“I can’t even leave the house”: The one moment Elvis Presley regretted until his dying day
With great power comes great responsibility, and with great fame comes great expectations. During the 1950s, Elvis Presley emerged from obscurity and quickly became one of the biggest stars in the United States. Capturing the youthful spirit of the rock and roll rebellion, Presley was more akin to a cultural phenomenon than a mere rock singer. However, this newfound attention brought with it a fair share of difficulties for the gyrating young rock and roll star.
As with any figure who manages to challenge the status quo of the United States, Elvis Presley was viewed with great suspicion by the older generation of America. His wild rock and roll style seemed to subvert the family values of a conservative Christian society, and his hip-shaking dance moves were borderline pornographic in the eyes of many parents and authority figures. Regardless of what he did, Presley was already seen as a bad apple by vast swathes of the American population despite his unparalleled popularity among the nation’s youth.
Inevitably, these establishment figures were praying for Presley to slip up, confirming in their minds the danger that he posed to the young people of the United States. In October 1956, Presley did just that, ending up in court after brawling with a petrol station attendant. The story goes that Presley pulled into the station to check the exhaust lines in his iconic Lincoln Continental Mark II. However, given that Presley was the biggest name in American music at the time, a crowd soon gathered around the petrol station, blocking traffic and disrupting business.
For his part, Presley was apparently very obliging to the legions of fans who descended on this small-town petrol station in Memphis, taking time to sign autographs and talk to passers-by. Pretty soon, the owners of the petrol station became quite annoyed by this, as his presence was disturbing the flow of business to their station. According to Edd Hopper, the owner of the petrol station, Presley was asked to move several times to no avail.
This is where the story becomes a little hazy. Both Presley and Hopper claimed that the other party threw the first punch, but either way, the rock star soon became involved in an all-out brawl with the owner and a pump attendant. Before too long, Memphis Police were on the scene, and the three men were all charged with assault and disorderly conduct.
Given his level of fame at the time, the courthouse was packed with Elvis fanatics who had rushed to defend their leader. For reasons that remain largely unknown – but were probably down to his social status – Presley was let off with a warning, while Hopper and his employee were fined for the brawl.
Nevertheless, the highly-publicised fight gave parents and establishment figures in America all the ammunition they needed to declare that Presley was a danger to the fabric of US society and its youth.
In the wake of the decision, Presley shared a statement. “I’ll regret this day as long as I live,” he shared. “I guess lots of people were waiting for this kind of thing to happen. It’s getting where I can’t even leave the house without something happening to me.” In the years that followed, attention on Elvis only seemed to grow, and with that increased attention came intense scrutiny and criticism, too.
