George Kealiher. Denver Coliseum employee

[galaxie]

Recently discovered Elvis photos from April 8, 1956 at the Denver Coliseum. (second picture is known but in lesser quality) Wanda - Roy - Johnny - George Jones - Faron Young backstage pictures taken by employee George Kealiher.

"The Colorado Music Hall of Fame, a non-profit organization that celebrates the history of Colorado music, will exhibit over 60 never-before-seen photographs of Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and others through March 2017. The exhibit, “Backstage Past: The Photos of George Kealiher, Jr.,” focuses on the late Kealiher’s images mostly taken backstage at the Denver Coliseum during rock ‘n’ roll’s infancy. Before his death in January 2016, Kealiher bequeathed his photos to his caregiver, Lisa Ferreira, who donated the collection to the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.

Links: http://www.goldminemag.com/article/colorado-music-hall-fame-music-photographs - http://www.9news.com/entertainment/television/programs/next-with-kyle-clark/backstage-in-the-past-previously-unknown-photos-of-colorado-music-history/336116592 - more from April 8 on http://scottymoore.net/denver.html

[ed40]

WOW....thank you very much Galaxy!! great find, thanks for sharing....



Ed

[galaxie]

WOW....thank you very much Galaxy!! great find, thanks for sharing....



Ed

was very surprised myself, thanks.

[drjohncarpenter]

The Elvis photos in Denver on 4-08-1956, from the late George Keilher, Jr., have been posted before on FECC.

For example, this version, which is uncropped:




See:

Who is the guy to the right of Faron Young?
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=91881


On that topic are some blog links which tell George's story in detail, the end is kind of poignant:

https://ljdferreira.wordpress.com/2014/06/16/photographs-1956-captured-back-stage-at-the-denver-coliseum/
https://ljdferreira.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/in-memorium/


Here's a shot from the second Denver show that evening:




And here's the radio ad for the Denver dates:


..

Elvis' BIG 1956 Show in Denver, with Wanda Jackson & Faron Young

"Don't miss ... the BIG one!"

[drjohncarpenter]

Oh, and despite what is written on the Goldmine site, this is NOT a photo of Patsy Cline:





My best guess is she was a member of the "Louisiana Hayride." Anyone know more?

[galaxie]

What a bummer, thought i striked a little gold here. Fools gold it is. FECC ROCKS and i'm crawling behind. See if i can determine aka Patsy later tonight. Thanks Doc!

[drjohncarpenter]

What a bummer, thought i striked a little gold here. Fools gold it is. FECC ROCKS and i'm crawling behind. See if i can determine aka Patsy later tonight. Thanks Doc!

No, this is a wonderful find. I just wanted to include the earlier information for reference, the blog links being especially worthy. The images on the page you found are larger, which is nice. Plus, some of the other shots (Cash, Orbison, etc.) are new to my eyes. So keep up the great work.

[sheila]

Beautiful!!!! Thanks!

[Mister Moon]

Oh, and despite what is written on the Goldmine site, this is NOT a photo of Patsy Cline:





My best guess is she was a member of the "Louisiana Hayride." Anyone know more?

I agree it doesn't look like Patsy at first sight - it's an early photo, probably 1955 or 1956, and her facial expression is not the one we are used to see -, but I would say it's her. The mouth is the giveaway.

Some other early photos of Patsy :

Patsy Cline portrait.jpg

Patsy Cline t.jpg

Patsy Cline r.jpg

[drjohncarpenter]

Oh, and despite what is written on the Goldmine site, this is NOT a photo of Patsy Cline:





My best guess is she was a member of the "Louisiana Hayride." Anyone know more?

I agree it doesn't look like Patsy at first sight - it's an early photo, probably 1955 or 1956, and her facial expression is not the one we are used to see -, but I would say it's her. The mouth is the giveaway.

Some other early photos of Patsy :



Patsy Cline portrait.jpg



Patsy Cline t.jpg



Patsy Cline r.jpg

The image we have does not look like Patsy Cline, and she was not touring as such in 1955-1956. Her first recording session was in Nashville in June 1955, a session for the Coral label, a subsidiary of Decca Records. She did local appearances.

