"Double Trouble", Episode 1 | Elvis: Behind the Image

this story involves Elvis's living girlfriend two jealous sisters a real bonafide cat fight and Elvis going completely off the hook wild man ballistic in a frenzied fit of rage so extreme that it took three grown men to restrain him the ensuing collateral damage was so substantial it can be clearly evidence to one of elvis films that he was shooting at the time if you know where to look fasten your seat belts it's about to get real it's a true story and i'd like to share the story with you the other thing is the story is too crazy to be believed but the price that he faced was the image he made was so hard to live up to it very hard to live up to an image there's a man so elvis has an incredible fan base as much as they adored him elvis really loved and respected his fans whom he attributed much of his success something elvis told his fans from the stage at the end of his closing show in las vegas on september 6 1971 says it best elvis once told his uncle vester the head of security and gatekeeper at his graceland home now you'd be good to those cats uncle vester they put me up on that hill now how many mega stars of much lesser fame and popularity than elvis to this day would spend as much time personally mixing it up with his fans as elvis did well today we're going to discuss a little known true event that takes elvis mixing it up with his fans to a whole new level we're going to explore a bizarre incident that happened back in 1966 and trust me this is gonna blow your mind i can't believe it either it all started many years earlier outside the pressley's autobahn drive home in memphis tennessee at the start of his career in the 1950s elvis local fans would congregate outside the front of his house and when elvis wasn't on the road touring he'd often visit with fans who gathered at his gates he would graciously pose for photos and sign autographs right in front of his private residence this was actually the start of a mutual love affair that elvis had with his fans that would continue on at other homes throughout the rest of his life and career when elvis wasn't home his parents would occasionally visit with fans who gathered outside the house his mother was even known to occasionally bring them out plates of freshly baked homemade cookies some they would even invite inside if you can believe it and give them a tour of the house i mean can you just imagine chewing the fat with gladys presley about her famous son over a plate of piping hot snickerdoodles and a cup of butch as she would take you to his bedroom proudly show you the better he sleeps when he's not on the road yeah that really happened and in case you didn't know it butch is the name that elvis and his mother called milk they had their own special language of pet names for things like cities for feet elvis affectionately referred to his mother is satin uh did you by chance get a chance to see the parade today no so we didn't get here in time to see that we was being told about that and everyone was having such a fine time and i i know that you saw you missed it and i know that you've heard it was a wonderful parade well i'm sure that you know that the whole town is just wide open to the presley family thank you very much graduated from a status of local hometown celebrity and quickly transitioned into national stardom in 1956 after his television appearances on popular shows with famous television personalities such as the dorsey brothers milton berle hi gardner steve allen and ed sullivan his 1956 film love me tender was the first of 33 and instantly catapulted elvis into worldwide fame from that point there was no looking back for it everything about his life was substantially different from just a few years prior and drastically different from the humble origins of his family's early years from a two-room shotgun shack in tupelo where he was born in poverty to the public housing facility in memphis to his very own home on audubon drive and then eventually a stately southern mansion called graceland in memphis elvis presley's life story is one of the greatest rag to riches sagas ever told and many comprehensive variations of that story can easily be found most anywhere you look but not here holy fellas and don't move me let's get real real gone for a change you know the legend here we discuss the man behind the image so back to the story the move to graceland in 1957 offered much more security from the increasing number of fans but elvis still took time to come out and visit with them for most of the rest of his life over the following 20 years i've always treated people just like i would like to be treated myself i consider other people's feelings i don't uh i don't assume the attitude of get these people out of here you know like i have heard of being down and i don't i don't uh just sign the autographs and the pictures and so forth uh to help my popularity or to uh to make them like me you know i do it because i know that that they're sincere and and they see you and they want an autograph to take home they got an autograph book they've got their little camera and everything so uh you have to know that now try to wrap your head around all this it's about to get good the picture that i'm painting for you here now is an insider's look into the world of first-hand elvis encounters it's told to me personally by the fans who were there when it all took place the lucky few who would sometimes regularly get to see elvis in the flesh standing on the ground right next to them no makeup