Did Elvis jam with The Beatles? Not even the people in the room know for sure
The night Elvis Presley played with The Beatles is fondly remembered as the most epic jam in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. That is, if it actually happened.
What is certain is that Elvis politely hosted the Fab Four at his Bel Air home on Aug. 27, 1965, when John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were in Los Angeles to perform two shows at the Hollywood Bowl. Elvis, looking every inch a rock god, greeted the quartet with his future wife Priscilla Beaulieu and his “Memphis Mafia” inner circle at his side.
“The Beatles were in awe, and I can say that because they told me that the next day,” Jerry Schilling, Elvis’ longtime friend, tells USA TODAY, while discussing the new Elvis collection “Sunset Boulevard,” which spans Presley’s LA studio sessions from 1970 to 1975. “But it got kind of quiet” after they were ushered into the den.
Elvis sat on the couch, holding his Fender bass guitar, as the four shaggy-haired Beatles stood and sat uneasily. Then Elvis announced, “If you guys are going to look at me all night, I’m going to bed,” Schilling, 83, recalls. “Everyone burst out laughing and that broke the ice. Not that there was any cold ice at all. I don’t care what anyone says, I was there, it was a great night.”
Elvis fiddles with an electric bass inside Graceland on March 7, 1965, months before hosting The Beatles at his California home in Bel Air.
By all accounts, Charlie Rich’s “Mohair Sam,” one of Elvis’ favorite songs of the moment, was playing on repeat. George went off with Larry Geller, Elvis’ hairstylist, and “there was probably some grass going on,” Schilling says, pausing for a beat. “Let me be honest, there was.”
Starr and Schilling took on Beatles roadie Mal Evans and Elvis’ cousin Billy Smith in a game of pool. But what happened next is hotly debated. Did The Beatles jam with Elvis?
Source: usatoday.com/Kim Willis
