Elvis and Chuck Berry

 

Elvis and Chuck Berry crossed paths in Las Vegas

 The only known encounter between Chuck Berry and Elvis took place in 1972. Musician Billy Peek, who was working with Berry at the time, recalls suddenly seeing Elvis in the wings watching Chuck’s show at the Hilton:

“He was dressed to the nines, he had the cape, he had the whole nine yards. He was with his wife at the time, Priscilla Presley; then he comes back the following night with his wife and he’s got Sammy Davis, Jr., with him. So he came two nights to watch Chuck Berry play. It was a pretty big nod to Chuck. I mean you could tell he was enjoying it. Chuck was trying to get him to come up and sing one, but he wouldn’t do it. But that was one of the big highlights at the time.”

Coincidently, that same year Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley converged at the top of the Hot 100 with each singer’s final hit record. On October 28, 1972, “My Ding-A-Ling” became Chuck Berry’s only #1 record, with Elvis’s “Burning Love” right below at #2. It was an appropriate chart-topping meeting of rock ’n’ roll’s old guard. Chuck Berry was 46 and Elvis was 37.

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Birthdays of Prominent People in Elvis’s World

Birthdays of Prominent People in Elvis's World June 1 — Pat Boone, Elvis's rival for teenagers' hearts in the fifties, was born in 1934. June 3 — Saxophone player Boots Randolph, whose backed Elvis on such recordings as "Reconsider Baby," was born in 1927. He died in 2007. June 8 — Nancy Sinatra, Elvis's costar in Speedway, was born in 1940. June 17 — Minnie Presley, Elvis's grandmother, was born in 1893. She died in 1980. June 25 - Songwriter Sid Tepper, who cowrote 43 songs for Elvis, including "G.I. Blues" and "Puppet on a String," was born in 1918. June 26 — Thomas Parker, Elvis's manager from 1955-1977, was born in 1909. He died in 1997. June 27 — Doc Pomus, who collaborated with Mort Shuman to write 15 songs for Elvis, including "Little Sister," "Suspicion," and "Viva Las Vegas," was born in 1925. Pomus died in 1991.

Elvis 1957

Elvis 1957—it was the pivotal year in the career of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll. His popularity solidified and his path in the entertainment business for the next decade was determined. Rather than continue the TV bookings and grueling concert appearances (143 shows in 79 cities) that had propelled Elvis to the top of the entertainment world in 1956, his manager used a new set of priorities to guide Presley’s career in 1957. Colonel Parker has been vilified by Presley fans through the years for steering the star’s career in the wrong direction. However, Parker’s career-changing strategy in 1957 was based on his client’s wishes. Elvis's dream was to be a serious Hollywood actor. In 1956 Presley had signed two multi-picture Hollywood contracts, and when Twentieth Century Fox released Love Me Tendernationwide in November 1956, Elvis called making the movie “the biggest thrill of my life.” While Presley still acknowledged the thrill of live performances, he was beginning to complain about the lack of sleep and the physical dangers posed by zealous fans during his hectic road schedule. In addition, as exciting as being on stage could be, Elvis realized that his music had become meaningless during personal appearances. The exhilaration of being on stage was still there for Elvis, but the feeling of artistic accomplishment had disappeared. It was risky to abandon the proven precepts of success, but in the end the strategy of converting Elvis 1956 into Elvis 1957 put the singer’s career firmly on the track both Presley and Parker wanted. By the end of 1957, Elvis was more popular than ever, allowing his career to withstand his two-year absence from the spotlight while in the army.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH ELVIS

 

