Sherrill Neilson at Mablethorpe, England - 31st October 2000
With special thanks to Jan Hinks & Linda Downie
Todd Slaughter introduces Sherrill Neilson who was invited to Mablethorpe to sing songs, talk about Elvis and answer questions from Todd and the audience. He is on stage for about an hour and a half.
Sherrill sings O Sole Mio and Spanish Eyes
Sherrill greets the audience - looks at his watch - Good Morning, it's been such a pleasure to row my ark out here so that I could be here today". Boy, you sure had some weather… we're happy for you all who managed to swim out here today. I think some of the folks haven't even been able to get here. I was afraid I was going to have to rent an apartment in Brussels, I stayed at the airport so long. What I want to do for you today is share some memories of my special time with Elvis.
Needless to say, the highlight of my career was to have an opportunity to work with the man. I was born approximately 300 kilometres from where Elvis was born. He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi and I was born in Montgomery, Alabama. Now we both started singing in church from when we were young. He started at about 6, I think I started even at 4, singing in Church, but ironically Elvis's first wish was to be a gospel singer, and I used to joke with him about when I was a youngster, my parents were so religious I had to sneak around to listen to Elvis music and rock'n'roll records, and that I wanted to be a rock'n'roll singer, like Roy Orbison was one of my heroes as a kid growing up. And he used to say, well you're doing what I want to do. I'd say, well you're doing what I want to do, but I had to point out his job paid a lot better and the benefits were more attractive also, but when I first met Elvis, I was at the height of a gospel career. In 1966 I recorded 7 albums. We had an early morning TV show, I had a group called The Imperials at the time, and got a call from Elvis's producer, Felton Jarvis, said Elvis would like you to sing on his album "How Great Thou Art". He watches your TV every morning. Would y'all consider that? Well that was one of the quickest career decisions we ever made! We said we'd be more than happy.
I'll never forget the first time I met Elvis Presley. It was at Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee in 1966. Now the door opened and in walked Elvis. He was dressed in a solid black outfit, what was known as a "superfly" outfit. He had a hat and a cape that he had purchased on Beale Street in Memphis where all the rhythm and blues artists bought their clothes. Now he walked in the door and looked around. I remember there were all the big music moguls from New York, just kinda said Hello, and he kept walking. And he looked around and I was a youngster of about 22 or so, and I was kinda standing over in the corner feeling somewhat intimidated by all the incredible artists that were there to play on the session, and he walked right over to me and he stuck out his hand and he said "Hi, I'm Elvis Presley". I almost giggled! I thought, well who else would come dressed to a recording studio like that, but he looked fantastic. On me it would have looked ridiculous, but on him it fitted like a tee. But he said, I want you to know I watch your TV show and I've got all your records. You're one of my favourite singers. And I said to him what you'd have probably said. I said… my throat was dry… I said I'm sorry I didn't realise you even knew who I was. He said I wouldn't miss your TV show, we watch it every morning. Came on about 5 or 6 in the morning there in Memphis I think, he stayed up all night and watched it.
There's a song he recorded on an album that I have that I want to do on this album. Would you sit down here and show it to me. Started a friendship that started in 1966 and lasted until he passed away in 1977. And the song that he asked me to play for him was this next tune I'd like to do from the album How Great Thou Art.
Where No-one Stands Alone
You know, if I hadn't been a gospel singer, I'd probably never have had the opportunity to meet Elvis. There was a song that we used to do a lot of singing around the piano at Graceland, usually around 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. There was a song that whenever he was kinda feeling low, he'd look at me and say sing that song you wrote that makes me feel so good, a gospel song. It was this particular tune I'd written called "I Want To Shout Hallelujah".
I Want To Shout Hallelujah
Elvis always said the higher you could sing the better. He'd want to see you bleed almost. Speaking of bleeding, this next song, he loved this song, he used to sing it in Las Vegas. I've seen times when he actually got down on the floor when he sang this. It was a song called Hurt.
Hurt
I used to look forward to him doing that song, with the exception that I had the unfortunate task of singing the harmony note which was a third above him. That was a hard job. There's the song that brings back the memory of the very first time I ever heard my voice on record with Elvis. It's the gospel song that he released called Help Me.
Help Me
That was the song that I used to sing, I brought it to him to sing around the piano at Graceland. It was one of my favourites. It was recorded by an artist named Johnny Mathis, but Elvis later recorded it in the 70s. I think it has been recently released. It was one of my all time favourites love songs, called The Twelfth of Never.
