Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:55 am
Chapter 47 - A DATE WITH ELVIS AT THE HILTON ‘RUNS’ LATE - THANKS TO VEGAS’ COPS
“I’m late, I’m late for a very important date!” I couldn’t help but think of the Mad Hatter’s ditty as I was being questioned by Las Vegas Metro Police one spring day soon after we opened our Stardust Mini Mall store.
I was jogging down Sahara Boulevard when a police car pulled me over for - no, not speeding - but for ‘suspicious activity’. I had arrived in Vegas the previous evening and was staying at store manager Joseph’s eastside house near Valley High School and was jogging to the nearby newly built Hilton Hotel. This was before the running and fitness boom and anyone running in Las Vegas then probably robbed a bank or convenience store to help pay off a gambling debt. I am sure having long hair and a beard didn’t help matters with the uptight Metros.
The important date I was late for was with none other than the King himself - Elvis Presley. Our Vegas North Beach Leathers shop had been open for a few months and entertainer Jackie Wilson was in and bought some stage outfits. He was so pleased with them that he said he was going to tell his buddy Elvis we now had a store in Las Vegas. Elvis, with Priscilla’s guidance, bought some pieces from me in Hollywood back in 1970. Their marriage unfortunately was on the rocks. I was looking forward to renewing my acquaintance with the personable King until I got shanghaied by the fuzz. When I told the police about my important date, the one burly tough cop laughed, “Yeah, and I’m having lunch with Frank Sinatra. Ha, Ha, Ha!”
After an hour or so of being held and checked out, they finally released me, reprehending me not to run on the streets anymore. I realized I was not going to make the fitting for Elvis but continued to walk (not run) to the Hilton Hotel, only a few blocks away now. I arrived there as Joseph and Denni were getting ready to drive off. They had met Elvis briefly and he ordered eight deerskin handlaced and painted outfits. All were in white and the eight hundred dollar price tag for each made their day.
Joseph did the honor of measuring the King. That was supposed to be my task and the reason I came to Vegas. Upon my relating what happened to me with Metro, they shook their heads in disbelief. Joe simply said, “Maybe it is time to get a haircut, Bill.” I wonder to this day if Elvis would have remembered me from the Hollywood store in 1970, maybe even have asked me to go jogging with him. I know he wouldn’t mind long hair.
http://www.northbeachleathers.com/Excerpts_from_Book.html#Ch47_Elvis
Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:20 am
drjohncarpenter wrote:After the summer 1974 engagement, these suits were almost never seen again. Some candids backstage at College Park, Maryland while on tour in September are known, but that's about it.
Why remains yet another Presley mystery!
Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:48 am
elvis-fan wrote:drjohncarpenter wrote:After the summer 1974 engagement, these suits were almost never seen again. Some candids backstage at College Park, Maryland while on tour in September are known, but that's about it.
Why remains yet another Presley mystery!
As Elvis was quite slender in the summer of '74 and these outfits appear form fitting, by early '75 Elvis couldn't have fit into them...
Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:55 am
Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:00 am
Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:20 am
Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:38 am
poormadpeter wrote:I always like the shirt and trousers outfit that was on the back of the Moody Blue LP.
Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:23 am
elvis-fan wrote:drjohncarpenter wrote:After the summer 1974 engagement, these suits were almost never seen again. Some candids backstage at College Park, Maryland while on tour in September are known, but that's about it.
Why remains yet another Presley mystery!
As Elvis was quite slender in the summer of '74 and these outfits appear form fitting, by early '75 Elvis couldn't have fit into them...
Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:49 am
drjohncarpenter wrote:Thus, why Elvis abandoned outfits that enhanced his appearance remains a mystery.
elvis-fan wrote:... by early '75 Elvis couldn't have fit into them...
Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:12 am
Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:20 am
monkboughtlunch wrote:He had some of the worst stage attire imaginable in the 70s. He should have tried dressing understated and casual on stage, like below:
Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:22 am
Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:43 am
joshferrell wrote:He should have wore leather during EIC..
Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:51 am
In the summer of 1974, discrete followers of Elvis in concert were pleasantly surprised to find a temporary respite from the ridiculous, ostentatious jumpsuits and their huge, 'Santa Claus' belts.
Whether it was due to meeting up with singer and friend Jackie Wilson, or hanging with new young girlfriend Sheila Ryan -- Elvis' first "hippie" paramour, according to biographer Alanna Nash -- North Beach Leathers in San Francisco became his Lanksy Brothers haberdashery of choice.
Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:11 am
eligain wrote:
The only bad thing about these leather suits is that everyone was wearing them; from Tom Jones to Sonny Bono!
Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:48 am
Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:56 am
Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:17 am
YDKM wrote:I tend to agree that by Early 75' Elvis was too big for those leather suits.
Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:37 am
drjohncarpenter wrote:YDKM wrote:I tend to agree that by Early 75' Elvis was too big for those leather suits.
That does not explain why they are not seen again on stage after September 1974. He played shows through mid-October. That's two months. And he was out and about off-stage in November and December. That's two more months.
And it's not a stretch to imagine they still might have been flattering in 1975, especially given the jumpsuits he wore that year.
Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:59 am
Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:41 pm
Blue River wrote:drjohncarpenter wrote:Thus, why Elvis abandoned outfits that enhanced his appearance remains a mystery.elvis-fan wrote:... by early '75 Elvis couldn't have fit into them...
Thus, no mystery.
Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:04 pm
monkboughtlunch wrote:He had some of the worst stage attire imaginable in the 70s. He should have tried dressing understated and casual on stage, like below:
Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:30 pm
drjohncarpenter wrote:YDKM wrote:I tend to agree that by Early 75' Elvis was too big for those leather suits.
That does not explain why they are not seen again on stage after September 1974. He played shows through mid-October. That's two months. And he was out and about off-stage in November and December. That's two more months.
And it's not a stretch to imagine they still might have been flattering in 1975, especially given the jumpsuits he wore that year.
Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:50 pm
No he wasn't but reading some of the posts on here you'd think he was.TJ wrote:He wasn't the only 1970s entertainer to make sartorial choices that now seem very odd.
Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:55 pm
monkboughtlunch wrote:eligain wrote:
The only bad thing about these leather suits is that everyone was wearing them; from Tom Jones to Sonny Bono!
So you don't consider Presley's bloated gut being too big for the leather suit a "bad thing?"
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