1950s

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts decks the halls with Elvis December 24

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My VMFA Magazine - Elvis Kneeling At The MosqueAlfred Wertheimer’s Elvis Kneeling At The Mosque, taken in Richmond, Virginia, on June 30, 1956, graces the cover of the latest issue of My VMFA magazine. Distributed to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts members, this issue of the magazine promotes the upcoming Elvis At 21 exhibition.

The exhibition, featuring 56 of Wertheimer’s photos, will appear at the VMFA in Richmond December 24, 2011, through March 18, 2012.

In January, the museum will hold three special Elvis events, including a panel discussion with Wertheimer and local Elvis experts on January 20.

Elvis Talks: Richmond, Virginia, and the Mosque Theater

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Here’s a piece from a March 24, 1956, Elvis interview that took place at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. Elvis mentions one of his shows in Richmond, Virginia:

Reporter: “What’s your biggest kick? I mean, what’s been your really highest point of excitement since you’ve been…you know, the one peak? […] I’m thinking of, you know, one night that really made you feel…”

Elvis: “One night… well, one particular night was when in Richmond, Virginia, […] whoever it was booked me […] came on stage in the middle of my act and presented me with this scroll, and all these hundreds of names on it that were there. And it read in the scroll that I had drawn the biggest crowd that had ever been to Richmond before in that particular auditorium, the Mosque Theater. It was the biggest crowd that’d ever been in the auditorium before.”

This reporter (Robert Carlton Brown) treats Elvis with more respect than a couple of the others I’ve posted recently. Of course, Elvis was not nearly as controversial in March 1956 as he was in August 1956, the time of the other two interviews I mentioned.

Like the others, you can hear this entire interview on Young Man With The Big Beat: The Complete ’56 Elvis Presley Masters, available now on Sony CDs and Digital.

More unedited Elvis

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Here’s another snippet from a 1956 Elvis interview, this one from August 6 for TV Guide:

Reporter (reading from a Miami Herald article by Herb Rau): “‘Elvis can’t sing, can’t play the guitar.’ Can you play the guitar?”

Elvis: “No, and I can’t sing, either, but somebody likes it.”

Reporter: “‘And he can’t dance.’”

Elvis: “No, can’t dance. I can’t do nothing but read Herb Rau’s article in the newspaper. That’s all I can do.”

Reporter: “‘Yet two thousand idiots per show,’ to continue the quotation, ‘yelp every time he opens his mouth, plucks a guitar string, or shakes his pelvis like any striptease babe in town.’ Do you shake your pelvis like any striptease babe in town?”

Elvis: “Well, he should know. I guess that’s where he hangs around.”

Of all the ones I’ve heard, this is probably my favorite Elvis interview. Not so much for the clueless reporter, obviously, but for Elvis’ answers. You can hear nearly the whole interview on Young Man With The Big Beat: The Complete ’56 Elvis Presley Masters, available now on Sony CDs and Digital.

Elvis, unedited

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By 1958, Elvis had become more reserved when talking with the press. Not so in 1956, the year he rose to international fame. Here’s a refreshing example from August 29 of that year:

Reporter: “When did you first start singing…do you call it ‘singing,’ the stuff you do?”

Elvis: “Do I call it ‘singing?'”

Reporter: “Yeah, that is what you call it, right?”

Elvis: “Well, I’ve sold five million records. Somebody calls it ‘singing.'”

Tell him, E!

Hear the complete interview on Young Man With The Big Beat: The Complete ’56 Elvis Presley Masters, available now on Sony CDs and Digital.

Experience Elvis at full throttle in Young Man With The Big Beat (UPDATE: Individual songs available for purchase on Amazon)

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Available today from Sony’s RCA/Legacy label, the five-CD boxed set Young Man With The Big Beat features a ton of 1956 material. For die-hard fans, the crown jewel of the set is the first-ever release of Elvis’ December 15, 1956, concert that marked the singer’s final appearance on the Louisiana Hayride radio program.

Also released today is the Sony Legacy edition of his debut album, Elvis Presley, which is paired with his second album, Elvis.

Note that this set is also available for purchase in digital format (audio only) at a substantially reduced price for the full set.

UPDATE: Possibly along with others, Amazon US is offering the opportunity to buy individual tracks in digital format. This means fans who only want the Hayride material do not have to purchase the entire set. Thank you to Sony for this consideration.

Below is a full break-down of the Young Man With The Big Beat set, adapted from Sony’s press release and marketing material.

Disc 1: Studio Recordings

17 tracks recorded in New York, Nashville, and Hollywood, starting with the 12 songs on the debut LP, Elvis Presley (‘1254’), followed by non-LP single A-sides and B-sides, and EP tracks.

  1. Blue Suede Shoes
  2. I’m Counting On You
  3. I Got A Woman
  4. One-Sided Love Affair
  5. I Love You Because
  6. Just Because
  7. Tutti Frutti
  8. Trying To Get To You
  9. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (Over You)
  10. I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’)
  11. Blue Moon
  12. Money Honey
  13. Heartbreak Hotel
  14. I Was The One
  15. My Baby Left Me
  16. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
  17. Shake, Rattle And Roll

Disc 2: Studio Recordings

22 tracks recorded in New York, Nashville, and Memphis, starting with the 12 songs on the second LP, Elvis (‘1382’), followed by non-LP single A-sides and B-sides, and EP tracks.

