1975 New Year's Eve Mysteries --> Resolved?

[drjohncarpenter]

Today I found out more about the ... unusual openers added to Elvis' 12-31-1975 New Year's Eve show at the Pontiac Silverdome.

I'm unclear on the exact sequence, but that Wednesday night, starting at 8:45pm, 60,000+ fans saw an expanded array of warm-up acts:



Jackie Kahane, comedian
Bodie Mountain Express, bluegrass quartet
Freedom, three-piece band (previously called Upton and the Spiral Starecase)
Sweet Inspirations, female r&b trio
J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet, gospel quartet (Freedom joined the Stamps for their set)



One imagines the added firepower helped fill out the necessary two-plus hours before Elvis came on shortly after 11:00pm.

760102_Spartanburg Herald pA3.jpg

Spartanburg Herald - Friday, January 2, 1976
AP photo's sub-heading reads "Swivel-Hips In Action"!





But who were all these additional musicians and singers, and where did they come from? For starters, Bodie Mountain Express was apparently a band that Presley management wanted to sign to their own label, Boxcar. But only one single ever came out, and it was on RCA.

And it did not chart:















Yikes. The group would also be booked into Parker's bizarre "Always Elvis" event at the Las Vegas Hilton in September 1978, and apparently are still together in 2015.

Sadly, they might have been made to look like fools during their New Year's Eve 1975 performance, according to Presley bass man Jerry Scheff:

But I bet you remember the New Year's Eve concert in Pontiac!

(starts laughing)... Well, what I remember about that was that the Colonel had a bluegrass group. You ever heard about that bluegrass group? It was three guys, and he made them wear diapers! (laughs) Diapers, nappies, big pins holding them together and stuff, and it was FREEZING... these poor guys. There was supposed to be a Father Time, and they were supposed to represent the new year. These guys were trying to play, and they were just freezing to death.

That was also the first concert that my wife came to. I don't remember a lot about that concert, except that the conditions were not real good. The conditions were horrible. We didn't have any communication on the stage. I just thought: "It's a gig, let's do it and get it over, out we go". I just didn't care. We just thought: "The next will be better".

Jerry Scheff - Graceland Randers
http://www.gracelandranders.dk/jerryscheff

I say "might" as Jerry's memory could possibly be off.

Looking at that December 1975 single sleeve, Bodie Mountain Express was not a three-piece. But ... the leader of the other added act, apparently called Freedom, referred to his band as himself and "two other guys" in a 2013 interview (see below). Perhaps Super 8 footage from this performance might fully confirm this mystery of embarrassment, but based on another first-person account from FECC member Christopher Brown, it seems very likely that "the Express" were the unfortunate, be-diapered ones.

In any case, Freedom was put together by singer Lee Upton, who had already achieved some pop success when he wrote and sang lead on a 1969 hit single by the Spiral Starecase called "More Today Than Yesterday." Lee composed the number when the band was playing Las Vegas, in the Flamingo's Sky Room. After the hit, the band apparently returned in August 1970 to open an extended run in the International Hotel's Crown Room, a 300-seater aimed at presenting "contemporary rock." Situated on the 30th floor of the hotel, it was right down the hall from where Elvis had his penthouse suite. What a small world!





..

Spiral Starecase "More Today Than Yesterday" (Columbia 44741, March 29, 1969)
Billboard "Hot 100" #12, June 14, 1969, Cash Box "Top 100" #7, June 7, 1969.

Upton left Spiral Starecase about two years later. He played “here and there,” he says, and put together a band with two other guys. “I rubbed shoulders with a lot of people through the years ... some name-droppers,” he says.

Among those names was Elvis Presley. He met Presley's manager, Col. Tom Parker, and in 1975 Upton worked in one of Presley's last New Year's shows, in Pontiac, Mich.