By 1956 she was a regular singer with Jimmy Dean and his Texas Wildcats, and appearing on his "Town and Country Jamboree," a syndicated music TV series produced at WMAL-TV in Washington, D.C.. She has one noted guest appearance on "Ozark Jubilee" on April 21st, but never toured with the show.

After appearing on the "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" program in January 1957, her career picked up steam, including more than a dozen appearance on Red Foley's program.

See:

https://books.google.com/books?id=ybwKlC1xNdgC
https://patsyclinediscography.com/patsy-cline-ozark-appearances.php
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/09/01/before-she-was-a-star-patsy-cline-paid-her-dues

[drjohncarpenter]

By chance today I found the answer to our mystery lady.

As was very clear, it was not a photo of the legendary Patsy Cline.

She's 25 year-old Shirley Caddell, the "Prairie Thrush."

561200_Shirley Caddell.jpg

This was a newly-adopted stage name.

Performing since a teen-ager as Shirley Simpson, the posted photo shows her in Denver, possibly supporting her first single:





Shirley Caddell "I Think You're Lying" (ABC-Paramount 9704, June 2, 1956)



It also appears she was a bit of an Elvis Presley fan, too:





Shirley Caddell "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine" (ABC-TV's "Ozark Jubilee," Saturday, March 3, 1956)
Introduced by Lefty Frizzell.



Shirley was touring as part of the "Ozark Jubilee" cast. She went on to have a very interesting life and career.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Collie_Nelson
https://www.rocky-52.net/chanteursc/caddell_s.htm



A second George Kealiher photo shows Caddell from the same Denver evening, taking a curtain call with the rest of the cast. Plus another by the rear of the same Continental bus features the leader of Bill Wimberly and His Country Rhythm Boys.


'

[drjohncarpenter]

That WordPress site link in my earlier post included four PDF file links to more of George Kealiher's photos.

They're attached here if you want to check them out. Some neat shots, and most all of them correctly labeled.

R.I.P., George, and thank you.



'

[drjohncarpenter]

One more addition or two to the Shirley Caddell-related photos came into my purview, after I looked closely again at that Ozark Jubilee cast photo.

I'm pretty sure that the tan guy standing in the white coat stage left is Pat Boone.

He was Red Foley's son-in-law, and sometimes came along on the Ozark Jubilee tours. Red is to Pat's left, and it appears he just acknowledged the singer to the audience.

And I'm even more sure that the little fellow in the suit to the right of Shirley is one of the members of the Foggy River Quartet. He sang lead, and his name was . . . Charlie Hodge.

They're all on a flat bed truck, which means they cannot be on a stage at the Denver Coliseum.

So, where are they?

I found the answer in Billboard:

Billboard Aug 04 1956_p80.png

Billboard Aug 04 1956_p80_DETAIL.png

Billboard - August 4, 1956

There it is: the Ozark Jubilee appeared at Denver University Stadium; thus the need for a flatbed truck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_Stadium

Digging some more, I found the date for this event: Monday, July 16, 1956. This was the day Denver also hosted a concert with Marion Anderson at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and the American Association's All-Star baseball game at Bears Stadium.

Records Tumble as Bears Dim All-Stars

By LESTER KOELLING
News Sportswriter

DENVER -- A baseball game almost equalled the total attendance of three powerful counter attractions here last night when the Denver Bears defeated the American Association All-Stars, 10-8.

A record crowd of 19,763 saw another record posted when the Stars' eight runs became the highest ever scored by a losing team in the league's 14 classics. Competing against the All-Star game were these attractions and their attendance: Marian Anderson at Red Rocks amphitheater, 7,500; Ozark Jubilee featuring Red Foley at Denver University, 10,500; and the dog races, 8,267.

Indianapolis News - Tuesday, July 17, 1956
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/311497581/

That George Kealiher really got around. Three of his photos are properly dated now.



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