West Palm Beach memories

[Scott Hayward]

An article on Elvis' West Palm Beach appearances Feb. 20th 1956 and Feb 13th 1977: quite a contrast...

LOCALS RECALL WHEN ELVIS SLEPT HERE - TWICE

While hundreds will flock to the Kravis Center Friday to see a "virtual" Elvis concert, there are those who can still recall when The King came to town - in person.

Presley played West Palm Beach twice, with the appearances serving as symbolic bookends for his storied, troubled career. The first visit, to the now-demolished Palms Theater at the corner of Clematis and Narcissus streets, came on Feb. 20, 1956, just a couple of months after he signed his major-label contract with RCA Records but a few weeks before his first big single, Heartbreak Hotel, topped the charts.

After a gap of 21 years, he returned - this time to the West Palm Beach Auditorium; he was at the height of his Vegas-era glory; a bit heavy, to be sure, but still the undisputed monarch of rock 'n' roll. He died six months later.

There's little that's recorded about the '56 concert. Back then, newspapers rarely concerned themselves with the business of popular entertainment - and Elvis' appearance (or appearances - he played four shows in one day, at 2, 5, 7 and 9 p.m.) merited no more than a small advance photo in The Palm Beach Post.

An ad that ran for several days prior touted Presley as "THE MOST TALKED ABOUT NEW PERSONALITY IN THE LAST 10 YEARS OF RECORDING MUSIC" and noting his "two TOP hits" - Mystery Train and I Forgot to Remember to Forget (neither of which, in fact, were bestsellers). But the ad also devoted a good bit of space to listing the other acts on the bill: "Grand Ole Opry Favorites" the Louvin Brothers, Carter Sisters, Justin Tubb and Benny Martin.

Still, Presley was already beginning to make a name for himself with the younger set. "He was doing something no one had ever done before, rocking and rolling and doing all these gyrations," says Joyce Maloney, a longtime Lake Worth resident who was all of 19 when she attended the Palms Theater concert.

She remembers that Presley was the last to perform on the bill and gave a good show. "All the girls were hooting and hollering, all that stuff young girls would do," she says. With her girlfriend, Maloney tried to meet Presley after the performance, but the closest she got was an invitation for a night on the town from some of his band members. She politely declined.

The colonel steps in

Gleason Stambaugh, a West Palm Beach resident who used to head a local jukebox company, also attended the show as a guest of a visiting record company executive. "He thought (Elvis) was the greatest thing he ever heard," says Stambaugh, who admits he was a little less impressed. After the performance, the executive called his boss and tried to see if the company could sign the young star.

According to Stambaugh, the following word came back: "Yeah, we've heard of Elvis. He's not going anywhere." Stambaugh also heard rumors that Presley was seen the following day at a popular teen hangout - that is, until the owner kicked him out for "sweet-talking the girls."

But the story to top them all comes courtesy of local historian Jim Ponce, then the front-desk manager at the now-demolished Pennsylvania Hotel, the downtown West Palm Beach establishment where Elvis slept. Ponce didn't attend the Palms Theater show, but he was on hand when the singing star inquired if there was anywhere he could get a cold beer.

Since Ponce was finishing his shift, he volunteered to walk Elvis over to the nearby Marine Bar, where they refused to serve him, thinking he was underage. (He wasn't.) "I said, 'This is Elvis Presley,' and the bartender said, 'I don't care who he is,' " Ponce recalls. The point became moot a few minutes later, when Presley's manager, the legendary Col. Tom Parker, burst in and scolded the musician for sneaking out for some fun. "He practically took him by the lobe of the ear. I was surprised he was so rough on him," Ponce says.

Jump ahead 21 years, and Elvis was a lot less interested in venturing about town. When The King played the West Palm Beach Auditorium on Feb. 13, 1977, it was like a visit by royalty - with all the media frenzy and tightened security associated with such occasions.

This time, The Palm Beach Post took ample notice, beginning with accounts about fans lining up for tickets when they went on sale - prices were $15 and $12.50, although scalpers were later asking as much as $200 - right through to stories about a failed attempt to sell the sheets Elvis slept on during his stay.

In the middle was the concert itself, an event perfectly captured by then Post political writer Bud Newman, who doubled as the paper's pop music critic.

"Trumpets blared the Theme from 2001, heartbeats quickened, people stood, women screamed, flashcubes exploded in a strobe light effect, and suddenly in one magical instant, he was there in the flesh," began Newman's review, which appeared the morning after the sold-out concert.

Now a reporter with the Bureau of National Affairs, a Washington news-gathering organization, Newman remembers the event as just that - The Event.

"Elvis was still a very special entertainer and even though this was the 'Fat Elvis' era - his weight had gone way up - there was still an aura about Elvis being in town," Newman says from his office on Capitol Hill. The veteran reporter recalls the nervous buildup to the show, when Elvis arrived at Palm Beach International Airport about 5 a.m. the day before the performance.

Fans were waiting for him at the Sheraton Inn on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, although he was able to sneak in to the hotel through a back entrance - and he didn't depart until showtime. "I missed him myself," says a humbled Newman.

1977 show 'disappointing'

As for the performance, the critic admits it was a tad disappointing. "Elvis went through a lot of motions. There were only limited times he let his voice out," Newman recalls. But he says the audience was still pleased: "There was a lot of sweaty-scarf slinging to the female fans in the front rows."

And his mere presence nearly prompted the auditorium to rethink its entire layout. For its time, Presley's show was a massive enterprise - the '70s equivalent of a concert today by the Rolling Stones. John Dermody, a longtime local theatrical technician who now heads the West Palm Beach stagehands union local, worked the event and recalls the preparations, which were supervised by Col. Parker, still aboard Presley's team.

"It was laid out first-class. He was still The King," Dermody says, noting that the crew erected a special platform for some additional spotlights. The spotlight-holders were kept in place after the show and dubbed the "Elvis baskets" even years later. "The lighting designers loved them," Dermody says, adding that he wouldn't be surprised if they're still there, even though the auditorium has been sold to the Jehovah's Witnesses.

There's another piece of local Elvis history that lives on - the room where he slept. Even though the Sheraton Inn has since changed hands - it's now a Comfort Inn - the new management still notes the visit by rock 'n' roll royalty.

According to hotel General Manager Jonathan Carter, Elvis' two-story suite has since been converted to two separate rooms, but little else has changed. You can stay there if you want to, for about $99 a night, although Carter jokingly adds, "if they specifically ask for the Elvis room, the rate will go up." The hotel also recognizes Presley's visit on the anniversary of his death - Aug. 16 - by announcing it on the billboard outside.

"We put it up every year," says Carter. "Elvis slept here."

[Robert]

Another great one, Scott;)

[Ben]

I met someone in Las Vegas who attended this show, and she didn't seem much interested in talking about it

[Robert]

I met someone in Las Vegas who attended this show, and she didn't seem much interested in talking about

Did she share any information?

[Ben]

I met someone in Las Vegas who attended this show, and she didn't seem much interested in talking about

Did she share any information?

She only said that she saw him a few months before he died and I didn't believe her much and I remember her saying she was from Florida so I said was it Miami (wasn't there a release of the West Palm Beach show saying it was from Miami or something??) and she said "no, in West Palm Beach" so I was trying to ask her about it and she just said that her sister cued (sic??) up for 10 hours to get the tickets and thats why she went 'cos she got 10 tickets.

That's all she said.