"new" photo Leaving hotel Louisville May 21 1977

[ed40]

Friends,

Ive found this photo on Ebay: interesting because it's an addition to the great page from Paul's Candid Central.
This photo is taken seconds before the 3 posted by Paul

https://www.elvis-collectors.com/candid-central/limo77b.html

enjoy, Ed

[paulsweeney]

Friends,

Ive found this photo on Ebay: interesting because it's an addition to the great page from Paul's Candid Central.
This photo is taken seconds before the 3 posted by Paul

https://www.elvis-collectors.com/candid-central/limo77b.html

enjoy, Ed

Thanks for finding this Ed!

[wecanmakethemorning]

Wasn't the Louisville gig from 21 May 1977 the infamous head in the ice bucket story to wake up Elvis to get him on stage? I always found this particularly disturbing.

[GaryP]

Wasn't the Louisville gig from 21 May 1977 the infamous head in the ice bucket story to wake up Elvis to get him on stage? I always found this particularly disturbing.

Yes it was on both counts.

[jurasic1968]

Yes. In Careless Love Peter Guralnick wrote about it.

[Thats_all_right]

These are fascinating and awfully sad at the same time.

What must be going through everyone's heads at this point? Including Elvis'. The fans likely oblivious, just glad to get a glimpse.

How many more occasions did something happen in a hotel room? Terrible times for all involved I'm sure.

[elvinda58]

Larry Geller has mentioned the ice bucket incident on many occasions. Surprisingly Elvis actually put on a very good show that night with no obvious signs of what had transpired an hour or two beforehand.

[jurasic1968]

Really? A very good show?????

[elvinda58]

I've listened to it a few times and enjoyed it. The best version of the show is on an oddly titled cd called "The Road To Nowhere".

[Joern]

Larry Geller has mentioned the ice bucket incident on many occasions. Surprisingly Elvis actually put on a very good show that night with no obvious signs of what had transpired an hour or two beforehand.

I heard the story told by Larry Geller himself more than once on some fan meetings. I've got to admit that he seems to be a nice man, but without a doubt he's really also a strange guy who travelled around the world over the last decades to tell his stories about Elvis over and over again, for eg. he cutted Elvis' hair for the first time with a broken arm (Note: This might be true, as Elvis' haircut was - beside March '76 - always better looking when Geller wasn't around to mess it up). Many years ago I saw him when he tried to sell his book with the ridiculous title 'Healthy Life, Great Looks, Healthy Hair!' on an Elvis meeting. Of course he took the oportunity to repeat the ice-bucket story in a very dramatic way.

The question to me is: did ever anyone else from the inner circle of Elvis mentioned the so-called "ice bucket incident"? Is there proof that it really happened or is it possible that Geller made it up to highlight his opinion about Parker and let him look even badder - if that's possible.

I've seen very seldom photos from the May '77 tour where Elvis looks ok, but to me he didn't look especially worse on photos from Louisville.

[wecanmakethemorning]

Larry Geller has mentioned the ice bucket incident on many occasions. Surprisingly Elvis actually put on a very good show that night with no obvious signs of what had transpired an hour or two beforehand.

I heard the story told by Larry Geller himself more than once on some fan meetings. I've got to admit that he seems to be a nice man, but without a doubt he's really also a strange guy who travelled around the world over the last decades to tell his stories about Elvis over and over again, for eg. he cutted Elvis' hair for the first time with a broken arm (Note: This might be true, as Elvis' haircut was - beside March '76 - always better looking when Geller wasn't around to mess it up). Many years ago I saw him when he tried to sell his book with the ridiculous title 'Healthy Life, Great Looks, Healthy Hair!' on an Elvis meeting. Of course he took the oportunity to repeat the ice-bucket story in a very dramatic way.

The question to me is: did ever anyone else from the inner circle of Elvis mentioned the so-called "ice bucket incident"? Is there proof that it really happened or is it possible that Geller made it up to highlight his opinion about Parker and let him look even badder - if that's possible.

I've seen very seldom photos from the May '77 tour where Elvis looks ok, but to me he didn't look especially worse on photos from Louisville.

One could say the same about the near fatal overdose in St. Louis on 28th June 1973 - the photos from that show resemble any other from that tour.

Whilst on the subject, are there any specific details on the St. Louis 1973 incident and what actually transpired?

