Memorial Coliseum

June 3, 1975

In the Deep South, few people attracted as much attention as Elvis Presley. On a warm summer evening in 1975, an animated, capacity crowd greeted the King of Rock and Roll when he took the stage on a Tuesday night in Tuscaloosa. Presley had sold out the venue once before in the Fall of 1971 and would return for the third and final time in the Summer of 1976. Showered by thousands of flashbulbs on Instamatic cameras that felt more like strobe lights, Presley briskly paced onstage and opened with “C.C. Ryder,” while fans screamed, held up homemade signs, and wore clothing emblazoned with images of their pop hero. Ken Kingery was a Program Council department chairman at the time. He said, “(UPC concert chair) Mark Gaughn would ask the other department leaders to work security for his events. One time, at an Elvis Presley concert, a strong-minded woman wanted to come backstage and meet him before the show. When I told her she would not be permitted backstage, she slapped me in the face so fast, I had no time to react. It was hilarious!” Presley introduced himself to the audience, snickering, “Good evening. My name is Johnny Cash,” then turned to the audience sitting behind the stage and said he hoped “everyone has a good time at the show,” and that he planned to “turn around a lot.”From there he promised to play “Some old ones, some new ones, and middle-aged ones,” as he laughed easily, gestured, waved, and spoke sweetly to dozens of female fans in the audience sitting near the front of the stage. He was right about the songs: his band ran through mega-hits such as “Love Me Tender,” “Teddy Bear,” and “Hound Dog,” before sliding into “The Wonder of You,” and an audacious version of “Burnin’ Love.” “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much,” he told the rapt crowd over and over again. Presley introduced the band, including guitarist James Burton, who launched into “Johnny B Goode,” and Ron Tutt on drums, who shared a short solo. His “Bridge Over Trouble Waters” was lovely, followed by a rousing version of “T-R-O-U-B-L-E.” Presley joked, smiled, and mugged the crowd while accepting flowers and other gifts from fans. The concert ended with “Mystery Train,” an upbeat version of “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You,” and the final refrain of “C.C. Ryder,” signaling that Elvis had indeed left the building. While other shows were planned around the state, the gig in Memorial Coliseum was just the right mix of powerful ballads and classic, hard-charging rock and roll, wrapped in plenty of show biz glitz. A review in The Tuscaloosa News seemed to consider it a happening, rather than just another concert: “Over 15 000 screaming clapping and cheering fans witnessed the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, once again bring his show troupe to Memorial Coliseum for a summer tour concert Tuesday night, sponsored by the University of Alabama's Program Council.”

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