The Twelfth of Never, TROUBLE
That particular song, when we recorded it, when he heard something he liked he always wanted to listen to it all night. Well he must have done it about 20 times, by this time I was a little tired of it. I went over and lay down on the floor behind the board there and went to sleep. So you know how tired I was if I could sleep through that song! But it was 20 million joys singing it, doing it. This next song, let's see I remember this took place when I first heard it. We were in Las Vegas. We used to go out a little earlier before the show, Elvis would take us to see some of the other acts. We went to see Tom Jones, and he used to always get a kick out of going to the Tom Jones show, because when he showed up the audience would just forget about Tom! But they were good friends. He took us to see Juliet Prowse and some other acts, but one of his favourite acts was a tenor by the name of Jackie Wilson. He took us to see Jackie, he was showing at the lounge there, he said he wanted us to see this guy, he thought he was one of the finest talents out there. And, a lot of people don't realise, but Jackie before he died, he went into a coma and basically spent all his money on hospitals and taking care of him and nobody ever knew it, but Elvis actually paid the bill for the last year or so before he passed away. Paid the bill for the hospital and everything to take care of him. But this song was one that Jackie did that Elvis asked me to learn so that I could sing it for him around the piano. And it was a tune, I remember the first time Jackie came on stage, he came out and jumped about this high and did a full split. I still hurt just thinking about it! You can imagine! But I noticed that Jackie had some moves…. Elvis was one of the most graceful people and had some of the greatest moves… there was a little bit of Jackie Wilson in some of his movements there. But here is a song, one of Jackie's songs he enjoyed so much, it's called To Be Loved.
To Be Loved
This song was a song that was brought to me to take to Elvis and Elvis liked the song because it had a gospel feel to it, but he never got around to recording it. I later recorded it and it went on to make the country charts in the States, but I think it was probably because my mama bought enough copies that it got there. But I often wonder what would have happened to the song if Elvis had recorded it. But it was unique. To my knowledge, it was the first single on the country charts that used a clavinet, which is the instrument which Stevie Wonder uses on most of his recordings. But it was played by David Grace, the great keyboard player who played on some of Elvis's sessions. It's a tune called Sweet Affection.
Sweet Affection
I think one of the reasons Elvis enjoyed my singing was because I reminded him of a fella by the name of Roy Orbison. I remember, as a kid, I used to enjoy singing along with Roy in his records because I didn't have to transpose or change keys. This is a song which was a favourite of Elvis and I think of mine and, thinking it over, to this day, 20 years later…. However many, I lose count, I still miss him and often dream of all the fun we had together. This little tune is called In Dreams.
In Dreams
One of the scariest experiences of my life was to be the opening act for the Elvis Presley Show. People came from all over the world, usually the line to get tickets was all the way through the casino, out down the street maybe a block or so, just to get a ticket to get into the showroom at the Las Vegas Hilton. But these people came from Japan, England, from all over the world to see Elvis, and the first thing that walks on stage is me. I feel lucky I wasn't blitzed quite honestly, but the key was always let them know it was Elvis's idea that I do this, and they accepted me every time and I appreciate that. It was a group called Voice. You probably heard us on some other bootleg records - but I don't know if you have any of those or not, I don't think so!! Here is a song that we opened the Elvis Presley show with, it was a gospel tune called In My Father's House. This was the first song you heard when you saw Elvis's show.
In My Fathers House
There was a song I was singing in 1968 by a group called The Statesmen, one of Elvis's favourite gospel groups, and he came out to see us in Long Beach, California. He and Charlie came round, and he asked me if I would mind a song for him. He later recorded this particular song and I was amused and amazed that he recorded it in the exact same key that I did it in, and I was a tenor, but he had such an incredible range that he asked me, as this is one of my favourite songs, would you sing it for me …. After I finished the song he called me backstage. He put this particular symbol (TCB) around my neck, so the song and the memory have a special meaning to me. But I think the song he could identify with because, if any man ever came from a two-roomed shack in Tupelo and achieved the impossible dream, it was Elvis Presley.