DeKalb County's Pat Upton: Still going strong 45 years after having one of the biggest hits of all time
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20130718/STYLE/130719790?p=3&tc=pg

So it seems Upton left Spiral Starecase in 1971, and by 1975 was playing with Freedom in Palm Springs. He ran into management there after meeting a Parker underling named Greg McDonald, one thing led to another, and he was signed as one of the warm-up acts in Pontiac. Perhaps management had some designs on handling their career as well, but instead Upton went on to sing and play in Ricky Nelson's band for several years.

"I also played around Palm Springs for awhile with a band." The Palm Springs gig became a turning point for Upton.

"While Working in Palm Springs I met Greg McDonald and was introduced to Elvis' manager Colonel Parker. Greg was a gopher for the Colonel trying to learn the business. At that time singer Rick Nelson wanted the Colonel to manage him. The Colonel did not want to for whatever reason. The Colonel introduced Greg to Rick and Greg became Rick's manager.

I met Rick at a club on Sunset. Rick asked me to sing back-up on an album he was recording for Capitol [Playing to Win]. Jack Nitzche produced the album. The album came out in January 1981. Rick asked me to tour to promote and I wound up playing for three and one-half to four years.

Spiral Starecase
http://www.benmclane.com/spiral.htm

851231_Pat Upton_Rick Nelson_Guntersville Airport.JPG

Pat Upton and Rick Nelson at Guntersville Airport - Tuesday, December 31, 1985
Rick's last show before his tragic plane crash this very day was the night before, at Pat's club in Guntersville, called P.J.'s Alley.





What a crazy world. Ten years after saying good-bye to his sole Elvis gig on New Year's Eve 1975, he would say good-bye to Rick on New Year's Eve 1985.

There's always another piece of the puzzle when it comes to Elvis Presley!

751231_concert ticket.jpg

[ICanHelp]

Great information. Thank you Sir.

I always wondered how Elvis did not know, before hitting the stage, that his band would not physically be behind him. Did no one think this was worth mentioning to him?

[norrie]

Very interesting Doc.It's a bit of an eye opener.What should have been a special event in front of 60,000 fans has grown men wearing diapers and TCB member seeing it as just another gig and not caring.It seems like the Elvis Presley road show was going through the motions.Pity,there are some good shows through that year.


norrie

[stevelecher]

Very interesting. It was hard enough to get through the normal warm up acts. Adding the bluegrass group and the other band would have made the pre-show unbearable for me. Oh well.

[drjohncarpenter]

Very interesting Doc.It's a bit of an eye opener.What should have been a special event in front of 60,000 fans has grown men wearing diapers and TCB member seeing it as just another gig and not caring.It seems like the Elvis Presley road show was going through the motions.Pity,there are some good shows through that year.


norrie

It really wasn't just another gig for Jerry Scheff. But his observation about the Pontiac show was that the conditions were so poorly set-up for the gig that all they could do was bite their lips, buckle down, and get through it as best as they could. It's typical of management that little thought was paid to what would best serve the musicians, not to mention the star. It was always about the money first. Boxcar walked away with 75% of the gross that night, nearly a million dollars. I don't want to know what was Elvis' cut from that, but I'll bet it wasn't what it should have been.

Booking Bodie Mountain Express, a totally unknown bluegrass act, and apparently making them wear oversize diapers a la "Baby Huey" was also typical of management's complete distain for the music, the people who made it, and that Pontiac fan base. But it was kind of interesting to put together the all the warm-up acts from this show, and dig up a bit more about how the new ones came to be a part of the event. It would be their only time with Presley.

751231_Elvis on stage in Pontiac.JPG

Source: http://www.elvisconcerts.com/concerts/Concert_expand.php?id=961



Sadly, Presley musician David Briggs later pinpointed 12-31-1975 as the beginning of the end:

I would say that the worst time for Elvis went from that show we did at the big stadium in Pontiac, Michigan, New Year's Eve, 1975. That show was bad; it was a bad night for him.

