Posted April 22, 200817 yr From NME.com Bill Kenwright, a long-term friend of English entertainer Tommy Steele, has claimed that contrary to popular belief Elvis Presley did once visit England. Speaking to BBC Radio 2, Kenwright claimed that Presley went on a trip around London with Steele in 1958. "Elvis came to England!", he said. "Tommy showed him round London. One night Tommy got a phone call [from Presley]. "They talked and they got a friendship (going). Elvis flew in for a day and Tommy showed him round London They spent a day together, Tommy took him round and showed him round the Houses of Parliament."
April 22, 200817 yr That's news to me, i have never heard this before, and i thought i knew everything about Elvis. :unsure: Just found this ........ Elvis Presley made a surreptitious visit to London, where he was shown the sights by England's own rock and roll star Tommy Steele, it was claimed last night. Steele, now 71, has kept the tale of the visit which he received from Elvis a secret for 50 years and it was previously thought that Presley only ever visited Prestwick airport in Scotland. However, in a pre-recorded interview for Radio 2, Bill Kenwright, the theatre impresario and Steele's friend, let slip that Elvis, then 23, met up with 21-year-old Steele. Kenwright said: "I remember him telling me about when Elvis came to England very quietly. "Evidently Tommy got home one night and the phone rings. A voice says, 'They tell me you're good'. "Tommy says, 'Who's this?' 'Elvis,' says the voice. 'Get outta here,' says Tommy. 'Are you as good as me?' says Elvis, and they sort of started this mock rivalry. "It all came from that. It's quite something, isn't it - the thought of them wandering round London together?" Mr Kenwright admitted that he was not sure whether he should have told the story. Steele last night maintained his discretion, saying: "What happened many years ago is something sweet and memorable. "It was an event shared by two young men sharing the same love of their music and the same thrill of achieving something unimaginable. "I swore never to divulge publicly what took place and I regret that it has found some way of getting into the light. "I only hope he can forgive me." What i can't understand is why keep it a secret and why as it only just come out now?:unsure: If this is true, it is wonderful to think Our Elvis, did come to see us. :yahoo: :wub:
April 22, 200817 yr This is from The Daily Mail Revealed . . . Elvis's secret visit to London (with a little help from rock rival Tommy Steele) By PAUL HARRIS - More by this author » Last updated at 10:49am on 22nd April 2008 They say the King never set foot in England. But in 1958, an American boy with a sneering smile and perfect Southern manners was shown around town. His guide was a cheeky Cockney lad with a mop of blond hair. But the day a young Tommy Steele showed Elvis Presley the sights of London has remained a rock 'n' roll secret for 50 years. http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/04_04/elvis2104_468x649.jpg Elvis the same year: He is said to have rung Steele to ask, 'Are you as good as me?' Until one of Steele's friends blurted it out on the radio yesterday. Had the pair been spotted together in Britain at the time there would almost certainly have been a riot. Presley, then 23, needed military guards to control crowds whenever he appeared in public in the U.S. while 21-year-old Steele was widely, if briefly, being billed as his British equivalent. The story of Elvis and Tommy's trip around the city was told in a pre-recorded Radio 2 interview yesterday with showbusiness impresario Bill Kenwright, who has known Steele for decades. Rock rival: Tommy Steele in action in 1958 He let listeners to Ken Bruce's show, Tracks of My Years, know how Steele had told him about the visit. Unfortunately he hadn't realised the singer had guarded the secret for so long. Yesterday he told the Daily Mail: "I'm absolutely steeped in 50s rock 'n' roll. I love it. "So when I get together with Tommy Steele I just say, 'Tell me about Buddy Holly...tell me about Guy Mitchell, and that sort of thing'. He's a great storyteller and he can just reel them off. "I remember him telling me about when Elvis came to England very quietly. "Evidently Tommy got home one night and the phone rings. A voice says, 'They tell me you're good'. "Tommy says, 'Who's this?' 'Elvis,' says the voice. 'Get outta here,' says Tommy. 'Are you as good as me?' says Elvis...and they sort of started this mock rivalry. "It all came from that. It's quite something, isn't it - the thought of them wandering around London together? "But the impression I got was that they never got out of the car. It was more like, "There's Buckingham Palace ...there's the Houses of Parliament". "Tommy is a very private person who doesn't go into the past. It's only me who makes him talk about it. As soon as I started talking about it on the radio I wondered if I'd done the right thing. "I remember saying, 'Bloody hell - I hope that was all right'. I'm sure Tommy will want to kill me when he finds out." http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/04_04/steele2104_228x326.jpg Rock rival: Tommy Steele in action in 1958 http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/04_04/PrestickElvisPFOTO_468x291.jpg Royal welcome: The King meets his screaming fans who waited to greet him at Glasgow's Prestwick Airport in 1960 Mr Kenwright said the date of the Presley visit was some time in 1958 - the year Pele's magic won the World Cup for Brazil. That timing raised the possibility that Presley, who joined the U.S. Army in March that year and saw service in Germany, might have been in uniform, his slicked back quiff shaved into a military short back and sides. Everywhere he performed, his female fans were swept into the kind of hysteria that would not be seen on this side of the Atlantic until the advent of Beatlemania. Yet Britain - already jiving to Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock - never got to see an Elvis show. He returned two years later for the briefest of stopovers, not getting any farther south than Ayrshire. At the time he was returning to the U.S. after serving in the Army in Germany in March 1960. He stopped off at Prestwick