Elvis Presley fans will know that while he regularly toured the U.S.A. throughout his career, he only performed once outside the continental United States and that was in Toronto, Ontario way back in 1957. Footage of that concert can be seen here.
Most Canadian fans of Elvis Presley never got a chance to see him perform in concert. For those that did get the chance, it meant having to cross the border into the United States and sometimes driving for hours to a venue where he was performing.
My family had settled in Niagara Falls, Ontario in June, 1972 after relocating from the eastern province of New Brunswick. In 1973, my older Sister Carmen began dating Ted (last names withdrawn for privacy) who was from the neighboring city of Saint Catharines. Within a year or two, they were married and eventually had first a daughter, then a son. Sadly, my brother-in-law Ted passed away after a bout with cancer in 2009.
One thing for certain, Ted was a huge fan of Elvis Presley. While we all loved Elvis' music, it was Ted who was clearly Elvis' biggest fan in my family. As mentioned earlier, Elvis had only played once outside the U.S.A. and because of this, Ted never got a chance to see Elvis in concert, that is, until it was announced Elvis would come perform in Niagara Falls, N.Y., just a hop and skip across the Rainbow Bridge over the lower Niagara River. The date was set for June 24, 1974.
Ted wasted no time getting his hands on a pair of tickets, which meant crossing the border to do so. When the time finally arrived, he took my sister on a date to see Elvis Presley, live in concert. Can you imagine that? Going on a date to see the King of Rock n' Roll! Ted was a tall and husky man and he managed to easily sneak in a Super 8MM film camera and a single roll of film.
Elvis can also be seen strutting his stuff, gyrating his hips for which he is legendary for and waving his arms as a song is ending. I've since learned there were others who snuck in cameras and tape recorders. These can be seen and heard on Youtube via a quick search.
Although I was only 8 years old at the time, I still remember the excitement as they left for the concert and afterwards when they returned. Ted was so happy that he had finally seen his music idol in person but even more so because of the one little roll of film in his pocket that was yet to be developed. While a little grainy, it's clear the person you see performing is the man himself.
Elvis would return to Niagara Falls, N.Y., one year later on July 13, 1975 and again, Ted would not pass up the chance to see Elvis one more time and once again, snuck in his film camera. You can see all the flashes going off from all the people snapping pictures.
What is most remarkable is the lack of security compared to today and the closeness of the stage to the crowd. So close in fact that Elvis can be seen on two occasions, kneeling down on bended knee to kiss female fans, smack on the lips. One thing is true, women loved Elvis and Elvis loved women. He can also be seen throwing towels out to the crowd. Someone in the back is seen handing him one towel after another which he quickly used to dry off and then throw out to his fans.
People were actually very well behaved. You don't see anyone storming the stage. In fact, it was always Elvis himself who'd make contact with his fans by kneeling down to kiss a girl or shake hands with a male fan.
Elvis would pass away just 2 years later. I'm thankful my Brother-in-law and sister got to see Elvis perform not once but twice. It's going on 50 years now since Elvis came to Niagara Falls. Thankfully, some of those memories were captured on two short rolls of Super 8MM film. My Brother-in-law long ago spliced the two reels together and in total, the reel has about 7 minutes of footage of Elvis Presley and his band performing live. There's no sound but as mentioned earlier, there are tape recordings that exist. Maybe the films and sound recordings can be paired up one day. Who knows?
The video can be seen here on Rumble and on Youtube. These are rare, one of a kind moving pictures of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll! My sister has decided to sell the films to the highest bidder and on her behalf, I've listed the films at auction on Ebay. Click here if you'd like to view the listing.
What are your memories of Elvis? Share in the comments section below, thanks.
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