tinker

Hi NotGivinUp, Sorry to have been away for such a long time. However, the puzzle kept my brain occupied and like you I'm not giving up! I've done a lot more research and had a good brainstorm with P.J. Proby. He certainly has a very good memory and is not making things up. Of course anybody could make a mistake after such a long time, but the picture is rather complete. Walk with me over South Main in 1954 and judge for yourself. This is the picture I'm getting: We're talking Summer 1954. Jimmy Smith is in San Marcos Academy and in the school holidays he lives with his mother in Houston, near South Main. He's 15 years old. Singing is his passion and he hangs around every place where the music is. Tommy Sands is dating Jimmy's stepsister Betty Moers and Betty and Tommy both go to Lamar Highschool. Tommy Sands is already performing a lot in Houston as a “singing dj” and has a record out. Tommy is almost 17. Jimmy Smith follows his friend Tommy as much as he can and is allowed to sing a few songs here and there as well, or play the drums etc. Jimmy is completely unknown. They frequently hang out in The Hitching Post. The Hitching Post is a really small beer bar, that holds maybe 30-50 people. It looks like a wooden cabin. It is right next to Prince’s drive-in on South Main, at the intersection with the Old Spanish Trail, where there is a circle now. The girls at the Prince's drive-in serve you on their roller skates. You could get a beer or a coke, Jimmy went there with his Uncle Dan, who had him order “Two beers for two steers”. One day a little airplane crashes into the roof of Prince’s drive-in, right next to The Hitching Post. The Prince’s Drive in was at 8101 South Main St (later the Taco Cabana). On the Prince’s website it says: “The Prince's on Main Street was among the hottest hangouts in the city, and when Elvis Presley played a concert here in 1955, he headed to Prince's afterward.” It sounds very likely that Elvis knew this hamburger place for quite a while, Before Elvis was officially playing in Houston, he was hustling for work and often played in a bar “for the money on the door”. Elvis was in Houston in the summer of 1954, trying to get in with the dj’s, especially Biff Collie. This was at the time he was just having his first regional hit in The South with That's Alright Mamma" (July 1954). Tommy Sands remembers Elvis Presley hanging out late at night with local disc jockeys at small hamburger joints in Houston (like the Prince’s drive-in?). “Elvis Presley would eat two or three hamburgers, a double order of fries, and drink half a dozen Cokes. He was the cat”, Tommy Sands chuckled, “We called him that because he purred softly around girls. Elvis had an enormous attraction”, Sands recalled. At the time Tommy and Biff were holding an evening in the Hitching Post, next door to the Prince’s drive-in. Billie introduces Tommy and Jimmy to this new kid Elvis Pressley, who will also do a few songs. This is not an official performance and is not in the Elvis records. Elvis befriended Biff Collie afterwards, who broadcast his radio show from different joints. Biff Collie booked Elvis to come to Houston for a few performances. Colonel Parker was Tommy Sands’ manager at the time. Colonel Parker immediately showed great interest in Elvis. Everything goes quickly from here on. Elvis gets different performances in Houston between the Summer of 1954 and the Summer of 1955 in different joints. The joints were getting bigger and Elvis was officially billed by then. In between shows he would visit the other joints he got to know so well and sometimes join in unofficially. It is save to say that Jimmy saw Elvis on different occasions during this year. Additionally, Elvis was dating Jimmy’s stepsister Betty when he was in town. She was also still going with Tommy Sands, and Jimmy had to make sure they didn’t find out about each other. One night Elvis had dinner with Betty, Jimmy and their mother at their house (when Elvis was already driving a Cadillac). Probably this was during the Christmas holidays 54/55. PJ’s Mom was a huge fan of Elvis and loved his record “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin” . Jimmy saw Elvis making it quickly. From looking for work in Scotty’s old beat-up Chevrolet to a huge star in a pink Cadillac within a year. Jimmy was present when Colonel Parker told Tommy Sands he would manage Elvis from now on and would have to let Tommy go (Christmas holidays 1954/1955). PJ also mentions being present later at the Eagle's Hall when Elvis and George Jones were on the bill (August 1955?) Location: Jimmy gets to the Hitching Post walking over the South Main dirt road on bare feet. There was no dual carriage way with a division in the middle in those days. Jimmy has to go past the Shamrock Hotel, that has an enormous swimming pool, where Jimmy is allowed to swim in, because his Daddy is member of the card club. He comes there with his friend Mike Dees and Mike’s sister Melinda. Mike’s father Buster Dees owns another club on South Main, The Troubadour, which has a little swimming pool with coins in it, to attract the drunks and have them fall in the pool to sober up. Jimmy and Mike dive for the coins, but Buster has a go at them. Another joint on the way is Bill Williams Fried Chicken. Bill Williams had the best fried chicken in town, across from the Pony Ride. It was next to the place where college kid Kenny Rogers (stand-up bass) and Mike Dees (on drums) performed with a blind piano player “ The Bobby Doyle Three “ a few years later. (The name of this club across the road from the Shamrock was Rib-eye Supper Club on Holcomb Blvd and Main Street) And of course there was PlayLand Park, where Jimmy cut his first record with his Uncle Dan, when he was very little. If you went past the Hitching Post, to the left on the Old Spanish Trail, you came to the big place that Aunt Bonnie was involved in, where Elvis and Tommy Sands also performed later (This must have been The Paladium, formerly Texas Corral.) There were three theatres on Main Street. The other way, into town, was the Auditorium where Elvis also played later and there was a Rodeo. Conclusion: The Hitching Post was on the crossing of South Main and Old Spanish Trail. It was just a small wooden beer bar where kids that were unknown got a chance to show their musical abilities and talent was scouted. Nothing fancy. It was next to Prince’s drive-in on 8101 Main St. . Are there any old photos known of this spot? Tinker

