Fact-checking “From Here to the Great Unknown”: Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson fleeting first meeting in the 70s
I met Michael Jackson when I was a little girl in Las Vegas. I think I was about six. My dad was performing at the Hilton and the Jackson 5 were playing down the road. Michael remembered that I went backstage and met them.
This first meeting was, actually, at Sahara Hotel, Lake Tahoe (Nevada), on May 26, 1974.
"At the time, neither Michael nor Lisa recalled their fleeting meeting introduction backstage, at the Sahara Tahoe when Lisa was six and Michael was sixteen. Lisa's close childhood friend Myrna Smith, who was with Jerry [Schilling] and Joe Esposito when they took Lisa to that long-ago concert, confirmed this. "Lisa didn't even remember meeting Michael as a child," Myrna said. "She asked me, 'Did I ever meet Michael Jackson?" and I said, "Don't you remember? We took you to see the Jacksons!”
— Suzanne Finstad, from “Child Bride: The Untold Story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley” (1997)
It’s unclear if either Michael or Lisa ever remembered the first time they, actually, shared the same space was on May 26, 1974. But, precisely, 20 years later, on May 26, 1994, they would be married.
“I don’t remember it, at all. […] All I remember was being afraid to tell my dad I wanted to go see somebody else's show.”
EIN - I believe that you were the first person to introduce Lisa Marie to Michael Jackson!
MS - Yes, Jerry [Schilling] and I did that! She would have been 6 years old I think and she wanted to see The Jackson 5. So we took her to see the show and afterwards we went backstage to meet them. But she didn't remember that! I saw her on my birthday recently and she asked me about it because Michael had remembered the meeting and reminded her of it.
— Myrna Smith, of The Sweet Inspirations, talks in depth with EIN with Piers Beagley - 2004 (via elvisinfonet)
Jerry Schilling and Myrna Smith
Besides your father’s shows, what were the first concerts you ever saw?
Lisa Marie Presley: One of my first shows was the Jackson 5. They used to play down the road in Vegas.
— Lisa Marie Presley: A Previously Unpublished Q&A About Her Father and the Healing Power of Music (2012)
MJ: Well, we first met she was 7 years old and I was 17. This was in Las Vegas. She used to come and see my show all the time. We had the only family show on the strip. It's the Jackson 5. And she used to come as a little girl and sit right up front. She came quite often. She came with a lot of bodyguards. Then she’d come backstage. Then l'd, you know, talk and say hi and then she’d come again. And I thought she was sweet and loving and I hope always hoped l'd see her again.
LMP: We didn’t stay in touch.
MJ: We didn’t stay in touch after that, no.
— Michael Jackson & Lisa Marie Presley PRIMETIME Interview with Diane Sawyer (1995)
The Jackson 5 (+ Janet, LaToya and Rebbie Jackson) perform at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas; April 9-18, 1975
RPM's Mark Gendel, Tommy Wells, Robert White Johnson (in hat and sunglasses), Jimmy Lee Sloas, with Jerry Schilling and Carl Wilson, 1983. Photo 1 courtesy of Robert White Johnson.
“'Jerry [Schilling] said, "You need to get with Carl. You guys would really connect." So at a Beach Boys show in Nashville [pictured backstage above], I met Carl,' said Johnson. 'We just immediately connected. There was just this thing. I felt like he was family. He said, "Let’s work out some time to write together." So over the next couple of years, he would come here [to Nashville] and we would work at a studio. I had a studio that RPM had recorded some recent demos called The Castle – it literally looked like a castle — in Franklin, Tennessee. Beautiful facility, world class. They just let Carl and I go crazy.'
Johnson said that the first time he sang backgrounds with Carl, it was life-changing.
'He had such power and strength in his voice. And I was like, "Man, I gotta step up to the plate." He encouraged me and we had fun doing it. It was one of those moments in your life where a light goes on and you go, "OK, I get it,"' said Johnson." - interviewed by Mike Morsch for The Vinyl Dialogues Blog (March 20, 2020)
“I think the thing – outside of what an amazing human being Carl Wilson was – was his artistry, his music. Every note mattered to him when we wrote. When we would work on a song, he wanted to make sure that everything was right, all the little nuances, the melody and the phrasing. […]
He was one of the most lovely humans to ever walk the Earth. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. And the fact that he was that way with all that he’d been through, with all the fame that he had experienced, there was always this humility. He was kind to everybody. And I don’t think Carl ever got the accolades that he deserved for his musical contributions, instincts and abilities. If it hadn’t been for him, the Beach Boys would have died a long time ago. He kept it together, he kept it going. He was the heartbeat, he kept it real, vocally and artistically. He was a true inspiration to me, even with his regard to his humanity. It doesn’t take me much to get teary-eyed thinking about him. I was honored to be his friend.” - Robert White Johnson, interviewed by Mike Morsch for The Vinyl Dialogues Blog (March 20, 2020)
[read more from Robert White Johnson about Carl in an older post]
Hey! I'm back, I'm still alive, don't worry, you'll have to do a lot to get rid of me.Well, let's get to the important thing, these are little things that arose in my mind, and who better than you to read them and give me your opinion, I hope you like it, if so, I will write more.Love and kisses for all. 😍❤️ 💞
