Merry
01-03-2009, 01:58 AM
“I’ll Remember You”
From the very beginning I thought he was the greatest. The first song I
really remember was “Heartbreak Hotel”. And I remember waiting in a line
around the block to see “Love Me Tender”. I never dreamed that I’d ever get
to see him in person. But in October 1969, I was in Memphis for the National
Quartet Convention, and I saw him as he left Graceland one afternoon. He was
beautiful!
In June 1970, I was in Nashville to see the Imperials and found out that Elvis was recording at RCA. A friend and I went over and waited until he
came out of the recording studio; we got his autograph and had our pictures
taken with him, but we were so excited that we didn’t wind the film and our
pictures were double-exposed. A chance of a lifetime - - a picture with the
world’s greatest star - - and we double-expose the pictures.
In September 1970, he came to Mobile and I saw my first concert. It was
easy to see why he was the King of Rock and Roll. I saw one concert in 1971,
one in 1973, and one in 1974. In early 1975, he started getting some bad
reviews, and even though I had tickets to see him in Huntsville on May 30,
31, and June 1, I couldn’t wait - - so I went to Murfreesboro on May 6 to
see for myself. I was not disappointed! He was still the king! The five
Huntsville shows were fantastic. I was lucky enough to have a front row seat
at the June 1, 2:30 show, and I got a scarf and a kiss. I thought nothing
could ever top that.
On July 26, 1975, a friend Carolyn and I got to talk with him for about 35
minutes. He was at the Memphian Theatre (Memphis) and we thought we’d just
get close enough to take a picture, but a couple of other girls were getting
pictures out of their trunk for him to autograph and he was just leaning up
against the car as we walked up to him. He was smiling and said “Hi.” I said
“I just saw you four times in Huntsville and you were great.” He said he had
been nervous about coming to Huntsville because he’d never played here
before but when he walked out on stage he thought he was Werner Von Braun. I
told him that Huntsville loved him. I told him he was working too hard, that
he was touring more than ever. He said he loved it, he loved appearing
before a live audience, that it gave him a feeling of a sense of
accomplishment. I started to ask him something else (changing the subject),
but he said, “Are you listening to me or thinking about something else?” I
told him that I knew what he said and I repeated part of it. He was teasing
me - - guess he knew that I was excited.
He had just finished a tour in Asheville, NC, the night before (when he
gave away the guitar and rings). I said, "I heard you were giving away
everything last night.” And he said instead of pitching the guitar to
Charlie that he just pitched to a man on the front row and then he gave a ring to another man on the front row. He said then that he called a girl up
to the stage from three or four rows back and he gave her a star-shaped
diamond ring; he said she turned two or three flips back to her chair. He
was laughing and said he just went crazy. The following Sunday (July 27)
night, he gave a black bank teller that he saw on a car dealer’s parking lot a new Cadillac.
Carolyn and I were planning to go to Las Vegas in August (just a month
away) and we didn’t know anything about how to “act” except we had heard
that you had to tip big. Well, Carolyn told him that we were coming to Vegas
to see him and asked him what you had to do to sit on the front. Without
answering Carolyn, he just called Sonny West over and told him that we were
coming to Vegas to see him and that we wanted to sit on the front row and to
take care of it. He seemed pleased that we would go all the way to Las Vegas
just to see him. Elvis said he would remember us, that he didn’t always
remember names but he remembered faces. It was funny because we didn’t know
who Sonny was. Sonny just acknowledged Elvis' remark and stepped back. I
asked Sonny who he was and he told me and said when we got to Las Vegas to
call him. I told him that they wouldn’t let me talk to him and he said, “I
have a beeper and I answer the calls I want to.”
Some more people had walked up by then and one of the girls said she didn’
t believe he was really Elvis. Trying to convince her that he was Elvis, he
started to sing “Treat Me Like a Fool…” Then just a little of “Hound Dog”.