And from that night on until the day he died I would think would have to be the worst period of his life, psychologically, physically, emotionally, every way. From then on he went all the way down and never came back up. Oh, he might rally occasionally, he might hesitate for a moment, but then he would stumble again, and he just went down, down, down.

http://aliciapatterson.org/stories/no-happy-elvis-stories

[stevelecher]

The Pontiac show to me seems to be pretty much in line with the December 75 Vegas gig. To me there's a clear dividing line between this show and the first shows from March 1976.

I remember the gross being $800,000.00 with everybody assuming Elvis got his 50% share of about $400,000.00. The poor guy, taken such advantage of.

[midnightx]

The Pontiac show to me seems to be pretty much in line with the December 75 Vegas gig. To me there's a clear dividing line between this show and the first shows from March 1976.

I remember the gross being $800,000.00 with everybody assuming Elvis got his 50% share of about $400,000.00. The poor guy, taken such advantage of.

Who knows what the net was, and EP likely did not share 50% of the merchandising.

[drjohncarpenter]

The Pontiac show to me seems to be pretty much in line with the December 75 Vegas gig. To me there's a clear dividing line between this show and the first shows from March 1976.

I remember the gross being $800,000.00 with everybody assuming Elvis got his 50% share of about $400,000.00. The poor guy, taken such advantage of.

It is very doubtful this figure is correct. I'll make no comment on the faux pity, management's financial bamboozling of their client is part of the historical record. According to Guralnick and Jørgensen in Elvis: Day By Day, the gross was a bit more than $800,000, and management and Presley split $300,000, after expenses. Management was also very good about taking funds for "expenses," so I wish I could see the paperwork regarding this show.

[stevelecher]

I don't understand the faux pity comment. I simply said the poor guy was abused by his management. I feel that way.

If the gross was anything around 800K, which is the commonly used number, you're not saying management and Elvis split $300,000.00, are you? Expenses couldn't have been $500,000. If you are saying Elvis got $300,000 and management claimed $200,000 in expenses and $300,000 as its share, I could think that was realistic.

Thanks for the topic.

[Mister Mike]

Wasn't the Pontiac show where it was so cold that the musicians had a hard time keeping their instruments tuned?

[rlj4ep]

Thanks so much Doc!

That show is so different than the Pittsburgh show one year later. From all accounts it seems Elvis didn't even want to be there in Pontiac that night. While he gave some good performances that evening, the overall show seems "indifferent," at best, IMHO. The pics I've seen of Elvis before the show present an entertainer who looked less then thrilled about the upcoming show. I'm not trying to crawl into his head, I'm basing that comment on the pics I've seen.
Also, Why the hillbilly groups? Sometimes you have to wonder what Tom Parker was thinking about. An entertainer like Elvis didn't need that kind of act as a "warm up." Elvis entourage doing their thing, OK, I can live with that. But if I were there that night and this hillbilly group comes out (and wearing diapers!) I'm going to the men's room or make a run for some food. It's almost an embarrassment, IMHO. If I had purchased a ticket to enjoy "an evening with Elvis," the last thing I want to see are hillbilly performers wearing diapers!
Beyond this, I don't understand why Elvis started and then abandoned "Wooden Heart" and to do so in such an abrupt manner. He had just performed it in Vegas a few weeks earlier and I'm sure the TCB band remembered it. After the way too long countdown to midnight Elvis doesn't seem to even know the words of "Auld Lang Syne."
I have read that Elvis didn't like the stage, but as an entertainer don't you adjust for the sake of the fans and the show? Especially with over 60,000 fans coming out on a cold New Year's Eve?
The fact that Elvis could draw 60,000 fans to a single show is very impressive. But looking back on December 31, 1975, What a shining performance it could have been. It could have been a positive jump-start into 1976, it could have been such a major triumph......,

rlj

[stevelecher]

It actually still was a triumph for Elvis. Overall, the show was a success and the performance level was on par with many of the recent Vegas concerts.

[drjohncarpenter]

Even more interesting is a concert review I just uncovered, you'll find it below.

It turns out that both the Bodie Mountain Express and Upton's Spiral Starecase (later re-named Freedom?) opened a show for Jim Stafford in San Bernardino on 11-01-1975, about two months before the Presley gig in Pontiac.