Hawaii DJ interviews Elvis on G.I. Blues set Elvis also commented on his adjustment to civilian life during a phone interview on the set of G.I. Blues with
 Hawaiian DJ Tom Moffatt. On June 21, 1960, as shooting on the set was winding down, Moffat called Colonel Parker 
 at his Paramount office to ask about Elvis's next appearance in Hawaii. While the two were talking, Elvis walked
 into the office, and the Colonel handed the phone to him. Elvis and Moffat first met when Elvis performed
 in Honolulu in 1957, and the DJ had conducted another phone interview with Elvis in 1959 when Presley was 
still stationed in Germany.
Moffat asked Elvis how things were going since his discharge. "Well, I'm just now beginning to realize that I am out,
 believe it or not," said Elvis. "Because when I first came home it was a little strange for the first few weeks.
 I kept expectin' somebody to come in and say, 'Well, it's time to go,' y'know. 'Fall outside here.'"
Elvis indicated he was also having trouble readjusting to the process of making movies. "It was a little strange,
" he told Moffat. "I couldn't realize where I was going or exactly what I was doing. Believe it or not, but two years
 [in the army] like that you become adjusted to that type of life, and you become used to it. And then all of a sudden
 overnight it changes again. It's pretty hard just to go right back into things and be your old self, y'know."
• Presley uncertain about his career in early post-army months
What about Elvis's fans, Moffat wanted to know. Had Elvis noticed any difference in how they reacted to him compared 
to before he went into the army? "Well, actually, it's a pretty hard question to answer," Elvis admitted,
 "because I haven't been out that much where I could tell. I haven't been out to mix with people very much since
 I've been back because of the movie and television."
Schumach's and Moffat's interviews on the set of G.I. Blues in 1960 revealed a tentative Elvis Presley. He was still unsure
 if his old fan base was still there. It was a fear that haunted him throughout his two years in the army. Although he praised
 rock 'n' roll, he did so unconvincingly, admitting he might have to change his musical style. However, four straight #1 records
 and a hit movie in G.I. Blues must have eased his anxiety considerably. In the end, he settled for a comfortable lifestyle
 on movie sets and in recording studios. A decade would pass before he got "out to mix with people" again.

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Elvis's 1968 Comeback Special
Remains a Spiritual Experience

December 3rd is the anniversary of Elvis's 1968 television special, now commonly known as his "Comeback" special.´
There is no doubt that it was an extraordinary landmark in his career, as well as a joyous event for all of us who were
Elvis fans at that time. Today there are many other Elvis fans who were not even born by December 1968. They know
Elvis's first TV special only by viewing it years after the fact on VHS or DVD format. Many of we "vintage" Elvis fans, however, have
vivid memories of the Christmas season of 1968, when a leather-clad Elvis made his first TV appearance in over eight years.

Let's start with some basics. Officially titled Singer Presents Elvis, after it's sponsor, the Singer Sewing Machine Company, Elvis's special first aired on the NBC-TV network at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, December 3, 1968. The program had been heavily promoted with

full-page ads appearing in many national publications, including The New York Times and Variety. Running 60 minutes, it was easily the highest rated prime time program in the Nielsen ratings for the week of December 2-8, 1968. (NBC's Laugh-In and CBS's Charlie Brown's Xmas came in a distant second and third.) The special ran again on NBC eight months later on Sunday night, August 17, 1969. For that showing, one change was made in the program's content. Elvis's rendition of "Blue Christmas" was replaced with "Tiger Man" in the summer re-run.

Years later the generally accepted consensus concerning Elvis's '68 TV special is summed up by Ernst Jorgensen in his book Elvis: A Life In Music. He wrote that the special, "only gave Elvis' record sales a modest boost at first, but its real effect

was much broader and deeper. It re-established his place as a dominant force in
American music and culture." Thus, the "Comeback" label, which is generally
attached to the '68 special these days.

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Debra Paget

Debra Paget recalling her first meeting with Elvis on The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956.

"Although I usually don't form an opinion of a person until I have met him," she explained, "frankly

I looked forward to my first meeting with Elvis Presley with mixed emotions. I'd heard and read a lot

about this new young singing sensation from Tennessee—and most of it was not complimentary." According to Paget, though, Elvis impressed her from the very beginning. "The first thing I recall was
the way he greeted us. When Mr. Berle introduced us, Elvis grabbed my hand firmly and said, 'I'm glad to meet you
, Miss Paget.' Then he shook my mother's hand with equal vigor, excused himself, and a couple of minutes later
came back with a chair for her. We were together for only a couple of hours but sometimes you can learn more
about a person in a short span of time than in weeks of seeing one another constantly. I felt I did. From the very
beginning, Elvis impressed me as a pleasant, sincere, obliging young man."
A few months later, Paget learned that Elvis had been given a staring role in a film for which she and Richard Eagan
had already been cast. At first she sensed a great deal of apprehension on the set, but soon, she said, Elvis won over
the cast and crew as he had her a few months earlier.
From then on my family and I saw a lot of Elvis," Paget explained, "—at the studio, on location, when he came over
to our house for a swim on Sundays. I grew to understand him better. I also found out some things which really surprised me."
One of the things that surprised her was Elvis's sensitivity. "At first I'd been under the impression that he was quite indifferent to the attacks made on him for the way he sings, dresses, wears his sideburns, and all the other comments. But he isn't. Not that he'd admit the fact easily to a stranger … I could tell he was deeply hurt when his performances were criticized, or when he was threatened with being banned from certain cities."

