Elvis Presley was still the closing act for the Hank Snow show during the 8:00 p.m. stop at the Mosque Theater, on the corner of North Laurel Street and Main Street in Richmond, Virginia. Reserved seating was available for $1.95 and $1.50 with general admission seats going for $1.00. It was reported that Elvis Presley "was given the greatest ovation ever accorded a hillbilly performer" in Richmond up to that time.
That evening, the performers, included Martha Carson, were lodged in the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. On this time, there was a great deal of internal conflict centering around Elvis Presley's popularity. Scotty Moore and Bill Black were fighting with one another, and harsh words were exchanged between Colonel Tom Parker and Hank Snow. It was obvious that everyone needed a rest.
Two RCA representatives, regional sales manager Brad McCuen and Country and Western promotions manager Chick Crumpacker, arrived to check out the show and in particular to support their new RCA hopeful, Jimmie Rodgers Snow. The younger Snow had been signed specifically because of his appeal to a younger audience, and Chick Crumpacker still remembers the shock he felt when Elvis Presley hit the stage. The RCA pair's loyalty to the already-signed Snow couldn't obscure the facts: Elvis blew away not only Jimmie, but everyone else on the show. Crumpacker didn't quite believe what he was seeing: a slickedup country-rhythm hybrid, so raw he spit out his chewing gum and tossed it into the audience. Chick could have done without that, but the music stayed with him. He bought copies of the four Sun singles that Elvis had made and took them back to his boss, Steve Sholes..
"We were astounded by the reaction", said RCA country and western promotion manager Chick Crumpacker, "both among the Richmonders and in ourselves. There were kids in the audience, it was definitely a noisier audience than I remembered from the Caravan the year before. And lo and behold, out comes this guy whose picture we had seen in the trade papers, and he was something else. All the mannerisms were more or less in place. The body language, I don't remember exactly what he sang, but there were frequent belches into the mike, and the clincher came when he took his chewing gum out and tossed it into the audience. This, of course, was shocking, it was wild, but what really got the listeners was his energy and the way he sang the songs. The effect was galvanic. It was also somewhat embarrassing, because as friends and promoters of Jimmy Rodgers Snow, we had to watch him be totally eclipsed. The next morning we had breakfast with the Colonel and Hank Snow", said Chick, "In walks the young star. And the first impression I had is the one that will always stick; that he was so unassuming, he seemed somewhat withdrawn at first, looked nervously around the room, but he had this quality, he was very, very smart behind it all, and he knew how to flatter people. We talked about the show, exchanged views about the crowd, the turnout, the other artists, he was very affable, he would say to Brad and me how much he enjoyed being with us; 'I like you, Chick', he said. And while this may well have been a ploy, it worked. We liked him, immensely, from the start". Chick said, "Throughout that spring and the early part of the summer I did a lot of wishful thinking with Steve Sholes, maybe we could sign this guy. But as far as I know, there were no rumours at this point that his contract was for sale. There was no question that the Colonel had his eye on him, though, the Colonel was definitely taking a proprietary attitude, even if nothing was explicitly said or voiced".
And of course, Jan Edwards was there when Elvis was the first to get off the tour bus; ''Elvis was hungry, so we went three blocks to a restaurant. Loaded up with hamburgers, cokes, and twelve lemon tarts, we returned to the theater. The afternoon was spent talking about family, school, and God. There was an old upright piano in a corner, and Elvis started playing old hymns, including ''In The Garden'', and ''Whispering Hope''. Together we sang ''Moonlight And Roses'', and I snapped a few photos'', Edwards said.
An intelligence officer writes to FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover that Elvis Presley is a ''definitive danger to the security of the United States'' and ''possibly a drug addict and a sexual pervert''. The letter is placed in an FBI file on The King.
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| "That was just a big thrill in my life. It never leaves you. He made an impression on my life.” | |