Vintage Rock – September-October 2019

W

hat would Elvis have made

of his music being re-imagined

on album and stage with the

lush strings of the Royal Philharmonic

Orchestra? Jerry Schilling, one of the

King’s oldest friends, can only speak

for himself.

“I’m pretty much a purist on Elvis’

music, but I remember being in Russia

on a little boat going up the Volga River

many years ago. It was all Russian language

radio stations, and the remix of A Little

Less Conversation came on. It was a little

throwaway song from the movie Live A

Little, Love A Little, but an Italian engineer

updated the song and it was a huge hit.

I remember thinking, wow, if somebody can

do it properly and my friend can get new

audiences and be listened to around the

world, then I think it’s worthwhile.

“As for putting together the Royal

Philharmonic Orchestra with Elvis’ great

vocals,” Schilling continues, “Elvis was

such a lover of all kinds of music: classical

music, operatic music – he had no limits

or boundaries. He had a little bit of an

orchestra on some songs, but he would have

loved to have sung with a full orchestra, and

especially the Royal Philharmonic.”

Schilling also confi rms that Elvis would

have loved to tour the UK before his death

in 1977, were it not for opposition from his

manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

“I was at a meeting about that with Elvis

and Colonel Parker in 1974. Elvis told the

Colonel, ‘I’m going to tour overseas.’ The

Colonel replied, ‘If you do, you’ll do it

without me.’ And Elvis said, ‘You’re fi red.’

He actually fi red him over that.”

It was a short-lived parting, of course.

“They had a great respect for each other,”

Schilling continues. “It was the fi rst and

only time I heard them raise their voices.

But that was why Elvis bought a plane, the

Lisa Marie. He had a real desire to see his

fans around the world, especially in the UK,

because we had so many fans who came

from England to see the Vegas shows.”

As one of the most trusted members

of Presley’s entourage, Schilling reveals

his part in the King’s plans to tour

outside America.

“He sent me and Joe Esposito on a

month’s vacation to Europe at that time.

I think he was wanting to, without offi cially

doing it, wanting us to check out the foreign

markets in Germany and the UK.

“I talked to Tom Hewlett at Concerts

West, who was Elvis’ promoter. I’d talked

to the Colonel and he said, ‘You know Tom

Hewlett, why don’t you talk to him about

the tour?’

“So young, naive me, I got with Tom. The

next day, I was walking down the hall with

the Colonel and I said, ‘Colonel, I talked to

Tom and he said he could do it.’ The Colonel

threw his cane down the hall and said, ‘Then

you handle it!’

“I didn’t make any more suggestions for a

while,” Schilling chuckles.

Presley’s collaboration with the RPO was

the brainchild of Australian music mogul

Don Reedman, who co-produced the album

If I Can Dream in 2015 with Nick Patrick.

The disc shot to No.1 in the UK. It was

followed by further releases The Wonder

Of You and Christmas With Elvis And The

RPO, along with several tours that saw the

celluloid Elvis singing on a big screen above

the orchestra and band.

For the latest tour in November, the RPO

will be augmented by Elvis’ original TCB

Band, including lead guitarist James

When Elvis In Concert With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

returns this November, it will be in the company of Jerry

Schilling. We talked to one of Presley’s closest confi dantes

WORDS BY DOUGLAS MCPHERSON

THE

KING’S

SCHILLING

“ELVIS WAS SUCH A

LOVER OF ALL KINDS

OF MUSIC:

CLASSICAL,

OPERATIC – HE HAD

NO LIMITS”

Elvis In Concert