When Petty met Presley

How a chance encounter with Elvis, the king of rock and roll made a musician out of Tom Petty

On one summer morning in 1961, an 11-year old Tom Petty sat on pine straw in his front yard, wondering how he was going to spend his day. By the end of the afternoon, he knew how he would spend his life.

For by the end of the day, Petty would encounter none other than Elvis Presley, the 8216;The King of Rock 8216;n8217; Roll8217; who died 30 years ago on 16 August. And by that evening, the Gainesville youngster would be forever fascinated 8212; and hooked 8212; on rock 8216;n8217; roll. 8220;I caught the fever that day and I never got rid of it,8221; Petty later said in Paul Zollo8217;s book, Conversations With Tom Petty.

Presley was filming a movie called Follow That Dream with location shooting in Ocala, Tampa. Petty8217;s uncle, Earl Jernigan, owned a local film developing business and worked on location shoots whenever filmmakers came to the area. So when Jernigan8217;s wife, Tom8217;s Aunt Ellen, rolled into the driveway and asked her nephew if he8217;d like to 8220;go and see Elvis Presley,8221; he was more than game.

8220;He was known to me as a fellow who wiggled,8221; Petty recalled. 8220;And I did a little impression with a broom of wiggling like Elvis.8221;

After driving 30 miles, Aunt Ellen, Tom and two of his cousins pulled up near the film set in Ocala, where Elvis was to shoot a scene. 8220;There was a huge crowd; the biggest I8217;ve ever seen in the streets of Ocala,8221; Petty said, 8220;And then I swear to God, a line of white Cadillacs pulled in,8221; he remembered.

Guys in mohair suits and pompadours began bounding out of each car 8212; to Petty8217;s startled cry of 8220;Is that ELVIS?8221; every time. When the real Elvis finally appeared, Petty knew.
Immediately.
8220;He stepped out radiant as an angel,8221; Petty said. 8220;He seemed to walk above the ground. It was like nothing I8217;d ever seen in my life. At 50 yards, we were stunned by what this guy looked like.8221;

And that8217;s when Elvis walked directly over to Uncle Earl, Aunt Ellen and little Tom Petty. 8220;We were speechless,8221; Petty said, 8220;I don8217;t know what he said, because I was just too dumbfounded.8221;

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Petty and his cousins stayed the rest of the day and watched as the crew spent hours filming that one scene of Elvis getting out of the car and entering the bank.

Tom Petty8217;s fascination with music began with Elvis on that day in Ocala. 8220;Having that kind of background in rock 8216;n8217; roll, of where it had come from, has served me to this day. It became an invaluable thing to have. So for that, I thank him.8221;
BILL DEAN NYT