and props like in the movies no sequence jumpsuits and capes high up on a stage with high-tech lighting and a 30-piece ensemble behind him i'm talking about a man just as mortal as you and me who may have just come from the dinner table after eating pork chops and collard greens with his family before rubbing his belly belching and deciding to go out and shoot the breeze with some of his fans ironically enough that man just happened to be the extraordinarily handsome king of rock and roll slash international film star known around the world merely by his first name in memphis the fans would see him as he came and went through his famous graceland gates and ran around the city just like any other memphis resident only driving a much nicer car as you can imagine usually accompanied by a pack of friends and bodyguards although many times he'd come to the gates and visit with fans all by himself then there were elvis as many california homes where he periodically resided for extended periods they were necessary when making films in hollywood the fans would also see elvis at the gates regularly as he came and went from his homes in california between the shooting schedule at paramount studios these included homes in bel air on perugia way where he entertained the beatles on one historic night in music history elvis homes at various times were on bellagio road raqqa place monavale drive and holmby hills and a well-known home on hillcrest avenue in beverly hills also elvis had two different homes in palm springs but it is the house on raqqa place where this story takes place today unlike many of elvis's later california homes the raqqa house was situated with the front gate a good distance from the house that was at the end of a long driveway there was a buzzer and intercom system outside the gated entrance to elvis property fans would learn elvis shooting schedule and try to make sure they were there when he left for the studio in the morning and when he arrived back home later that evening i mean these were some loyal fans who were dedicated and thank god for him because many of the candid photos that appear in books and documentaries to this day were taken by many of those diehard fans one of the loyal fans who used to see elvis at the gates of his home in the 1960s was sandy miller sandy later became a friend to elvis and a regularly invited guest to elvis many california homes she also was on the sets of his films as well as his private suite during his las vegas but in 1966 sandy was just another star struck fan who gathered at the gates of his california home and hopes to see elvis in person when we first started going up my roommate and i when we first started going up to the house this would be in the 60s at the raqqa house we didn't really know him other than he'd stopped in his car always talked to everybody in fact for the longest time we never saw his body he just stayed in the car and he rolled on the window he talked we take photos he'd joke we'd ask you know how was the movie today you know what did you do and he'd always make some snappy little snide remark like oh today i sang to a bird he'd just make fun of the movies and then he'd go in the house and that was kind of the extent of it with exception of elvis later palm springs homes the california fans regularly gathered at the gates of elvis's los angeles area homes and just like always when elvis came and went from his homes the fans were usually there words spread within the group of fans when elvis was in town making films in hollywood and rarely did elvis come and go when there weren't eager fans waiting to get a glimpse of him and hopefully snap a photograph as he drove through on many occasions elvis would stop the car and chat and sometimes later walk back to the gate and pose for photos and sign autographs again it's important to understand how impressive this is for any star much less the most popular rock star slash movie star slash sex symbol on the planet and at the height of its career nonetheless it's been said that within just about any group of people everyone knows someone who's an idiot if you don't well then you're most likely the idiot having said that the combination of human nature and the odds of probability both dictate whenever you get that many different people with a wide variety of backgrounds together coming to the gates of your home for that many years there's bound to be a few with irrational behavior that undoubtedly has the great potential to spur some bizarre incidents there's been too many weird things happening to me lately and although elvis was most definitely a chick magnet many of those who were at the gates back then well let's just say the butter had definitely slid off their dish sometimes that's all one needs to know enter the sisters mary and marion ironically enough they had visited the gates along with other fans since the early 1960s mary had even attended some of the parties inside the house when elvis lived on perugia way before moving to the raqqa house so elvis and the guys all knew them both fairly well marion the more boisterous of the two was well known among the gate fans by her self-proclaimed nickname tiny just look at the expression on elvis's face while standing next to him i could only imagine what was going through his mind at the time why me lord it was tiny whose belligerent behavior in combination with their unfiltered pie hole that started the surreal chain of events that were to follow you have to remember that back then it was a totally different world i mean it