Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show … A View Out of the Ordinary

 Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show …
A View Out of the Ordinary

Alan Hanson

Over the past half century, no other episode in Elvis's life has been examined so thoroughly as his appearances on the Sullivan show in late 1956 and early 1957. What could possibly be added to the subject that would be original and interesting? Nothing, perhaps, but there's no harm, at least, in viewing again those classic performances with an eye for something out of the ordinary.
 As I was only seven years old in 1956, I missed the experience of watching those Sullivan shows live on Sunday nights. Like most Elvis fans these days, I first saw his Sullivan performances many years later. Occasionally, one or two snippets appeared on public TV Sullivan retrospectives. It wasn't recently, actually, that I watched Presley's complete three-show Sullivan run in a single sitting. (Image Entertainment issued a quality DVD package of the three programs in 2006.)

As I watched, I tried to interpret what appeared on the screen as those who saw it live in the fifties might have. Also, I tried to pry my eyes off of Elvis from time to time and take in what was happening around him. The experience was fascinating and much more complex than the way it is often portrayed by Presley biographers.

 

• First Presley appearance drew 82.6% of nation's TV audience

Elvis's first appearance on September 9, 1956, was far and away the most significant of his three guest shots on the Sullivan show. Fans and critics alike tuned in to see what Presley would do on the small screen after being pigeonholed on The Steve Allen Show two months earlier.

With the Jordanaires standing close behind him, Elvis opened his portion of the show with "Don't Be Cruel," his recording of which was about to begin a seven-week reign at the top of Billboard's singles chart. According to Jordanaire Gordon Stoker, Elvis believed the Sullivan appearance could make or break his career. "He was nervous and didn't want to feel alone on stage," Stoker explained. "He had us stand just as close to him as we could stand. We were so close that when he would move back, he would step on our toes."

Indeed, the Jordanaires received extraordinary camera coverage in all of Presley's appearances on the show. Elvis sang all or segments of 15 songs in the three shows, and the Jordanaires stood behind or next to him for every one of them. Presley introduced them to his nationwide audience as "the very wonderful Jordanaires." His band, however, was far less visible. Scotty, Bill, and D.J. were seen on camera only three times, once in each show. The rest of the time they played their parts live on stage but off camera.

 The highlight of the September 9 opener was "Ready Teddy." During parts of the number, the camera showed Presley's full torso in motion. He performed a few twists and wiggles but certainly none of the "gyrations" that had drawn fervent criticism in the press after his June 6 appearance on The Milton Berle Show.

 

• "Ready Teddy" most significant Presley performance

The "Ready Teddy" number also spotlighted two other features of Presley's act in the fifties. First, the presence of the band and the Jordanaires on stage showed how comfortable Elvis was as part of an ensemble. The interplay between Elvis and those seven other entertainers helped generate the energy and excitement that is associated with Presley in the fifties. Just how much credit Scotty, Bill, D.J., and the Jordanaires deserve for Elvis's early success is debatable, but that they made a significant contribution to his act is undeniable.

Another Presley trait evident in the "Ready Teddy" Sullivan performance is how much fun Elvis had on stage. The facial contortions, the momentary standstill, and the ever-present smile revealed a performer who found great joy on the stage. Elvis never took himself seriously in front of an audience, unlike many other rockers who acted like they were suffering physical pain during their acts.

 

• Elvis "from the waist up" more often than not

Even half a century later, "from the waist up" is a pop culture idiom associated with Elvis Presley's appearance on the Sullivan show in the fifties. On the surface, it suggests that Ed Sullivan refused to allow cameras to film Presley below the belt. As noted with "Ready Teddy," that was not completely true. In addition to that number, Elvis could be viewed from head to foot when he performed "Love Me" and "Hound Dog" on the October 28 show and while singing "Peace in the Valley" on January 6, 1957.

On the other hand, it has been reported often through the years that Presley was filmed from the waist up only once on the Sullivan shows, that being when he performed "Hound Dog" on the initial show in September. That assertion is also inaccurate. On the September show, cameras never ventured below Elvis's belt on "Don't Be Cruel" and "Love Me Tender." And in the January show, it was all belly button and above during Presley renditions of "Hound Dog," "Heartbreak Hotel," "Don't Be Cruel," and "Too Much." Overall, then, the "from the waist up" Elvis controversy on the Sullivan shows was much ado about nothing.

