Elvis & The "Denver Mafia". Untold stories of Elvis on Police Patrol - Part 1/2

[Music] [Music] and really appreciate you having us here today not a problem honey so uh that's the TCB technically gifted twice yeah first time he gave it to me it was a plain one obviously like all the others right and I want to say I thought about this last couple days I think it was about three or four years later I was either on tour with him or we were in Vail and he looked at the TCB and he said how come you don't have anything special on there I said I don't know no what do you ever say anything about he goes give that back to Joe and gave it to Joe and he said we'll send it back to you and when he sent it back that was with it okay I didn't know about this no I didn't tell you about that oh that's awesome that's him yeah no it's yeah that's clearly Tehran from ep wow that's fantastic man so just sit there and think about you know he took the time to do that that was in his hands and his pen and yeah you know I mean it just it meant a lot to me that he could just send it back but right wait for him to make a little note oh yeah but clearly uh speaks that was generosity clearly you know about and I realized he had given you one of the acetates and then a coat and a snowmobile this of course is clearly the most prized piece but yeah that speaks volumes of another well the generosity that you clearly knew over several years with illness he was probably without a doubt the most generous person I'd ever been around and especially because his generosity was never exhibited for a return of something his generosity was also to people that he didn't even know you know usually when people give stuff away they give it to a friend or a relative or or for a political reason err or for a favor right and I saw this guy give so many things away that I mean just pure generous unbelievable good guy I think I told you that story about about in Memphis going to play racquetball at Memphis State before he built the racquetball court it at Graceland and we're driving down the street and he saw this lady this elderly black woman looking in the window of a Cadillac dealership down there and and he said stop stop stop talking stop the car stop the car he got out and he walks over there well obviously in in in Tennessee especially where he lived in that area everybody knew who he was and sir minute he got out of the car this woman went berserk you know she was I'm gonna guess this lady at the time was late 50s early 60s you could tell that she came from some job that she had she was waiting for the bus and and of course she was just thrilled that he stopped and he said what are you looking at in there and she goes odd just mr. Presley I'm just looking at that beautiful car well long story short he buys her the car you know but she didn't have a driver's license I mean she had no driver's license her family came down and if I remember right I think they ended up selling the car back to the dealership and just keep appealing the money you know but but those are the kind of things you know the the big beautiful piece of jewelry that he gave away during one of his concerts we were in LA or Long Beach and and he asked Joe to get one of the jewelers he bought a lot of stuff from and a lot of the TCB's was a guy by name of salt Cohen in LA sure and he asked him to bring some some stage rings up and he brought him to the hotel in late amount there was a bunch of him I mean gaudy - you and I but entertainers rings you know there they going and he used to have three or four rings on either hand and he picked out three or four and I remember one specifically that was a ruby that was gorgeous I mean it this Ruby had to be the size of a dime probably at least and it had one carat diamonds all the way around it Wow and that was one of the Rings that that he bought and I used to help at night when when I was there helping we'd put flesh colored band-aids around his fingers to keep the the crowd from pulling his rings off right in that particular night it was either that night or next night he had that one he had put that ring on that I was I was describing earlier and we were putting the band-aids on he said no no this in fits really tight don't put anything on there it's it's tight and I looked at Joe and Joe's when he walked off Joe said he's going to give that ring away and he there was a little gal sitting in the about the second or third row in a wheelchair I believe she was quadriplegic because you could tell us there was really no movement of any kind she was and I'm going to guess her at I don't know 12:13 maybe early teens and she was there with her grandmother or mother and during the show like a lot of times when he would go down near the crowd and Charlie would hand him scarves and he would give him to the people and he motioned for them for the guys in front to bring that little girl up and and he took that ring off with all the music going and all the everything going on with all the action nobody was really paying a whole lot of tension he took that ring off put in that little girl's hand and I remember Joe either Joe himself went down and told the lady hey that's not costume jewelry or he sent somebody to say hey you need to be careful that that's a really expensive ring and I don't remember what he paid for it I want to say it was somewhere around thirty-five forty thousand dollars at that time Wow and he gave it to that little girl unbelievable you know but I mean that's it's an