wasn't really considered ethical for people to live together outside of marriage and you know even frank sinatra back in his early days was arrested on a morals charge and his crime was having sex with a woman outside of wedlock so you have to keep that in perspective even though this was several years later in 1966 elvis was still unmarried although his future wife priscilla boleyu had been his living girlfriend for the previous four years if they don't pop the big question they can't get the big answer it was always talk of marriage in the relationship so i i just didn't know when and i actually liked not being married because um everything was always it went so well i mean there was and at that time there was pressure there was a lot of pressure because you did not live together at that time you know although elvis would go on to propose to priscilla at the end of that same year then merrier the following year some of the female fans that regularly congregated at the gates of his home on raqqa place in bel air were delusional enough to think that they actually had a chance in hella snagging elvis for themselves those few conversely had bitter disdain for priscilla and considered her a whore for shacking up with elvis outside of wedlock as far as they were concerned as long as there was no ring on priscilla's finger every girl still had a fighting chance to win the ultimate prize and they were fair game for elvis well it was that very insult along with several other colorful choice adjectives hurled at miss bull that turned an otherwise peaceful evening in bel air into a full-blown knock-down drag out hair pulling vixen throwdown i mean before was over it involved the king of rock and roll himself shattered glass and i would imagine some soiled underwear from the fear of god that elvis put into those misguided young girls those two sisters unwittingly let the genie out of the bottle when they mistakenly invoke the ferocious wrath of a sleeping lion elvis was an overly gracious individual but even the king has a breaking point it's not often that one gets the chance to splash in the puddle of their own ignorance but the consolation prize for such a foolish mistake in this case ended with an encore elvis performance that they would not soon forget quite literally on the hood of their own car when elvis was filming double trouble um in that time frame there were two gals that were semi-regulars up at the house two sisters and they didn't have a real big fondness for priscilla and priscilla came home one day and these two gals were at the gate and when priscilla went to push the speaker the speaker button opens the gate this is at the raqqa house they pretty much reached in and grabbed her and yanked her out of her car and pulled it to the ground i mean they these were big girls and priscilla was this little five foot two ninety pound little girl and these were big girls they started beating her up according to other eyewitnesses to this event as it took place priscilla had left earlier in the evening and the two sisters followed her in their car she was visiting with her friend joanie wife of elvis's friend and memphis mafia member joe esposito when priscilla later got back in the car and headed back the girls followed her home clearly stalking is defined by today's laws after arriving back at elvis home as the sisters pulled into elvis's drive to turn around priscilla blocked the only entrance out with her car she got out of her car stomped over to the girls and demanded to know why they were following her heated words were exchanged and after being called a whore by tiny you are a whore priscilla rang her bell by socking her squaring the chin from there the cat fight was on as a dust cloud arose from a cartoon-like tornado of twisted arms and legs as they literally rolled in the dirt slapping kicking and wrenching down on fistfuls of each other's hair according to the witnesses the portly contender in the black trunks from california outweighed the pint-sized petite challenger in the pink trunk from elvis's corner by at least a hundred pounds realizing she was literally outmanned priscilla ran over the intercom by the gate and yelled for help priscilla had already pushed the button and once you push that button it activates the speaker in the house which means anyone in the house can hear what's going on and they didn't take them long inside the house to figure out what was going on and next thing we hear the guys running down the driveway again this is a very long driveway and i think it was jerry and charlie and richard davis they're running down the driveway and here comes elvis they couldn't elvis couldn't get the gate open the gate has to be opened up from inside the house and he was shaking that gate and trying to push that gate open he was he was a crazy man he was ballistic he reverted to he had a southern accent but he really had a southern it just like seemed to come back and intensified you crazy idiot he got out of the gate these girls by now the raqqa house had a hill that went up their their car was parked at the top of the hill when they saw him trying to get out of the gate they ran to their car got into their car lock the door as well elvis ran right up the hill behind them that's not gonna do any good he lifted up his leg and it just came down on the roof on the roof of the car i mean he lifted his leg clear up and banged and he started shaking that car and rocking it and just calling them every name in the book and at one point oh now the guys are on his back trying to get him