevard, just west
of La Brea. We had talked to them a number of times about
other matters. They called and asked if we had any other songs
that we thought might be good for Elvis. Jerry thought of this
ballad that we'd recorded called "Love Me." It was a song we
had recorded with Willie & Ruth on our own label, Spark
Records. They were two members of a gospel vocal quintet.
How does their version differ from Elvis'?
The song is the same, but first of all Willie & Ruth were a duet
who sang in harmony. Their record featured piano triplets. It was
a strong performance, but Elvis' is a really special performance.
The odd thing is Elvis' version of "Love Me" became a big hit on
the charts and was never released as a single. It was part of an EP.
To be honest, when we first wrote "Love Me" we were thinking of
it as sort of a takeoff, a Homer & Jethro type of thing. It's got all
these masochistic lyrics. [recites lyrics] "Treat me like a fool, treat
me mean and cruel but love me." It could have been a joke, but
Elvis' performance makes it genuinely touching.
Next, Elvis recorded your "Hot Dog" and "Loving You."
"Loving You" was a love ballad. It was our attempt to write
a song as simple and direct as an Irving Berlin song.
Did you read the movie script before coming up with the song?
I think we took a glance at it. Was that the script that was
originally called Lonesome Cowboy? Elvis liked "Loving You"
and recorded it. Subsequently the studio changed the name of
the film to Loving You.
What was the idea behind "Hot Dog"?
It was a song we had which we rewrote for Elvis to do in the
film. We had originally recorded a different version of that song
with a guy named Young Jessie. His real name was Obie Jessie
- very good singer and good all-around musician. He had
been with a rhythm-and-blues group called The Flairs. Later he
subbed on The Coasters' dates for "Searchin"' and "Young
Blood," when one of the fellas was unavailable. We submitted
"Hot Dog" and "Loving You" through the proper channels,
which meant Freddy Bienstock, who worked for his cousins,
the Aberbach brothers. That was the system that had been
established. No one was supposed to approach Elvis directly.
Tell me about how you and Jerry came to write many of the
hey songs for the Jailhouse Rock film.
"Jailhouse Rock" is the title of a song which we wrote for
the film. Later, the producers decided it should be the title of
the movie as well. Jerry and I came to New York - it must
have been around March of '57. We came in for an undetermined
amount of time - two, three weeks, maybe a month at
most. We had already started producing records for Atlantic.
We also wanted to see what else was happening in New York.
We were considering the possibility of moving there. We took
a suite at the Gorham Hotel. It had a living room and two bedrooms.
Because we were going to be there for a while, we
moved a rented upright piano into the living room. Jean
Aberbach had given us a script, and we kind of threw it in the
corner with some magazines. We were having a great time in
New York, really having a ball. We were going out to cabarets
and jazz clubs and the theater.
So writing those songs for Elvis was not at the top of your list
of priorities?
No, hardly. And as I recall, I think it was on a Saturday
morning, there was a knock at our door and Jean Aberbach
walked in. He said, "Well, boys, where are my songs?" We
said, "Don't worry. You're gonna get 'em." And he said "I
know, because you're not going to leave this room until I get
them." And then he pushed a big overstuffed chair in front of
the door, the only way out. He said, "I'm going to take a nap.
He literally went to sleep, and we couldn't get out. So we
thumbed through the script and wrote four songs in about
four or five hours. ("Jailhouse Rock," "Treat Me Nice" "I
Want To Be Free" and "[You're So Square] Baby I Don't Care.")
I can't say that the songs were overworked. We didn't have
time to overwork them. We were in too much of a hurry to get
out of that hotel room.
Tell me about writing "Jailhouse Rock."
The script indicated that Elvis was in prison and there was
an amateur show among the prisoners. That's where the idea for
the song came from. We wrote it quickly. Jerry's very fast and
very funny. That song was a vehicle that Presley could really
work. When we recorded it we knew we had it by take nine. But
Elvis went on into the 20s saying, "I can do it better!" He loved
to sing. He really felt comfortable in a recording studio.
We were recording at Radio Recorders Annex in
Hollywood.
"Treat Me Nice" has a great groove.
I like the track. Actually I'm playing piano on that record.
I don't know that I played that well, but it seemed to work.
[lough]
"I Want To Be Free"?
I remember that Jean Aherbach said, "I love that image of a
bird in a tree in the lyrics." Good track. The other song was
"(You're So Square) "Baby I Don't Care." It was just a fun song.
But it worked. It was a good record for him.