The article notes this was the concert debut for the Bodie Mountain Express, and the RCA single you see in the original post above was supposedly available on the Boxcar label. Boxcar, of course, was an entity run by Parker and his cronies. I've not seen any copies yet on Boxcar, maybe it never went that far.

Also on the bill that evening was Emmy Lou Harris and the Hot Band. The members of her "Hot Band" at that time were James Burton, Glen Hardin, John Ware, Rodney Crowell, Hank de Vito and Emory Gordy, Jr.

As most know, Burton and Hardin were full-timers in Presley's band, and Gordy played with Elvis for most of 1973.

Could all of this be coincidence? I doubt it. It seems more likely now that both acts were tabbed by management around this period, perhaps the connection with Burton and Hardin also played a part, and somehow each of them seemed like viable show business prospects. Management was reaching out to Presley show soprano Kathy Westmoreland at this time as well.

All of this implied that Parker's "Elvis is my sole client" routine was being abandoned, which had many potential implications.

This thing keeps getting weirder!

Jim Stafford concert was a country explosion

R.B. Rawnsley
Sun-Telegram Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO - Take a large mixing bowl the size of Swing Auditorium. Mix about 2,200 audience members, ages 9 to 90, with the Bodie Mountain Express, Cecilio and Kapono, Jim Stafford, a touch of spice with Emmy Lou Harris, and a pinch of garlic with Upton and the Spiral Starecase. Simmer slowly under spotlights.

Stand back and watch it explode. Don't worry, the explosion isn't dangerous. It's just plain semi-country fun.

The evening started when the Bodie Mountain Express was greeted with warm applause as they entered on stage. The audience knew that they were the "new guys just a local group," deadly knowledge that can destroy the authority of a performer.

But the Bodie Mountain boys didn't care. They played on, slowly warming up the audience for the evening ahead. Though it was their first major concert, they pulled it off like seasoned professionals. By the time they were into their second number, "You Stomped on my Heart and Squashed that Sucker Flat," the audience was warm. And when they started their final number, "Orange Blossom Special," the audience was cooking with excitement.

The Express is a bluegrass band, but it doesn't limit itself to traditional bluegrass compositions. It does what the members call "new grass," which consists of tunes taken from rock, blues or any other style and transforming them into a bluegrass style. The group is innovative and has a lot of potential to increase the popularity of bluegrass music.

Their goal is simple. "We'd like to make a livin' off our music," Chuck Stewart, guitarist for the group said backstage. "But if we can't, well, we'll just keep playing anyway. We just want to be the best entertainers we can."

Pete Coffey, who drove from Riverside to see the Bodie Mountain Express perform, remarked that "they're super good, they've worked hard and I'm glad to see they're getting the exposure they need to make it big. They certainly have the quality to do it."

The group now has a recording out called "Growin' Up in a Country Way" and "Mad Mike's Breakdown" on Boxcar Records of Madison, Tenn. They frequently play at the Penny University in San Bernardino. Their enjoyable act was immediately followed by Dick Haynes of radio station KLAC who overflowed with corny jokes, the sole purpose of which was to hide the disorganization of the production crews. The equipment changes between acts took far too long.

Another irritant for the audience was the lighting and sound. Performers usually had to enter in the dark and wait around on stage for the spotlight to find them. The feedback from improperly balanced mikes, speakers, amplifiers and mixers was outrageous and the resulting ear-piercing shock waves were an affront to the quality, the artists and the poor, defenseless eardrums of the audience.

In terms of production, the show was terrible. "I've seen high schools that do a better job than this," one unidentified voice in the audience complained … But the music was fine. The audience was warmed up and was ready for more fun during the evening.

The second act was Upton and the Spiral Starecase, a typical AM radio teeny-bopper group that combines bee-bop with country and primitive rock. Their act was largely uneventful. Haynes returned with more jokes while the crew set up the equipment for Cecilio and Kapono.