[drjohncarpenter]

I heard the story told by Larry Geller himself more than once on some fan meetings. I've got to admit that he seems to be a nice man, but without a doubt he's really also a strange guy who travelled around the world over the last decades to tell his stories about Elvis over and over again, for eg. he cutted Elvis' hair for the first time with a broken arm (Note: This might be true, as Elvis' haircut was - beside March '76 - always better looking when Geller wasn't around to mess it up). Many years ago I saw him when he tried to sell his book with the ridiculous title 'Healthy Life, Great Looks, Healthy Hair!' on an Elvis meeting. Of course he took the oportunity to repeat the ice-bucket story in a very dramatic way.

The question to me is: did ever anyone else from the inner circle of Elvis mentioned the so-called "ice bucket incident"? Is there proof that it really happened or is it possible that Geller made it up to highlight his opinion about Parker and let him look even badder - if that's possible.

I've seen very seldom photos from the May '77 tour where Elvis looks ok, but to me he didn't look especially worse on photos from Louisville.

One could say the same about the near fatal overdose in St. Louis on 28th June 1973 - the photos from that show resemble any other from that tour.

Whilst on the subject, are there any specific details on the St. Louis 1973 incident and what actually transpired?

Right. Photos are not always a definitive measure of his health. When search is fixed I'll find detailed posts I wrote on the St. Louis overdose, but the excerpt below says enough, I think.

The residue of Caughley's workaday contempt for Elvis was unmistakable, but Hutchinson needed more than war stories. He needed to find out what Caughley could tell him about the state of Elvis's health and his relationship to Nichopoulos.

The physician's nickname within the entourage, Caughley said, was "Needle Nick," but he hastened to add that he didn't believe Nichopoulos was "syringe happy." As the factotum who picked up most of Elvis's many drug prescriptions, Caughley said that during his last three years as valet, Elvis's drug problems worsened and the number of overdoses increased. "Nineteen-seventy-one wasn't a bad year. We had a couple [of overdoses]. Nineteen-seventy-two, it started gettin' a little worse. And at the time, the last nine months with Elvis, we had three ODs; it was unbelievable."

Hutchinson pressed for more details. What led Caughley to believe that Elvis had overdosed? "[He had] hardly any circulation in the body. I mean, hardly any heartbeat. He could not respond to vocal or shaking abuse. I've had ODs before in Vegas where he wouldn't respond — so far out on sleeping pills that I've actually had to sit him in the bed and shake him, slap at him, take a vibrator to the back, you know, try and get him moving, circulating." On this occasion, like others, Nichopoulos was summoned, Caughley said. "Several of the boys got Elvis out of the bedroom, set him up in a chair. Nichopoulos had his bag with him." At that point, Caughley said, Joe Esposito ordered the mere functionaries out of the room while Nichopoulos worked to revive the singer.

Vernon Presley, who from other accounts had kept his distance from his son's drug problems, witnessed some of these overdoses, Caughley said, including a near-fatal one in St. Louis. Did everybody in Elvis's inner circle know how bad his drug addiction was? "Unless they were completely blind or dumb," Caughley replied.

- The Death of Elvis, p. 389-390.

If esteemed biographer Peter Guralnick felt comfortable referencing the 1977 Louisville incident in Larry Geller's book, that should be enough. Having read both, I can say Larry's story in If I Can Dream is moving and mostly credible all the way through.

The next show was in Louisville, and that afternoon I was alone, waiting in Elvis’ suite to see him. Dr. Nick was in Elvis bedroom. Suddenly the Colonel opened the front door and walked in briskly.

As I stood to greet him, the Colonel stopped. With both hands firmly grasping his can, he leaned his stocky frame over it and, scanning the room, demanded, "Where is he?"

I started toward the bedroom door, saying, ‘‘Colonel, I'll let him know you’re here.”

Parker brushed past me. ‘‘No!”’ he said forcefully. “I’m goin’ in.”

He threw open the bedroom door, and in the instant before it closed behind him I caught a glimpse of the horrifying scene inside. There was Dr. Nick kneeling next to the bed, holding up Elvis’ unconscious body and working frantically to revive him. He kept dunking Elvis' head in a bucket of ice water. Eyes closed, jaw slack, Elvis looked helpless, as if he were in a coma. I could hear him moaning faintly.