Another thing that amazed Paget was how easily Elvis adapted to acting. "Had anyone told me that he'd never had a dramatic lesson, never stood in front of a movie camera, I wouldn't have believed it. His acting was convincing, he always knew his lines, he picked up like a trouper the purely technical aspects, like moving in and out of camera range, and the many other tricks of the trade that usually take months and years of experience to learn. However, he was so modest about his ability to catch on quickly, he was just about the only person who didn't think he was doing well."
Paget mentioned that some of her friends had asked her if Elvis had "romantic appeal." She addressed the question in a matter-of-fact manner. "I'm convinced he has, and that it will come across on the screen. It is certainly felt by those who meet him, although I don't think Elvis himself is conscious of it. He certainly never talks about his 'conquests.'"
The actress portrayed her own relationship with Elvis as being more family-oriented than romantic. "From the time he first came to the house," she recalled, "my folks have considered Elvis a member of the Paget clan—a feeling which, I believe, he reciprocated. I had the feeling that our closely-knit family life must resemble his own to quite an extent. And I could tell how much he missed his parents."
Elvis told Debra that one night in Hollywood he felt so lonesome that he called his parents in Memphis. The phone rang several times before his mother answered. Elvis said, "Hi, mom. What're ya doin'?" She responded, "What do you think I'm doing—I'm sleeping!" Elvis hadn't stopped to realize that, while it might be 11 p.m. in Los Angeles, it was 1 a.m. in Memphis.
Although Elvis was obviously a unique young man, Debra Paget concluded that in many ways he was a "normal, healthy twenty-one year old." For one thing, he had a large amount of energy to burn. She learned that one morning when she walked onto the set. "Someone shouted 'DUCK!'—a split second before a football shot past my head," she remembered. "A moment later Elvis was by my side, breathless and apologetic. 'Ah'm so sorry, Debra. (I finally talked him into calling me by my first name.) Ah didn't mean to scare you." She explained that Elvis and his cousin Gene were always active when they had some free time on the set. "When they don't play football they throw a baseball, have mock fights with knives or hatchets, or find some other way to entertain themselves."
The magazine article concluded with Debra Paget assessing Elvis's future chances for success in the entertainment business. "I will gladly take a chance on predicting that Elvis Presley will continue to retain his popularity, regardless of rock 'n' roll: and I mean popularity not only with the fans who see him in the movies, or TV, or his personal appearances, but even more so with people who are fortunate enough to meet him in person. Elvis Presley is here to stay."
While Love Me Tender marked the beginning of Elvis Presley's Hollywood career, it came at the same time that Debra Paget's career began to decline. In 1955 20th Century Fox had cancelled her exclusive contract after she appeared in a non-Fox film. After Love Me Tender she had roles in 12 more films before retiring from Hollywood at the age of 29 in 1962. She married three times and had one son.

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Jailhouse Rock Chronicles:

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Jailhouse Rock Chronicles: A Prison, a Cow Bell, and a Riot Jailhouse Rock, Elvis Presley's third film, premiered in Memphis on October 17, 1957, and was  released nationwide on November 8. Variety listed it at #14 on its list of "Top Grossers of 1957,"  and in 2004 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for  being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." While rating behind King Creole in  popularity with both critics and fans alike, Jailhouse Rock has proved to be Elvis's most historically  significant movie. Fifty years after its making, it remains a classic rock 'n' roll film. The following three anecdotes appeared in the press within a week following the release of Jailhouse Rock in November 1957. All three speak to the cultural impact of the film at the time. "Prison Chief Grimaces; 'Jailhouse Rock' Link to Carolina Unfavorable" That was the headline over an article in Variety on November 13, 1957, just five days  after Jailhouse Rock's national release. It seems that about three minutes after the film's  opening credits, an outside view of the prison in which Vince Everett (Elvis) was to serve his  sentence for manslaughter, briefly flashed on the screen. A number of North Carolina residents  who viewed the film recognized the facility as their state's Central Prison, located outside Raleigh. Speaking to reporters, North Carolina State Prisons Director W. F. Bailey expressed disappointment  that his state's penitentiary appeared as the "big house" in Presley's movie. According to Bailey,  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had not asked permission to use a shot of Central Prison in Jailhouse Rock. "I wouldn't have allowed it if they'd contacted me," the director said. In the Variety article, Bailey made it clear that he was not so much concerned about the outside view  of the prison as he was about the perception that the interior scenes of prison discipline involving  Presley in the movie were representative of what actually occurred in Central Prison. In particular,  he referred to the scene in which Presley's character is tied up and flogged for his part in a prison riot.  In the scene the callous film warden stands nearby and counts off the lashes. "We sure don't allow lashings here," Bailey told reporters.  "We absolutely do not. It's contrary to all our policies and rules." According to Variety, no one in North Carolina seemed to  know how a view of Central Prison got into Jailhouse Rock.  One possibility is that stock footage may have been used in  a previous MGM film, possibly Carbine Williams. "Bailey said he regretted the use of the state prison in the picture,"   explained the Variety article, "because fans who recognized it might  think that North Carolina prisons were run like the Hollywood version." Threw Cow Bell at Presley, Out on Bail This headline over a very brief article, also in Variety's November 13,  1957, issue, concerned a Texas man who found himself behind bars  as a result of his behavior during a theater showing of Jailhouse Rock.  The text of the article reads as follows. "Metro's 'Jailhouse Rock' rocked a young Baytown, Tex., man right into  the local jail. His offense: Throwing a cow bell at Elvis Presley on [the]  theatre screen. Into the jailhouse went Earl Shanks, a little less than  48 hours after the cow bell incident at the Bronson Theatre. He was sprung  on $500 bond but faces malicious destruction of property rap." Elvis Film Sparks 'Riot' of Juveniles' Commotion on a much wider scale occurred at the Paramount Theater in  Oakland, California, at a showing of Jailhouse Rock on November 13, 1957. The next day, the Oakland Tribune reported on the "riot." A packed house had just finished viewing the 6 p.m. showing of Elvis's newest film when the action started. When  the theater lights went up to allow the audience to leave, five boys reportedly "grabbed" several girls as they walked  up the aisle. Other boys jumped to the girls' defense, and fistfights broke out. Eighteen Oakland police officers responded to a riot call at the Paramount and found about 1,000 youths milling  around inside the theater. Fights were still breaking out, and one boy even took a swing at a special police officer.  The theater was closed down for an hour while officers suppressed the disturbance. Five boys were initially arrested,  but three were soon released. One 15-year-old was booked for disturbing the peace and resisting arrest. Another boy,  age 16, was held for disturbing the peace. Estimated damage to the Paramount building was assessed at about $1,000. According to the Oakland Tribune, "The showing of 'Copper Sky,' the theater's second feature, was held up for an hour  while the management refunded money to more than 500 youngsters who panicked when the scattered fights broke out."

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Elvis Presley TV appearances

 

Elvis on TV was always more than a regular program, more than a special event; it was a cultural experience. 
Presley was unknown nationally when he first appeared on national television on January 28, 1956. 
That appearance on CBS's Stage Show, along with the five others that followed, launched him on the road 
to super stardom. Thereafter, high ratings were the standard whenever Elvis appeared on the small screen.
 
During his lifetime, Elvis Presley made 15 high profile national TV appearances, 11 of which came in 1956. 
The first six were on Stage Show, hosted by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, in the first three months of 1956. 
That was followed by two shots on NBC's The Milton Berle Show on April 3 and June 5. Steve Allen featured 
Elvis on his NBC variety show on July 1. Ed Sullivan then signed Elvis for three legendary appearances on 
his CBS Sunday night variety show on September 9 and October 28, 1956, and January 6, 1957. 
The latter was Elvis's only TV appearance in 1957.
Presley fans and critics then waited over three years to see Elvis on TV again. His first public appearance after
 leaving the army was on Frank Sinatra's May 12, 1960, ABC special. For the next eight years Presley was seen
 only on the big screen, as he focused on his Hollywood career. Elvis recharged his waning career when he 
headlined his NBC "Comeback Special" on December 3, 1968. His last TV special during his lifetime came on
 April 4, 1973, when Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii was broadcast in the U.S. by NBC. Seven weeks after his death,
 another Elvis TV special was aired when Elvis in Concert ran on CBS.

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PICTURES FOR TODAY 64 65 68

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Movie ad in the August 27, 1964 Memphis Press Scimitar newspaper. February 25, 1965 recording the soundtrack for Harum Scarum at RCA Studio B in Nashville. ç May 16, 1968 outside his 1174 Hillcrest home. September 7, 1968, driveway 1174 Hillcrest, Beverly Hills

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recording session for Blue Moon

 

