The Mystery Train 1.0

A selection of my writings from the original run of The Mystery Train, published online between 2010 and 2014, preserved as part of the site’s early history.

Jimmy Cool freezes the competition in Elvis Trivialities #6

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Anton Jeldres Tiselj (AKA Jimmy Cool) was first to correctly answer Elvis Trivialities #6. Not only does Jimmy receive a set of bragging rights, but he also earns a spot among The Mystery Train’s Night Riders.

And the answer is…

Roy Webber is the name of the mayor who asked Elvis if he was going to sing “I Ain’t Nothing But A Hound Dog,” in the movie Elvis On Tour.

With MGM cameras rolling for the documentary, the Roanoke, Virginia, mayor met Elvis on a Woodrum Field tarmac on April 11, 1972, when the singer arrived for his appearance at the Roanoke Civic Center that evening. Webber presented him with a key to the city, which Elvis verified would fit the bank vaults. Webber also gave him a guitar-shaped floral arrangement, which Elvis proceeded to accidentally break.

Elvis and Roanoke, Virginia, mayor Roy L. Webber (1972)

Elvis and Roanoke, Virginia, mayor Roy L. Webber (1972)

Here’s the story behind what appeared on screen. Besides being mayor, Webber was also a florist. The guitar was actually made by his his company, Roy L. Webber Florist. He was in the middle of his second stint as Roanoke mayor, which began in 1968. He first served as mayor from 1949-1954. While still in office, Webber passed away in 1975 at the age of 71. However, his floral business remained open for over thirty years after that.

* * *

The next question could come along at any moment. It might be later today. It might be next month. Or, maybe not until next year. The best way to have a chance of joining the ranks of Jimmy Cool and other past winners is to subscribe to The Mystery Train using the feature below this post. That way, you’ll be notified by email as soon as a new post appears.

Congratulations again to Anton!

The Mystery Train’s Night Riders

  • October 1, 2011: Anton Jeldres Tiselj (AKA Jimmy Cool) (1:01)
  • September 9, 2011: Steve Brogdon (0:17) <— Record time
  • August 6, 2011: Thomas (2:26)
  • July 9, 2011: Thomas (5:26)
  • June 23, 2011: Fred Wolfe (0:18)
  • June 22, 2011: Ty stumps the train (no winner)

Check out a review of Young Man With The Big Beat

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Random Ntrygg takes the time to comment over here on The Mystery Train quite often, which I appreciate. So, today, I want to point you all over to her blog, where she has a well-written review of Young Man With The Big Beat: The Complete ’56 Elvis Presley Masters. She calls the new 5-disc set  a “worthy addition to any Elvis fan’s collection and a solid entry for general music fans.” Check out Random’s review here.

Elvis Talks: Richmond, Virginia, and the Mosque Theater

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Here’s a piece from a March 24, 1956, Elvis interview that took place at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. Elvis mentions one of his shows in Richmond, Virginia:

Reporter: “What’s your biggest kick? I mean, what’s been your really highest point of excitement since you’ve been…you know, the one peak? […] I’m thinking of, you know, one night that really made you feel…”

Elvis: “One night… well, one particular night was when in Richmond, Virginia, […] whoever it was booked me […] came on stage in the middle of my act and presented me with this scroll, and all these hundreds of names on it that were there. And it read in the scroll that I had drawn the biggest crowd that had ever been to Richmond before in that particular auditorium, the Mosque Theater. It was the biggest crowd that’d ever been in the auditorium before.”

This reporter (Robert Carlton Brown) treats Elvis with more respect than a couple of the others I’ve posted recently. Of course, Elvis was not nearly as controversial in March 1956 as he was in August 1956, the time of the other two interviews I mentioned.

Like the others, you can hear this entire interview on Young Man With The Big Beat: The Complete ’56 Elvis Presley Masters, available now on Sony CDs and Digital.

Elvis Trivialities #6

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Friends, I believe it’s time for another installment of Elvis Trivialities. Your question is:

What is the name of the mayor who asked Elvis if he was going to sing “I Ain’t Nothing But A Hound Dog” in the movie Elvis On Tour?

A boxed set of bragging rights will go to the first person to post the correct answer in the comments below. Good luck!

More unedited Elvis

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Here’s another snippet from a 1956 Elvis interview, this one from August 6 for TV Guide:

Reporter (reading from a Miami Herald article by Herb Rau): “‘Elvis can’t sing, can’t play the guitar.’ Can you play the guitar?”

Elvis: “No, and I can’t sing, either, but somebody likes it.”

Reporter: “‘And he can’t dance.’”

Elvis: “No, can’t dance. I can’t do nothing but read Herb Rau’s article in the newspaper. That’s all I can do.”

