Some Groupies Meet the King

Sharon Sheeley was Eddie Cochran’s fiancée. She was with him in the car when it crashed and killed Eddie on April 17, 1960. They were on their way to Heathrow airport in London with fellow rock ‘n’ roller Gene Vincent. Eddie and Gene had just finished their final concert at the Bristol Hippodrome. 

They began the concert series in January, crisscrossing the UK along with a bunch of British acts. Sharon flew over in late March to join Eddie for the remainder of the tour. When the fatal crash happened, they were on their way home to LA for a seven-day break and planned to return for ten more weeks of concerts. 

 Sharon and Gene Vincent were both injured in the crash but recovered. Sharon went on to become one of the few female song writers of early rock ‘n’ roll. She wrote “Poor Little Fool” which became Ricky Nelson’s first number one hit. She later teamed up with Jackie DeShannon as her song writing partner. 

 Sharon and her little sister Maryjo grew up in Newport Beach California. Sharon’s best friend Hope Hathaway lived not far from them in Costa Mesa. Sharon and Hope were huge fans of rock ‘n’ roll. In 1956, when they were both sixteen and sophomores in high school, they would sneak out in the evening to attend rock ‘n’ roll shows in the LA area. Sometimes Maryjo, who was 14, would tag along. They had hopes of meeting some of their musical idols.

 That same year, Elvis came to Hollywood to make his film debut in the movie “Love Me Tender”. Sharon and Hope found out that he was staying at the Knickerbocker Hotel and desperately wanted to meet him. One Saturday they went to Hollywood, but as they approached the hotel, they found themselves lost in a sea of thousands of girls. They waited around all day and by evening most of the other girls had gone. Finally, a limo pulled up and out stepped a blond girl, followed by Elvis. They just caught a glimpse of him as they ran into the enclosed parking garage. Sharon and Hope needed to come up with a better plan if they wanted to meet Elvis. 

They decided to stake out the coffee shop near the hotel, figuring maybe one or more of the members of Elvis’ band might come down for a cup of coffee or something to eat. As soon as they entered the café, they spotted a man sitting in the corner having coffee. He looked like he could be a band member. Hope went right over to the man and introduced herself. In Sharon’s memoir, “Summertime Blues”, she mentions numerous times that Hope was both adventurous and fearless. Hope asked the man if he was with the Elvis party. Bingo! He said his name was Gene and that he was Elvis’ cousin. Hope motioned for Sharon to come over and join them. 

They sat and talked with Gene for a while and finally asked him about the possibility of meeting Elvis. Gene told them that he was sorry, but he couldn’t help them because he didn’t have that kind of access to his cousin. Sharon and Hope went home discouraged but not defeated. They needed another plan. They decided to rent a room for the night at the Knickerbocker Hotel. 

They lied about where they were going to their parents and rented a room on the 4th floor. The room rules allowed only two occupants, so they had to sneak in Maryjo. In the early evening, they rode the elevator up to the 12th floor, which was the floor Elvis’ room was on. But when the elevator doors opened, they were confronted by what Sharon describes as “the biggest policeman I had ever laid eyes on.” They returned to the 4th floor. 

As they were standing in the hallway in front of their door, they heard music coming from a room several doors down. Hope walked down the hall and knocked on the door. A man opened the door and invited them into the room. He introduced himself to the girls and to the other men who were sitting in a circle with their instruments in hand. He told them they were the Jordanaires, Elvis’ back-up band. Hope didn’t believe him. She asked them to accompany her singing “Don’t be Cruel”, to prove who they were. Hope started singing and without missing a beat, the band kicked in. 

Hope and Sharon were convinced. They really were the Jordanaires. Sharon asked if they would introduce them to Elvis. One of the men said, “It doesn’t work that way honey.” And he told them that the band didn’t have free access to Elvis. The same thing Gene had told them. 

Returning to their room, they devised another plan, climb up the outside fire escape. It was on the side of the building, but the pull-down ladder was too high to reach. Sharon mentions in her book that if Maryjo wanted to go with them on these adventures, she had to agree to do what she was told. So, Sharon stood on Maryjo’s shoulders and was then able to grab the ladder and pull it down. 

All three climbed up to the 12th floor only to be met by another policeman, who told them, “Sorry girls, you need to climb back down.” 

 But they were still not willing to accept defeat. This time they took the elevator to the eleventh floor and walked up the stairs to the 12th. Carefully opening the door a crack, Sharon could see the Security guard standing in the hall. Quietly pulling the door closed, she whispered, “Well he’s got to go to the bathroom sometime,” so they waited. 

They didn’t have to wait long before the coast was clear. Creeping down the hall, they heard yelling coming from behind one of the doors. Listening at the door, they could hear Elvis in “a screaming match” with his girlfriend Dottie. Maybe this was not the best time to interrupt, so they gave up for the time being and returned to their room. 

 The next week-end they tried again. When they got to the hotel, Sharon recognized many of the same girls who had been there before. In the corner of the lobby, sitting by herself was a little girl with her head down, crying. Sharon went over and asked her what the matter was. She said her sisters went up to meet Elvis and told her they would come right back to get her if they got in, but she said they had been gone for two hours. Sharon asked the girl what her sisters’ names were and told the girl she would go up and find out what happened and let her know. 

 Sharon and Hope were encouraged by the fact that this little girl’s sisters had probably gotten in to see Elvis. So, Sharon, Hope and Maryjo rode the elevator back up to the 12th floor on a mission. They needed to find the little girl’s sisters and let them know she was worried about them. When the elevator door opened, to their surprise, there was no guard in sight. 

They went to that same room where they had overheard the argument the week before and listened at the door, no screaming. Sharon knocked and waited. Someone came to the door and looked through the peephole. “Can I help you?” a man said. It sounded like Gene, Elvis’ cousin. “Hi Gene, it’s Sharon. We met before at the coffee shop.” Gene remembered her. “Are there two girls in there?” and she told Gene their names. “Yeah, they’re here, hold on.” And he went to get them. 

Gene had opened the door just a crack. When the girls came to the door, Sharon said, “Your little sister is down in the lobby crying her heart out, really worried about you.” All the while Sharon was trying to catch a glimpse of Elvis through the crack in the door, but she didn’t see him. Impulsively, she pushed open the door causing the two girls to stagger back.

There seated on a backward turned kitchen chair sat Elvis. He took his time looking at Sharon, Hope and Maryjo standing in the hallway and then said, “Well don’t just stand there, come on in.” And they did.