Presley Sponsor Refuses To Tell Details Of Arrival
Phyllis Lauritz
The Oregonian
August 21, 1957

I'm all shook up.

Just listening to the preparations for Elvis day has put a fine, coating of perspiration on my forehead and a thick mist on my glasses.

Do you want to know where ole' crazylegs is going to be staying when he gets to Portland for his Labor day appearance at the Stadium, kiddies?

I'll bet you do. So do a lot of other people, including Frank Breall, the local impresario who booked the act, the Multnomah hotel, which is hopefully sweeping out the presidential suite, Life magazine, which would like to record the event for posteriority and Lover Boy himself.

Previous Product Fades

That man is Col. Tom Parker, the almost legendary figure who "created" Elvis, and whose previous contribution to society was the promotion of a now-forgotten product named Hadacol.

Whether Presley will arrive by land, sea, air or rail - or in one of his seven Cadillacs - only Parker knows. He knows, too, when Elvis will arrive, where will partake of nourishment and - most priceless knowledge of all - where the Pelvis will be laid to rest. Provided he stays in Portland at all, that is.

As one who has experienced personally the reaction of teenagers bearing the Presley aegis, the reason for all this secrecy is instantly, crystal clear to me.

Grave Peril Certain

If the kids found him, they'd tear him to pieces.

This is not a publicity gimmick. I know, down to the roots of my shaken being, that this would happen - at the airport, at the depot or at his hotel.

Parker knows it too, and that is precisely why bodyguards surround the body beautiful at all times.

If, as rumored, he's going to walk away with $40,000 for his one night stand here - undoubtedly the biggest box office take of any performer in Portland's history - it's easy to see why the colonel isn't taking any chances of haying his valuable property mauled.

The stories about Parker are almost as awesome as those about Presley.

He is supposed to have demanded $10,000 from New York newspaper which wanted a new color shot of Elvis, to have demanded $20,000 from Edward R. Murrow for Elvis to appear on "Person to Person," and to have told Life magazine they could cover Swivel Hip' Northwest tour - provided Life magazine paid him $10,000 per city.

This generosity was declined by the various parties involved.

Breall, the enterprising Portland jeweler who "got" Elvis for a palpitating Portland, terms the ticket sale: "absolutely fabulous"

"This shows why he plays only in hall parks and stadiums," Breall said Tuesday.

"If this were to be at the auditorium, we would be already twice sold out."

Colonel Gives Orders

Only 23,000 seats at the Stadium are to be sold - and they will be filled. they will also be policed - Breall is seeing to that, in accordance with minute, detailed instructions from the colonel.

All else is in readiness. The fan clubs (did you know there is even a chapter of Reed college? are at the ready, Gills is doing a brisk sale in autograph books and scrap books and pictures, ready for autographing, are at a premium.

But it's a million to one that it's useless to try - you'll only see him from a distance, kids.

Do you suppose he ever gets lonely? Oh well, maybe Ole Pinkerton men are good conversationalists.

Courtesy of Francesc Lopez