Right before Thanksgiving break in 1970, Westminster student government representatives were faced with a dilemma: How to spend a small amount of money left in the Student Activity Fund for the semester. The decision was made to hold a concert, but the question was who might be available on such short notice.
The students contacted University of Missouri law student Milt Harper, who was well-known in the area for working his way through college as a booking agent. Milt had been responsible for bringing acts such as Ike and Tina Turner and the Righteous Brothers to Mid-Missouri. Later on, Milt would make a professional name for himself as prosecuting attorney and then associate circuit judge of Boone County. Sadly, Milt passed away in 2016.
The response soon came back from Milt. The first choice was an extremely popular college band, Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts. This rhythm-and-blues band, which was all the rage at fraternity parties in the '60s and known for their risqué song lyrics and performance in various stages of undress, were the inspiration for Otis Day and the Knights in the film "Animal House."
The second choice was fairly unknown on campus - a British singer whose first single, "Your Song," had just debuted the month before and was in the process of climbing the charts to No. 8. Little did anyone know at the time that "Your Song" would be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
The "preppie" segment of campus was all in for the Doug Clark group, and the "long-hairs" wanted the British band. After all, the Beatles had been a sensation. Fortunately, for Westminster history and the lucky students who attended, the "long-hairs" won the battle.
Records on the band's appearance are sketchy. In fact, all we initially found was a yearbook photo with no caption, student accounts of the event, and photos with captions in the Columns student newspaper and the Fulton Daily Sun-Gazette. From these accounts, we know the opening act was the folk singers Branierd and Henley, and the main attraction, which is listed in both publications as "Eldon John," was paid $2,800 for their appearance in Champ Auditorium, and the crowd was approximately 400 people.
The Elton John Band concert at Westminster was the first of 28 total Missouri appearances Sir Elton John has made in his long and distinguished career, and it was the only Missouri appearance on that first 1970 U.S. Tour. The stop in Fulton was shoe-horned between concerts in Minneapolis and Anaheim. Carl Kolb, a 1971 Westminster graduate, met the band members in St. Louis and escorted them to Fulton.
Westeryears is grateful for the assistance of John F. Higgins, web editor for Rocket Entertainment, who helped provide some information for this account. As a representative for Elton John, he had never been able to officially verify the Westminster appearance, and the photos and clippings provided by Westeryears have now made that concert a part of the official record. One of Higgins's contributions is the 1970 U.S. Tour playlist for the Elton John Band, which gives some sense of what the group must have played.