An embarrassing moment for Elvis, which occurred in the October 28 show, rarely seems to arise in discussions of the Sullivan appearances. Half way through "Love Me," Elvis froze momentarily on the lyrics. The line was to have been, "I would beg and steal." Instead, Presley stumbled, "I—, I—, I—, Somebody— beg and steal." It's unclear whether one of the Jordanaires provided a prompt to get Elvis back on track or whether he recovered on his own, but it must have been a frightening moment for Presley, knowing that a huge national TV audience was watching him draw a blank.

 

• Elvis overshadowed Sullivan's on-camera role

Finally, Ed Sullivan himself played a significant role on camera during Presley's three appearances. Of course, he was recovering from injuries suffered in an automobile accident and was not in the studio for Presley's initial appearance on September 9. Still, Elvis twice paid to homage his absent host. Before launching into his first number, Elvis declared that his appearance on Sullivan's show was "probably the greatest honor I have had ever had in his life." At the end of show, Presley wished Sullivan a quick recovery and said he looked forward to seeing him on the October 28 show. On that second Presley show, Sullivan reminded the girls in the studio audience of the promise he had extracted from them to keep quiet while Elvis was singing.

As Presley's final appearance came to a close on January 6, Sullivan made a couple of unexpected comments on the air. He announced prior to Elvis's final number, "Peace in the Valley," that the young singer would be heading out to Hollywood soon to film his new movie, Running Wild, for Hal Wallis. (The title was later changed to Loving You.)

Then Sullivan added that since Elvis felt "so keenly about Hungarian relief," he was going to do a benefit for the relief fund while in Los Angeles. While Sullivan was making his announcement, Elvis stood by staring at the floor. There's a good chance he was thinking to himself, "What the hell is 'Hungarian relief'?" Presley had already demonstrated at a press conference earlier that year that he neither knew nor cared much about world affairs. It's doubtful he even realized why the Hungarians needed relief. (Russian tanks crushed an anti-communist revolt in Hungary in 1956.)

However, Elvis clearly understood and appreciated Sullivan's comments about him just before Elvis left the stage on January 6. "This is a fine, decent boy," Sullivan told to nation. Elvis, so used to vicious criticism from the press, was clearly humbled to hear one of the country's most respected men voice such praise of him. Elvis was paid $50,000 for his three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, but surely he valued those six words spoken by his host more than his record TV payout that evening

.

__,_._,___

 

Elvis's #2 Recordings
Help Make Him #1 on the Charts

Alan Hanson

 

Americans are obsessed with being #1 in everything. Our fixation with being the best extends into our politics, our economy, our sports, even our pop culture. We deify Academy Award winners; the other nominees are labeled "losers." Elvis fans aren't immune. They have always felt the need to have their boy recognized as the greatest entertainer of all time. He was the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Ruler of the Music Charts, the Savior of Las Vegas, and so on.

Of course, it takes numbers, big numbers, to backup such claims. In the recording industry, the two big standards of measure have always been #1 records and gold records.

 

 Let's start by looking at his recordings that just missed reaching #1 on the Hot 100. Normally, little recognition is given to records that stalled out at #2 on the Hot 100. In Elvis's case, however, several of his most memorable recordings did just that. They were bridesmaids on the charts, reaching #2 but not #1. To go with his 14 #1s, he had 7 #2s. Let's take a second look at the Elvis records that came in second.

Instead of giving Elvis's #2 records chronologically, I going to list them in reverse order of chart performance. That is, the tunes that spent the fewest number of weeks at #2 will be listed first, and the ones that spent the greatest number of weeks at #2 will come last.

As it turns out, 4 of Elvis's 7 #2s only spent one week at that position. I've ranked these 4 records according to how long each one spent in the top 10 on the Hot 100.

 

#7: "A Fool Such as I" entered the Hot 100 at #64 on March 23, 1959. Elvis was halfway through his army stint at the time. By mid-April the song was in the top 10, and on April 27 it reached #2. It was kept out of top spot by the Fleetwoods' "Come Softly to Me." Elvis's recording dropped to #6 the very next week. Overall, it spent 5 weeks in the top 10 and a total of 15 weeks in the Hot 100.

 

#6: "Burning Love" was Elvis's last "hit" record. It also spent 15 weeks in the Hot 100, starting with its entry at #90 on August 19, 1972. On September 30 it entered the top 10 at #9. It then slowly crawled upward, one or two spots per week, until it reached #2 on October 28. Ironically, Elvis was upstaged at #1 that week by another "aging" rock 'n' roll star, Chuck Berry, with his "My Ding-A-Ling." "Burning Love" dropped to #5 the next week, and precipitously fell completely off the Hot 100 just 3 weeks later.

