Elvis 'n' me and the DVD

[FAVEHOUR]

Some of you who attended shows on the second leg of the Sugarcanes tour (from Oregon forward), or heard recordings of them, may have heard Elvis relate that someone gave him a DVD that showed him performing a verse of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" with the Carter Family. Well, I thought I'd give you the backstory on that, and how my idea to send Elvis a bit of film ended up in his stage patter.

Back in June, John Foyle posted a link to a "Jukebox Jury" article where Elvis related the following:

I've known two generations of the Carter Family. June Carter I met in the early '80s. I stood on stage of the Albert Hall with her — me and Nick Lowe joined her, I don't know how in the hell we got up there — and they were doing "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," and she said to me, "You take the next verse!" And I said, "I can't!" And she said, "Why not?" And I said, "Because you sung 'em all." And she said, "make one up!" So I did. And I wish, to this day, I could remember what that verse was. But if a member of the Carter family tells you to make up a verse of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," you just say, "How long would you like it to be?"

When I read this, I immediately remembered that I had in fact seen this very moment on video. There was a "Late Show" program in 1989, the same show that did the "Everything You Wanted to Know About Spike" show a few months earlier, and it focused on Johnny Cash. A small portion of the show featured the video from an Albert Hall performance Johnny, June, and the whole Carter Family gave presumably in May 1989. Elvis and Nick were onstage with them and the clip was of Elvis singing a verse of "Will the Circle..". A friend had sent me the clip on videotape back in 1989.

I found it hard to believe that Elvis did not know of this clip, had never seen it, but it sure sounded like he was unaware of it. So I thought it would be cool if I could get him a copy. Problem was, I had tickets to 4 Sugarcane shows, and I'd already been to three of them by the time this article appeared. I only had a ticket for one more show, in Kettering Ohio on August 27th. I had no idea if I'd be able to run into Elvis and give him the DVD. While I used to actually get backstage and so on in the old days, it's been a long time. So I had the idea to ask someone else for help. So I contacted Rozy, who many of you probably know from listserv. Rozy is on good terms with EC and he will usually stop to say hello to her if he sees her. Plus, Rozy was going to two shows before my Kettering show, increasing our odds. Rozy graciously agreed to help me out.

I burned the clip (it's only a couple minutes) to a DVD, wrote a note to Elvis explaining what it was, inserted it in the jewel case, and sent it to Rozy. She was able to hand it personally to Elvis after the show in Santa Rosa on Augst 21st. She said he seemed genuinely pleased to get it, and I thought that was very cool.

Well, after the next show at the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon, I was e-mailed by JIll who told me Elvis mentioned the DVD during the show! Soon I was able to hear clips from recordings people made as the tour went on, and he was mentioning the DVD every night! There's even a clip from Vancouver on YouTube of him talking about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNobxebBEtg

It was pretty wild to have influenced the stage patter! Now I wanted to take a little credit, and thank him for the mention, if I could manage to catch EC after the show at Kettering. He told the story there too, and I resisted the urge to shout "you're welcome!" from my seat in the third row. The show ended abruptly because of incoming storms, and I thought the bad weather and the bad vibes from the cutoff would ruin any chance of Elvis coming out to meet and greet. I stood behind the venue with Rozy and our friend Mary, and it looked bleak until Rozy saw a familar figure walking way over to the left side of the walkway, away from the large group gathered in the center with us. We ran over there, and Elvis was signing and taking pics with a small group of fans. He then started to head to the bus, but I went up and stopped him. (Very unusual for me, but it was my one shot...this DVD thing was going to be old news after this.) Elvis said hi and shook my hand and I said "Elvis! I sent you the DVD!" He shouted back, "You sent me the DVD!" He said "it's a gas!" We talked a little about it and he thanked me and I got a couple of pictures (thanks, AGAIN, to Rozy). I made sure to mention Rozy's helping out to him.

I don't know how to insert photos or I would. Trust me, I look goofy as always. But they're still very cool. There's EC, talking to me about the disc!

Anyway, I'm sure I sound a little silly but it was a very cool experience, a lot of fun to give Elvis something he probably is happy to have (it's the only film of him onstage with Johnny and June, as far as I know). I mean, he's given me so much great music. It was so surreal to hear him talk about my gift in his concerts. Just wanted to share the story with you all, and thanks so much to Rozy for her help and thanks to Elvis for being so appreciative and for talking about it in the shows.
Yeah, I know I sound starstruck, so sue me...

Dave Farr

[wardo68]

Great story, Mr. Farr. I doubt any of us reading would feel less starstruck. My question to you is: did you ever finish your EC A to Z as read in Beyond Belief lo these many years ago?

[FAVEHOUR]

Hi Wardo

Sad to say, where I left off in Beyond Belief was as far as I got. I always wrote them for the next issue and never got ahead of that pace.

dave

[scielle]

That's a great story!

Was the verse any good?

[Ypsilanti]

A fantastic story! Can you post the video clip?

[jmm]

wonderful story - thanks for sharing (including the story)

[scamp]

Thanks for the story and mission accomplished. How long is the clip? - I hate what happened at Kettering, what incompetents. I don't know much about stage production but I know about common courtesy to wait for the song to end.

[FAVEHOUR]

That's a great story!

Was the verse any good?

I'm not sure of one part, but it goes like this..

"Well, I saw that coach and harness (this is the part I am not sure of, it's definitely coach, it's a funeral caisson of some sort)

And I knew where it was bound

But I hated, I hated to see them

Put her in that cold, cold ground"


Pretty good off the cuff, I'd say

[And No Coffee Table]

This needs to be on YouTube.