I enjoy the scene in Jailhouse Rock where Elvis performs the
song by a pool and you're part of his band playing piano.
In our Hawaiian shirts. That was the only costume which
the studio supplied. The rest of it was our own clothes. They
were really saving money. The studio and Tom Parker figured
that they were gonna make a fortune on this film, so like,
"Let's not waste money with costumes." [laughs] The movie
was shot at MGM Studios in Culver City.
Recount the first time you and Jerry met Elvis.
Elvis had requested us to be at the Jailhouse Rock recording
sessions. He knew of the records that we produced, so he
requested that we be there. That's how we met him. He was
very easygoing and very easy to be with.
Did Elvis know intuitively when a take was a keeper?
Yeah, I think so. He was very astute in that sense, but as I
said before he always tried to make something better. He
worked very hard in the studio. It was hard work, but it
appeared to be effortless for him because he loved what he was
doing. If he liked a song he would just keep going, "Yeah, I can
do it better. Wait a minute, let me try this. Give me one more
shot!" As I said, we were up to take 27 or something on
"Jailhouse Rock" when he finally said, "OK, let me hear that
take that you think is the one." And he came back in and listened
and said, "Yeah, you're right. That's the one."
You and Jerry acted as unofficial producers of those sessions.
At that point, I don't think the title of producer had come
into being for recordings. Had it been a film, the credit would
not have been producer, it would have been director. Our role
on those sessions evolved. Elvis trusted us, and nobody stopped
us. Colonel Tom came in and out of the studio. When Steve
Sholes was there, he would call out the take slates, like "RCA
39-4734, take three." When we took over we just started
yelling, "'jallhouse Rock' take four, 'Jailbouse Rock' take five!"
Jerry worked from the booth, but he would come out on the
floor too. I worked in there with the musicians. I played piano
on just one track, "Treat Me Nice." Dudley Brooks played on the
other sides. He was a good piano player. Scotty Moore, Bill
Black, D.J. Fontana, and The Jordanaires were also on the sessions.
Jerry and I worked together with Elvis very well. But on
the last day of recording, some of the guys from the film studio
came over and they approached Jerry and said, "Listen, we're
gonna start filming on such-and-such a date. You should come
over and play the piano player in the film." He said, "But I'm not
a piano player." They said, "That's all right, you look like one."
[laughs] The day that Jerry was supposed to report at MGM for
wardrobe he had this horrible toothache. He said, "Man, I can't
make it. You better go in my place." I said, "But they wanted
you." He said, "They won't know the difference." So I went and
the only thing they said to me is, "You better shave your beard
off 'cause it's a scene stealer." [laughs] It was done over a number of weeks.
I wasn't allowed to say anything in the film
[laughs] 'cause then you've got to get paid. Elvis' musicians and
I were covered under a Musicians Union contract. They had a
scale payment for something called 'sidelining,' which meant
that whether you played on the original recording or somebody
else did, you went through the motions of playing for the camera.
I think we got 36 bucks a week for that.
Were you actually playing piano along with the music during
the scene where Elvis sang?
Yeah, but it didn't matter. The piano had no strings inside. It had
keys, but there was nothing inside, so you couldn't hear anything.
Did you hang out with Elvis much on the set?
I hung out with Elvis and his band on the set. Elvis was
normally kept at a distance, but on one occasion he invited me
up to his penthouse suite. The Presley entourage had the
whole top floor of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. So I went up
with all the guys. There was a pool table there, and Elvis and
I were shooting pool. I looked up at one point and nobody else
was there. Elvis came back into the room and he said "Aw
Mike, I feel real bad, but the Colonel's here and he don't want
nobody else here. So I guess you gotta go."
When did you recognize Elvis was a little more special than you
and Jerry initially felt he was?
In the beginning we were kind of curious about this guy
who was such a big hit, a white guy singing R&B mixed with
country. But he was very knowledgeable, and we found that out
when we hung out with him at Radio Recorders. We would talk
about blues records, and he knew a lot about blues. He surprised us.
He also knew all of our stuff. And of course, in addition to that,
he knew all the country stuff and gospel. While we
were working on the Jailhouse Rock recording sessions, we realized
he was a very special talent.
One of the most beautiful songs you ever wrote for Elvis and
one of his own personal favorites is the # 1 smash, "Don't."
