Nasal Drip Cut Short the Hips
by Charley Hallman
St. Paul Pioneer Press
May 2, 1977

Elvis Presley cut short his appearance before 17000 spectators at the St. Paul Civic Center Saturday night because of bad cold. Ray Crump, equipment manager of the Minnesota Twins and a friend of Presley's said the entertainer "apparently picked up a cold" after jogging around Lake Nokomus in Minneapolis Saturday afternoon.

Crump, who spent most of Saturday with Presley, said Elvis has dropped " a lot of weight, probably about 40 pounds" in the last two months. He has lost most of the weight through jogging and a heavy exercise program, Crump said.

Elvis dedicated his Saturday night concert to Crump's boss Calvin Griffith and the Minnesota Twins baseball team. "It was a nice thing for him to do, "said Griffith after Sunday's 6-5 Twins victory over the Detroit Tigers. "Maybe it had something to do with our winning today", Griffith said. The Twins president and many members of his organization attended Saturday night's concert.

"That was probably the worst concert Elvis has done in a year", said Crump. "Not that many of us noticed, but he has been averaging an hour and a half in most of his shows on this tour." Several times during Presley's appearance, the singer had to stop for a drink of water and an assistant, Charlie Hodge, stood by with a box of Kleenex for Presley to use, which he did on at least two occasions.

Presley even joked about it during the concert. "It's difficult to sing a love ballad with your nose running", Presley told the audience. Presley's early cutoff of the music stunned many of the concertgoers. There was no applause nor was there an encore at the end of the show.

The swivel-hipped rock singer, now 42, has weighed as much as 250 pounds recently, but he is now apparently down near 200. Several times during his concert appearance Saturday he had to rehitch his belt after his loose hanging trousers appeared to slip down over his hips.

Courtesy of Scott Hayward