The Impossible Dream
You're such a fantastic group of people. I'll be sad to leave you. Everybody, we'll be here again this afternoon. Come and see us if you will. I feel truly privileged and honoured. You know, somebody asked me, do you ever pinch yourself and think back, that you might have been dreaming. I did a show in a school in Denmark. Somebody raised their hands to ask a question at the end of the show, and one guy raised his hand and said, "I have a problem". I said "Yes". He said "I don't believe it". I said "You don't believe it". "No, I don't believe you sang with Elvis". I said "Well, sometimes I don't believe it myself". But often I have to kinda step back and look at the memories of that particular place in that particular time in that part of history. It was an amazing experience for me. I guess we did over 500 shows together, and I say together. That was one of Elvis's most endearing qualities was he had that ability to make you feel like you were part of the show rather than just a back-up singer or whatever you were doing. I would like to do this song kinda as my feeling towards you people for your kindness to me. Thank you so much.
Can't Help Falling In Love
(Jensen Bloomer pays tribute to Sherrill - Ladies and Gentlemen, the Grammy Award winning, unique voice of Mr Shaun (Sherrill) Neilson. Would you like some more?)…….
We were backstage in Las Vegas in Elvis's dressing room, and he came in and said "Somebody told me a story I want you to hear. It's a song that I'd heard for years, I used to listen to Charles Boyer do it, but he told me about a man who was in a hospital dying. His wife was at the man's bedside for 3 days and 3 nights and, on the 3rd day, she laid by my side and dosed off, and while she was sleeping the man felt himself beginning to pass away, and he didn't want her to see him pass away. He took a notepad and pencil from the side of the bed and he wrote, well I sat down at the piano and began to play it and sing it because I knew the song. While I was singing it Elvis began to recite the words. And his father Vernon said "Elvis that's beautiful, why don't you do that, tonight on the show". Elvis said "That's a good idea, somebody find Glenn D". That was a job in itself! But that night we did it. Something to tell you about the kind of person Elvis was. The first night we did it in Las Vegas, I was over in the dark. And the next night he wanted to do it he made sure that they had the spotlight on me also. But a lot of people wondered about the song. They said, that's an old song. That's not the way it was written. That's not the way it was written, but the words from the song were the words a man used to tell his wife goodbye as he was passing away.
Softly As I Leave You
Todd - When we had Shaun Neilson at the Artist of the Century Ball, Roger Semon from RCA was sitting at one of the tables and he had never seen Shaun. He never was lucky enough to see Elvis in concert. And when Shaun was singing that song, Roger sat there with tears running down his eyes, and that was the sort of effect… We're really pleased that Shaun could make it. We're delighted that, in spite of all the travel difficulties, he got here. I think we're going to ask him some questions.
Over to the audience -
Todd - You've obviously answered a lot of questions that I was going to ask, so I've got no questions, but the audience certainly have. When you worked at the Hilton, who paid you? Did Elvis pay you or were you paid by the Hotel?
SN - No, part of the group worked through The Colonel's office, part of the group was paid by the Colonel, but there were 2 of us who were paid directly by Elvis. It was myself and James Burton. The rest were paid by The Colonel. I don't know why that was, but that's the way it went.
TS - If you were paid by Elvis, did you get a cheque with Elvis's signature on it?
SN - Yeah, I remember the first cheque he ever wrote was, I was with the group Voice. It was for $10,000. It was a down payment for the year when we signed a contract that he'd drawn up on a sheet of toilet tissue! In Las Vegas. He wrote "God loves you, but he loves you best when you're singing". And I would love to have that cheque right there in my hand. Wish I hadn't brought that memory back!
TS - As you know, over the past 2 or 3 years, around Europe and around the world, there has been Elvis The Concert, and sadly you weren't included. Charlie wasn't included and Kathy Westmoreland wasn't included. The reason we know that Charlie wasn't included was because he asked for an ashtray on the stage, an endless supply of cigarettes and a bottle of bourbon. Kathy's reason for not being included was she wrote this book and said that she shagged Elvis! What's your excuse?
SN - I wasn't even asked! I think the problem was that they had the opportunity to use The Stamps at that particular time, and probably The Jordanaires. Now these were full groups, and adding me would have just increased their budget, so they thought that they could do it just as well without me.
TS - Well I must say you were sadly missed (applause). Do you have reunions from time to time? I know you spend a lot of your life now in Denmark. Do you get together with any of your former band mates?
SN - They come quite a bit to Denmark. I got to see DJ and Scotty, and they're coming back in April with DJ and Scotty and John Wilkinson and …….. when was it we premiered the virtual show … (97). It's amazing how much everybody has aged since that night! I couldn't believe what I was seeing!
