"...some white kid named Elvis Presley"

Times:

A LEGENDARY American songwriter recalled yesterday how he almost went down with a ship half a century ago today — without ever learning that the young Elvis Presley had taken his Hound Dog to No 1.

Mike Stoller felt certain he would die when the transatlantic liner Andrea Doria and the Swedish Stockholm collided in fog off the Massachusetts coast at 11.10pm on July 25, 1956, and sank 11 hours later, on July 26.

Saved by a freighter in what was called “the greatest sea rescue in history”, Mr Stoller arrived ashore in New York to discover from his songwriting partner, Jerry Leiber, that a new singer called Elvis had taken Hound Dog to the top of the charts.

“Jerry was at the dock in New York harbour. He was carrying a suit in case I had no clothes,” Mr Stoller recalled yesterday. “He ran down the gangplank and said, ‘Mike, you’re OK.’ I said, ‘We’re all right.’ He said, ‘We have a smash hit! Hound Dog.’ I said, ‘Big Mama Thornton?’ He said, ‘No, some white kid named Elvis Presley.’

...

Elvis went on to record almost two dozen songs by Leiber and Stoller, including King Creole and Jailhouse Rock. For a time, he even demanded that the duo sit in on recording sessions as his “lucky charm”.

In all, the two are credited with more than a dozen No 1 hits, including the classic Stand by Me....

...

Not that I am Elvis, but the story reminded me of a time when I was taking some legal papers to the house of my sick black neighbors. I had done the work pro bono, i.e. for no charge. When I drove up Godfrey yelled out to another guy in the yard asking who had driven up and his friends response was, "some white guy." For some reason I have always been amused by that. I suspect if it was the other way around, it probably would not have been funny. BTW, Godfrey was most grateful for the work.