TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS: The Elvis Forum

The Ger Rijff Archives

1960: ELVIS IS BACK WITH A BANG!


Fort Dix, New Jersey. Final days as a G.I. Joe.

After nearly a year and a half playing G.I. Joe in Germany, Elvis finally sets foot on American soil again at McGuire Air Force Base on March 3, 1960. That same month he can be found in Nashville recording material for his first new album in years: Elvis Is Back! From Nashville Elvis and entourage travel to Miami, Florida, for a guest appearance on the Sinatra Show. Less than a week later Elvis reports for duty at Paramount, in Hollywood, to start work on the movie G.I. Blues and to record songs especially written to fit in with the film script.

In August another film awaits work. This time for 20th Century Fox : Flaming Star, directed
by the legendary Don Siegel. At the very end of October a third album is cut in Nashville: His Hand In Mine. An album made up entirely from sacred songs. And still there's more work awaiting Elvis... In November he's back in Hollywood to start filming and recording for his 3rd movie that year: Wild In The Country.

Come back with us to 1960, and re- live some of the stories Gary Pepper shared with his fanclub members through issue # 5 of The Tankcaster newsletter...


March 5th, heading for a hotel to meet old friends and getting ready for the long train ride down to Memphis the following day.





Elvis and friends in a private railway car aboard the 'Tennessean" train on his way home...

The Tankcaster fanclub members and their president Gary Pepper waited a long time that day, but can now finally give the King a warm welcome home reception! Elvis is back in his home town Memphis. March 7, 1960.











cover issue 5, 1960 tankcaster newsletter.


Having a good time with Juliet Prowse, his leading lady in G.I. Blues.















Mrs. Pepper, and her son Gary, meet their friend on the set of Flaming Star.





THE END

Superb stuff once again. Image 22 is such a good shot. Wonder what is happening in 21, has our man got some blisters?
Thanks chaps.
Rich

Well done men. Fantastic work.
JIm

great stuff, image 7 is soooo cool, great hair!! Always love to read old clips that are from the day as you get a feel of history in the making.

I think it was just a small cut.

Great stuff again Ger and John.
Must have been cool to have been there from the beginning.

Was DE SCHUIMERS VAN DE PRAIRIE the Belgium title of Flaming Star ?

Was Elvis still popular in Holland after he got back from the Army ?
The Beatles and The Stones weren't around yet.

A great piece about a great year for Elvis - love those army pictures. Good to see the Tankers fan club magazine - someone should reprint these in a book one day. I've never even seen a copy anywhere.

Harry

Hi there!! .

Great stuff from my favourite Elvis year 1960 . Thank you Ger & John. By for now .

I just stumbled across these:

The Belgians thought up some wonderful translated titles, didn't they?
Although over here in Holland and in Germany some 'strange' titles
were attached to 'foreign language' films in general. During the 1950s
and 60s very few people in Europe could speak or understand the
English language.

The years 1960-62 were Elvis biggest years in Holland. Most singles made
the # 1 or # 2 spot : It's Now Or Never, Lonesome Tonight, Surrender,
Wooden Heart... Biggest competition came from Cliff and The Shadows,
till the end of 1963. By 1964 ( like everywhere else in Europe and the UK)
both The Beatles and Stones would take over the best selling charts.
Elvis didn't score high in the charts anymore. I believe Devil In Disguise was
his last big one over here...till In The Ghetto, in 69, brought back the lost
success of the previous years by reaching # 2 . Maybe even #1...?

I'm not sure.

It's years since i these pictures in one spot.
Jim

I think this was the title here in Holland...

Belgian for The Half Breed.
Jim

Here are a couple more shots from Ger's archives of Elvis and Gary. The quality of these isn't that great, but nevertheless, interesting and seldom seen pics.

Even worst Ger, 'Ghetto' only went to number 4. Holland never was much of an 'Elvis Country' . His highest chart hits after 1969 were Just Cant Help Believin'(5), the re-issue of Jailhouse Rock in 1974 (4) and My Boy (9). Even a classic like Burning Love only went to number 19. But we LOVED BZN and the George Baker Selection ;-)

thanks for adding material, guys!

