16th November 1970, Monday

[Graeme]

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[Alan]

Oklahoma City

      
      By Kenneth Lambertus
      
I thought that it would never happen... Elvis in Oklahoma... But a friend of mine phoned me to tell me she had read an ad in the paper that said Elvis would be appearing at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds Arena on November 16. I could hardly believe the news.
      
I had often wished that Elvis would come to Oklahoma to do a concert, and now it was to come true. I had wanted to see Elvis at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, but it just wasn’t possible. I ordered my ticket a week in advance, which turned out to be a good idea seeing how the arena sold out when people heard Elvis was coming.
      
We arrived at the arena about 7 p.m. As the time for the concert grew close, the huge 11,000-seat arena began to fill up. At 8.30, the announcer
came out and announced that everyone was to remain seated during the show or it would be stopped.
      
The Sweet Inspirations led off the entertainment with two numbers and Sammy Shore did his thing for about thirty minutes. The announcerthen came out to say that there would be a fifteen-minute intermission. During this time, El’s boys came out and set the equipment up. After, the intermission, Elvis’ band came out dressed in matching white suit The band started a swinging beat to ‘That’s All Right’ as Elvis walk out. He was dressed in a white jumpsuit with a red scarf tucked ins his shirt. It seemed as though the whole building lit up with flash-cubes going off.
      
Elvis introduced himself as Glen Campbell and made a little crack about Tom Jones. He didn’t use his guitar the rest of the evening. I don’t remember the order of the songs that Elvis performed, but some of them were ‘Blue Christmas’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin”, ‘I’ve Lost You’, ‘Johnny B. Goode’, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’, ‘Polk Salad Annie’ and several others that made him famous. At the close of the show, Elvis said: “Thank you. You’ve been a great crowd in Oklahoma City.” He quickly ran off the stage as the band was playing a rocking instrumental. Oklahoma City will never be the same again.
      

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KATHY WESTMORELAND: In Oklahoma City, Elvis’ suite was done in black and white, and was really very stark-looking even though the room was filled with flowers and fruit-baskets — his usual hotel welcome. Elvis hated the décor, so he had an inspiration and turned to someone and said, “Go out and get me all red light-bulbs for this place.” When the red bulbs arrived he had them put into every light-fixture, including the bed-lamps. which gave the place a dark but warming feeling. He was pretty proud of his instant interior decorating. Elvis suite overlooked the auditorium entrance and we sat in front of the picture-window watching the people lined up far below, moving slowly towards the ticket-window. Elvis was relaxing in an armchair. At least, he was about as relaxed as he ever got with all of his fingers jiggling and one leg crossed over the other, foot wiggling nervously. He watched them for a while and then obscrved loudly, “People will come from miles around just to see a freak.” which made everyone laugh. But Elvis laughed louder than anyone else.
      

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WISH GRANTED

      
      By Patricia Shideler
      Elvis Monthly
      February 1971
      
Have you ever hoped and prayed and wished for something for nearly half your life? My wish was to see Elvis perform in person. After having been his fan since he became known to the world and owning every single record he has ever released, I finally got to see the King on the night of November 16, 1970. He appeared in Oklahoma City in the Fairgrounds Arena to a standing-room-only crowd of over 11,000 people.
      
The show started at 8.30 with the Sweet Inspirations singing several songs. Next came the Imperials with their act and then a comedian. By this time the crowd had waited almost too long to see Elvis, but there was an intermission to sit through. In the lobby they sold large posters of different Elvis pictures. I purchased two posters and the programme which was a book containing twenty-three pictures of Elvis.
      
Finally, the big moment arrived and Elvis walked on stage. It was one of the most wonderful moments of my life. There he was, a real person! When you see him on television and in the movies you know he has to be a live person. but until you can actually see him in person you can’t imagine how much greater and real he is.
      
Even though I had bought the most expensive kind of ticket, I was too far away to see his face clearly, even with opera glasses. | was shaking so much that I couldn’t see through them anyway. I would have given anything to be closer to the stage, but | was not one of the lucky ones. Anyway, 1 could still see and hear him well enough to enjoy his magnificent performance. I have always known this, but many people do not — Elvis can really sing. He does not need echo-chambers to make him sound good as so many of our performers do now. His voice is clear and beautiful one minute, and deep and husky or loud the next moment. Perfection!
            [/Indent]
Elvis wore one of the white suits he has been using to perform in lately. It was decorated with gold or yellow braid and he wore a red scarf. The collar on his suit was as high as his ears and, with his long hair, you could not see his face too well unless you were close enough. He is slender and very well-built. During his performance Elvis fell twice — once flat on his back and the next time off a speaker. He was joking around and did this on purpose, but one cannot help wondering if he isn’t going to hurt himself badly one day.
      