More waiting ... more corny jokes ... more impatience from the audience. Then the audience discerned Cecilio Rodriguez through the semi-darkness and cheered. After getting the light technician's attention, Cecilio and Kapono proceeded to charm the audience with their modest, but very effective stage authority.

Cecilio and Kapono are excellent musicians. The two Hawaiians are described as a cross between Seals and Crofts, Loggins and Messina and Simon and Garfunkel, but they are unique in a concert performance.

Emmy Lou Harris was okay with most of the audience but her act lacked energy. Her music is kickback country, a factor that dissipated the energy Cecilio and Kapono had evoked from the audience.

When Jim Stafford appeared, the audience immediately recovered from this semi- lethargy. He shuffled onstage amid the cheers of his fans (composing about 70 per cent of the audience).

Stafford isn't a musician any more than Alice Cooper is. He's an entertainer, and he's so polished that he'd shine like gold while walking down E Street whistling Dixie during a third stage smog episode. Though his compositions, mostly AM radio and mass media TV material, lack any shred of classical value, they're fun in concert and worth the price of admission.

While busy playing as many as four instruments at once, Stafford retained the concentration and energy necessary to play and communicate with his audience. He has a large following of people who saw his TV show last summer and turned on to him.

One of them, Rick Seasholtz, of San Bernardino, pointed out that "Stafford is pretty well open and has points of view, but he puts them across in a humorous way. He's got a type of philosophy that he can freely communicate without really offending anybody."

"He's great. I love him," said Cindy Guzman, who's staying with friends in Rialto. When Stafford finished his act, many of his fans stayed hoping for an encore. After several minutes, most of the audience started to leave and many people were already out the door when the word spread like wildfire: Stafford was coming back on stage.

He flashed into his version of "Johnny B. Goode," followed by "Spiders and Snakes," and the audience loved it. He finally left the stage for good, but the audience still wanted more.

After almost four hours of sitting on uncomfortable bleachers, a large group of fans continued chanting, "We want Jim, we want Jim."

Not every performer can grab an audience like that.

San Bernardino County Sun-Telegram - Monday, November 3, 1975
http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/61827956/

'

[rlj4ep]

Another super find, Doc. That new information really gets ones mind going. Is it possible that Tom Parker is not fully to blame for the diaper-wearing hillbilly's being present on 12/31/75? All I can say is, Wow!

rlj

[Marko]

Great post, Doc. I've been in contact with Bree Krach, a son of one the members of the Bodie Express, Michael Krach. Bree shared some stories and pictures.

From Brees FB post:

" After many concerts, my dad was the one that Colonel Parker handcuffed the money to as they all shuffled to the airport. That had to be kind of scary physically being the insurance.
The Colonel tried ONCE to have my dad sell souvenirs. By the time my dad got back from the masses, he came up like $300 short. Colonel Parker said, "Don't worry about it Mike, you just weren't made out to be a salesman." That's the reason he was the briefcase carrier, it was punishment. LOL"

31601_126265244050457_4321409_n.jpg

Here's a photo of two members of the band with Colonel and Barron Hilton at Las Vegas Hilton circa 1976

31601_126267024050279_1870338_n.jpg

Charles Stone seems to indicate that the band performed in diapers at Pontiac. From Stones FB post:
"yeah and I bet your dad remebers pontiac and how cold it was ,,, performing in diapers ......heck I was cold in a coat...
but that was an event he can rememeber forever. no one else ever opened for Elvis in the 70's exept his showmembers. and do I remember Colonel and us did a jim stafford show in the oracnge show and the bodies performed there as well. "

[vinelvis]

Listening to the show, it seems to me that Elvis was just very nervous that night. Maybe because it was the biggest crowd ever. Like he couldn't get rid of the nerves. He made some weird mistakes that night and as the show progressed it was like he almost fell apart. I'm sure he did care, but seemed paralyzed. Unlike the Vegas gig a few weeks before where he seemed comfortable.

I haven't heard the show. But as you describe it, it sounds just like Aloha.