TS - You perform gospel music in and around Europe, and you also do lots of Elvis shows. Do you do any in the States?
SN - I haven't done any shows in the States. I was just over about 6 months ago. I did a show for Gator Video which is a very popular gospel thing. I'm supposed to go over in June and do a tour of gospel in the States, but I haven't done anything for a couple of years. I still have a lot of friends over there.
TS - What's your most amusing memory of working with Elvis in the studio? What's the funniest thing that ever happened?
SN - That's a good question. There was a lot of humorous events that took place. One of the funniest was when we were in Graceland. He had been complaining because he was getting bad feedback or bad sound or something. He wasn't happy. He came dressed up in a gangster's outfit carrying a real Thomson sub-machine gun! He came walking down the stairs, and those poor engineers got this wild look in their eyes, because you know at times Elvis was unpredictable. He'd been known to shoot out a TV or two, so they were just literally scared to death. He was going to just shoot that whole soundboard out. I was over behind the sound system! I got a kick out of that! He did it as a joke. That was one of the most amusing things.
TS - Were you ever there when he got angry, I mean really angry?
SN - No, I remember the angriest he got was in Las Vegas one time. I was never around him very much then. I never really say him angry. He'd usually got over his anger by the time I was around.
TS - Was your life with Elvis a social one as well as a business one? Did you go out to dinner, did you do the social things with his family and your family?
SN - Yeah, he invited us to Graceland once. I was sat there eating in the dining room with him. That was unique. Also he flew us out to someplace - Denver, think it was Fort Worth, to get cheeseburgers! Cost $2500 for cheeseburgers. He said let's go, they make ones out there that I can't get here. So we flew the Lisa Marie out to Fort Worth. I'll tell you one of the more amusing things. We were at his home in Palm Springs and he decided we'd eat in that night, so we were singing, doing whatever, and he called up and ordered like 3 or 4 dozen cheeseburgers or something like that! They called back the house to make sure ……. They didn't believe it was really him calling. Called back to verify that he was really ordering 3 dozen cheeseburgers.
TS - And did you eat them all?
SN - I think we probably did, there was quite a few of us!
TS - Did you drink at that time? I know that you're drinking lots of water now but, I mean, was it a continual party?
SN - No, it's strange, because even though we were friends, when you were there he probably wanted you to sing, so I always made sure I stayed sober for that. So even though it was fun, it was still work. When he wanted you to sing, he'd want you to sing something that was really tough to sing. The higher it was the better he liked it. And he didn't want to hear it just once. It was strenuous work at times, I want you to know!
TS - What do you prefer to be called now - is it Shaun or Sherrill?
SN - When I was younger …. as I say I changed my name initially because I never did like Sherrill, 'cos I felt like it was something like A Boy Named Sue! I was somewhat teased about it when I was younger at school. When I signed my contract for RCA, for a short time there before I went to work with Elvis, and I did a record for RCA under the name Shaun. So I tried to go to that name but Elvis never could remember what it was, because he had known me as Sherrill since he'd ever heard of me, when I was just a teenager basically. So now I don't really mind. Some people know me as Shaun and some know me as Sherrill, so whatever name you prefer is fine with me.
Some questions from the audience …
Audience - I understand you're an ordained minister. When did that happen and did you ever pastor a church?
SN - No, what happened was I was with the Masters Five. This was a group including James Blackwood, Hopy Lister and JD Sumner and we sang in a church in California, and it was an American Episcopal Church. At the end of the service they presented us all with certificates. Well, I joked about it. I said I couldn't even spell "episcopal" minister now I am one! But we found out that it was actually a legal document, that we could legally perform weddings or funerals or whatever, so that's how I didn't ever aspire but I'm proud to be one.
Audience - You mentioned that Elvis wanted to be a gospel singer. Now I understand that he also wanted to be an evangelist. Did you get that feeling from him?
SN - I do know that he used to hold things that we'd sit around and he'd read from a periodical, but he never did actually say that he wanted to be a minister. But there were times where he'd enjoy having us sit around and he'd read from different religious periodicals. So that might be where that came from.
Audience - I've seen you 2 or 3 times now. What is the fondest memory that you have of Elvis? And can I have that jacket!
SN - It would take quite a sum before I could part with that! My fondest memory of Elvis, I still think it was probably the first time I met him because I was only 22 and he was so kind and treated me with such respect. It was either the first time I met him or the time he gave me the TCB. Those are probably the 2 fondest memories I have of him.