#5: "Hard-Headed Woman" is often listed among Elvis's #1 records, but it fell one spot short of that position. At first, it certainly looked like it was headed for the top. It debuted in the Hot 100 at #15 on June 30, 1958. The very next week it was at #3. Two weeks later, on July 21, it moved up to #2, just behind "Yakety Yak" by The Coasters. But then, the next week Elvis's recording dropped back to #3 and began to slowly head back down the chart. "Hard-Headed Woman" finally dropped off the Hot 100 at the end of September after a 13-week ride on the list.

 

#4: "Can't Help Falling in Love" remains one of Elvis's most recognized recordings. It's hard to believe it didn't reach #1, but that's the case. The signature tune from the "Blue Hawaii" soundtrack, entered the Hot 100 at #57 on December 4, 1961. A month later, on January 6, 1962, it entered the top 10, where it would remain for 6 weeks. It could get no higher than #2, however, that being for one week on February 3rd. It was denied the top spot by "The Peppermint Twist" by Joey Dee and the Starliters. After 14 weeks on the Hot 100, "Can't Help Falling in Love" dropped off the chart in the middle of March.

 

#3: "Hound Dog" is an iconic recording forever associated with Elvis in the pop culture of the fifties. Most people think it was a #1 record, but a set of unusual circumstances conspired to keep it out of the top spot. The song entered the Hot 100 at #24 on August 4, 1956. On September 1 and 8 it was at #2 behind "My Prayer" by The Platters. Then, on September 15, the flip side of Elvis's record, "Don't Be Cruel," jumped over "Hound Dog" and took over the #1 spot. "Hound Dog" dropped to #3 for 3 weeks, before moving back to #2 again. However, "Don't Be Cruel" had a 7-week stranglehold on the top spot that "Hound Dog" could not break. In the end, "Hound Dog" spent 28 weeks in the Hot 100, second only among Elvis's recordings to "All Shook Up," which rode the chart for 30 weeks in 1957. "Hound Dog" spent 11 weeks in the top 10, including 3 weeks at #2.

 

#2: "Too Much," Elvis's first single release in 1957, entered the Hot 100 at #30 on January 26. Within 3 weeks it was in the top 10, and on March 2 it settled into the #2 position. But there it sat for 4 consecutive weeks, unable to displace Tab Hunter's ghastly rendition of "Young Love." Finally, in late March, "Too Much" began to give ground on the chart, exiting in early May after 15 weeks on the Hot 100, 8 of them in the top 10. An interesting footnote to "Too Much" is that, after two full months off the chart, it inexplicably (to me, anyway) reentered the Hot 100 for 2 more weeks in July 1957.

 

#1: "Return to Sender" has the distinction of being #1 among all of Elvis's #2 recordings. It spent 5 consecutive weeks in the runner-up spot in 1962. The catchy rhythm tune entered the Hot 100 on October 20 and reached #2 on November 17. It had the misfortune, however, of being released almost simultaneously with The Four Seasons' mega hit, "Big Girls Don't Cry." The Jersey Boys rode the top of the chart for 5 weeks, with "Return to Sender" right behind them the whole time. Never able to reach the tantalizingly close #1 spot, Elvis's song began its journey down the chart, exiting the Hot 100 in early February 1963. "Return to Sender" had spent 16 weeks on the chart, 9 of them in the top 10. Elvis would not have a bigger hit until "Suspicious Minds" over 6 years later.

 

To summarize, in the Hot 100, Elvis had 7 recordings that spent a cumulative 16 weeks at #2 without reaching #1. The Beatles, on the other hand, only had 3 recordings that stalled out at #2. So, when you combine #1s and #2s it narrows the gap. Elvis had a total of 21 and The Beatles 23. As the search field expands, the advantage swings more and more toward Elvis. For example, Elvis placed 32 recordings in the top 5 of the Hot 100, while The Beatles put 28 titles in the top 5. Elvis had 38 top 10 records to The Beatles' 31. Finally, overall The Beatles charted a total of 62 recordings in the Hot 100; Elvis had over twice as many with 134.

So, there you have it. Once the preoccupation with #1s is set aside, Elvis emerges as the undisputed King of the Charts. Numbers don't lie, but sometimes you do have to convince them to look in your direction.

