On the evening of 27 August 1965, Elvis Presley and The Beatles, the music world's biggest stars, met for the first and only time. When the Fab Four went to see the King of Rock 'n' Roll at his Beverly Hills mansion on a night off from their US tour, the initially awkward small talk gave way to an impromptu jam session. But there are no recordings or photographs of the event. Tony Barrow, who was The Beatles' press officer between 1962 and 1968, was also in the room. As a new exhibition about The Beatles and Elvis opens at The Beatles Story in Liverpool, he recalls that memorable night. "When I put the idea of meeting Elvis to John, Paul, George and Ringo, they were initially put off by the fact that the press might be involved," he said. Elvis Presley in 1964 Elvis was in the middle of filming his movie Paradise Hawaiian Style at the time of the meeting "I remember George saying 'if this is going to be another dirty big publicity circus, let's forget it'. They did want to meet their rock 'n' roll idol, but not with a gang of reporters and photographers around to hassle them. "The first fundamental ground rules to be set were: no press to be invited, no pictures to be taken, no recordings to be made and no leaking of our plans in advance. "It was shortly before 10pm when we drove over. We were in a convoy of three big black limousines, led by [Elvis' manager] Colonel Parker and his people. "The property consisted of two storeys nestled into a hillside. It was a vast ...

• published: 23 Jul 2012
• views: 6512
• author: Stevie Riks