emotional story oh I mean you know these are kind of things that I think about all the time you know that he did because one he could he could do it he could afford to do it right but but to these are kinds of things that that didn't help him in any way he got no publicity for it right nobody even knew about it I mean the people that know about it are the people like myself or Joe or some of the others that were there that passed the story on in in you know the the woman at the Cadillac dealership this little girl Don Kenny Don Kenny was a newsman here in Denver for channel 4 and after Elvis gave us all the vehicles at one night we were sitting back in Vail watching TV that morning and it was him and I and I don't know there was three or four other guys watching that TV program that morning it was the news the news was on and on Kenny was joking you know talking about it was all over every news channel here that he had bought all these cars that night I think there was I'd have to go back and count but there was like 11 or 12 Cadillacs I know there were two Lincoln's but there was at least 11 or 12 Cadillacs because he had bought cars for that night he bought cars for for Captain Kennedy Bob Cantwell myself dr. Starkey and then he started buying them for the his crew that was there with him their wives so he bought one for Shirley who was Joe's girlfriend at the time he bought one for red West's wife he bought one for for sunny West's wife I know chillings Jerry shillings girlfriend there was two or three more I think there was at least 11 or 12 Cadillacs or there could have been 10 Cadillacs but I know there were two Lincoln's and this was after the show this was late oh yeah well this was while we were still vacationing in Vail we had the show had been several months before that okay so this was just while we were Vicki while he was vacationing up there so we're watching that TV program the news the next morning Don Kenny was joking he goes boy what a generous guy you know he's given all these cars and and he said hey Elvis up you're listening night I like those Seville and Elvis looked at me and he goes you know that guy I said yeah I know him and he said well calling on the phone and I mean I knew it I think I knew at the time what he was going to do but I thought maybe you're just gonna call him thank him right for giving him all this this stuff on on TV that morning and so I called the station and I asked for Donnie came the phone it said hey Don it's Ron petrify so when he say Ron how you doing congratulations I see yeah there's somebody who wants to talk to you so he got on the phone he said mr. Kinney it's always mister you know that southern ad that Southern gentleman and he said mr. Kinney this is Elvis and Don I think said oh yeah sure I'm sure that's you know and he said no sir this this is always and so he handed me the phone he said tell him it's out I got a phone he said done that's really who this you're talking to so he gets back on the phone and he buys Don a brand new Seville you didn't know this guy from Adam I mean it just Wow I'm telling you it was just it was just those kinds of things that that separated him from anybody else you know I mean he just he had that that knack of of the surprise of doing stuff for people and just a generous guy I mean just a generous / generous guy you know I mean nothing on the night of the vehicle purchase the massive vehicle purchase was that in late into the evening was oh yeah we had to when when we he first he first had had captain Kennedy up in in a Roman Vale and and they yelled down for me to come up there and I went up injury said he just bought me a new Lincoln and I said you're kidding he goes no he said he just wants to buy me a new link and I said oh man that's great he looks at me he says what kind of car do you like Ron and Jerry made fun of it later because he said well you didn't waste any time telling him what you like I said well I I prefer Cadillac he said do you know anybody owns a Cadillac dealership I said yeah I do in fact a friend of mine I do off-duty work for him he owns a Cadillac dealership jack kemp Cadillac and endeavors it's call him on the phone so I called the on the phone got ahold of the general manager who I knew really well and I said hey we want to come down look at some cars Elvis wants to buy me a Cadillac it was yeah come on down he said I got a beautiful one on the showroom floor I got a asking I'm not turning around was it a green Eldorado it was a it's a kind of a turquoise colored Eldorado okay okay I think the green one you're thinking I went to Shirley right Shirley do I really do get yeah okay we went down to the dealership and and I saw this car on the showroom floor and I mean I didn't have to look outside it was absolutely gorgeous the media was it was a like turquoise blue Eldorado with a white Landau top and was just gorgeous and I'll never forget the sticker on it at that time it's kind of funny when you see the price of cars now the sticker on at that time was 14,000 and change it was like fourteen six or fourteen seven in that's another thing Joe in and the colonel would always try to get deals right in in Elvis I mean that night especially you know Joe was sitting there trying to figure out if he can make a deal and you know it says we pay what's on the window we pay what's on the window so so and I did I don't even remember now Oh and so I I picked that car out then Bob picked out a Seville and then all of a sudden he said hey Shirley