Page 53 - Been There… Done That!

Been There... Done That!
One of the more memorable moments happened across the street at a small café one morning. We walked in and Colonel Parker (Elvis’ manager) motioned for us to join him at his table. We were visiting back and forth when John said, “Isn’t that Hal Wallace coming through the door?” The colonel said just to stay seated, that Hal was coming to meet him. (Hal was the biggest movie producer in Hollywood at that time.) Hal came to the table and remained standing and said, “Colonel, I need to talk to you,” and Colonel Parker told him to go ahead, these are friends of mine and we can talk. Hal said, “Colonel I can get you a million dollars a movie,” and the Colonel, without hesitation said, “That’s good Hal, but don’t you think we ought to pay Elvis something?” and got up and walked towards the door with Hal in pursuit. Colonel Parker went out the door, only stopping long enough to slap a 5x7 picture on the wall and then he went to his chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce. I looked at John and said, “What in the hell just happened?” John replied, “we just got stuck with the bill.”
It was a great time to be a musician in California and Las Vegas. Famous people and Hollywood celebrities dressed to kill and making the rounds to see different performances and lounge acts. Anyone who had a pretty decent group could work anywhere.
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