off the car because if he gets to those girls he'll kill him i mean there was no doubt i mean he was he was livid he this was another elvis i mean he didn't even resemble i mean we were all just standing there going he had three guys on his back and they couldn't they couldn't budget and they the girls by now have started up the car and they're trying to move forward they're trying to leave and he takes his fist and he pushes it right through the windshield i mean it went this far from their face the handful of unsuspecting fans that were i witnessed to this surreal event said you could almost see the steam billowing from elvis's nostrils he was that livid the frantic girls had not been able to just drive off because as you remember the driveway had been blocked by priscilla's car before the cat fight elvis's friend charlie hodge moved priscilla's car so they'd have a clear path out and he told the girls to start the car and get the hell out of there while they still could as they drove off elvis was still so infuriated that he was literally trying to pull the guard rail out of the ground by the road while still carrying his friend in memphis mafia member richard davis on his back richard was doing his best to keep elvis at bay but wound up on an unexpected ride of his life that was equivalent to being saddled to a freshly gelded bucking bronco now if there's one thing that would make even the most soft-spoken guy loses cool it's to mess with his girlfriend as those who knew elvis well attested elvis definitely had a bad temper if you pushed his buttons now having said that he was not necessarily quick to anger but he was definitely not someone to be trifled with and it was nothing for him to flare like a pack of hemorrhoids if you ever cross the line with it seeing the disheveled priscilla her beehive hairdo pulled every which direction fake eyelash dangling from the tip of her nose covered in dirt from rolling around on the ground with a bird that was twice her size was bad enough but finding out it was two against one in addition to the fact that they called her a whore for living out a wedlock with him now that's what caused the needle to get ripped from the record and the music come to a screeching halt i will pull your goddamn tongue out of the roof too much in this case elvis immediately forgot the image of who he was supposed to be and reverted back to the mere man that had always lived quietly inside of him the malicious behavior of these girls pushed him one red short hair past the threshold of his tolerance level king or no king elvis wasn't having it i want to shove this smile right down your throat as it turns out these two girls were up to some no good from the get-go these same two girls used to follow him like right on his bumper and then they would like get in front of him and slam on the brakes hoping that he would and i mean they would tell us all this ahead of time we're going to get in front of him we're going to slam on the banks he's going to run into us and we're going to sue him and we're like hey elvis got some wackos here but we would tell him so he was aware what was going on that's a dirty trick you know when you think about it it's hard to believe that someone as gracious as elvis would be maliciously taken advantage of by the very people who were the recipients of his kindness and generosity like the lamb that licks the hand that holds the knife that slits his throat for slaughter elvis may have been a superstar but as a man he deserved the same respect as everyone else and no one on god's green earth deserves one ounce of respect more than they're willing to extend to others and that goes without saying but as you will see in future episodes of elvis behind the image this was far from the last time someone had the misfortune of mistaking elvis kindness for weakness was elvis justified in his actions you decide for yourself but just remember that elvis was only human and how would you react in the same situation he could get so angry and as much talent and much love as he had he had to have that much anger just to balance himself but he he was human he said himself hey man if you cut me i'll bleed i get in my pants one leg at a time just like you also bear in mind the words of elvis close friend and founder of kempo karate grandmaster ed parker he said to hear is to be lied to to see is to be deceived but to feel is to believe if someone does you wrong it's not enough for them to hear you warn them it's not enough for them to actually see your anger sometimes they must feel the sting of your wrath to know that you really mean what you say and say what you mean some people need to have a not jerked in their tail as my mother used to say before they know they've gone too far with you now hopefully it won't have to come to that but should it come to that they'll most definitely not make the same mistake with you twice not on your life they say it ain't over to the fat lady sings so now in the words of one of my favorites paul harvey it's time for the rest of the story the timing of this particular incident in 1966 is key for us fans as it gives us some rare photographic and even video evidence that coincides with this bizarre tale you see what was going on at this exact time in elvis history was the filming of elvis's 24th major motion picture double trouble elvis is in trouble twice as much as anybody else elvis is on his way i just can't rest for me now there's a reason that hollywood studios prohibit movie stars from certain outside activities during the filming of