airport when the military DC-7 touched down to refuel. Archive pictures show him there in his sergeant's uniform, signing autographs and phoning his teenage sweetheart Priscilla, soon to become his bride. That night he told the crowds gathered to see him: "This is quite a country. I must see more of it." But he never did. And the belief that the airport stopover was his sole visit was set in stone. So why didn't Tommy Steele simply set the record straight? Last night the 71-year-old entertainer-performing in Dr Dolittle in Woking, Surrey, retained his discretion. In a note to the Daily Mail he wrote: "What actually happened many years ago is something secret and memorable. "It was an event shared by two young men sharing the same love of their music and the same thrill of achieving something unimaginable. "I swore never to divulge publicly what took place and I regret that it has found some way of 'getting into the light'." "I can only hope he can forgive me."
April 22, 200817 yr Been reading about this on the various sites. I would so much like to believe that this visit happened and that Elvis did come to England. What I find difficult to believe though, is that how could it have remained a secret for 50 years? I've never heard anything about this and I'm so surprised that it hadn't come out in any of the books written about Elvis, especially by those who were close to Elvis. Wish there were photos cos then I would definately believe it :)
April 22, 200817 yr Been reading about this on the various sites. I would so much like to believe that this visit happened and that Elvis did come to England. What I find difficult to believe though, is that how could it have remained a secret for 50 years? I've never heard anything about this and I'm so surprised that it hadn't come out in any of the books written about Elvis, especially by those who were close to Elvis. Wish there were photos cos then I would definately believe it :) I know i would like to see pictures too. I am not sure whether i believe it or not. Like we have all said, why haven't we heard anything before now. :unsure:
April 22, 200817 yr I really want to believe it, but the cynic inside me wonders if it was just said for publicity. Has he got an autobiography due out :unsure:
April 22, 200817 yr I really want to believe it, but the cynic inside me wonders if it was just said for publicity. Has he got an autobiography due out :unsure: I'm not sure, haven't heard anything.
April 22, 200817 yr It would be nice to have some solid proof ;) Wouldn't do either Tommy or Bill Kenwright any good if it wasn't true perhaps :unsure:
April 23, 200817 yr http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p217/lonesome_cowboy/scan0002-1.jpg Hahahaha, nice one Martin. Looks like Elvis got a sun tan that day. :yahoo:
April 23, 200817 yr Hehehe! Elvis looks like he's fallen asleep on a sunbed and by the looks of Tommy, they managed to fit in a wedding on the visit :yahoo: Marty Lacker comments on claim Elvis toured London with Tommy Steele (see story yesterday): Tommy Steele's claim that Elvis contacted him and spent a day in London with him is total bull$h!t. It seems Steele is just another person who has come out of the woodwork since Elvis died that has made false claims about themselves and Elvis. They think because he's gone they can get away with it but they forget the that we, the original guys who were close to him for 20 years and more, are still here. At least one of us and most times more, were with him just about everyday for all that time. Many days 24/7. We know what he did and who he did it with. Tommy Steele was never with Elvis in London because Elvis was never in London. The only time Elvis was in any part of Great Britain is when his army plane made a brief landing to refuel in Prestwick, Scotland on his way home from the army in Germany. Who Steele did meet is Lamar Fike, who says that he went to London back then while he was in Germany with Elvis. He went with a couple of guys and met Steele as part of a group. He spent a few hours with him and the others but he never went to Parliment as Steele claims or any other sightseeing tour with him. Hope that sets the record straight for people. Source : EIN See this story is still making the news. I saw the Daily Mirror today and they had pics of a jumpsuited Imp at various locations in London :rolleyes: Whether the story is true or false, why, when it comes to Elvis, do we have to see this c**p all over the papers :(
April 23, 200817 yr Hehehe! Elvis looks like he's fallen asleep on a sunbed and by the looks of Tommy, they managed to fit in a wedding on the visit :yahoo: Marty Lacker comments on claim Elvis toured London with Tommy Steele (see story yesterday): Tommy Steele's claim that Elvis contacted him and spent a day in London with him is total bull$h!t. It seems Steele is just another person who has come out of the woodwork since Elvis died that has made false claims about themselves and Elvis. They think because he's gone they can get away with it but they forget the that we, the original guys who were close to him for 20 years and more, are still here. At least one of us and most times more, were with him just about everyday for all that time. Many days 24/7. We know what he did and who he did it with. Tommy Steele was never with Elvis in London because Elvis was never in London. The only time Elvis was in any part of Great Britain is when his army plane made a brief landing to refuel in Prestwick, Scotland on his way home from the army in Germany. Who Steele did meet is Lamar Fike, who says that he went to London back then while he was in Germany with Elvis. He went with a couple of guys and met Steele as part of a group. He spent a few hours with him and the others but he never went to Parliment as Steele claims or any other sightseeing tour with him. Hope that sets the record straight for people. Source : EIN See this story is still making the news. I saw the Daily Mirror today and they had pics of a jumpsuited Imp at various locations in London :rolleyes: Whether the story is true or false, why, when it comes to Elvis, do we have to see this c**p all over the papers :( Thanks for posting this Carole. I think if it was really true, we would have known about it before now.