The first and only verified recording session for Blue Moon took place at Sun Studio on Wednesday night,  August 19, 1954. The only musicians at the session were Scotty and Elvis on guitar and Bill on bass.  Sam Phillips was in the control booth. Guralnick describes the session and its results as follows: "On August 19 they spent hours doing take after take of 'Blue Moon,' in an  eerie, clippity-clop version that resembled a cross between  Slim Whitman's 'Indian Love Call' and some of the falsetto flights of the r&b 'bird'  groups (the Orioles, the Ravens, the Larks). After it was all over, Sam wasn't satisfied  that they had anything worth releasing, but he never uttered a word of demurral for  fear of discouraging the unfettered freshness and enthusiasm of the singer." Elvis's version was never released on Sun Records. It was among the unused Presley  recordings turned over to RCA when it purchased Elvis's contract in late 1955. It was  released, along with three other discarded Sun cuts, on Presley's first RCA album in March 1956.  In September that year, RCA released Blue Moon as a single backed with another Sun recording,  Just Because, as part of a mass singles release. In listing all the titles in its "Review Spotlight"  column on September 8, 1956, Billboard labeled them, "Fourteen tunes, formerly available on Presley's LP's or EP's,  now available on seven singles, within reach of any kid with 89 cents." It soon became apparent that of the seven singles, Blue Moon/Just Because was selling the best. In its September 22  issue, Billboard listed that single in both its "Coming Up Strong" and "This Week's Best Buys" lists. "This disk, with  emphasis on 'Blue Moon,' is stepping out and starting to move," Billboard reported. Elvis's version of the song entered Billboard's "Top 100" chart at #87 on September 29, 1956. It's chart performance  ranks as the most unusual among all of Presley's chart records during his career. While it had a very respectable 17-week  run on the "Top 100," it didn't follow the normal chart pattern of steadily rising to a peak and then falling steadily back  down the chart. Instead Elvis's recording went on a chart roller coaster ride. It rose to #55 in its third week, and then fell back to #84 two  weeks later. Then it rose back into the '60s for two weeks before falling back into the '90s, where it stayed for 6 weeks.  Then it went back up again to #60; then back down to #97 for a couple of weeks. Twice during its up-and-down chart  movement the song fell off the "Top 100" completely, only to resurface one or two weeks later. Finally, on February 9, 1957,  it exited the chart for good. During its 17 weeks on the "Top 100," Elvis's version of Blue Moon never reached higher than #55. Still it was on the  chart longer than I Was the One and Blue Suede Shoes, both of which were top 25 hits for Elvis that year.

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Fun in Acapulco

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PICTURES 56

April 4, 1956 - Arena, San Diego

Jacksonville, FL Aug 10th 1956

Above 4 are from November 23, 1956 Cleveland/OH, they show Lew Allen, the only semi professional photographer at the show taking some of his shots.

3 above are from Jefferson County Armory Louisville, KY. Sunday November 25, 1956. 8:00 pm Evening Show.

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“Hound Dog” on ’56 Berle Show

 

 

"Hound Dog" on '56 Berle Show
Was Top Elvis R&R Moment

The King of Rock 'n' roll obviously had many notable rock 'n' roll moments during his career, but Elvis Presley's single 
most significant musical performance came on June 5, 1956, when he appeared on Milton Berle's nationally televised 
variety show. His sexually-charged rendition of "Hound Dog" that evening and the virulent condemnation of it that flowed
 from the press and the pulpit, pushed Presley to the forefront in the cultural battle for the hearts of minds of teenagers
 in the mid-fifties.

By early June 1956, the nation certainly knew who Elvis Presley was. He already had appeared on national TV seven times, 
including an earlier appearance on Milton Berle's show on April 3. His personal appearances across the country had begun
 to draw huge crowds along with criticism from local and national press outlets. After the June 5 Berle show, however, 
Presley's profile exploded. His role as a polarizing figure expanded. He attracted larger crowds and defenders on one hand and
 more increasingly inflamed critics on the other.
Several factors made Presley's second performance on the Milton Berle Show different from his previous TV appearances. 
First, there was the decision to perform "Hound Dog" on the show. Elvis had been using the provocative number in his stage
 show for some time, but this was the first time the entire country would see it on the small screen. While playing a two-week
 stint in Las Vegas in late April and early May, Elvis had seen Freddie Bell and the Bellboys perform "Hound Dog" in their Vegas
 lounge act.
The ultimate fallout over Elvis's controversial performance of "Hound Dog" on the Milton Berle Show of June 5, 1956, is that all of the
 condemnation heaped on Presley immediately afterward backfired on the critics who did the heaping. By ratcheting up the controversy, 
the pundits made Elvis even more popular. The critics continued to denounce Presley, but his increasing number of young supporters
 dug in their heels in his defense.
During the first half of 1956, when Elvis Presley brought his show to town, local press coverage varied widely. After June 5, however,
 Elvis was front page news everywhere he went. No single event gave Elvis Presley's career a greater boost than that provided by those
 two-and-a-half rock 'n' rollin' minutes on Uncle Miltie's show on June 5, 1956.
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