Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

by Legs McNeil

JERRY NOLAN: Elvis was wearing a white jacket, black baggy peg-leg pants with a pleat—white inside with little white stitching. He had two-tone shoes on, white on the top, black on the sides—rock & roll shoes. I think he had on a silver lamé short-sleeved shirt. And he wore his belt buckle, a skinny little belt, on the side, to be cool. I was pretty excited. Everyone was carried away. I had never seen anyone put on a show like that. I was almost embarrassed. It was just shocking. I was even more interested in my sister. She was screaming and jumping around. I was amazed she was doing this. At one moment, Elvis threw himself on his back, sort of doing the splits, with one leg pointed right at me. I could see that his shoes were worn out. Maybe they were just his favorites and he didn’t want to quit wearing them. But I also had a tinge of pity, thinking maybe he was poor. But I dug it. I thought he looked like a real street kid from Williamsburg. That show, even at ten years old, really changed my life. I was overwhelmed by Elvis. I was overwhelmed by the musicians. I could feel the playing. But most of all, I remember two things from that show: my sister completely losing her cool, and the hole in Elvis’ shoe.