"Don't" was written for him by request. One afternoon, it
was a Friday, while we were doing the filming, a lot of which
is "hurry up and wait," he said, "Hey Mike, why don't you
write me a real pretty ballad?" I said, "I will. I'll call Jerry, and
we'll get to work." I called Jerry that evening and we got
together on Saturday and wrote "Don't." I thought it was a
good song for Elvis. I like the song and I like what he did with
it. As I recall, it's 12 bars long, but it's not a blues [song]. On
Sunday, we booked a studio to do a demo and we called Young
Jessie to sing. I gave the demo to Elvis on Monday and he
loved it. Then there was a big to-do with Colonel Parker and
the Aberbachs because I hadn't gone through the proper channels.
They were afraid, because when Elvis fell in love with a
song, he really fell in love with it and he might insist upon
recording it. Although so many aspects of his career were handled
by other people, the one thing that he handled himself
was picking the songs he sang. He would not sing a song he
didn't like, at least not until much later. They had this fear he
might record something and they might not own the publishing.
I'm referring to Tom Parker and the Aberbachs.
That was a crucial mistake on the Colonel's part to not allow
Elvis to record quality songs just because they didn't own the publishing rights.
Yes, I agree with you. And certainly it would have been better
for Elvis' career, but it wouldn't have satisfied Tom Parker.
He wanted Elvis to grind out the same thing over and over. He
didn't want to take any chances. You stretch a little bit artistically
and it's a wonderful thing. Look what happened with The
Beatles. They stretched. It was wonderful. It was exciting. I
think Elvis had the ability to do that, but the Colonel wasn't
willing to chance anything with his golden goose.
What's your take on the Colonel today? Do you think overall
that the Colonel was the right person to be guiding Elvis' career?
He certainly helped to make Elvis a superstar. But ultimately
he wouldn't have been the best person to guide the
career of somebody with an innate talent like Elvis - and not
just a talent but a supreme talent. At one point, Jerry was invited
to a very elegant New York cocktail party and was
approached by an agent and producer, Charles Feldman. He
said, "I'm so happy to meet you because I've just optioned a
novel by Nelson Algren called A Walk On The Wild Side." He
said, "Here's what I want to happen. I have already gotten the
following people involved: Elia Kazan to produce, Bud
Schulberg to write the script. I have James Wong Howe to do
cinematography. And I want you and your partner to write the
score, and I want Elvis Presley to play the lead." Jerry called
me up and told me this, and we were thrilled. We were so
excited. We thought, "Wow, we're gonna be able to bring this
exciting plum to Jean and Julian and The Colonel and Elvis."
We went up to the Hill & Range office 'cause Elvis Presley's
music was co-owned by Elvis and the Aberbachs. Jean was
there, and Julian came in. The Colonel was somewhere else.
The whole thing was laid out for them. They said, "We will
have to speak to The Colonel. Can you wait outside?" So we
waited outside and we figured The Colonel would be over the
moon about this. We waited a long time, and we were summoned
in by Jean and he said [adopts Viennese accent], "The
Colonel says if you ever dare try and interfere in the career of
Elvis Presley again you will never work in New York,
Hollywood, London or anywhere else in the world." That was
it. We virtually stopped writing for Elvis after that. After King
Creole, the only songs we submitted to Elvis were songs that
we'd already written or recorded before.
Wasn't "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" written for Elvis?
No, it wasn't. As a matter of fact, with one exception, we
stopped writing for him altogether and only submitted previously
written and already recorded songs. As for "Just Tell Her
Jim Said Hello," we had a demo that was considerably different
than the way Elvis did it. It had a very different feel, less
country, more Latin.
The one exception was "She's Not You."
Right. Doc Pomus called us up one day. We were all in the
Brill Building. Doc was an old friend, and we had produced lots
of Doc and Morty's [Shuman] songs with The Drifters. Mort
had either gone off to Japan or moved to Paris. Doc called us
and said, "Come on up. Let's write a song for Elvis." So we
wrote "She's Not You" with him, the three of us. That was written
for Elvis at Doc's request.
The three songs you and Jerry wrote for King Creole have a
distinctive New Orleans, Dixieland sound.
The inclusion of brass instruments in the arrangements was
a departure from Elvis' usual quartet. Michael Curtiz, the director
of King Creole, was at the sessions. That was probably the
best movie that Elvis ever made. It had the best story, the best
script and the best cast. We wrote three songs. One was "King
Creole." Unlike "Loving You" and "Jailhouse Rock," which
were written first and then became the title of the films they
were in, "King Creole" was the title of the film before we wrote
the song. Elvis did a great job on it. I especially liked "Trouble,"
and I loved the way he did it in the comeback special.