Hi NotGivinUp, Thanks for the info. So the location of the Paladium Club was indeed at the crossing of South Main and Old Spanish Trail and existed from 1950-1957. It was then demolished for the building of the Astrodome. Since Elvis played there in November 1954, this must be the Hitchin' Post that Proby is referring to. Before it was called the Paladium Club in 1950, it was called Jerry Irby’s Texas Corral. Do you have any idea whether the place existed under another name before that time? In Billboard 25 December 1948 it says that Jerry Irby has just purchased a nitery that seats a 1000: The Texas Corral. What was this place called before 1948? Would anybody have an address of the Paladium Club/Texas Corral?

Hi, Notgivingup, I’ve just read this discussion with great interest. I’m in contact with P.J. Proby and I’ve asked him what he remembers about the Hitchin Post. His memories are quite vivid:: “The Hitchin Post was at the end of Main, near the Drive-In and the Old Spanish Trail. It was at the crossing of South Main and the Old Spanish Trail. The place has been gone for over fifty years now! It was located on the spot where they later built an hotel, just before Playland Park. In those days it was the end of the city of Houston. It was the first place where Elvis performed in Texas, when he was still unknown. It was the place where Biff Collie hosted his radio show Billie’s Cracker Barrel Corner.” P.J. Proby must have been 14/15 years old and was still a kid. He wouldn’t have been advertised in those days, but he hang out with Tommy Sands and the others whenever he could. Biff usually let him to do some DJ-work and let him sing an opening song for the shows. Also George Jones appeared regularly in the Hitchin’ Post in Biff’s program “Collie’s Corner” (named “Biff Collie’s Cracker Barrel Corner” by Proby). I believe that The Hitchin’ Post may have been a local name they gave to a bar that had a different official name. Of course the question is which bar is meant by the referral to The Hitchin’ Post? Like you I take history very seriously. It’s an interesting puzzle to combine people’s subjective memories with known facts. Alas I live in Europe and have never been to Houston. I hope to visit one day In the book “Elvis Day By Day” the writer mentions the following appearances by Elvis: 25 Thursday November 1954 * Paladium Club, Houston, Texas. He says: It is unclear whether this was the first Houston date that Biff Collie booked, or if Elvis played the Houston Hoedown at another location earlier in the week. In any case, the ad for the Paladium Club on Friday indicates that Elvis will be held over for two more nights "by popular demand." 26 Friday * Paladium Club, Houston (Elvis sends a telegram to his parents.) Was the Paladium still called the Texas Corral then? It sounds like a place where the horses would have been hitched up in the old days. It’s very well possible that locals still called this bar the Hitchin Post in stead of the Paladium Club. I have two theories: - The Hitchin’ Post was a colloquial name for the Texas Corral, aka The Paladium Club. Is there any evidence that the Texas Corral was located at the crossing of South Main and the Old Spanish Trail? Other evidence on the Internet seems to indicate The Paladium Bar was on University ground, which seems to add up with the location of the medical grounds at the crossing of South Main and Old Spanish Trail. See the topographical map of Houston 1955: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/texas/txu-pclmaps-topo-tx-houston_and_vicinity-1955.jpg - The Hitchin’ Post was a bar that was demolished shortly after 1954 and was replaced by a motel. Could this be the Big Chief Motel that Little Frau remembers from 1957? Or would this have turned into the Grant Motel, later palm Court Inn, where they claim Elvis has stayed? We would need to find out: - the location of the Texas Corral / Paladium club and the the date of the demolition of this club - the location and the history of the Big Chief Motel, The Grant Motel and the Palm Court Inn I hope this helps a little. I can assure you P.J. Proby has a very good memory of the old days in Houston. Thanks for keepin an open mind.