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Although Elvis’ career was in decline in the ’60s, he was still one of the biggest names in the world when he met The Beatles. In 1965, Beatlemania was in full swing when the Liverpool band went to Graceland to meet The King. This was likely the high point of their relationship, as Elvis later disparaged the group. Despite his efforts to get the band kicked out of the United States, Elvis’ friend said he did like The Beatles.
Elvis Presley’s friend said he liked The Beatles
In 1965, The Beatles were “in awe” when they met Elvis at Graceland. They grew up listening to his music and cited him as an early inspiration. Elvis’ friend Jerry Schiller was present, and he told USA Today that they had a “great night.”
Many sources have reported that Elvis’ opinion of The Beatles soured over time. Even when he met them, he didn’t seem to be as big a fan of them as they were of him. Still, Schiller said his friend liked the band.
“Quite contrary to everybody, Elvis did like The Beatles and recorded (a number) of their songs,” he said.
Elvis recorded versions of “Hey Jude,” “Yesterday,” “Something,” and “Get Back.” Schiller noted that he also recorded a cover of the song “I’ve Never Been to Spain.” It includes the line, “I kinda like the Beatles.”
“He went on tape with that,” Schiller said.
Elvis talked to Richard Nixon about The Beatles
While Elvis may have once liked the band, he did not want them in the same country as him by the ’70s. In a meeting with Richard Nixon, he told the then-president that “The Beatles had been a real force for anti-American spirit” (via Vox). The meeting took place in 1970, so the band had already broken up.
In 1971, Elvis met with J. Edgar Hoover and spoke about The Beatles again.
“The Beatles laid the groundwork for many of the problems we are having with young people by their filthy, unkempt appearances and suggestive music,” he said.
Ironically, this was what many people said about Elvis when he first rose to prominence.
The Beatles felt betrayed by this
The Beatles loved Elvis while they were growing up, so hearing that he spoke negatively about them to the president of the United States came as a shock.
“I’ve seen those famous Nixon transcripts where Elvis actually starts to try to shop us — The Beatles!” Paul McCartney said in The Beatles Anthology. “He’s in the transcript saying — to Richard Nixon, of all people — ‘Well, sir, these Beatles: They’re very un-American and they take drugs.’ I felt a bit betrayed by that, I must say.”
Ringo Starr felt the same way.
“The saddest part is that, years and years later, we found out that he tried to have us banished from America, because he was very big with the FBI,” Starr said. “That’s very sad to me, that he felt so threatened that he thought, like a lot of people, that we were bad for American Youth.”
While his negative opinion of them did not feel good, McCartney said he couldn’t bring himself to hate Elvis.
“It was sad, but I still love him, particularly in his early period,” McCartney said. “He was very influential on me.”
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