A Country Star Demanded to Never Play a Show After Elvis
In the early days of Elvis Presley’s career, he played shows with a stacked roster of country musicians. Typically, artists took the stage in order of their popularity, with the biggest musician going last. For a while, Elvis was not a big enough name to close out the shows. As he grew more popular, though, artists no longer wanted to follow Elvis’ act. After one show, a country star requested to never go on after Elvis again.
A country singer did not want to go on after Elvis in shows
During Elvis’ rise to stardom, he played shows with multiple other artists. He was growing in popularity but he could not yet compete with some of the bigger names, at least at first. During many of the shows he played, country star Hank Snow typically closed out the night.
“He was in a bigger bracket, of course, and there were times when he appeared on the same show as Johnny Cash and Hank Snow,” his bodyguard, Red West, said in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. “Now, on those shows they work the sequence in which they would go on. Depending on the mixture of the act, the star attraction would normally go on last. Whenever Elvis was on with Hank Snow, Hank always insisted on going on last. It wasn’t an ego thing, it was just that he was the star attraction.”
Before long, though, Elvis eclipsed all the other artists. After one show, Snow, who followed Elvis, got off stage and requested to never be in that position again.
“Well, Elvis just ripped that audience apart. Now Hank followed, and did a great show, but as far as the audience was concerned it was a letdown after Elvis,” West said. “Hank went to the M.C. and, like the real gentleman he was, just said, ‘From now on, you better put me on before the boy.’”
The other country artists weren’t jealous of Elvis
While this situation may have been a blow to Snow’s ego, he handled it well. According to West, Snow was not outwardly jealous or cold toward Elvis. Because of this, his request came as an incredible compliment, especially because Elvis had long admired Snow.
“That was an acknowledgment from one of the all-time greats that Elvis was the star,” West said. “That’s how those country boys were. No jealousy, nothing. You wouldn’t hear of something like that happening in show business today.”
He blew up in popularity shortly after this
Not long after these shows with Snow, Elvis’ popularity went through the roof. RCA Victor bought his contract for $35,000 and he began to churn out hits.
“[1956 was] when everything took off,” West said. “Everything he touched turned to gold, he couldn’t do a thing wrong.”
He released songs like “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Suede Shoes” and expanded his reach by appearing on national television programs. While his rise to the top had more than its fair share of controversy, it was clear by 1956 that was on his way to being a star.
