The Pied Piper Of Cleveland

[rotis]

Now reading the new book "The Blue Moon Boys" the book by Ken Burke and Dan Griffin about Scotty, Bill and D.J. Fontana's days with Elvis. Maybe this has already been mentioned but in recalling the filming of "The Pied Piper Of Cleveland" concert Pat Boone is quoted "Here comes Elvis and he lip-synchs a country sounding record 'That's All Right (Mama)' or 'Blue Moon Of Kentucky'. . . .

Also mentioned is that "Reportedly, the only print that still exists (of The Pied Piper of Cleveland movie) is missing its soundtrack.

Anyway, it would be quite sad to find the soundtrack of the Elvis portion to be merely all lip-synchings!

[ekenee]

Now reading the new book "The Blue Moon Boys" the book by Ken Burke and Dan Griffin about Scotty, Bill and D.J. Fontana's days with Elvis. Maybe this has already been mentioned but in recalling the filming of "The Pied Piper Of Cleveland" concert Pat Boone is quoted "Here comes Elvis and he lip-synchs a country sounding record 'That's All Right (Mama)' or 'Blue Moon Of Kentucky'. . . .

Also mentioned is that "Reportedly, the only print that still exists (of The Pied Piper of Cleveland movie) is missing its soundtrack.

Anyway, it would be quite sad to find the soundtrack of the Elvis portion to be merely all lip-synchings!

Well, I have never heard that before. It was supposed to be a live show. Pat Boone must be mistaken.

If he was told to lipsync for some copyright and/or royalty reasons because of the filming, then this could be ok, if the soundtrack is missing.
When they find the film, they merely have to sync his records to the footage, and we have a new DVD!

[drjohncarpenter]

The quote seems odd. Can you provide more context?

The filmed portions of "A Day In The Life Of A Famous Disc Jockey" (aka "The Pied Piper Of Cleveland") were of the live performances given on Thursday afternoon, October 20, 1955 at Brooklyn High in Cleveland, Ohio by:

Pat Boone
The Four Lads
Bill Haley and His Comets
Elvis Presley

[rotis]

There is no date for the Pat Boone interview in the book so it is probably of recent vintage.

He states "I went to Cleveland to be at a big sock hop with Bill Randle, the number-one DJ there. Randle met me at the airport and told me 'I'm bringing a kid in from Shreveport tonight to be with you on the same show. A kid named Elvis Presley.' I said, 'Elvis Presley? He's a hillbilly. You've got him on your show tonight? Not that I minded, but I was surprised. (There was) no chance that a hillbilly RECORD (my caps) could be played at a rock n roll sock hop. .... (Randle explained about Elvis being signed by RCA and that he's going to be become a big star)

"Sure enough I met Elvis that night, and Elvis went on ahead of me. That's the only time we ever appeared on the same show. The audience didn't know him, and he had this slouchy and mumbly approach. His collar was turned up and his pant legs too long. He looked like a real greaser, which was not in at the time. It came in later, after the movies, but then he looked like that minority in most high schools; kids from the wrong side of the tracks that most of the other kids sort of sneer at. Here comes Elvis and he lip-synchs a country sounding record, (see my first posting)...

But he's wiggling and he's good looking _ and I'm standing back and looking at the intrigue on the faces of these high-school kids. First they snickered and covered their mouths with their hands, probably saying little critical things, but then their eyes got bigger as they wached him move around the stage, and he was getting to them! Then the RECORD (my caps) was over and he said (mimics Elvis' voice), 'Thanks vurry musch.' And they looked at him like he was a hillbilly again. But he really did go over well when the music was playing, and it's a good thing I had a very big record, (Ain't That A Shame) otherwise Elvis would've stolen the show."
That's the entire quote.

[The Purple Gang]

Hi rotis - thanks for providing that info. & quote from The Blue Moon Boys book. I haven't got around to reading that one yet.

About 18 months ago, on another 'Pied Piper' thread, I did mention the possibility of the lip-synching.

There's a comment or two on the Elvis Express Radio site saying that the footage was probably 'lip-synched' which presumably means that Elvis mimed to his records. This does seem a possibility but it would be a huge disappointment for those of us expecting to hear and see Elvis truly live in this much anticipated and discussed film.

At the time I didn't know where this idea may have come from but it now looks like it was from Pat Boone via that book (published 2006). Bill Randle died in July 2004.

[The Purple Gang]

On that same thread is a very interesting post from Colin.

This is what EP.COLLECTOR wrote in October, 2005:


Quote:
Actually the final cut of the film was 15 minutes. The film does exist, however Elvis' performace was NOT filmed. He was not part of the original line-up. Elvis was in town playing downtown Cleveland. He went to thank BIll Randal for playing his records, and was asked to tag along. When the Four Lads showed up late for the show, Bill Randal asked Elvis if he would perform to keep the school crowd going. Bill Randle asked the camera crew to film Elvis, however they said no. The reason was simply put, we are not wasting the film needed for the movie, and scheduled performers. There are scenes where Elvis can be seen in the corner of the stage signing autographs, but they are fleeting. Of interesting note, not even the school kids knew what was going on. When they were seated in the auditorium, they were told about the film. Bill Randal even promised each student 5.00 for thier participation in the movie. Randle never paid up, and the film was never released officialy.