The songs he sang were all great. He sang ‘That’s All Right’, ‘I Got A Woman’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’, “You've Lost That Lovin’ Feelin”, ‘Polk Salad Annie’, ‘Johnny B. Goode’, ‘How Great Thou Art”, “The Wonder Of You’, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ and ‘Hound Dog’ (during which he threw his red scarf to some lucky person in the audience).
      
He continued with ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, sang ‘Blue Christmas’ by request from the audience, then ‘Suspicious Minds’, “Ain’t It Funny How Time Slips Away” and ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’. Then silence fell and the magic of the night was gone again, for Elvis had left the stage. Even though he had sung all these songs, it seemed like he had stepped into my life for only five seconds and was gone.
      
He is the King and no-one will ever replace him. He was great that night as always. Now my wish is to see him closer. Perhaps when he performs in Las Vegas again, I will be able to have my wish come true.
      

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ED BONJA: We were nearing the end of our second concert tour with a show in Oklahoma City when I shot this absolutely great (if I may say so)
photo of Elvis. He had just finished singing ‘Polk Salad Annie’ when he hit the floor. He had jumped up in the air and came down low to the ground as the song ended, and he simply rolled onto his back. He went on to perform an additional fifteen [sic] great songs to the delight of the 11,000 fans who were present at the Fairgrounds Arena that cool Monday evening.
      

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11,000 Fans Wild Over Elvis Presley

      By Jon Denton
      The Daily Oklahoman
      November 17, 1970
      
Some place deep in Elvis Presley theres a train whistle blowing cool in the night, an ocean liner bellowing across the fog, jackhammers rapping staccato rhythms, and cymbals slashing through guitar groans that gnash against your brain. That's Elvis. There’s more, but over the screams of 11,000 fans crammed the State Fair Arena, you would do well to separate the man from the madness. On Monday night, Presley turned it all on and let it all hang out for his Oklahoma friends. At first sluggish, the audience gradually warmed to the entertainer’s special charisma, until grandmothers sitting next to the toddlers joined in a hand-clapping, cheering roar of Elvis worship.
      
Did Elvis like it? Does a bear like honey?
      
The Memphis marvel strolled onstage after an intermission at 9.20 p.m. For over an hour Presley stole every minute on the stage. His clowning and singing and leering smile drove his fans into outbursts of ecstasy. At one point Elvis snatched a red scarf from inside his white jumpsuit and flung it toward the front rows. While he opened up on another solo, the scramble at front and center drew the eyes of ten helmeted policemen. Finally, a young girl settled for half the scarf. Her antagonist, a man in his late 30s, would not yield; his wife gnawed her way through the scarf to settle the dispute.
      
Elvis also tossed a tassel into the audience. A young Norman man snatched it and, after cramming it quickly into a pocket, murmured, “I may not get
out alive” Although sweat poured from Presley’ face, the 35-year-old singer seemed to enjoy himself. “I’ve made 480 songs.” he told the crowd. “I can’t sing them all — so I'll do 400 of them,” he chuckled.
      
He playfully tossed a cup of water on one bystander at the moment he looked up at a balcony where a piercing female voice was emanating. “I’ll be up there in a minute, honey,” he said. “I always come up in the balcony,” he laughed, and then he added, “I’m not going up there... I'm a lying fool.” Police surrounding the raised stage made sure that no fan came too close. Announcers repeated the warning before Elvis appeared that, if anyone left their seat, ogeaw might have to stop. If fans stayed put it was not because Elvis didn’t turn them on.
      
His knee-throbbing, hip-swaying, arm-slashing gyrations accompanied every song, from ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ through ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘That Lovin’ Feelin”, “Hound Dog’, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ and . even a gospel number, ‘How Great Thou Art’. A steady stream of lights flashed throughout the auditorium as camera-fans popped flashbulb after flashbulb in the direction of their idol. Elvis didn’t sing in Oklahoma City —
he happened to it.
      

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Is That All Of Elvis?

      By Howard D. Inglish
      The Oklahoma Journal
      November 17, 1970
      
A Review
      
The warm-up for Elvis Presley’s city appearance failed to warm up anyone. Monday night, and a comedian named Sammy Shore set the mood for the performance of the star of the show when he did a mocking version of Peggy Lee’s song, ‘Is That All There Is?’
      
