Walnut Ridge pays tribute to Elvis, Beatles

David Camp (left), the U.S. Postal Service manager for Arkansas, and U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., unveil the Elvis Presley commemorative Forever stamp Friday in Walnut Ridge.
David Camp (left), the U.S. Postal Service manager for Arkansas, and U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., unveil the Elvis Presley commemorative Forever stamp Friday in Walnut Ridge.

WALNUT RIDGE -- Walnut Ridge leaders dedicated a postage stamp Friday featuring the likeness of Elvis Presley while kicking off a festival commemorating the Beatles' brief stopover at a nearby airport in 1964 and the group's musical influence.

Presley, Roy Orbison, Sonny Burgess, Johnny Cash, Billy Riley and other musicians traveled along U.S. 67 in northeast Arkansas in the 1950s, playing in the honky-tonks that lined the highway and creating a musical sound that others -- including the Beatles -- have said helped form their own sounds.

Walnut Ridge opened its Beatles at the Ridge ceremony in the Lawrence County town Friday with the stamp ceremony. Today, musicians will perform on downtown stages most of the day.

On a windy Friday morning, about 150 people gathered near U.S. 67 to see the stamp at the Guitar Walk in Walnut Ridge -- a large sidewalk designed in the shape of a guitar with information about the various performers who played in the town.

"We're recognizing one of the artists who helped birth rock 'n' roll," Walnut Ridge Mayor Charles Snapp said. "They had an influence on the world."

Although the stamp was issued Aug. 12, and a national ceremony was held by the U.S. Postal Service in Memphis that day, Friday's event was the first dedication of the stamp in Arkansas.

The Walnut Ridge unveiling was premature when a gust of wind toppled the covered, poster-sized stamp replica during the ceremony. Postal officials picked it back up and covered it again quickly.

The 49-cent stamp features a 1955 black-and-white photograph of Presley. A small, gold crown is in the bottom left corner as an acknowledgement to the musician's nickname, "The King of Rock and Roll." His signature, in gold, is featured along the right side of the stamp.

U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., who said he saw Presley perform in Pine Bluff and in Memphis, credited Walnut Ridge for honoring the musical heritage of the area.

He asked who in the audience had seen Presley perform live. Several attendees raised their hands.

"You are in the unique situation to see how music history developed," he said. "The music of that day shaped the generation that we were part of."

Ivor Davis, a former London journalist, traveled with the Beatles during their 1964 U.S. tour. He wasn't with them when they landed at the former U.S. Army training airport north of Walnut Ridge on Sept. 18, 1964, but he returned to join their flight from there to New York a few days later.

Davis, who traveled from his Los Angeles home to attend this year's Beatles at the Ridge, was the only journalist with the Beatles when they met Presley at his Beverly Hills home in 1965.

"Looking back, I realized we were 85 miles from Graceland when we were in Walnut Ridge," Davis said Friday. "But we never knew where the heck we were back then. They wanted to meet Elvis in 1964 but didn't know they were so close.

"It took a year for them to finally get together."

Davis said John Lennon told him he listened to Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" 33 times before he could understand Presley's Southern accent on the recording.

He added that Lennon kidded Presley about the change in his records by 1965.

"I don't think Elvis liked that," Davis said. "He had changed. But he was making movies by then. He made 33 movies; he didn't have a lot of time for music."

State Desk on 09/19/2015

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