THE MUSIC LADY - The Time I Met Elvis

THE MUSIC LADY

THE TIME I MET ELVIS
by Rita Spillers

As you are aware if you read my personal bio, I am a professional keyboard musician. To many in our region who see me perform publicly, I am known as "the music lady." You may not realize, however, that I grew up in a musical family of gospel singers and musicians, having begun traveling with my family’s singing group on weekends at the age of eight, and when I was ten, we had our own local TV show with a CBS-affiliate station, from 1960-62.

We would attend "gospel singing conventions" and "quartet conventions" all across the South. As with all of us, there are things which occur through the years that help mold and shape our lives. The story below is not a current story of the work I do now, but it is about an incident that took place in 1960, when I was a young child. I wanted to share this story with you this month, and I hope you enjoy it.

THE TIME I MET ELVIS

It was a crisp November night in Memphis, Tennessee, as we arrived at Ellis Auditorium. The year was 1960, and there was a lot of excitement in the air. I grew up in a conservative family of gospel singers in a small North Louisiana community in the "Bible Belt," and we were visiting my cousin Marie who resided in Memphis.

Gospel music concerts were "big" back then. My family was in town to attend the National Quartet Convention, where our family trio had participated in an "amateur" music contest that very morning and had returned in the evening to hear the big professional concert.

It turns out that we had actually won a division of our competition, for which we were awarded a small trophy. And even though that was exciting for us, that night would turn out to be another special "highlight" of the trip. You see, we were hoping for a chance to get a glimpse of "HIM," for Marie told us that because he loved gospel music, Elvis always attended the big concert where all the top quartets and singers put on their big stage performance and sold their LP’s and pictures and sheet music out in the hallway.

He would be there as an obscure guest, of course, and sit backstage and stay hidden behind the curtains where he could view and observe all the performances but still have his measure of privacy. Marie knew exactly the right place to sit in the auditorium (top left balcony) to get the best glimpse of Elvis in case he sat at his "usual" spot, and she had made our reservations well in advance.

The concert began, and the crowd cheered as the quartets sang. The music was great, but I don’t really remember much about the concert at all. You see, we kept watching for him all evening long. Time went by and we waited and wondered. Suddenly, Marie announced excitedly, "There he is! There he is, look!!"

Our eyes all riveted to the sidelines of the stage. There, at the right edge behind the curtains, he sat. (Just as Marie had predicted!) I can still visualize it just like it was yesterday. Everyone took their turns looking through the binoculars and we all ooo’d and ahh’d over the handsome star who only wanted to be an "unknown" for an evening he could enjoy.

Because we knew one of the professional singers personally, I remember that someone suggested that maybe Jim Boatman (the bass singer we knew with one of the big groups) could get us past the guard and ropes with his special "back-stage pass" and we could get a closer view of Elvis! We did not know if this idea would work or not, but it was worth a try!

So, here we go trudging to the corridors, about three or four of us, hoping to see our friend to ask if he would be willing to try to help us out. I was the "kid" in the group, so I just followed everyone and remember feeling a thrill of excitement at the idea of even getting backstage to get a closer glimpse, not really dreaming I could really MEET the "king"!

It turns out that when we got into the hallway, our friend Jim was near-by and our plan worked! He got us past the guard!! I don’t remember how we actually approached Elvis for us to get to talk to him, but somehow it happened! I remember that Elvis was so gentle and kind and patient with us, and he was willing to let us take pictures with him. I remember shaking with excitement.

The part that made the biggest impression with me was that Elvis wore MAKE-UP. Now you have to understand, I was a country kid in a conservative southern household with a strict daddy who did not even allow my older sister to wear make-up, so that was shocking to me! A MAN wearing make-up? Now don’t get me wrong... he wasn’t made up like a "girl," but just the idea of seeing mascara and a slight touch of artificial color on his lips and cheeks was enough to shock me.

Someone took a picture of me with Elvis posed standing with his arm around me, and I thought I would just melt right there!! As soon as I got back home to Louisiana I told my 5^th grade classmates all about our adventure and how we were anxious to get the pictures developed.

I remember that the kids at school did not believe me when I told them I had actually met Elvis, and I remember feeling so very crushed! Momma tried to console me and told me they were just jealous. I couldn’t understand why they were acting like that to me. I said, "Just wait until I get my pictures developed, and they’ll see." I was so anxious to get those pictures and show everyone!

The pictures were finally developed! We excitedly rode into town to get the pack of pictures and to relive those happy moments. Looking back, there is no explanation to what truly happened to our pictures. I just recall how the drug store (that’s what it was called back then, not "pharmacy" but "drug store") gave us our "developed" roll of film and how all the ones taken backstage with Elvis DID NOT TURN OUT!

Back in those days, they developed each picture and included it in the pack, whether it "took" or not. Instead of Elvis pictures, we got blank, white, blurry photos, the kind where you cannot tell what the image is supposed to be. To this day, I don’t know if many of those kids in my class ever believed me or not, but in my heart I knew how "real" that adventure had been, and it is something I have carried with me the rest of my life.

Needless to say, the experience of receiving the blank pictures was a humbling experience, but at least I have my vivid memories of the time I met Elvis. And maybe sometimes we all need humbling experiences to help us "grow."

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