I
had received a phone call from one of Elvis' assistants
(don't remember who) who told me that Elvis had said he
wanted to meet with me and I was invited to go over to Radio
Recorders in Hollywood where he was doing some sessions
When I got to Radio Recorders I was directed down a main
hall toward the control room of the studio where he was
working. A door was open to the studio and as I walked past
I could see Elvis standing in front of a microphone. He
was wearing a sea captain's hat and was looking very dapper.
I continued to the control booth and was directed to a little
lounge off to the side with a view of the studio. In a few
minutes Elvis took a break and came in to the lounge and
we shook hands and introduced ourselves. We talked for 15
or 20 minutes, trading brief autobiographies. I remember
one phrase verbatim when he was talking about Sun Records
and the secretary/assistant to Sam Phillips. Elvis said
to me, "if it hadn't been for her I'd still be driving
a truck." When he went back to work, the first thing
he did was to walk up to his vocal mike and, looking at
me with a mischievous smile on his face, sing a naughty
version of the first few lines of THERE'S ALWAYS
ME. During another break, Elvis invited me to come
to his house after the session, along with the Jordanaires
and some of the musicians.
That evening, at his house, he played me his recorded version
of THERE'S ALWAYS ME — it was the
first time I had heard it. There were lots of people in
the room. He was rather secretive about his new unreleased
recordings so we listened on headphones. Just before the
recording reached the end, he said to me: "Listen to
this ending." He was very proud of his semi-operatic
delivery of the title line at the end, as well he should
have been.
To my surprise, he knew all about my having originated
Floyd Cramer's piano style and announced to the room that
I was the one that had invented Floyd Cramer's 'slip-note'
style. It makes me sad to think about it, because I never
really told Elvis how good he made me feel. Nor did I ever
tell him how much I appreciated his fine renditions of my
songs. I guess I assumed he knew how good he was. But I
wish now that I had put it into words. It taught me a lesson.
Now, whenever an artist does
an outstanding rendition of one of my songs I make sure
I thank the artist [and, if possible, everyone else who
worked on the record]. I don't believe that any of them,
no matter how rich or famous, are immune to expressions
of appreciation from the writer.