I can assure you, that Elvis was NOT filmed on STAGE. Bill Randal has changed his story so many times. At one point he claimed to have paid the camera men from his own pocket to film Elvis. According to Universal Pictures Archive Dept, they do NOT have any footage of Elvis onstage from that day. The photos of Elvis wearing the red jacket are not from Brooklyn High, they are from the State Theater in Ohio. Elvis was NOT on the bill, as proven by the fact, there was no billing. The school, and film company were aware of the filming only, not even the students knew anything about it,until they were in the lobby. I have interviewed many people who were at the show. I live about 10 minutes away from the school. There is one fan who had an 8mm camera that belonged to her dad, she had the camera, because she was filming a class project, she actually filmed EP on stage. I have seen that footage, and can tell you it is cool. Bill Randals daughter sold the film in the mid 1980's to an overseas company, and all of Bill Randles interest in the production, not Universals. Could Universal be lying, sure, but they really have no reason. The film was low budget, and poorley done.


The student who filmed some of the show [including about 1 minute of Elvis] is referred to here:


Quote:
The owner of the amature footage is asking 10K.
When she is approached about the purchase, she becomes very shifty, tells you she will think about it, then never calls you back.
She does have to footage, I have seen it, so have higher powers in the area, so to speak.
The footage is clear, but like I said earlier far from the stage.
There is no sound, since it was 8mm.


So it would seem that:

Elvis does not perform in the 15-minute edit of the footage.

In fact, Elvis performance was not pro-filmed at all !

If that's true, it wraps the whole mystery up, doesn't it ?

Elvis didn't perform in The Pied Piper of Cleveland film !

I think we've been told !

[ColinB]

Thanks, Purple !

I'd forgotten all that !

But I have heard that those privileged few who've actually seen the pro-shot footage confirm that Elvis isn't in it.

Bit of a let-down after all the years of rumours !

Bill Randle, of course, changed his story many times.

He didn't have the footage, but he endeavoured to 'talk up' the importance of it, in order to get the best price he could when he sold the 'rights' to it !

[drjohncarpenter]

This film may forever be a mystery, and Boone's comments about lip-syncing are dubious.

Would not the kids have been disappointed to pay for a show where the musicans do not play, and the singer does not sing? And would not someone have mentioned this prior to the publication of that book?

One drawback to the "EP Collector" comments of 2005 is that Elvis had already played with Haley earlier in the week (Sunday, October 16) and had been touring as an "extra added attraction" on shows with Kitty Wells and Roy Acuff, stars of the Grand Ol' Opry, including a Cleveland show the night before the filming (Wednesday, October 19).

Elvis didn't just pop on by at the last moment -- they played TWO shows in Cleveland on October 20, both booked by DJ Bill Randle.

[Jamie]

I would agree with Doc, it seems doubtful they would have lip synced. If they were thrown on at the last minute (which again seems unlikely) then I would have thought it would have been more hassle to set up a lip synch than perform live which they were used to doing. They would have needed to have a suitable record available, turntable linked to house PA etc. Seems like more trouble to me than just going on. I wonder whether that was usual at the time? I certainly haven't heard about Elvis doing that at any point (putting Loving You/68 special to one side).

cheers Jamie

[stranger]

Here is a quote from the great booklet by Hans Langbroek The Hillbilly Cat from 1970

I don't know if this is old news and ever proven to be wrong.

... on radio station were another deejay, Tommy Edwards, had a country show every saturday night at the circle theatre and after Randle told Tommy Edwards that the Presley records were very popular he decided to bring Elvis over for a show. And so one saturday night in 1955 Elvis and the boys appeared in one of the northern states for the first time. Some of his SUN songs became so popular they got in the charts of radio stations there.
At that time Universal films, for one reason or another, suddenly decided to be progressive and to make a movie about some of the unknown singers and groups who were rapidly becoming popular with a different sort of music. Mr. Bill Randle advised them and with his help they staged two shows. One at St. Michael's Hall and one at Brooklyn High School in Cleveland.
But adviser was not Randle's only part in the movie. He also introduced the singers to the audience. And they had some singers there: Elvis Presley, Bill Haley & The Comets, The Four Lads and Pat Boone. Universal Filmed both shows and also the rehearsals for it, the singers dressing up and more things like that. Some of the songs Bill and the boys did that night were "crazy, man, crazy", "cowboy polka" and "hot rock". The songs The Four Lads and Pat Boone did I could not tell you, but Elvis and his boys did "blue moon of Kentucky", "I forgot to remember to forget" and they nearly lifted the roof off Brooklyn High with "That's all right" and "Good rockin' tonight".
If you still did not know, the Pied Piper Of Cleveland was Elvis Presley.
His polularity in Cleveland grew so much and so fast that Universal made him the star of the movie, that would never be in the cinemas. For before the movie was even finished Elvis reached fame, changed labels, and that was the reason why it stayed in the Universal vaults never to be shown. I would not be at all surprised if Mr. Tom Parker had something to do with that as well......

Boy oh boy when this was true and the film was ever released !!!!!!!

[ColinB]

Here is a quote from the great booklet by Hans Langbroek The Hillbilly Cat from 1970

I don't know if this is old news and ever proven to be wrong.

... If you still did not know, the Pied Piper Of Cleveland was Elvis Presley.
His popularity in Cleveland grew so much and so fast that Universal made him the star of the movie, that would never be in the cinemas.
For before the movie was even finished Elvis reached fame, changed labels, and that was the reason why it stayed in the Universal vaults never to be shown. I would not be at all surprised if Mr. Tom Parker had something to do with that as well......
Boy oh boy when this was true and the film was ever released !!!!!!!

I always understood the 'Pied Piper' bit referred to Bill Randle himself...............................

[KiwiAlan]

My understanding also about Bill Randle.

We must remember that at the time Elvis was a minor artist compared to Bill Haley, Four Lads and Pat Boone.

[JamesVRoy]

Elvis did not perform at the State theater in Ohio.
In case you missed my post a week or two ago
http://scottymoore.net/circletheater.html