Drummer's still all shook up about Elvis' death 30 years later

Drummer's still all shook up about Elvis' death 30 years later

Recalls The King's visit to Ottawa in 1957

Tony Lofaro, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Thursday, August 16, 2007

Former Ottawa musician Arni May says Elvis Presley was the perfect gentleman when he met the King of Rock 'n' Roll backstage at a show at the old Auditorium 50 years ago.
"You could tell the guy was decent," says Mr. May, 70, a drummer who led a group of Ottawa musicians who backed up Elvis and his band when the singer played two shows April 3, 1957, at the "Aud" -- where the Argyle Avenue YM/YWCA stands.
Today marks the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death at Graceland.

Arni May has fond recollections of performing with Elvis Presley at Ottawa's former Auditorium half a century ago. Elvis died 30 years ago today.

Pat McGrath, The Ottawa Citizen

"My first impression was that I liked him. He was cordial as hell," said Mr. May, who grew up in Ottawa and now operates Rossini's, a restaurant/jazz club in Vancouver.
As per union laws of the day, local musicians had to be hired when big-name entertainers came to town. Mr. May was among 16 musicians picked to perform at the Elvis shows.
Mr. May remembers he was with Elvis in his dressing room when the singer, just 22 himself at the time, went out of his way to thank an Ottawa police officer providing backstage security. He said when the policeman started to leave the dressing room, Elvis went over and gave him a big hug.

"Elvis said to the cop, 'Thank you for looking after us'," says Mr. May, adding he was struck by the singer's sincerity.
The kind treatment Elvis showed to others backstage was in sharp contrast to Col. Tom Parker, the tyrannical manager who ruled the singer's career, Mr. May says.
"Parker was over-protective and arrogant. He was very terse to people backstage. He wanted you to know that he made Elvis. Elvis was his goldmine."
During the show, Col. Parker positioned himself under the five-foot-high stage that had been erected for the show, says Mr. May. He says the colonel kept watch over the screaming young girls in the crowd to make sure they wouldn't rush the stage and injure the star attraction.

Mr. May says inside, the auditorium was bedlam, with thousands of teenagers screaming when Elvis took the stage and began to perform. He recalls there were two opening acts, an Irish tenor and a tap dancer, but the Irish tenor was booed off the stage.
"When Elvis was on the stage you were riveted by his performance, there was no question about it," he says.
"But you couldn't really hear anything, there was lots of screaming and yelling and flashes going off on stage."
He says Elvis tried talking to the crowd, but nobody was listening and the screams were too loud to hear, anyway.

Mr. May, who had played clubs around town for five years prior to Elvis's visit, says he was unprepared for the spectacle inside the theatre.
"I had played for some acts before, such as Bill Haley and The Comets, so I had a little bit of experience, but nothing of the scope of this concert."

Mr. May says he was in Vancouver performing at the Four Seasons Hotel when he learned of Elvis's death 30 years ago.
"I heard the news and it just floored me. I said, 'How could he die, he was just in his 40s.'
"I was saddened by his passing. He was more than an icon. To me, he was more of a role model, especially in the way he treated that police officer."

© The Ottawa Citizen 2007