WHEN THE FAB FOUR MET THE KING
If you guys are just gonna sit there and stare at me, I’m goin’ to bed.
– Elvis Presley
As well as the highlight of the Shea Stadium concert, the 1965 tour saw The Beatles meet their all-time hero. Taking a break from their tour once they had reached Los Angeles, word came from Colonel Tom Parker that Elvis was also taking a break from shooting his latest film. So off they drove in a Cadillac limousine, along with Neil Aspinall and Elvis superfan Mal Evans, up the twisting roads to Elvis’s French Regency-style mansion in Beverly Hills.
On entering the house, they were confronted by Elvis himself in front of a massive colour television – complete with remote control, much to the band’s amazement – with the sound turned down. He was strumming a bass guitar, surrounded by his ‘mafia’, who were playing pool.
Paul described it as ‘one of the great meetings of my life’, and although there was no great bonding as with their first encounter with Bob Dylan, they all came away from the meeting with fond memories: of Charlie Rich’s ‘Mohair Sam’ on repeat on the jukebox, of being introduced to Priscilla (differing recollections have her in gingham with a bow in her hair, a tiara and a full-length gown), and of poor Mal being unable to give his idol a plectrum as the pockets on his suit – where he usually kept a collection handy – had been sewn up by the dry cleaners just before the visit.