Tuesday, January 7, 2014

THERE'S A HOUSE PARTY TONIGHT : FROM WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC ARCHIVES

Post (70) from November 13, 2007!

The first party I attended at Elvis' after moving to LA, Johnny Rivers and I drove up to Bel Air. Elvis was making the movie "Flaming Star" at 20th Century Fox. It was his 6th movie. Johnny had been over to Elvis and he said "I know he wants to see you." So we got into Johnny's car and drove up to Bel Air.

In the movie "Flaming Star," Elvis played what we referred to then as a "half breed," someone who was half Native American. It was Marlon Brando who the writers had in mind to play the part Elvis did.
It wouldn't be the first or last time that a script written with James Dean or Marlon Brando in mind ended up staring Elvis Presley.

The femme fatal of the film was actress Barbara Eden, who would become known for her signature role in the television series "I Dream of Jeannie."

At the house Elvis came through the door still covered in the body makeup the studio had him wear to appear darker. (He also wore brown contact lenses to cover his naturally blue eyes.) When you look at some of the stills of the film today, you can see how unnatural it looks.

He welcomed me with a hug and told us to make ourselves at home until he got all that makeup off. It took him near an hour.

This was the beginning of my being a regular at Elvis Presley's house parties - the time of my life! Elvis' as my second home!

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