“Let Me Show You a Few Things”: The British Rocker Who Gave Elvis Presley an Impromptu Bass Lesson

Elvis Presley inspired countless musicians during his reign as the King of Rock and Roll, but one fateful night in late August of 1965, a British rocker returned the favor by giving the Memphis musician an impromptu bass lesson. Knowing Presley’s tendency to embarrass easily, we can’t help but imagine there was a small part of the jam session where his cheeks flushed at the thought of not knowing how to do something.

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But then again, the British musicians were in the presence of the man who inspired them to start playing music in the first place. So, we’d guess that their faces felt a little hot, too.

This British Rocker Gave Elvis Presley A Bass Lesson

When it comes to famous bassists, the Beatles and Wings’ Paul McCartney is certainly among the most popular and prolific. Thus, it only makes sense that the world-famous musician would be the lucky bassist to teach Presley. The musical collab happened in the evening of August 27, 1965, in Presley’s Beverly Hills mansion. The Fab Four arrived in a limousine convoy. From there, they made their way through the sprawling estate to a “play room” where Presley entertained with pool tables, a full bar, and various instruments.

It didn’t take long for the instruments to come out once the Beatles arrived, and the five musicians began jamming together. “When we met Elvis, he was trying to learn bass,” McCartney recalled in a 1994 interview with MusicRadar. “So, I was like, ‘You’re trying to learn bass, are you, son? Sit down, let me show you a few things.’”

The Beatles’ then-press officer, Tony Barrow, offered a different perspective of the events in a 2011 conversation with the BBC. “Everybody was singing,” Barrow said. “Elvis strummed a few bass guitar chords for Paul and said, ‘See, I’m practicing.’ Paul came back with some quip about: ‘Don’t worry. Between us, me and Brian Epstein will make a star of you soon.’”

The Two Musical Acts Were In Awe Of One Another

By 1965, Elvis Presley was on a slow decline in popularity. This was thanks in no small part to the Beatles, who spurred a new musical movement that prioritized rock bands, not individual artists, with their Ed Sullivan Show debut the previous year. But before the Fab Four ever made their way across the pond, they were listening to Presley. Indeed, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was a prominent influence on the Liverpudlian musicians. Still, their star power was virtually the same when they met in 1965.

Press officer Tony Barrow remembered Presley’s posse being far bigger than the Beatles’ group, and the initial moments of the meeting were a bit cold. “As the two teams faced one another, there was a weird silence,” Barrow recalled. “It was John who spoke first, rather awkwardly blurting out a stream of questions at Elvis, saying, ‘Why do you do all these soft-centered ballads for the cinema these days? What happened to good ol’ rock and roll?’ Elvis was fairly quiet [and] didn’t have that much confidence, as far as I could see. He was a fairly easily embarrassed person, by the look of him. But Elvis suddenly plugged the gap by calling for some guitars to be handed out.”

The introduction of musical instruments finally broke the thick ice that enveloped the room. From there, the musicians played and enjoyed one another’s company until Presley’s manager, Colonel Parker, signaled the end of the meeting by distributing Presley’s albums to the Beatles and thanking them for their time. “John said as we got into our limousines, ‘Elvis was stoned,’” Barrow said. “George Harrison responded very quietly, ‘Aren’t we all?’”

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