you like one of these and of course she said yes and then he went to red and then he went to sunny they were all there Joe Jerry was there and he started saying yeah go pick one out pick one out for your wife they said well how we gonna get boughs just ship him back just go pick them out and so I mean he just wrote these checks that night for all these cars and and then he we went down to the Lincoln dealership which was about oh I don't know six seven miles away from there and he bought Jerry's car and and and dr. Starkey and he blame not blamed he the reason he said he bought dr. Starkey a car was that when we were in Vail we were wearing ski masks in scarfs and one of the scarfs gave him a little bit of a rash rash right and so he got dr. stark the air Jerry called dr. Starkey on the phone who was the police doctor and he prescribed some salve for him and III don't think the salve costs $4 and it happened to clear up this rash and so that was his reward for I mean that's how silly I mean but but the one thing I can tell you about Elvis is that time meant nothing did make a difference if it was midnight noon 1:00 o'clock when he got the urge to do something it had to be right now right in and that's that was the only thing that was hard sometimes to accommodate you know the story I told you about the Black Diamond right you know when when we finally had the jeweler bring it up to Vail it was already 10 or 11 o'clock at night by the time he got there and and I mean all we had to do was wait till the next morning to go to a jewelry store no he needed to have it set right there and so he asked Bob quartz who was our friend that found the diamond do you know any jewelers up here and Bob said of course I know somebody and we'll call him on the phone and Bob looked at me and I said hey you're gonna have to call him on the phone in so the gate and you know what though in retrospect he knew that the minute you'd call for a favor and said it was for Elvis Presley right they're gonna follow all things changed you know time meant nothing to those people either right so the minute he called in told his jeweler hey I just brought a black diamond up here for Elvis Presley and he wants a mounting guy said I'll be there in two minutes of course he brought his wife and yeah and we were in that Georges store picking out mountings in getting that mounted it was way after midnight by the time I was done but but no that I'm telling you that that's I I had more than one occasion to where he would say you you can get it done I'd say but it's late or you know no that's okay you could get it done just you know just go just go find out you can get it done and it was because he knew the minute you'd say it's for Elvis the the doors got unlocked - sure and Elvis had been to your home oh yeah yeah it's a current ranch you know no no no no this was long before it no okay and he he made it he made it difficult to say no because I mean because of his generosity and because of everything that he wanted to do for people I mean you know and then we got to the point to where we knew that time didn't matter either I mean we he proved us all you had to do was say hey I need this done for Elvis Presley and it would happen right so we got in that same that same method of not being able to say no we knew that we could get it done all right and you traveled with him you're with him in Vegas on the west coast yeah I traveled on the Turin West on the west coast I was in Vegas with him and on tour I was given I was doing a I was on a police department still there and I was doing a lecture for the National District Attorneys Association in in New Orleans and he called me on the phone and said hey understand you're in New Orleans it's going to be Lisa's 8th birthday why don't you instead of flying back home you know come to Graceland and and he said I'll just send the airplane for you and so the guys that were down there with me other policemen and mostly attorneys from that were District Attorney's across the United States you know I made some comment about Elvis in an airplane for me they saw yesterday I I said no I'm really serious he said well we're coming out the airport we're gonna see so some guys drove me out to the airport you know and here comes Elvis's airplane you know the he sent the hound dog oh okay shared the little one and and these guys eyes were this big you know and but Wow that's the kind of things he did I mean it just flew me back up there and then he said we'll fly y'all back to Denver and that's when we had that eighth birthday for Lisa he said listen let's have a birthday party at 30,000 feet and I want to say Joe told me at one time I thought it cost somewhere around four or five thousand an hour to run that big airplane it had to have two pilots sir you had to have a stewardess you know that was all FAA regulations sir and you know the fuel just coming up here and going back I mean I want to say that was a figure that Joe told me one time whether that was accurate at but I think he said it was four or five grand an hour it's big down to all yeah to run that airplane that's back in a day yeah back forty some years that was the airplane the Lisa Marie is was actually an Eastern Airlines passenger plane right that they that he bought and then you know refurbish and and customize the inside of it yeah down in Texas but it was to say that it was exciting doesn't quite explain what it was like to travel with him on tour or to be in Vegas I mean the these right here