Elvis Movie Update

Elvis Presley News - Rare Pictures of Elvis - Elvis Presley Song Lyrics - Famous Photographers

New Elvis Presley Movie Based on Sonny West Book Fame and Fortune

Mystery Girl in Kiss Photo Revealed Elvis Kiss Photo

Didn't make it to Graceland the year? Take the Graceland Tour Graceland Tour

Beatles and Elvis Museum in Liverpool Elvis and the Beatles

Priscilla Presley launches her jewelry line Priscilla Jewelry

Latest Riley Keough Photos Riley Keough

For Lyrics to Elvis Hit Songs visit Elvis Lyrics

Great NEW photos of Elvis Presley and Family Elvis Presley Photo Gallery

September 1956—A Record Month for Presley Records

September 1956—A Record Month for Presley Records

 

In his 23-year recording career, Elvis Presley released a steady stream of single, EP, and LP records. Along the way he accumulated a record number of record sales, gold records, and #1 records. When it came to releasing and selling records, however, September 1956 was a record month for Elvis.

He entered that month as the hottest entertainment personality in the world. He already had three million-selling singles in "Heartbreak Hotel," "Hound Dog," and "Don't Be Cruel." His personal appearances were drawing record crowds around the country, and he was about to make his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. But the best indication of his phenomenal success came in the record business that month.

Early in the month RCA released seven more single records available before only on Elvis LPs. They included some of his early Sun Records recordings, like "Tryin' to Get to You" and "Just Because," and recent RCA album cuts, such as "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy." By September 5 these reissue singles were all selling at the rate of 12,000 a day. By the end of the month, all six singles had gone over 100,000 in sales.

And then, after Elvis sang "Love Me Tender" on the September 9 Sullivan show, dealers all over the country were swamped with orders for the single the next day. Despite already having eight Presley singles on the market, RCA rushed to get Elvis's new song out. An RCA ad in Billboard on September 29, 1956, proclaimed, "856,327 orders on 'Love Me Tender' a week before release." A footnote added, "by the time you read this, orders will be well over 1,000,000."

An article in Variety on September 5, 1956, reported that Elvis was due to sell around 10,000,000 records during his first year with RCA Victor. From those sales he earned about $400,000 in royalties, a record payoff for any recording artist at that time. September 1956 was indeed a special month for Elvis Presley.

Question on Elvis a hot potato for Minnesota governor in 1956

Question on Elvis a hot potato for Minnesota governor in 1956

 

 On December 11, 1956, Elvis's first movie, Love Me Tender, was in its third week in Minneapolis theaters. That morning the Minneapolis Morning Tribune ran a front-page story on how the state's governor, O. A. Freeman, answered a question posed by 11-year-old Linda Johnson. "I would like to have your personal opinion of Elvis Presley," Linda wrote the governor. "I love him."

 According to the Tribune, Freeman "straddled the fence on a burning national issue." His return letter to Linda read, in part, "I've been so busy with my duties here and my reelection campaign (a successful one) that I had never seen Mr. Presley until his recent appearance on the Ed Sullivan program. He is certainly a very unusual showman and apparently appeals to many people."

Tribune reporter Ed Goodpaster, who wrote the paper's story about the correspondence between the young girl and the governor, closed his article with the following observation.

"Freeman, no stranger to political differences of mind, realized that this, however, was a different situation. As one of his assistants put it: 'Political infighting hath no fury like a Presley fan whose blue suedes have been stepped on.'"

Elvis Beer Cans: In 2004, Miller Brewing Co. released a set of eight commemorative beer cans celebrating 50 years of rock music. Doing the math, that would mark the start of rock and roll in 1954, and we all know what happened then – Elvis’ first reco

 

Elvis Beer Cans: 

 

In 2004, Miller Brewing Co. released a set of eight commemorative beer cans celebrating 50 years of rock music.  Doing the math, that would mark the start of rock and roll in 1954, and we all know what happened then – Elvis' first recording, "That's All Right."  So, of course Elvis was on one of the cans.

You might be surprised who the other seven rockers were:  Eric Clapton, Blondie, Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Joe Walsh, and Willie Nelson.  The pictures of each artist were reproductions of Rolling Stone magazine covers with their faces on them.  The one for Elvis was dated September 22, 1977, the first Rolling Stone cover issued after his death.