major productions any injury sustained during the filming can cause undue production delays and those delays cost the movie studios a small fortune one thing they don't make allowances for though is for unexpected precarious interactions with overzealous fans who are bat crazy oh you're crazy in the movie double trouble if you look there's one part i think he's laying on a bed and he's got his hands on his chest you can see the hand that went through the windshield it's bruised it's swollen it snapped but that's that's from his little encounter with those fans i was just thinking what's a nice little girl like you're doing in a dump like this although the bruises could be visibly seen on elvis right hand in the final version of the film when it was released at the box office in 1967 the day immediately following the incident the studio reported that elvis was ill at home with a nervous condition some of elvis guys told some of the fans that elvis was so upset that he had to be sedated the day immediately following the incident elvis was too upset to focus on acting or the production and when you watch the film to this day in addition to seeing his bruised hands you'll now know exactly some of the drama that was simultaneously going on in the personal life of the man behind the image and just like any other man he was only human and subject to the same mood swings as the rest of us imagine that but i look at myself strictly as a human being whose life have blood running through my veins and can be snuffed out in just a matter of seconds you know and i notice anything supernatural or better than any other human being now let's not forget that this was elvis home where this happened which is a man's castle wait a minute this is my house i live here that live-in girlfriend a year later she became his wife and nine months after that the mother of his only child the sisters understandably kept a low profile after that but this bizarre true tale doesn't end there they're putting me on they were bold they were bold they didn't come up often um maybe they knew better not to after lisa was born they used to follow priscilla around with lisa in the car priscilla had to put lisa on the floor of the car when she left so that they wouldn't know she was in the car because they were afraid she would elvis would have killed him i mean he'd be in jail somewhere yeah so he had some strange fans not many thank goodness several days after the incident mary went to elvis house alone what do you think she had in her hands a bouquet of flowers with an apology note no she arrived with an estimate for the repairs to her car from her insurance company elvis says bodyguard red west met her at the gate and took the estimate and ensured her that elvis stated that he would indeed pay for the damages so by july of 1967 the sisters were back among the fans that gathered outside the gates of elvis california home just as if nothing had happened other fans who were there at the time noticed that elvis pretty much talked to the sisters the same way that he talked to all the other fans that would gather there looking for an autograph or a photo priscilla was gracious and didn't even ignore them but she didn't really speak to him either it was almost as if the incident never happened hates like a snake fighting its own tail most any other person would have had them on a watch list and they would have been banned from the property the very street or even the neighborhood but being the kind of man that everyone knew elvis to be he forgave them i'd like to apologize ma'am for being so hostile the next place these sisters turned up a few years later is another place that you can see them to this day if you know where to look the following program is brought to you in living color on nbc singer presents elvis starring elvis presley in his first tv special his first personal performance on tv in nearly 10 years brought to you by singer maker of the world's finest sewing machines and other fine products for home and industry what's new for tomorrow is at singer today um after this incident happened fast forward to the 68 special they actually had the nerve to show up for that taping they're in the audience you can see them and i we were wondering if he sees them is he going to say anything is he going to do anything he's going to have him kicked out but i don't think he ever saw him but everybody was thinking the same thing oh look who's here so so elvis has left the building thank you and good night oh there's more rare elvis behind the image only so much can be squeezed into a single episode but it's all yours absolutely free to receive your all access backstage pass to extra bonus material from the cutting room floor of select episodes simply join the free members only section of elvis behind the image you'll instantly be granted full access to the secret section of the website that's not available to the general public here you can enjoy all the relevant corresponding material to the current episode as well as all others past and future you'll also be notified of rare elvis material as it comes available in the future and have the opportunity to share your own personal stories and elvis encounters for possible inclusion in future episodes that are currently in the pre-production stage join me there

Channel: Bud Glass

Views: 244,108

Rating: 4.8693213 out of 5

Keywords: elvis, elvis presley, movies, double trouble, behind the scenes

Id: MnnFloGX0lk

Length: 40min 23sec (2423 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 27 2020