were your ticket at the International no matter where you wanted to go right at the international the minute the maitre d saw this or whatever it I mean backstage and then you didn't have to have reservations in a restaurant you just walk up you were aware that you were in immediately you know because that was the days when he was he had the top floor the International and before we had some we had some great parties up there too I mean just you know it's hard to believe that it was that long ago but so fresh in my mind and I'm sure in the other guys minds that were were there too because it was such an extraordinary experience for us right right to me I mean I clearly never met him I saw him in concert as a kid but I never knew him like you you know I just didn't so to me he's still somewhat of a mythological figure where you knew him as a person and it's hard for me to wrap my head around actually knowing him like you all did I mean and that's why the stuff like this that you can hold in your hand right and know that that at one time he was old he was all that and he was signing that right you know my kids my kids are you know the thing that amazes me about him still I mean you're a young guy but you love his music his music has not changed over the years it's the same music that when he was alive and it's still popular and it's got kids even Mike my youngest girls are 18 years old and it still has them they love his music and not because of my relationship they actually like his music and I've seen other kids that same age that you know so whatever he did somebody asked me one time honey why do you think he he why do you think that he got as popular as he did he had a great voice in here and he had some really good songs but why do you think he became as big as he did and stays that way and the only explanation that that I could come up with was that it he I don't think it will ever happen again where somebody like him that was so different came at a time that his difference his music came at a time that that may never happen again it was it was that magic time that somebody like him was needed sure the planets lined up the planets lined up exactly in in for him too I mean there was I mean you stop and think about the people that around that time you know with Jerry Lee Lewis and and all the other people James Brown that were doing similar kinds of music that that it still wasn't that best term you just said the plan is dead lineup for them he was a he was a great American he it whoever thought of it whether it was you know his own he told me forever was his own idea to join the service but to join the service and go act like a normal guy I mean the publicity that he got for that everything just came together at that particular time in history and I don't think it'll ever happen again no and and that's why he is as popular as he was then and then why is he as popular as he is right now you know for him to for him to call us on the phone and say I want to come and ride around in the police car with you I mean what what guys of his stature right would ever want to do that right which I was gonna ask is the did Elvis gonna like a raid with y'all a drug raid no he didn't go on a drug raid he came a row to my partner Bob Cantwell who I hope you can meet this afternoon I I've called him and hope he can be there okay but Bob and I worked narcotics for the vice and narcotics Bureau for Denver and he wanted to just come up and ride along on a typical shift with us to see what we do and into and when he called and asked me about that I said you're crazy I mean I now that I look back I can't imagine that I ever talked to him like that but I did because we became really good friends and I said you're crazy goes what do you mean I'm crazy for what I said you can't come in writer you're you're Elvis Presley you can't come in right around in the back of an unmarked police car while we're doing what we do why not and when he'd say it like that why not we what do you say to him I said well because of your popularity and people know you need go what difference does that make I said well first of all there's no way in the world I can get permission oh yeah you can get permission I said no there's no way I can get mission will go ask so I went to the captain and we both went to the chief and he had just finished paying for the first police gym in the city of Denver the police department did not have a gym and he did that in honor of Merle Nadine who had been shot while he was here one time on concert we had an officer shot and killed and he wanted to build something in memory of Merle and so he gave the money to build the gym in the basement of one of the substations put all the equipment in there paid for it all and so of course I think in the back of his little magical mind here he's thinking all along they'll probably let me do this so when I went to the chief and said you know I had the captain with me when we went to the chief and said you know Elvis wants to come right around with us he looked at me so are you crazy I said listen chief that's the exact thing I said to him and he said no what's wrong with that so I'm gonna ask you what's wrong with it he said he said you you guys if anything happens he said just leave your badges in the car and don't come back he said because I'm telling you the news media will have a field day at something and so I called him on the phone I said okay I got it again like I said earlier he always knew that big things will