The 55-minute performance Presley half-heartedly put on in the State Fairgrounds Arena left the more than 11,000 Elvis fans asking themselves that question after Elvis rushed off stage, and a voice boomed out over the PA system: “Elvis has left the building. Be sure to see him in his latest movie, That's The Way It Is™
      
There were some great songs from the era when the man fromMemphis started the move to ‘rock ’n’ roll’ like ‘HeartbreakHotel’, “Hound Dog’ and ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, but the ex-truckdriver — who now sports long-hair — could only manage a fewserious efforts of 16 songs.
      
There was no encore, only hundreds of young fans, looking at their souvenir programs and mumbling to each other as they stared at the stage they were kept far away from by a large security force that would have made the Secret Service happy.
      
In the gospel number, ‘How Great Thou Art’, Elvis did a very credible job, giving the anticipating audience a brief glimpse of his excellent voice. But
most numbers were filled with minor attempts at humor, and Elvis seemed more interested in playing orchestra leader, and making private comments on, the side to his band, than in entertaining Oklahomans who paid $5, $7.50 and $10 a ticket to see the 1950s phenomenon in person.
      
Perhaps he was disturbed by a bomb threat that sent police scurrying through the arena before the show. But his starting and stopping and beginning again of many songs, the so-so humor such as falling off the speaker, and chuckling during the intro to Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled
Water’ failed to evoke much enthusiasm from the same crowd that booed when intermission came and they still hadn’t seen Elvis. The teeny-boppers were there, but even their screaming never reached a high point comparable to the excitement Elvis has been known to evoke; the audience courteously applauded, but they too never got their heart in it. Elvis probably had a good time, like when he threw a cup of water on the sound technicians. He had fun singing ‘Polk Salad Annie’, but dragged through such movers as ‘I Got A Woman’, ‘You've Lost That Loving Feeling’ and ‘Johnny B. Goode’.
      
But his acrobatics and the multitude of flashbulbs going off every second were amusing. Together they made for a psychedelic study of a man with great talent, but who didn’t care to let Oklahoma Cityans view it. Elvis’ effort has to be the least of any big-name performer to appear in this area in recent years.
      

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Tulsan Comments On Elvis

      By Larry White
      
Elvis Presley is no mere rock-star. He is the beginning of the whole and, in a sense, represents the whole itself. This is Elvis — but there is more he is probably the most respected figure among the people in the recording industry itself. This is evidenced by the direct influence on such rock greats as Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and even the devil himself, Mick (remember Elvis the Pelvis?).
      
To the people who are old enough to remember the Hit Parade, there is a special remembrance of the pre-1960 when Elvis was befoer his public as only he can be. For those who had to wait for the Beatles to take them away, there were only second-rate movies and sparse recordings by Elvis for them to get to know him by. Consequently the majority of the post-Beatle rock music buyers and listeners turned him down. All they really had of Elvis was his early rock stuff that is truly the essence of today's music.
      
But, being taught that the only good rock was progressive rock, Elvis was fashionably crucified. Elvis’ seclusion and half-hearted movie and recording attempts during these years were no fault of his own. But, trust may be a fault if one cares to look at it that way for Elvis trusted his management and sat back reaping the fruits of his early days.
      
THIS WAS SOUND BUSINESS practice. Why should he put out effort when he didn’t need to? If Elvis was a business man, he would have been in a very satisfying position. But he isn’t. He is an entertainer and an artist. So, after 10 years, he broke the chains and shocked the music world by going on a personal appearance tour. Oklahoma City was one of the cities picked for an Elvis concert. This writer was fortunate enough to be in attendance that November evening. As 1 sat waiting for the man whom I thought only a legend, suspicion had me wondering if, in fact, Elvis was not the same magic person of the fifties.
      
AFTERALL, HE WAS MORE than a decade older. Would pe live up to the recent criticism? As he strolled on stage to confront the 12,000 people, consisting largely of loyal Elvis fans, I sensed the hold he still possessed. As soon as he started his first song, ‘That’s All Right’, I knew fo sure that Elvis was still alive and shaking. The man was dynamite. At 35, he still had everything he had when he was 20. His voice was more mature and mellow than in his early days, but the Presle feeling was still there. The show consisted of more recent songs such as ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, and his rock classics such as “Heartbreak Hotel” and ‘Hound Dog’.
      
ELVIS ROCKED AND rolled through each one in a way that would make the more contemporary rock and rollers green with envy. The physical attraction to the girls and women that characterized his early days is ever-present today. He has the ladies in the audience, whose ages ranged from 15 to 50, jumping, screaming and shouting at every move he made. The feeling of Presley, and to be sure the feeling of rock music in all its splendor, was present in Oklahoma City that night. Elvis was the one who, in 1956, took a brand new music by the hand and led it across the world and allowed it to develop into the culture as we see and feel it today. He has proven that he is still as dynamic in the 1970s as he was in 1956. Elvis — you're the king.
      

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