Less than two minutes later the Colonel emerged, slamming. the door. He stalked over to me, pointed his cane heavenward, looked coldly into my eyes and declared, “The only thing that’s important is that he’s on that stage tonight. Nothing else matters!”” With that, he was gone.

I couldn’t believe this. Naively, perhaps, I expected the Colonel to take some action, to react in some human way to the sight of “‘his boy” in that condition. Was his only fear for Elvis that he might not be able to perform? What about Elvis?

- If I Can Dream, p. 271-272.

THE NEXT TOUR STARTED in Knoxville on May 20, sixteen days after the conclusion of the last. There was no longer any pretense of keeping up appearances. The idea was simply to get Elvis out onstage and keep him upright for the hour he was scheduled to perform. “He was pale, swollen — he had no stamina,” observed a Knoxville physician, who was shocked by his backstage glimpse of a man who appeared barely able to function. In Louisville, according to Larry Geller’s account, Dr. Nick was forced to revive him once again, and in Landover, Maryland, Elvis left the stage for “nature’s call,” tossed two microphones to the floor, and according to the Washington Star reviewer, “just refused to turn it on,” prompting the question for the reviewer as to whether or not he still could.

- Careless Love, p. 634.

Those last few years were rough, period.

[elvinda58]

Elvis did not leave the stage in Landover for "natures call" on May 22nd.

[drjohncarpenter]

Elvis did not leave the stage in Landover for "natures call" on May 22nd.

Good to see how much you got out of the previous post.

As for the gist of your comment:

• Guralnick's book was published 25 years ago, some of his sources were not always pinpoint accurate.

• Elvis played Maryland twice in 1977, on May 22 and 29, and did leave the stage on the 29th.

• The Landover review did indicate he tossed two microphones.

'

[elvinda58]

Guralnick was not the first author to tell us that Elvis left the stage in Landover Maryland on May 22nd. In his book "did Elvis Sing In Your Hometown Too" Lee Cotten says the same in his review of the show but he gets his wires crossed and actually describes what happened in Baltimore Maryland on May 29th where Elvis did leave the stage for over 20 minutes. Elvis did indeed toss two microphones to the floor in Landover as he was frustrated with the sound and stopped the show for a few minutes after singing Little Sister until they fixed the problem. He then goes on to explain to the audience about issues with the sound system they were having and tells of an incident from the previous tour in Saginaw on May 3rd. There were also problems with the sound both nights in Chicago on May 1st and 2nd and then in Omaha and Lincoln on the last tour.
This late May early June tour is not as bad as Gualnick and other critics make it out to be. Elvis is certainly not operating at the same level as just a couple of years previously but the majority of the 14 shows are pretty solid and entertaining especially both nights in Binghamton. The shows in Baton Rouge and Macon are pretty poor though.

[drjohncarpenter]

Guralnick was not the first author to tell us that Elvis left the stage in Landover Maryland on May 22nd. In his book "did Elvis Sing In Your Hometown Too" Lee Cotten says the same in his review of the show but he gets his wires crossed and actually describes what happened in Baltimore Maryland on May 29th where Elvis did leave the stage for over 20 minutes. Elvis did indeed toss two microphones to the floor in Landover as he was frustrated with the sound and stopped the show for a few minutes after singing Little Sister until they fixed the problem. He then goes on to explain to the audience about issues with the sound system they were having and tells of an incident from the previous tour in Saginaw on May 3rd. There were also problems with the sound both nights in Chicago on May 1st and 2nd and then in Omaha and Lincoln on the last tour.
This late May early June tour is not as bad as Gualnick and other critics make it out to be. Elvis is certainly not operating at the same level as just a couple of years previously but the majority of the 14 shows are pretty solid and entertaining especially both nights in Binghamton. The shows in Baton Rouge and Macon are pretty poor though.

Yes, things were going great for Elvis in May 1977. Even better 12 weeks later.

We're approaching the fifty-year mark for this era. You can let it go now.

[elvinda58]

We are never far from some sort of anniversary in the Elvis world which fans like to comment on and rightfully so. Nobody really wants to know our opinions about Elvis other than members of this or any other Elvis forum. In a few weeks fans will be able to discuss the February 1977 tour or the Hawaii November 1972 shows. It's never going to end.

[cjelvis]

Attached the photo retouched and with less yellow

[jurasic1968]

Joe Esposito not looked happy.

[paulsweeney]

Attached the photo retouched and with less yellow

Are you able to do the same with this one?