April 20, 1960
A 16-year-old El Paso miss got a kiss from Elvis Presley last night while 2000 whistling, shouting fans jammed Union Depot to look at their idol. The lucky girl is Joanne Van Tassel of 626 Kerbey avenue, who sneaked onto the singer's train. She carried a suitcase.The rock ‘n’ roll troubadour's special car rolled into El Paso at 10:45 p. m. The teenagers started to file into the depot as early as 7 p. m. The train was here for an hour and 40 minutes and the roaring, cheering fans were treated to a few smiles and hip-wiggles from Elvis.
Nearly Hauled Off
He was nearly hauled off the back of his private car by two women who appeared to be in their early 30s. They clutched at his clothing and. grabbed at his hands. Police couldn't figure out how the pair climbed over a high rock wall and iron bar fence that held back other admirers.
But Miss Van Tassel managed
to pull off the coup of the evening. She sneaked through a group of
special police with a borrowed suitcase and boarded the train with other
passengers getting on.
The first sight she got of Presley was when he peered warily through Venetian blind slats over a window in his private car. She managed to wangle permission to enter the car with members of the press, and then with lady-like poise, accepted a kiss on the cheek from Elvis.
Dressed Casually
“I don’t think I’ll ever wash that cheek again,” she giggled.
Presley was dressed casually, as befits the idol of the blue jean generation. He appeared in the lounge car for a brief press conference dressed in black velvet pants, black patent leather shoes, and open-necked red shirt. He had a slight yellow cast on his handsome features and his eyes looked sleepy.
"It'll take me a few seconds to get woke up," he told newsmen, and started signing autographs. He explained that he had been taking a nap.
I’m not going to get married, not now anyway,” he said. “But if I met the right girl, why, I’d marry her right off the bat!” Presley is en route to Hollywood for the first time since his Army discharge. He plans to star in a film called “GI Blues.”
He assured his teenage fans that he plants to remain his old his-swinging self.
“I see no reason to change my style, and I do not intend to change my style of signing,” he said. “But I don’t think I can go on doing one rock ‘n’ roll musical after another.” He said he wants to progress into more dramatic type films.
I’m kind of glad I’m out of the Army,” he said. “But I made a lot of friends while I was on duty.”
He said that he would have liked to attend college if he hadn’t turned out to be a singer. However, with a star-splashed movie career ahead and the prospect of several million dollars future earnings, there is little likelihood that the singer will ever tack a Ph.D. after his name.
Presley
left the train flanked by four husky policemen and greeted the crowd at
the station. He strolled down the walk and chatted with the pushing,
whistling mob of fans who were separated from him by a high chain fence.
“I think El Paso’s a great town,” he said. “I’ve been through here lots of times. I’m sort of a West Texas boy, after all. I once spent some time just strolling around here and Juarez by myself. I’d sure give it a try again right now if the kids would let me!”
The singer drew a laugh from the crowd when somebody asked what his next recording will be. He started to sing “Out in the West Texas town of El Paso…”
He interrupted the cheers by saying, “Whoops, I’m not Marty Robbins, am I?” He said that his next recording will be up to Colonel Parker his manager.
Asked about a German fraulein he dated while in service, Presley grinned and said, “That’s all she was, just a date.”
The wild welcome accorded Presley gave station employes the jitters.
“If the kids get through those gate, I shudder to think what will happen,” the station master said. “Somebody is going to get hurt bad.”
The crowd hung on until the train pulled out a little after midnight, and then started drifting away, telling each other about the wonderful glimpse they had of their hero. Presley had already retired to his car when the train left.
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