What inspired you and Jerry to write a song such as "Trouble"?
We had written songs like that before - "Riot In Cell
Block #9," "Framed," kind of talking blues things - and we
knew Elvis could do that kind of stuff.
That track captured less of the happy-go-lucky Elvis. it carried
a menacing undercurrent of sexuality and danger.
Yeah. It was braggadocio, like John Henry, Paul Bunyan -
one of those bigger-than-life folk heroes. The other song,
"Steadfast, Loyal And True" was a high-school alma mater-type
of song. Just the other day I heard this acapella version of it. It's
on that four-CD box that came out recently [Today, Tomorrow
And Forever]. I thought it was charming. I really enjoyed it.
You and Jerry also oversaw those King Creole sessions.
Yes, we did, in so far as the songs that we wrote. I remem-
ber that the studio was very crowded. The Colonel was there,
Michael Curtiz and Steve Sholes were there. There were lots of
film studio executives in there. And of course Thorne Nogar,
the great recording engineer, was there too.
Was there a formula you and Jerry followed when writing
songs for Elvis Presley?
No. We didn't write from formula. I mean you're influenced
by everything you've heard in your life when you write. But
no, we had no formula. There are different types of songs.
"Love Me" is quite different from "Loving You," which is quite
different from "Don't." "King Creole" is quite different from
"Jailhouse Rock."
You and Jerry wrote a holiday song for Elvis, "Santa Claus is
Back in Town."
We were at the session. We wrote it in the hallway between
takes on something else. [laughs] They needed another holiday song.
It was spur of the moment.
It's one of the more pure blues songs Elvis recorded.
Yeah, and it's a little risque. Obviously RCA Victor didn't
catch on to the fact that "Santa Claus is coming down your
chimney tonight" didn't really refer to a chimney. [laughs]
Many of the songs you and Jerry wrote have a delightful element
of humor. Two songs Elvis recorded of yours fit that bill,
"Girls! Girls! Girls!" and "Little Egypt."
"Girls! Girls! Girls!" and "Little Egypt" were both written
for The Coasters, who were sort of our alter
egos. We wrote funny songs for them. Jerry's
the lyricist and I write the music, but we work
closely with each other on everything. The
Coasters were really our voice. "Girls! Girls!
Girls!" wasn't a big hit for The Coasters. So
we said, "Well, maybe Elvis could do it," and
be obviously liked it.
What was the procedure toward getting your
songs to be considered by Elvis?
Same. You'd present it to Freddy
Bienstock. I know Elvis did "Little Egypt" in
the comeback special.
"Little Egypt" was also in Roustabout. There
were songs you wrote specifically for Elvis. And
then there other songs he recorded that were first
done by other artists. Do you believe Elvis delivered
a better performance of those songs you
specifically wrote for him to sing?
That's hard to say I think Elvis' performance
of the songs that we wrote for him were
generally better than those that were written
for someone else. "Love Me" is an exception. It
was a great performance. I like the original version
of "Bossa Nova Baby" done by Tippie & the
Clovers better than Elvis' version. It's got a
Latin feel and it had certain elements of bossa
nova, but it wasn't the real thing. The Clovers'
version was much cooler than Elvis' version,
which was in the film Fun In Acapulco.
Was "Dirty, Dirty Feeling" originally written
for the film King Creole?
I think it might have been. It was written
for him. It did come out on one of his albums
[Elvis is Back].
Were you surprised by Elvis' versions of any
Leiber And Stoller songs he recorded?
Yes.
Your impression of Elvis' rendition of "Fools
Fall In Love"?
If I remember correctly, I thought it was in
the wrong key I thought it was too high for
him. It could have been that he learned it
from the Drifters' records, and I think that
as sung by Johnny Moore, who had a higher voice.
That happened sometimes with
Elvis. He'd learn something, and he'd want to
do it in the same key that he learned it in. He
covered another Drifters record also, "If You
Don't Come Back." Elvis didn't do a bad performance
of that at all. Of course, I'm partial
to the Drifters' because we produced it, and
we got what we wanted out of the chart and
evervthing else. "If You Don't Come Back"
and "Three Corn Patches" were not on the
Elvis Presley Sings Leiber And Stoller album for
this reason.... At one point in Elvis' career,
The Colonel wanted a pile of money and,
since he took 50 percent of everything that
Elvis got, they sold all of the artist royalties to
RCA Victor. I believe it was for $5 million.