In 1956 Vernon and Gladys Talked About Raising Young Elvis

Young Elvis Presley had become a phenomenon, and in the fall of 1956, the New York Daily Mirror decided it was time to give him a serious look. And so in early September, columnist Sidney Fields headed down to Memphis to gather material for a series of articles in the Mirror. He didn't get a chance to talk with Elvis, who was in Hollywood shooting Love Me Tender at the time, but Fields was able to get an extensive interview with Elvis's parents, who invited him into the Presley home. That interview with Gladys and Vernon Presley was the basis for a five-part expose entitled "The Real Story of Elvis Presley," which ran in the Daily Mirror from September 23-27, 1956. What follows is a brief summary of the series' first three parts, in which the Presleys revealed much about how they raised their son.

---

Sidney Fields had gone to Memphis hoping to discover "WHAT is Elvis Presley?" Visiting his parents seemed like a logical first step in looking for the answer. On first meeting Vernon and Gladys Presley, he was impressed with their closeness and honesty. "They do have a deep bond between them," he observed, "which is nice to watch, and they express it in a quiet kindness." He described Gladys as "39, plump, placid, and pious" and Vernon as "40, a gentle, graying, handsome man, as tall as his son."

Mrs. Presley showed Fields their son's room, the predominant feature of which was stuffed animals—teddy bears, pandas, elephants, monkeys, dogs—everywhere. "I took him to carnivals when he was a kid," explained Vernon, "and taught him how to pitch baseballs at wooden bottles and win stuffed animals. He still does it. Last week he won a toy dump truck. It's in the living room."

They sat down to talk in the living room, which Fields described as "mixed modern and traditional with a touch of gaudiness." Gladys pointed out that "Elvis picked out everything with me to furnish the house, and he's always sending new things home. He sent so many lamps home I had to store most of them away."

 

Young Elvis always kept in touch with parents

Whether their son was in Hollywood or on the road, he always keeps in touch with them, said Mrs. Presley. "He phones us every other night, no matter where he is. 'How's my babies?' he asks us. We've always been very close. Why, to this day he gets frightened when his father dives into the pool for fear he won't come up. He was always that way about us."

Gladys recalled another incident that demonstrated young Elvis's concern for his father. When Elvis was 5, his father and some other men were helping a neighbor put out a fire inside his house. Elvis screamed when he saw his father and the other men run inside the house to save some of the family's belongings. "He was afraid his father wouldn't ever come out," said Gladys. "I just told him, 'Daddy will be all right, now. You stop that, hear!' And he did."

Fields asked about their own upbringing and how that shaped their goals for their only son. Gladys, one of eight children, explained, "We didn't get to go to school. Vernon didn't graduate either. We can only read and write enough to get by. That's why I always wanted my son to have an education."

"We were poor," Vernon added. "When I was sick my wife walked to work many times because she had no carfare. And many times we hardly had any lunch money to give Elvis. But we did eat and had clothes and a roof over our heads. Maybe we got them all on credit, but we had them. We never had much until three years ago, but Elvis never wanted for anything even when we were troubled. And we always taught him right from wrong as far as we knew, though we didn't have hardly any education."

Mrs. Presley was pleased with how they taught their son. "He was raised well," she said. "He never lies. He doesn't swear. I never heard him call anyone anything except 'Mister' and 'Sir.' And we taught him if he can't help a man out of a ditch the least he can do is say a prayer for him, and the Lord will never let him fall."

 

When young Elvis was disciplined when needed

His mother spanked the young Elvis when needed, and his father remembers hitting his son just once. "He was 5 then," Gladys explained. "He took two empty Coke bottles from a neighbor's porch. He told me the neighbor let him take 'em, but that was stealin' and he had to be corrected. I got Vernon to take the switch to him and give him one or two licks." Vernon added with a wince, "It hurt me more'n it did him."

His parents recalled that when Elvis started at L.C. Humes High School at age 13, he didn't go in the first day because he was so scared. He was afraid the other kids would laugh at him. He had a desperate need to be liked. "And when he isn't, he worries about it," said his father.

The Presleys admitted they were always protective of their only son. As an example, Vernon explained how they tried to stop Elvis from playing football after he fell in love with the game at age 15. "After school the white boys would team up against the colored boys," he recalled. "They'd come home with their clothes torn and their hides, too. Elvis being all we had, we didn't want him to get hurt. But he wouldn't stop. Gladys was workin' in the hospital then and one day a boy was brought in from a football game, and he died of a blood clot. That scared both of us and we made Elvis quit." Mrs. Presley added, "Know what he told me? He said: 'I'll stop because I don't want to worry you.'"