happen right right so he wasn't very surprised when I called and said we're gonna let Chiefs gonna let you come riding around the car so I said that was the only thing that that that you need to do and I said I don't know how to tell you this but could you kind of try to dress normal and he took offense of that he said what do you mean by that I said come on Elvis judge said every time you come out in the public you look like you're ready to go on stage I said you're gonna be riding around an undercover police car I said you can't dress like you're getting ready for a concert ok ok ok I understand okay so at that time before the new airport was built the old airport was here and there was a private part of it called combs aircraft and and so we we picked him up he flew in and we picked him up at combs and he flew the big plane you know I don't even remember why instead of the little one we pulled up on the tarmac because we could drive right up to it in this in this combs aircraft area and so we pull up right next the airplane and I look up the stairs and he comes out and I'm thinking oh my god I mean I don't know what to say to him he's he's wearing real tight black bell-bottom pants he's got a black shirt that's unbuttoned like he normally did with two or three pieces of jewelry around his neck and he's got a black cape that's purple lined and he stands at the top of the stairs and he and he looks down at mean he goes is this okay I said yeah I guess it's okay over well this this this is dressing down right I said in your world I guess it's dressing down okay so he came out with us at night and I mean it was it was hilarious I mean it just you know obviously encountered the business that you're at that evening I mean was he engaged oh yeah oh yeah more than we what we wanted really I mean we got in the car and I said now listen he was sitting in the backseat of course and Bob was driving and I was a passenger and I said now listen here's what's going to happen I said our normal routine we're gonna go down into the area where most the drug traffic is at and we're gonna probably stop several people that we know are either normally selling drugs or they're possessing drugs I said that's kind of what our routine is and we make arrests doing that but you have to prom me that you will stay inside the car because we're going to go down into an area that that is is pretty dangerous okay okay no no no I understand please you got to stay in the car okay so we drive down to this area and the first thing we do we spot a guy that we'd Bob and I had arrested three four times before and every time we we stopped this guy there was always a hassle there was a and we probably shouldn't have stopped him that night because every time we stopped him as I said a hassle would would ensue and we didn't either end up getting in a resistance or but this guy was was a big drug dealer and so we pulled him over and as we're getting ready to pull him over I said now listen he'll was pleased and I'm leaning over the seat looking in the back seat I said this this guy can be really dangerous I said so please stay in the car till we tell you you can either get out or we bring him back here you know and and you got to stay in the car right and he said okay okay okay I understand I said all right so Bob gets out of the driver's side I get out of the passenger side and we're walking up as with normal police procedure Bob's up walking up on one side I'm walking up on the other side concentrating on this guy and I hear steps behind me and now I can't take my eye off of this this possible suspect because something bad could happen B and we knew him from as I said from before and we knew that we we had lots of hassles with him so I'm not doing anything but I hear these steps coming behind me and all of a sudden I hear this voice say police officers get out of the car that oh my god Wow so he was it was Elvis armed that well I'll tell you the rest of the hard way so this guy gets out of the car it's fantastic and instead of giving us problems he sees Elvis Presley in Denver Colorado everybody knows him and everything changed he wanted to take a picture with him I mean he was the nicest guy in the world and we're trying to do our job in in time only I mean it was he really disarmed the guy my complete surprise oh I mean it was like Keystone Cops I mean it was so we just we got back in the car and we're driving back down the road and my partner who's driving and I'm sitting like this a little bit you know kind of trying to talk to Ellis and my partner starts going what is he doing so I turn all the way around he's got a 45 stuck in his waist I didn't even see it before I don't I had no idea he brought a gun with him I had no idea hey so I looked at this I said I guess I asked a dumb question I said is that loaded and he said well of course it's loaded I said Elvis my god Woodard I said he goes well you guys gave me a badge you gave me a lieutenants badge you know and I can't I be official said Elvis you know how much trouble we could get in if you use that gun or how much trouble you could get in if you use that good I mean it it's a night I'll never forget I mean it was it's so fun to talk about it now right but it was at that night I was afraid I was really afraid something was going to happen but I didn't you couldn't even begin to make up that snow or you know Holly no no I mean you could you couldn't write one like you know exactly I mean it's it's no it was Wow but it's fantastic