And I said, “You didn’t sing ‘Tiger Man’ for us.” And WOW!! He started “I’m
the king of the jungle…” I said, “Now I know it’s not him.” He just grabbed
me and hugged me - - he knew that I was teasing him - -that I knew for sure
it was him.
Something that impressed me most about Elvis was when some guys walked up, Elvis reached to shake hands with them and introduced himself to them. Just
as any other man would introduce himself, he told them his name as he shook
hands with them.
When he signed his autograph for me, I told him my name was Helen. He
said, “To hell and back?” Then he said, “Can I write that?” I told him that
I didn’t care and he said that I’d have to explain it. He signed, “To Helen
n back, Love, Elvis Presley,” Then, he told me again to explain it to
everyone. (He must have thought that I was going to be showing it to a lot
of people - - Ha!)
As we left, we exchanged a “See you in Las Vegas” with Elvis. It was
almost like a dream. In fact, at one point, Carolyn and I were standing
behind Elvis and I looked at Carolyn and said, “Can you believe this?”
When Elvis got sick in August and came home from Vegas before we got
there, you can imagine how disappointed we were. But we saw Sonny in
September and he said we’d still get to sit on the front just like Elvis
said. (He was going back to Vegas in December.) Finally, the time passed. On
Dec. 6, 1975, we sat front, center (at the stage) for the dinner show, he
just smiled to us; then when he started to sing “Can’t Help Falling in Love, he came over and gave Carolyn a scarf, backed up and got another one, and stepped back and gave it to me.
In 1976 and 1977, we traveled many miles to concerts (St. Louis, Atlanta,
Memphis, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Knoxville, Mobile, Louisville, Birmingham,
and Las Vegas again) and, of course, he graced the stage of the Von Braun
Civic Center again in September 1976. Each concert just made us want to see
more.
I am so thankful that he lived in my lifetime. He gave so much; he gave
his life to entertaining us. I think he loved us (his fans) just as we loved
him. I made so many friends through him and have so many wonderful memories
of him. I WILL REMEMBER HIM!!
Helen Parcus
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From the very beginning I thought he was the greatest. The first song I
really remember was “Heartbreak Hotel”. And I remember waiting in a line
around the block to see “Love Me Tender”. I never dreamed that I’d ever get
to see him in person. But in October 1969, I was in Memphis for the National
Quartet Convention, and I saw him as he left Graceland one afternoon. He was
beautiful!
In June 1970, I was in Nashville to see the Imperials and found out that Elvis was recording at RCA. A friend and I went over and waited until he
came out of the recording studio; we got his autograph and had our pictures
taken with him, but we were so excited that we didn’t wind the film and our
pictures were double-exposed. A chance of a lifetime - - a picture with the
world’s greatest star - - and we double-expose the pictures.
In September 1970, he came to Mobile and I saw my first concert. It was
easy to see why he was the King of Rock and Roll. I saw one concert in 1971,
one in 1973, and one in 1974. In early 1975, he started getting some bad
reviews, and even though I had tickets to see him in Huntsville on May 30,
31, and June 1, I couldn’t wait - - so I went to Murfreesboro on May 6 to
see for myself. I was not disappointed! He was still the king! The five
Huntsville shows were fantastic. I was lucky enough to have a front row seat
at the June 1, 2:30 show, and I got a scarf and a kiss. I thought nothing
could ever top that.
On July 26, 1975, a friend Carolyn and I got to talk with him for about 35
minutes. He was at the Memphian Theatre (Memphis) and we thought we’d just
get close enough to take a picture, but a couple of other girls were getting
pictures out of their trunk for him to autograph and he was just leaning up
against the car as we walked up to him. He was smiling and said “Hi.” I said
“I just saw you four times in Huntsville and you were great.” He said he had
been nervous about coming to Huntsville because he’d never played here
before but when he walked out on stage he thought he was Werner Von Braun. I
told him that Huntsville loved him. I told him he was working too hard, that
he was touring more than ever. He said he loved it, he loved appearing
before a live audience, that it gave him a feeling of a sense of
accomplishment. I started to ask him something else (changing the subject),
but he said, “Are you listening to me or thinking about something else?” I
told him that I knew what he said and I repeated part of it. He was teasing
me - - guess he knew that I was excited.