By the end of 1960 I had just turned 9, and the only two Elvis films I'd
seen were Loving You and G.I.Blues. My brother and I had started compiling
scrapbooks and had a couple of Lps and a dozen singles and EPs. I have no recollections
of going to the local cinema to catch the films that followed after G.I Blues...?
Both Flaming Star and Wild In The Country were restricted to visitors of 14 years and older.
It wasn't 'till 1970 before I finally got to see Flaming Star during a weekday matinee
in the company of half a dozen other 'lost' souls...

Fun In Acapulco I watched in the company of my mother on a saturday afternoon between
shopping for new clothes. From Viva Las Vegas onwards things would improve with regular
visits to the cinemas on my own. In 68 I started delivering newspapers before going to school saving up money to make a trip to the yearly Elvis Convention In Leicester, England.
That year, King Creole was the headliner. A treat if ever there was one! By 1968 I had almost
forgotten Elvis was capable once of good acting and delivering quality songs...
The years 1965-67 had nearly destroyed all interest in Elvis films for me. There were no
videos yet... And the few really good Elvis films were only 'available' as sweet memories
of yesteryear...

Did you guys have a chance seeing Elvis in the cinemas, long ago?
_________________________________________________________________________

Colin? John? I heard you guys were attending the Chaplin premiere of 'City Lights'
in London, back in 1932...? Surely you didn't miss out on the early Elvis films?!

Here a Billboard LP list with Elvis is Back on no.2
This was the highest position for this album.

Great stuff Ger.

Haha, bleeding comedian!!!

Anyway old boy, by the the middle of 1960 I had also turned nine (seems we're a similar age old chap) and the only two Elvis films I had seen were Loving You and G.I. Blues. Spooky, huh?

I'd also bought the Jailhouse Rock single (my first record ever) but we had no record player.

Spooky indeed!!!
I think you beat me in age with only a few months. My birthday was in
december 1951... Yours?

I've already written [elsewhere] that, as I got married in '63, became a dad in '64 & again in '66, buying Elvis albums & seeing his films at the cinema, were [mostly] a luxury I couldn't afford !

But those early films, yes !

Bit disappointed with Love Me Tender being in b & w !

Totally blown away by Loving You !

The staging of the numbers Mean Woman Blues & Got A Lot 'O Livin' To Do [finale] have never been bettered !

Loved Jailhouse Rock & those great L & S songs !

And King Creole convinced me he had a great future in acting.

Things soon went wrong after that.

Following his army service, he did a couple of good films, but the runaway success of those two lightweight 'musicals' [I don't even have to name them] soon set the pattern for the mediocre stuff that the colonel had him doing for years !

and a bit. Not only had I turned 9 by the middle of 1960, I had actually turned 11. What was I thinking about?

GREAT POST, THANK U SO MUCH

One of the actors was holding a knife in one scene.

When the director yelled "Cut !" he got a tad confused........................

"Holland was never much of an Elvis Country".

That's not true, really. Take in consideration Dutch radio didn't play Elvis or
rock n roll 'till late 1958. The music press, ran by jazz and Sinatra adapts, hated
him and the new teen culture coming from America. He was never seen on tv
once... 'till a few seconds in the 8 o clock news of his arrival in Germany.
His films, with the exception of Loving You, were strictly for teenagers of 14 years
of age and older. You had to be 18 years old to see King Creole!
But no matter what, the fanclub at the end of the 50s had 2000 paying members!

There wasn't much exposure, like there would be in later years for Cliff and the
British invasion. Everybody in showbiz played concerts in Holland. Everybody
but Elvis. And that's where things went wrong. Had he played the UK and Europe
during the early 60s or 70s, he'd been much, much bigger in popularity. The reason he
survived so long during the 60s &70s, without many hits, no promo clips and
mostly crummy films, was 100% thanks to the loyalty of his fans...and not to what was
offered to us by him and his management.