Elvis Presley - May 13, 1955 Elvis with Ardys Bell Clawson

Elvis, Faron Young and Mae Boren Axton - May 1955

Mae Boren Axton, a Jacksonville school teacher who had done promotional work for the Colonel in the past was hired as a publicist for several of the Jamboree tour dates. In May of 1955 she interviewed Elvis. Almost from the start of the touring days with the Jamboree the demand for Elvis by the kids (mostly women) over the other performers was almost overwhelming. On May 13, at the ballpark at the conclusion of his performance Elvis joked with the girls in the audience 'Girls, I'll see you backstage'.

Peter Guralnick in Last Train To Memphis wrote, Almost immediately they were after him. The Police got him into the dugout locker room, where Mae and the Colonel were totaling up the nights receipts. Most of the other acts were backstage too Mae recalled, when the fans started pouring in through an overhead window that had been inadvertently left open. 'I heard feet like a thundering herd and the next thing I knew I heard his voice from the shower area, I started running and three or four policemen started running too and by the time we got there several hundred must have crawled in - well maybe not that many but a lot and Elvis was on top of one of the showers looking sheepish and scared, like What do I do? and his shirt was shredded and his coat was torn to pieces. Somebody had even gotten his belt and his socks'.

Mae Boren Axton, along with Thomas Durden wrote 'Heartbreak Hotel' in 1955 after reading about a suicide in the paper where a well-dressed man had removed all labels from his clothing, destroyed his identity papers and left a note saying: "I walk a lonely street." The next time the band performed at the ballpark, this time with DJ on drums, was in February of 1956. Elvis was now signed with RCA, had made a couple of Television appearances and his recording of Heartbreak Hotel was #1 on the charts. This time he was the featured performer and performed shows on the 23rd and 24th that again included the Louvin Brothers and the Carter Sisters. After his performance on the 23rd he collapsed in the parking lot, was admitted to a hospital and advised to rest. He didn't and on the following night made his final appearance at the ballpark.