The Blue Ray song section comes from SabinaEllena, so check her channel out for other cool stuff.
It just so happens I'm in this scene... the drummer with the tan, green sweater and white tee shirt closest to the center of the stage. I don't know whether this line up ever influenced bands like the Dead, but having two drummers was totally an accident of casting. And rather than bum one of us out ( missing a chance to be with Elvis), the producers went with two drummers.
It took three days to shoot this scene and Elvis spent part of each day hanging out with the guys in the band. He was funny, charming, cool as hell and a very nice person.
We weren't actually playing the track,that was done by the usual great Elvis session players, but most of us were I like to think good enough to have done so.
"Bye Bye Birdie" had just been released and was earning rave reviews for the whole cast including Ann-Margret, but we only saw her when she came out for a take. "Viva Las Vegas" was not in the "Birdie" class, although maybe the best of the Elvis music pictures.
A future Best Supporting Actress nominee was one of the dancers....The blond in the green and red striped sweater is Teri Garr and dancing would be Teri's way in the door to eventual stardom. Teri prominently featured in "The T.A.M.I Show" from 1964 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnGWSQoLK44&feature=relatedy here on You Tube, eventually becoming a featured dancer in the real Las Vegas. Then, the Sonny and Cher Show came along,which led to " Young Frankenstein" and you know the rest. The last time I spoke to her, Teri Garr was still the same thoughtful person I knew so long ago and so very brave to have publicly confronted MS as she has done.
A third cast member from North Hollywood High School and in the band also is Barry Zweig, a world class jazz guitarist.
And no, we weren't on location in Las Vegas, but right across from the MGM back lot
( which is long gone) in a local auditorium of some sort. On the second day of filming, Elvis mentioned to us during a break that word had circulated that he was making a movie and there were about a thousand fans outside, Even with the regular crew of friends/ musicians/bodyguards who traveled with Elvis, it still would be too risky for him to try and leave the location without a Police escort and precautions before hand.
Elvis remarked something like...: "you know I can never go into a store or a movie like you guys can"......but then he added, "Of course, they'll always open up for me after hours." He laughed, but it did bring home the price one paid for his world stature.
For those of you who weren't alive when Elvis really was The King, he was bigger than any music or film star today. In fact, on an international scale Elvis Presley was the most famous performer of the 20th century. Bigger than Crosby, bigger than Sinatra, with perhaps only the Beatles on his level of fan popularity and there were four of them to spread the stress around. Plus, for the Beatles, Elvis was still the king as far as they were concerned.
8 years ago
9 years ago
9 years ago
9 years ago
9 years ago
9 years ago
9 years ago
9 years ago
9 years ago
9 years ago
9 years ago
10 years ago
10 years ago
10 years ago
10 years ago
10 years ago
11 years ago
11 years ago