April 24, 200817 yr And there's yet more :lol: More feedback on Elvis visiting London: EIN asked the person with Elvis during his time in Germany, Lamar Fike, for a comment on the claim Elvis secretly visited London. Succinctly, Lamar replied: "This did not happen." We also appreciated Peter Turner's comments on the claim: The only time Elvis was given permission to leave Germany during his service was when he was allowed to make a trip to Paris. He hired a limo to take him and the guys in his entourage, there and back. With him were:- Red West, Lamar Fike and great army buddy, Rex Mansfield. Check out Rex`s excellent book `Sergeant Presley` co-written with his wife Elisabeth, who also worked as Elvis`s live-in secretary in the house in Bad Nauheim during those years. (No mention in the book of a `London trip`.) On the Paris trip they did get to meet some Brits....a troupe of English dancing girls from a Paris nightclub they went to, who spent an evening with the guys in El`s hotel suite playing scrabble and discussing Parisian architecture. Then of course, there was his stopover in Prestwick on the way back to the USA and demobilisation. But that was the total sum of Elvis`s `extra-Germanic` activities to foreign countries. Period! Also, no way would he have gone to London on his own! At the very least Red & Lamar would have gone too. They were at his side for all `off-base` activities, plus Rex also. They even had two fist-fights in Paris with guys pissed off at their `gals` being more in love with The King than them. And yet no-one recogised the most famous face on the planet...flying to and from London...on his own........ in 1958? Yes..of course! Finally why would this still be such a state- secret...in 2008? (The CIA might assasinate Tommy?) If it happened, why not confirm it, instead of mysterious talk of pledges of silence. You can tell from Steele`s response that he doesn`t want to call his mate a liar in print, or actually confirm it, otherwise he`d be going along with the fantasy, so he`s masked it all in press double-speak, which actually, speaks volumes! Kenwright should go into business with Jeffrey Archer. PS: Tommy has also mentioned in the past, that he saw Buddy Holly & The Crickets playing live in Norfolk Viginia, when he was out there as a Merchant seaman. He recalls they sang `Not Fade Away`.A few things to ponder in relation to this:- Steele was out of the MN and doing his first stint at the 2-I`s by July 1956. At that time there were no `Crickets`, Holly was still trying to get something away in Nashville..and `Not Fade Away` was a year off. Source : EIN
April 24, 200817 yr You can't believe anything anybody tells us anymore can you? :blink: I don't believe Elvis visited our fantastic country. :(
April 26, 200817 yr He visited mine He sure did, Brian and there's photgraphic proof of it Doubt we will be able to say the same cos I honestly don't think this story is true :(
April 27, 200817 yr He sure did, Brian and there's photgraphic proof of it Doubt we will be able to say the same cos I honestly don't think this story is true :( I don't think it is true either Carole :(
April 27, 200817 yr They really took the mickey out of this claim on HAve I Got News for You this week. Very funny But not doing much for the Elvis legacy. Still all exposure is useful.
April 27, 200817 yr They really took the mickey out of this claim on HAve I Got News for You this week. Very funny But not doing much for the Elvis legacy. Still all exposure is useful. I missed that this week, but it's good Elvis still got a mention. :yahoo:
April 27, 200817 yr It was a little exciting to think it might have happened, but the more you read the less likely it seems :rolleyes:
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