 

All of young Elvis's girls were nice

Of course, Elvis had discovered girls about that time too. In fact, the first time young Elvis could remember really being out of his mother's sight was when he started dating at age 16. "He didn't have real dates till then," said his father, "but he had girl friends since he was 11. Once, when he was 16, I seen him sittin' real close to a little girl and I spoke to him about what he should know. He listened. He always does. We've been lucky. All the girls he's known have been nice kids."

Fields asked how they felt about the charges that Elvis's obscene stage movements were debasing the morals of America's youth. "Those things hurt," admitted Mrs. Presley. "He's never sassed us, and he's never been uppity. Big people are still the same as little people to him, and he's considerate of both the same way. We're country folk. He's a country boy, and always will be. How can any boy brought up like mine be indecent or vulgar? Especially when he's so good to us and his friends. Why, he always wants to do what's right."

Elvis's father denied other rumors that his son drinks and takes dope. "He never touch a drop of liquor in his life, and he wouldn't know dope if he saw it."

"He's a sympathetic boy, and tender-hearted," Vernon continued. "It hurts him when someone thinks bad of him. Maybe this will tell you what he's like. He was usherin' at the movies this time, and on his night off he was downtown with his friends and he sees this Salvation Army lady takin' up the Christmas collection. But the box was empty. Elvis put his last $5 bill in it, and started drummin' up a noise to get that box filled. It was filled."

 

To parents, young Elvis's temper was his only fault

Does Elvis have any faults his parents can see? A bit of a temper, said his mother. "To be plain with you, he's the easiest goin' guy you ever saw until he gets pushed or shoved. Then he gets mad, and he's a little too high tempered. But lots of people are."

The family always talked things out. "We've always been able to calm him, to talk to him about everything," said Vernon. "Except maybe his dates, and then we could talk to him if they were the wrong girls and he'd listen. He'll say something about a car he'd like to buy and I'll say, I wouldn't son, and he'll listen. Even now he obeys."

And the Presleys see nothing wrong with their son's "twitching and twisting" on stage. "Even when he was a tiny kid and we sang at church and camp meetin's, Elvis moved around and acted out his songs," Mrs. Presley said. "He's always had a lot of energy and he's big now and gets rid of it in his music. When he sings he's bein' himself and that's not bad or wrong."

Vernon recalled more about young Elvis's singing. "At 9 he was picked to sing alone in church," he said. "At home we sang as a trio, when Gladys wasn't playin' the harmonica. Elvis always had a natural talent. He can't read a note even now. But you don't have to teach a fish to swim."

 

Young Elvis: "I can sing better than that"

And Gladys remembered a time when she took her son to the fair in Tupelo. After listening to a guitarist sing a song, Elvis told his mother, "I can sing better than that." According to Vernon, "he just walked right up on that platform, his legs shakin' a little, and sang that song without any accompaniment." "With a real powerful voice," added Gladys, "and he did sing it better than that guitarist."

The Presleys recollect that from early on young Elvis dreamed of what he would do for his parents someday. "When he was hardly four," his mother recalled, "he'd tell me: 'Don't worry, baby. When I'm grown up I'll buy you a big home and two cars. One for you and Daddy and one for me.' All his life he'd say out loud what he was going to do for us, and he'd say it in front of other people. And you know, I believed him."

While in high school, Elvis took jobs in the afternoon to help his parents make ends meet. "And even when he was in school he'd go around and pay the grocery bill, $25, $30," said Mrs. Presley. "We didn't ask him to. He'd just do it himself." Once Elvis got his father to buy him a lawn mower and used it to make himself $8 a week. "But he stopped when the girls watched him," remembered Vernon.

 

Elvis: "You've taken care of me … Now it's my turn

"And when he got 19 and started making money," Gladys said, "he told us: 'You've taken care of me for 19 years. Now it's my turn."

Even with their son about to turn 22, the Presleys expected their close family ties would last forever. "This is Elvis's home," declared his father. "He's never had no other home except with us."

"And even when he gets married," said his mother, "part of him will always be here."

When Sidney Fields left Memphis and returned to the big city up north, he took with him a good feeling about Elvis Presley's parents. "I like these people," he wrote in one of his Daily Mirror articles a few weeks later. "They're simple, neighborly, unaffected by the fame and fortune of their son, or the furor he has created."

 

Alan Hanson