However, they continued to record Elvis after
that. Those two songs were not among the
ones that Parker had sold. So the album actually
contains only performances on which
RCA owed no royalties to Elvis.
I'm curious about a song you and Jerry
wrote, "You're The Boss." It was recorded as a
duet by Elvis and Ann-Margret for the film Viva
Las Vegas.
That was a song that did modestly well in
a version we produced as sung by La Vern
Baker and Jimmy Ricks, the bass singer of the
Ravens. After we stopped taking assignments
to write for Elvis, we submitted "You're The
Boss" for a Presley movie. When we didn't
hear anything further about it, we assumed
they didn't like it and didn't record it. Around
1980 when I was in London, I helped put
together, an album for RCA Victor called Elvis
Presley Sings Leiber And Stoller. Some 10 years
later RCA decided to release it as a CD. They
told me Thorne Nogar found this version of
"You're The Boss," and it was included on the
CD. It was a major surprise for us. [laughs] It
was nice. I really liked that.
Speaking of La Vern Baker, Elvis recorded
"Saved," a song she first cut. He did an amazing
vocal performance of that song.
Oh it's great. I loved it. There's no need to
compare them, but La Vern's record of
"Saved" is one of our favorite productions.
She was incredible. We did it in Atlantic's old
studio, the top floor of an old brownstone,
and the first time I heard Elvis do it was in the
comeback special. Corky Hale, my second
wife, had just moved in with me, and we had
a party in our apartment. She cooked a meal,
and we had about 30 people over. She had
rented four or five television sets [laughs] and
plugged them in all over the living room. So I
remember that very well. I had no idea Elvis
would perform "Saved" or "Trouble" on the
show. He looked so great on that show. It was
a knockout. That was the epitome of Elvis.
His performances were great, and the way he
looked was great. It was the way you would
have hoped Elvis would have stayed.
Did you ever see Elvis live in the Vegas years?
Yes. I went to see him a few times. I introduced
Corky to him. He was very polite.
Sometimes I'd see the Colonel playing $100
chips at the roulette table.
Did he ever see you?
Oh yeah, he wasn't particularly interested.
He was more interested in playing roulette
with Elvis' money. [laugh]
What were your impressions of his live show?
Disappointment.
Why?
Sad. He had become bloated. He was doing
a caricature of himself. Yes, he still had a great
voice, but he seemed to be making fun of
himself. It's one thing to have a sense of
humor about one's self but he really was like
an Elvis impersonator, and it was sad.
Do you think Elvis knew how good he was?
I don't know. That's a hard question. And if
he did - let's put it this way, in the early days,
he was extremely confident in the studio. He
was very confident, and if you read that as
knowing how good he was, I suppose he did.
On the other hand, when he went on the
movie set, he was very insecure. I remember
one incident in particular where a couple of
actors were sitting around talking. They were
talking about their wives or their cars, just
family stuff, and they were laughing, and
Elvis walked in and wheeled around and said,
"You think you're so hot?" He thought they
were laughing at him.
Are there any Leiber And Stoller songs that
you feel Elvis would have done a great job with?
Yeah, I'm sure there are many that he
could have done. Years later when he was
working with Chips Moman, I was told that
they had actually cut a track of "Kansas City,"
but the voice never went on. I would have
loved to have heard Elvis sing it.
Lastly, why do you think the songs you and
Jerry wrote connected so well with Elvis personally and on a commercial level?
It's hard for me to say I know that he liked
what we wrote. He respected us. We came to
know what a great talent he was very quickly
after starting to work with him. The other
thing is there was a creative rapport, and we
were told numerous times after Jailhouse Rock
that he considered us his good luck charms.
He always wanted us in the studio. That was
one of the things also that we got into a hassle
with the Colonel about. The Colonel said,
"You have to come out to California." Jerry
was ill and I wasn't gonna go out anyway I
don't know what songs were done on those
sessions 'cause we weren't there. Elvis wanted
us to be in the studio with him, and they were
willing to fly us anywhere in order to please
him. Of course we'd been functioning as
unpaid producers on the records of our songs.
[laughs] Somewhere between five and 10
years ago, Jerry and I went to Memphis for the
first time. Georgie Klein, a longtime friend of
Elvis' from Memphis, who we first met in the
'50s, gave us a special tour of Graceland.
While we were doing that he said, "You know
what really killed Elvis? He really wanted to
do something important as an actor. He wanted
to do something like a Marlon Brando or a
James Dean." And of course that's what we
brought to them with "A Walk On The Wild
Side" and the Colonel killed it.
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