Audience - In the last 5 or 10 years we've been getting a lot of new songs, some of which we never even knew Elvis recorded. Do you know of any more that's hidden that we might get?
SN - No I don't. Sometimes they keep surprising me too! I hear something I'd forgotten that he had done, but I can't think of anything. There were some private recordings that we did in Vegas and Linda did them on a small tape recorder. I mean we did that in Palm Springs. But I don't know of anything else. He did quite a few before I was around in '73, so there might be some earlier ones before that, before I came.
Audience - Elvis's stage wear was quite flamboyant, but you had some pretty good stage costumes yourself with the sleeveless shirts, sleeveless jumpsuits, what have you. Did you design these yourself, and how did they come about?
SN - Yeah, actually the group Voice, we had these designers that did it for the whole group. I just said OK, hell I'll wear them. I wasn't too enthusiastic about it, I felt a little strange in them at first. But I thought well, if we're going to get any attention at all on the Elvis show, we better wear something weird! It was not an easy job, being noticed on an Elvis show! And the sleeves. I began to work out a lot and work hard, and one of my things was …… as I say it was hard to get attention. But I wanted to inspire Elvis to maybe get himself into a little better shape than he was there at the last in the 70s, so I worked out really hard and just think that maybe he'll notice and get inspired. That was basically my thinking at that particular time.
Audience - Could you tell me the last time you went in front of the cameras for the last time in '77 for the CBS Special, how was Elvis, and did you realise how ill he was?
SN - Well, I remembered Felton Jarvis sitting on the plane saying, "If Elvis doesn't do something, he's going to die". But you know, the funny thing about it, even as we said it we really didn't believe it. Nobody believed Elvis would die. He was so indestructable to us that this was inconceivable. I remember, when we heard the news at the airport, we were in the airport in Nashville to go to Portland, Maine, and a phone call came and Felton said, "Due to an act of God, the tour's been cancelled". It was so typical of The Colonel, he didn't even tell us then. I heard it on the radio going home from the airport. But we all immediately thought that his father had had a heart attack because Vernon had been ill and he had had problems with his heart. That's the first thing we thought of because, even though we knew how bad he looked, we thought it would never happen so it was still a shock to us.
Audience - I heard a story that Elvis used to get an extra-special feeling when he used to sing How Great Thou Art?
SN - Oh yeah, he really loved to sing that song. That song probably lifted him up more than anything he did.
Audience - Did Elvis love music more than his family, or was it family then music?
SN - That's a good question. I never asked him that question. First of all, I think he was an entertainer. He loved his fans, he loved entertaining. That's what he decided he wanted to do all his life. But it's tough when your whole life you have that many people that are dependent on you as an entertainer. But I think he loved his family, I know how much he loved his mother. So I really can't say, if he had to give up one or the other what he would have done, but he loved them both, I know that.
Audience - Was there a time when you thought that Elvis might quit? Was there ever a feeling that he felt that he'd done enough?
SN - I never thought he would quit because he loved doing it so much. He was at his happiest when he was on stage. He had the people around him that he wanted to be around. He never gave me the impression that he wanted to quit. He gave me the impression he wanted to come to Europe. He said that. So I felt that, if he had had the opportunity to do that, he might have got himself in better shape and taken better care of himself. Because he proved time and time again, from '68 on, when he needed a challenge, when he had a challenge, he would rise to the occasion. So I basically blame the fact that we played the same old towns and he didn't have the opportunity to go to Europe and do a real good movie. That was part of the problem.
Audience - Can you tell me why Elvis never did a tour of Britain? Was it the Colonel's fault as he was an illegal immigrant?
SN - The Colonel didn't want to come over here. I heard the same as you….. The problem was that the Colonel didn't feel that it economically made sense coming over here when he could make the same money by going down the street, so to speak, and economically he was right. He could fly over to Portland, Maine and probably make as much money as he would if he'd flown all the way from there to here and going through what he had to go through after all the expenses, so the Colonel always just thought about the money. He didn't really in my opinion think about what Elvis needed. So I think that's why Elvis never had the opportunity to come over here.
Audience - If Elvis could have taken some time off, if he had a year's break from working, could he have recovered his health? Why did this not occur to any of the management?
SN - The Colonel would have been the one in charge of that. This is just my opinion - the Colonel was more interested in the money than he was in Elvis's health.
End of Interview