“A good snapshot keeps a moment that s gone from running away.”
– Eudora Welty, (1909—2001) American short story writer, novelist, and photographer.
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A McCormick porcelain decanter bust of Elvis Presley was priced at $35. Framed photos of The King of Rock and Roll, obviously from someone’s collection, were modestly priced.
Perusing small-town antique shops is the way I break the monotony of travel. Can’t pass them up. Plus, I sometimes score neat things.
Photos are a fascination for me in shops like this. Family pictures, school pictures, historic events, and people. Snippets of time, frozen forever. Once a treasured part of someone’s albums. Or framed and displayed on the wall of their home.
What happened on the day the photo was made? What memories stirred emotions when they looked at the picture over the years? What was the story behind these pictures now relegated to antique emporiums and second-hand stores? Stories, many likely now lost to time.
One such picture in the Taylor, Texas, shop caught my eye last weekend. A black-and-white snapshot of Elvis playing the piano with his backup group, The Jordanaires, singing behind him. Something they did for 16 years.
It caught my eye because I have a similar photo. I wondered about this one because I was fortunate to have been friends with one of the people pictured.
I met Gordon Stoker, leader of the Country Music Hall of Fame vocal quartet, in about 1986. Our paths crossed on a cruise ship. Stoker was representing Elvis Presley Enterprises and Graceland. I was enjoying a week of 50s and 60s music entertainers. Fabian, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Coasters. From an era of good music.
Stoker was a master storyteller with an engaging personality. I was an Elvis fan. Following his presentation of stories about his years of recording with the most famous resident of 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in Memphis, I introduced myself to express gratitude for his insight into the life of one of the most influential singers in music history. Our conversation led to an invitation to join him and his wife, Jean, at dinner that night.
And thus began our friendship that would include other oldies music cruises plus Elvis Week events in Memphis.
Stoker’s career started as a teenager in 1942 as a pianist for the John Daniel Quartet. The Jordanaires quartet was formed in 1949. Stoker’s story about connecting with Elvis was about a young aspiring singer who heard them at a gospel music program in Memphis in the early 50s.
“He came backstage after our show that night,” said Stoker, “… told us, ‘When I get a contract with a major company, I want you guys to back me up.’
“We didn’t know him. So we told him, ‘OK, give us a call.’”
When Presley began recording for RCA in January 1956, he requested The Jordanaires as his backing vocalists, a job they held until 1972.
“Little did we know,” Stoker laughed. “The only reason we stopped was Elvis’s strenuous concert schedule made it impossible to keep up our other studio commitments. And, we all had families, too.”
The Jordanaires were heard on more hit recordings than any other vocal group. Hundreds of classic recordings with legends like Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Nelson, Fats Domino. Songs like Ferlin Husky’s “Gone.” Jim Reeves’ “Four Walls.” Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man.” Kenny Rogers’ “Lucille.” George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” To name a few.
According to Stoker’s son Alan, a curator at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum since 1980, the quartet was on Grammy-winning recordings during six decades. Besides singing with Elvis in 1956, that history ran from Johnny Horton’s 1959 number-one hit, ‘The Battle of New Orleans’ through 2007 with an album by Ray Price and Willie Nelson.
What would have perhaps been a job to some was obviously a joy to Stoker. That was apparent in listening to him reminisce, telling stories about recording sessions with well-known performers. Anecdotes and personal insights into the personality of each one that bore no hints of boasting about the tremendous successes of the quartet. Simply fond recollections of someone who loved life and making music.
During one “Elvis Week” in Memphis, the annual pilgrimage of the faithful to memorialize the singer’s death, I singled out Elvis Presley Enterprises CEO Jack Soden after a concert. Told him how much I enjoyed getting to know Gordon Stoker on the “oldies cruise.”
Back home in Center a few weeks later, the phone rang one night. “Soden said he’s heard good things about the cruise and mentioned your name,” said Stoker. “Looks like we’re cruising for Elvis again this summer. You are booked, aren’t you?”
On another Elvis weekend in Memphis, without tickets to a sold-out dedication at Holmes High School, Elvis’s Alma Mater, I stood at the door. Hoping to get a glimpse of the event renaming the auditorium in Elvis’ honor.
From down near the stage, Stoker saw me and waved for us to come in. All I could do was shrug, “No can do – no tickets.” He walked to the door and told the attendants, “He’s family. Seat them with the rest of my family at the front.”
Between these visits, I often heard from him. About an upcoming TV special, a copy of a new album. Once when he was seeking advice about the value of his parent’s 1953 Pontiac.
That’s when he sent the photo I have. Probably a stock publicity photo from the 50s. But I kept it and the letter. For the memories.
Stoker died in 2013. “The group is over,” said his son Alan in a press release. “It was a wonderful run. My father lived a great life and left us a great legacy.”
And that’s the story behind my photo. In case you see it one day in an antique shop. After I’m gone.
—Leon Aldridge
(Photo at top of the page: Elvis Presley and The Jordanaires. Gordon Stoker is at the far left of the photo.)
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Aldridge columns are published in these Texas newspapers: The Center Light and Champion, the Mount Pleasant Tribune, the Rosenberg Fort Bend Herald, the Taylor Press, the Alpine Avalanche, The Fort Stockton Pioneer, and The Monitor in Naples.
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