[elvisjock]

The 1975 and 1976 holiday seasons were times of stark contrast for Elvis.

The December 75 Vegas gig found him engaged in his music. He'd been away from the stage for four months. And, while he looked dramatically more out of shape and less healthy than the last time we saw him, his performances were focused. Perhaps he was somewhat challenged at the prospect of filling that big room at Christmas time.

The Pontiac show was a new low. He was inarticulate. The stammering, mumbling and slurring that would characterize much of 1976 was in evidence on the last night of 75.

Fast forward a year, and things were reversed. He'd worked like a mule all year. He fell into a rapid and severe depression almost as soon as he hit Vegas. There are moments in these shows when sounds as if he is about to cry. And then, we have the short series of gigs that ended the year leaving many in the group with a new sense of hope that Elvis had gotten his act together.

[Ciscoking]

I too think that he didn't reach the quality of his winter season in Vegas....it was one of the best Vegas seasons ever. And he also didn't reach the quality of the previous tour shows in April/May/June/July.

[Troubleman]

Great article Doc, Thanks. Didnt' Elvis also split his pants during that show, and had to go back and change into another one (the famous 2nd Pontica suit)? That probably didn't help Elvis' nervousness!

The setlist is also dissapointing for this show. He abviously was not in the mood to try new songs.

There was a member of our old fan club here in Quebec that went to that concert as a teen, and he remembers that Elvis was so high up on stage it was hard to see him. He also remembers the cold, and he still kept his ticket as souvenir.

[Christopher Brown]

An excerpt from my (revised) book coming out later this year:

The first group, “The Bodie Mountain Express” (also referenced as the “The Pony
Mountain Express” and the “Foggy Mountain Boys” – but who really cares!) was a
bluegrass group that tried to be funny. One of the members wore a bed sheet
wrapped around him like a diaper with a large safety pin holding it together.
Terrible. Colonel Parker must have gotten these ‘performers’ off the street
somewhere for just about nothing.

I do NOT remember how many were in this group or if they all were diapers. But, based upon my notes, I'll stick with what I wrote above. I couldn't have cared less, and took virtually no notice of them. My thoughts on Colonel Parker -- why spend a dollar when you can spend a nickel for 'entertainment' preceding Elvis' appearance. A new low by the Colonel.

[Ciscoking]

Chris..did we talk about this show, too.....cant remember...

[mike edwards66]

An excerpt from my (revised) book coming out later this year.......A new low by the Colonel.

I'm a fan of your books, count me in. As for the Colonel, maybe he was giving the guys a platform, a chance to get noticed.

Interesting topic.

[Juan Luis]

An excerpt from my (revised) book coming out later this year.......A new low by the Colonel.

I'm a fan of your books, count me in. As for the Colonel, maybe he was giving the guys a platform, a chance to get noticed.

Interesting topic.

Or get the audience desperate for the arrival of The King!

[ccrider]

This was from the San Bernidino times Sept 1978. The Bodi Mountain Express were doing a show with Ray Price and Tammy Wynette. Here's a quote:

We hit that stage first in 1975, doing the warmup for Jim Stafford," said guitarist Chuck Stewart, Bodie spokesman. "Up to that time we'd been doing our bluegrass around the area for whatever money or food we could earn. "The Stafford show launched us. Col. Tom Parker heard us and asked us to go on tour w ith Elvis Presley. Which we did off and on for 2X2 years. "It w as a great experience, appearing on the same show so many times with Elvis. We played to huge audiences, of course, yet there is nothing like working with a small crowd w here you can feel the closeness," Stewart said.

I guess that was all B.S. other than the one off New Years show.

[mike edwards66]

An excerpt from my (revised) book coming out later this year.......A new low by the Colonel.

I'm a fan of your books, count me in. As for the Colonel, maybe he was giving the guys a platform, a chance to get noticed.

Interesting topic.

Or get the audience desperate for the arrival of The King!

Yeah. And you gotta love a guy that would send somebody out, in the freezing cold, wearing diapers.