He had just finished a tour in Asheville, NC, the night before (when he
gave away the guitar and rings). I said, "I heard you were giving away
everything last night.” And he said instead of pitching the guitar to
Charlie that he just pitched to a man on the front row and then he gave a ring to another man on the front row. He said then that he called a girl up
to the stage from three or four rows back and he gave her a star-shaped
diamond ring; he said she turned two or three flips back to her chair. He
was laughing and said he just went crazy. The following Sunday (July 27)
night, he gave a black bank teller that he saw on a car dealer’s parking lot a new Cadillac.
Carolyn and I were planning to go to Las Vegas in August (just a month
away) and we didn’t know anything about how to “act” except we had heard
that you had to tip big. Well, Carolyn told him that we were coming to Vegas
to see him and asked him what you had to do to sit on the front. Without
answering Carolyn, he just called Sonny West over and told him that we were
coming to Vegas to see him and that we wanted to sit on the front row and to
take care of it. He seemed pleased that we would go all the way to Las Vegas
just to see him. Elvis said he would remember us, that he didn’t always
remember names but he remembered faces. It was funny because we didn’t know
who Sonny was. Sonny just acknowledged Elvis' remark and stepped back. I
asked Sonny who he was and he told me and said when we got to Las Vegas to
call him. I told him that they wouldn’t let me talk to him and he said, “I
have a beeper and I answer the calls I want to.”
Some more people had walked up by then and one of the girls said she didn’
t believe he was really Elvis. Trying to convince her that he was Elvis, he
started to sing “Treat Me Like a Fool…” Then just a little of “Hound Dog”.
And I said, “You didn’t sing ‘Tiger Man’ for us.” And WOW!! He started “I’m
the king of the jungle…” I said, “Now I know it’s not him.” He just grabbed
me and hugged me - - he knew that I was teasing him - -that I knew for sure
it was him.
Something that impressed me most about Elvis was when some guys walked up, Elvis reached to shake hands with them and introduced himself to them. Just
as any other man would introduce himself, he told them his name as he shook
hands with them.
When he signed his autograph for me, I told him my name was Helen. He
said, “To hell and back?” Then he said, “Can I write that?” I told him that
I didn’t care and he said that I’d have to explain it. He signed, “To Helen
n back, Love, Elvis Presley,” Then, he told me again to explain it to
everyone. (He must have thought that I was going to be showing it to a lot
of people - - Ha!)
As we left, we exchanged a “See you in Las Vegas” with Elvis. It was
almost like a dream. In fact, at one point, Carolyn and I were standing
behind Elvis and I looked at Carolyn and said, “Can you believe this?”
When Elvis got sick in August and came home from Vegas before we got
there, you can imagine how disappointed we were. But we saw Sonny in
September and he said we’d still get to sit on the front just like Elvis
said. (He was going back to Vegas in December.) Finally, the time passed. On
Dec. 6, 1975, we sat front, center (at the stage) for the dinner show, he
just smiled to us; then when he started to sing “Can’t Help Falling in Love, he came over and gave Carolyn a scarf, backed up and got another one, and stepped back and gave it to me.
In 1976 and 1977, we traveled many miles to concerts (St. Louis, Atlanta,
Memphis, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Knoxville, Mobile, Louisville, Birmingham,
and Las Vegas again) and, of course, he graced the stage of the Von Braun
Civic Center again in September 1976. Each concert just made us want to see
more.
I am so thankful that he lived in my lifetime. He gave so much; he gave
his life to entertaining us. I think he loved us (his fans) just as we loved
him. I made so many friends through him and have so many wonderful memories
of him. I WILL REMEMBER HIM!!
Helen Parcus
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