Reporter: “‘Yet two thousand idiots per show,’ to continue the quotation, ‘yelp every time he opens his mouth, plucks a guitar string, or shakes his pelvis like any striptease babe in town.’ Do you shake your pelvis like any striptease babe in town?”

Elvis: “Well, he should know. I guess that’s where he hangs around.”

Of all the ones I’ve heard, this is probably my favorite Elvis interview. Not so much for the clueless reporter, obviously, but for Elvis’ answers. You can hear nearly the whole interview on Young Man With The Big Beat: The Complete ’56 Elvis Presley Masters, available now on Sony CDs and Digital.

48 Hours To Memphis: Recorded Live On Stage In Richmond available for pre-order

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Available now for pre-order is the anticipated-turned-controversial CD 48 Hours To Memphis: Recorded Live On Stage In Richmond, Virginia — March 18, 1974.

The North America/Worldwide version of Elvis Presley Enterprise’s ShopElvis.com reports that the CD should arrive to US addresses on or around October 31. I know what’s going to be cranked up at my house Halloween night!

Direct link: Pre-Order Elvis Forty Eight Hours to Memphis FTD CD (Mono) — ShopElvis.com

As with other releases on Sony’s Follow That Dream collectors label for Elvis fans, the only physical store in the US authorized to sell the CD is Good Rockin’ Tonight, a Graceland gift shop in Memphis.

Online, FTD CDs can be obtained from a variety of other Elvis stores.

In the 1970s, Elvis performed live on four dates at the Richmond Coliseum, spanning 1972 through 1976. The March 18, 1974, concert was only six days after his March 12 appearance there. The tour swung back through Richmond due to a rapid sell out of the earlier show.

Elvis fans around the world highly anticipated the CD after revelations several weeks ago that it would feature a previously unknown multi-track recording of the event.

However, a more recent announcement that the source of the CD is a mono tape thought to have been mixed down from the apparently lost multi-track has made the release controversial and anti-climactic for some. As for me, I’m still excited about it.

48 Hours To Memphis (concept cover art)

The 48 Hours To Memphis title reflects that Elvis closed out his tour two days later with a concert in Memphis. An edited version of the Memphis show became the July 1974 album Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis. A song from that album earned Elvis his third and final Grammy Award.

48 Hours To Memphis marks the first official audio release of an Elvis concert in Richmond. Though MGM filmed a 1972 concert at the Richmond Coliseum for the movie Elvis On Tour, it used only a tiny portion of it in the documentary. Warner Brothers has never released the remaining Richmond footage, nor has Sony made any plans as of yet to release the audio. Elvis On Tour instead prominently featured a concert in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

From ShopElvis.com, here is the full product description:

Please note: Contrary to previous informal information given, please be advised that this is a MONO release.

Derived from what must have been a full professional 16-track multi track recording, the sound is absolutely great, and Elvis is in top form. The booklet is full of great pictures from the actual show and informative notes. The CD comes in a 7″ digi format with a 16 page booklet.

Recorded Live on stage in Richmond, Virginia. March 18, 1974″

Tracklisting

Live At The Richmond Coliseum: March 18, 1974
01) Also Sprach Zarathustra/
02) See See Rider
03) I Got A Woman/Amen [edited with Memphis, March 20, 1974]
04) Love Me
05) Tryin’ To Get To You
06) All Shook Up
07) Steamroller Blues
08) Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel
09) Love Me Tender
10) Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On/Your Mama Don’t Dance/Flip, Flop & Fly/Jailhouse Rock/Hound Dog
11) Fever
12) Polk Salad Annie
13) Why Me
14) Suspicious Minds
15) Introductions By Elvis
16) I Can’t Stop Loving You
17) Help Me
18) An American Trilogy
19) Let Me Be There
20) Funny How Time Slips Away
21) Can’t Help Falling In Love/
22) Closing Vamp

Bonus Songs
23) Sweet Caroline [Tulsa, March 1, 1974]
24) Johnny B. Goode [Memphis, March 17, 1974]
25) That’s All Right [Memphis, March 17, 1974]

Elvis, unedited

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By 1958, Elvis had become more reserved when talking with the press. Not so in 1956, the year he rose to international fame. Here’s a refreshing example from August 29 of that year:

Reporter: “When did you first start singing…do you call it ‘singing,’ the stuff you do?”

Elvis: “Do I call it ‘singing?'”

Reporter: “Yeah, that is what you call it, right?”

Elvis: “Well, I’ve sold five million records. Somebody calls it ‘singing.'”

Tell him, E!

Hear the complete interview on Young Man With The Big Beat: The Complete ’56 Elvis Presley Masters, available now on Sony CDs and Digital.