that was Elvis Wow he was he was one of a kind and I miss him a lot I mean he was just a he was a good guy he was a good friend and he loved he loved America and he loved law enforcement he loved fire departments he loved the first responders he loved the military I mean he was just a good American I mean I told you the story about about the DEA badge the federal narcotics bad you wanted right that was the best deal because and I remembered the guy's name that was in charge of DEA at last time you and I talked John Ingersoll right oh it was in charge of thereof DEA and and he met Elvis for some reason I don't remember what it was for but he met Elvis and was thanking him for being you know a good guy and in promoting law enforcement and you know he asked him is there anything I'd ever do for you know what said yeah I'd like to have one of your badges you know I all these other places they give him I want a real badge D and he said all else he said I wish I could do that he said but there's no way that I could do that and he said why not he said because first of all I'd be in trouble with the President of the United States he said to be to be quite honest with you the only guy that could ever do that would be the president he said that's that's my hands are tied about four months later I think I always got invited to Washington by Nixon right and he was honoring him for I think he was spearheading some any crime issue and or so I don't remember now why but he got invited to the president's office to the Oval Office and you have to hear Elvis tell the story because it even is better than me relating it but obviously he's not here to tell you so he said I go to the Oval Office he said I'm shaking like a leaf he said I'm looking at him thinking you're Elvis Presley and you're afraid to walk in the president's office he goes man I was really scared he said he said but I went in and he said he said the president come up and shook my hand and said it's really a pleasure to meet you he said we sat down and and he offered me some tea or some coffee and we're just sitting there chatting about stuff that I had done and what a good American I was and and he said out of the clear blue he said is there anything I can do for you and he said I thought about that conversation with John Ingersoll and he said well there is he said mr. president he said I met with John Ingersoll and we had a good meeting and and I like to have one of his badges and and and he said that you're the only one that could do that he said he turned around he picked up this phone I thought he told me it was a special phone I don't remember the exact but he but he didn't have to dial it he just picked up the phone he said get John and Jurgis all on the phone and he said pretty soon the phone rang and he picks it up goes John get over here to my office and when you come over here bring one of those badges of yours with me with him so he said like I said it's so funny listen to Elvis tell the story because he said I'm sitting there on the on the chair and a couch in the Oval Office with the president just the two of us he said knock on the door he said the president says come on in he said Ingersoll walks in he sees me sitting on the chair and he looks at the president and he's holding his backs in his head right and he said I didn't know what to say except I looked at him and I said you were the one that told me this is the way get it and I said you had pleasure doing the digging while he said yeah I really did so that's how he ended up with his federal narcotics DEA I believe yeah man fantastic stories well really really appreciate it I do carefully a look at the snowmobile no okay yeah see you got a coat with you yeah that's that coat I told you about now this is the coat Elvis gave you yes 76 from gather can I board the plane okay yeah they told that story my wife almost gave it away you took it - uh what donate it right she was gonna give us the Salvation Army she didn't know or she'd never saw me wear it she didn't know the Longdale no obviously this is recent correct well it was about four or five years okay because it'd been in the clanging in the closet for that long that's it Wow here put it on I can say you wear uh what's his code that's tricky wow man this is Denver and style right here Wow isn't that something not is do you ever wear it no I keep it in here oh I did for a while you know sure I write after he gave it to me it's so warm then there were times when I worked but but you know and I maybe I make more out of this than anybody else but but can you just realize that that he was wearing it and now you got it on it's crazy honey yeah it's hard that's what it's hard for me to wrap my head around I mean like and I you know your stories are unbelievable it's like I got to digest it because like I said it's still he's somewhat of a mythological figure to me where you knew him well and I mean the fact that Ellis was getting read board the plane wearing this hands it to you it's crazy yeah it's just crazy exactly wow that's so cool yeah you kept asking me to look at a shoulder oh we were just matching up the photo and it matched up perfect okay you know some of the people that look for these things look for a thread or oh yeah no pattern in that you know well right that sort of things the one thing they can understand is that none of the stories I tell you we're made up right no no no definitely no it's lots of beautiful code that's a heavy cut isn't that heavy heavy yeah I