No one laughed more
loudly than the King himself when the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein,
boasted 'My boys are going to be bigger than Elvis Presley'. It was the
early sixties, and Presley, a living legend, appeared unassailable. Yet,
in 1964, John Lennon, Paul, George and Ringo suddenly topped the
American charts - and Beatlemania rolled the King in the greatest rock
coup of all time.
Chris Hutchins, a music
journalist in his early twenties, was at the eye of the hurricane as the
Beatles swept all before them. No other writer grew as close to the Fab
Four from Liverpool as they conquered the world.
As America turned to the
Beatles in a big way during their 1965 tour, Chris Hutchins used his
extensive network of connections to mastermind the greatest rock summit
meeting ever! A rendezvous between the King and the pretenders who were
seizing his throne. With co-author Peter Thompson, Hutchins draws on his
own exclusive sources and unpublished personal archives, as well as FBI
files and explosive dossiers from the District Attorney's investigators
in Memphis, to probe into the greatest rock story never told - one in
which the lives of Elvis Presley and the Beatles became dramatically
entwined. They reveal the passions and the power play, the corruption
and the conspiracies, the vendettas and the vanity behind pop-culture's
greatest phenomena.
Just a
moment! I beg to differ with Chris Hutchins' book.
When the "Elvis Met the Beatles" and his interpretation and
revised recollection of the Beatles, Elvis Presley, August 27, 1965
meeting. This is a 180-degree turnabout from any previously recorded
data of this historical event.
After much research I can find no mention of Chris Hutchins (by name)
unless he was the British pop journalist that made a fleetingly referred
to by Lennon biographer, Ray Connolly.
I hereby challenge Mr. H to prove his outlandish claims, as in-depth
research reveals otherwise, giving Brian Epstein and John Lennon credit
for arranging the royal 1965 rendezvous.
It seems the passage of 30 years has somewhat distorted Mr. Hutchins
memory (not to mention the facts) that had led to docking the truth with
elaborate accusation in order to make a buck.
By wantonly dipping his pen into the endless inkwell of posthumous Elvis
tabloid reporting Mr. Hutchins (like so many others) has sold-out for a
handout.
With neither, Elvis Presley
nor John Lennon alive to dispute these latest allegations,
Hutchins can safely pen his poison without fear of being sued; however,
he cannot erase the truth.
From the beginning, throughout his lifetime and until the end, John
Lennon frequently cited the King as his idol. Naming Elvis on countless
occasions as his mentor, as far back as 1963 with statements such as, I
always wanted to be this tough James Dean type, but Elvis was bigger
than religion in my life. When
I heard Heartbreak Hotel it was so great I couldn't speak, I didn't want
to say anything against Elvis, not even in my mind.
Although by 1965 Elvis had lost his appeal with the 60's hippie
generation while resting on his laurels by starring in a series of
asinine movies and his recorded output reduced to soundtrack albums when
the Beatles arrived in the USA, without skipping a beat when asked what
the Fab Four liked about America John Lennon retorted,
"Elvis!"
According to Albert Goldman's 1981 biography, ELVIS the
meeting was judged by all a success.
Goldman, who has gone down in history as the most infamous Elvis basher
went on to dedicate a full page to Lennon's recollections of the advents
citing George Harrison as his source not Chris Hutchins. John
Lennon spoke up in that marvelously candid style of his clarified the
Beatles intentions regarding their meeting with Elvis. There's only one
person in the United States that we have ever wanted to meet - not that
he wanted to meet us! And we met him last night. We can't tell you how
we felt. We just idolized him. The Beatles and Elvis