mean it it it's it's definitely a warm coat I mean and I think if you wore too much this sheepskin would would collect the dirt so you could tell it's this is when they come right off to sheep that's the the color of their hide you know and they yeah I'm here he told me who had made this at one time and he said they made it directly for him and I don't remember now who it was but curious did he wear that like on the when you were out of Vail oh yeah that's what he was wearing in the mountains oh yeah Wow okay and I kept remarking about the coat I said man that's a beautiful coat I kept telling him over and over and over how pretty the coat was right yeah and so when he got ready to leave he said here jurors and I thought you know this is crazy but that's the way he was fantastic stories I mean really thank you so much do you see your kids they get a charge out of like oh yeah yeah yeah your girls try this on it oh yeah they've all had it on oh yeah yeah every one of them head-to-head their picture take on it's nice we'll leave this here you see the sled let's go do it right sounds great let you leave the way this way okay now we'd better go this way teacher did you meet my sister-in-law oh I didn't realize ok sister no I yeah we I was looking at the footage that you told me about uh-huh when you all were in Vail so basically if I'm correct Elvis bought this but you all rented were they Johnsons I think no no no your no I wasn't with him when he did this ok this was before we met him this was in 68 he was in Aspen with this one I see anyway listen this was that was the first year these were made they had just decided Yamaha decided to put their motorcycle engine in a snowmobile and it was the first year they did that and of course that sold him they gave him this pitch he was renting it ok it was brand-new he was renting it and when he left he told them he wanted to buy it and they said why he goes because you just told me it's a very first one they ever put together and I want to buy it and so next time I come here just save it and I want you keep my snowmobile that's mine so they said that's fine with us so he bought it I don't know what he paid for it he bought it there was only when I tell you 600 of these made right that year fresh and of course they were they were really talking it up to him you know he loves speed so they're telling him about here's this this fuel-injected motorcycle engine that's been put in these and of course he had owned it he had to buy it so he bought it left it up there and then when I met him the end of 69 into 70 it had already been up there for a year and so when when he left here after his first concert when he stayed here for about three days he said hey I've got a snowmobile up in Aspen he said would you mind going and picking it up for me and I said at all he said the next time I come back here he said we go snowmobile and you'll have it so I drove up to Aspen it was still there the guy had it put outside I picked it up and took it home and then the next time he came in and wanted to go to Vail which I believe was in the first time we went up to I think was in seventy two or three he said make arrangements to get me a house and make sure we have plenty of snow mobility and I said okay I'll bring the one up for master when he goes now don't have to bring that when he said it's older we'll get some new ones up there I said but you own it you got that's all right he said just keep it I said well what am I gonna do is to just keep it he said just save it for me he said I'll let you know later well it depends 1969 so how long ago is that 4050 years yeah yeah now had you restored it you'd restore it crackers ice all over that everything on there is original except we painted the bottom of it that that got had a little bit of rust in the back which is normal yeah but that's why I left this windshield away it was perfect this is all original everything on here is original Wow I thought it was in pretty good shape for as long as it's 50 years old I was looking at the footage he's on this quad and wit with with Priscilla right you see Priscilla sitting on the back right I did yeah Wow great great story but you snowmobiled in in a veil with elvis in the entourage you know Jerry was up there yeah and then Bob yeah and we they let it they gave us permission to go on the slopes at night which really pissed a lot of the people off of the of the city how come Elvis can go up there on our slopes and and of course the city said you know this is a big deal for us we're getting lots of right I mean it was all over the United States that he was up there right what I had read is it Gerald Ford's daughter yes was most vocal on him writing yeah yeah for hemorrhoids if she was against it a hundred percent and somebody set up there one day and I don't remember somebody in the town said well that's Gerald Ford's daughter that ain't hell was Presley he's more important I love it Wow it was it was a big deal that's a great piece not really one of a kind yeah every once in a while I have somebody you know come in here and and they sit on it and they say he actually was riding this I said yeah he was actually holding on to ya and Priscilla was sitting right here that's great man that's dynamite

Channel: Rockology

Views: 31,279

Rating: 4.9016762 out of 5

Keywords: Elvis, police, charity, snowmobiling, Dodge, Cadillac, Lincoln, Denver

Id: wpOTc6jHvr8

Length: 46min 56sec (2816 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 21 2019