  1. Rip It Up
  2. Love Me
  3. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  4. Long Tall Sally
  5. First In Line
  6. Paralyzed
  7. So Glad You’re Mine
  8. Old Shep
  9. Ready Teddy
  10. Anyplace Is Paradise
  11. How’s The World Treating You
  12. How Do You Think I Feel
  13. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You
  14. Hound Dog
  15. Don’t Be Cruel
  16. Any Way You Want Me (That’s How I Will Be)
  17. Too Much
  18. Playing For Keeps
  19. Love Me Tender
  20. Let Me
  21. Poor Boy
  22. We’re Gonna Move

Disc 3: Live Recordings

Rare remasters of shows at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas (four songs); Little Rock, Arkansas (seven songs); and a recently discovered, previously unreleased concert in Shreveport, Louisiana, in December (ten songs).

Recorded Live At The Venus Room, Frontier Hotel, Las Vegas, May 6

1.  Heartbreak Hotel
2.  Long Tall Sally
3.  Blue Suede Shoes
4.  Money Honey

Recorded Live At The Robinson Memorial Auditorium, Little Rock, Arkansas, May 16

5.  Heartbreak Hotel
6.  Long Tall Sally
7.  I Was The One
8.  Money Honey
9.  I Got A Woman
10. Blue Suede Shoes
11. Hound Dog

Recorded Live At The Hirsch Youth Center, Louisiana Fairgrounds, Shreveport, Louisiana, December 15

12. Heartbreak Hotel
13. Long Tall Sally
14. I Was The One
15. Love Me Tender
16. Don’t Be Cruel
17. Love Me
18. I Got A Woman
19. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
20. Paralyzed
21. Hound Dog

Disc 4: Outtakes

Four outtakes from the first historic RCA session in January (“I Got A Woman,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “I’m Counting On You,” “I Was The One”), segueing into the complete session of February 3rd (11 takes of “Lawdy, Miss Clawdy” and 12 takes of “Shake, Rattle And Roll”); plus the first of the interviews – the complete Warwick Hotel (NYC) interview by Robert Brown in March.

  1. I Got A Woman – take unknown
  2. Heartbreak Hotel – take 06
  3. I’m Counting On You – take 13
  4. I Was The One – take 02
  5. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy – take 01
  6. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy – take 03
  7. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy – take 04
  8. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy – take 05
  9. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy – take 06
  10. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy – takes 07, 08, 09
  11. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy – take 10 (master)
  12. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy – takes 11, 12
  13. Shake, Rattle And Roll – takes 01, 02
  14. Shake, Rattle And Roll – takes 03, 05, 06, 07
  15. Shake, Rattle And Roll – take 08
  16. Shake, Rattle And Roll – takes 09, 10, 11, 12, 12 (undubbed master)
  17. The Complete Warwick Hotel Interview

Disc 5: Interviews

The Paul Wilder interview, plus his interviews with Colonel Parker and Oscar Davis; plus two segments of Elvis’ rarely heard candid monologue, “The Truth About Me,” and two advertisements for RCA Victrolas.

  1. The Complete TV Guide Presents Elvis interview
  2. Colonel Parker Interview
  3. The Truth About Me
  4. The Truth About Me Interview
  5. Victrola Radio ad 1
  6. Victrola Radio ad 2

Book

The focal point of the book, spread across its 80 pages, will be a unique, meticulously-researched, day-by-day chronology of Elvis’ iconic year, including every concert, every recording date, every television appearance, personal events in Elvis’ life, and much more. A dazzling photo array of memorabilia will illustrate each day and entry. Concert ticket stubs, RCA memoranda, letters from fans, postcards from Elvis to his family, tour itineraries, magazine covers and articles, trade charts, fan club relics, RCA publicity photos, concert photos, candid photos, and more will be a feast for the eyes and the imagination as 1956 unfolds.

Other Items

Will also include five rare 8×10 photographs, five original-size poster replicas, and a replica concert ticket stub.

New 1950s radio book includes Elvis photos

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Ben Marks over at Collectors Weekly posted a terrific article last week about 1950s Radio in Color: The Lost Photographs of Deejay Tommy Edwards, a new book by Christopher Kennedy.

“The book reproduces color slides that Edwards took of all the music and movie stars who passed through the studios of WERE-AM in Cleveland from 1955-1960. Edwards would project his slides on the walls of high school gyms, where he produced record hops and live shows,” says Marks.

“For many of the kids in those gyms, this was the first time they had seen, for example, that famous photo of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley taken in 1955,” he says.

You can check out what is probably the best quality version I’ve ever seen of that photo over at Marks’ article:

Found Photos: When Rock Lost Its Innocence — Collectors Weekly

“Today that photo is a classic that we take for granted. Back then it made people gasp,” says Marks.

Looks like an incredible book to me. This one’s definitely hitting the wish list! Thanks to Ben Marks for sending this information along.

Fred Wolfe wins bragging rights for Elvis Trivialities #2

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Fred Wolfe was the first person to correctly answer Elvis Trivialities #2. Answering only eighteen minutes after I posed the question, Fred becomes the inaugural member of The Mystery Train’s Night Riders – a priceless honor that earns him a set of bragging rights. And the answer is…

Elvis was referring to Jackie Wilson when he said the following:

I heard this guy in Las Vegas [with] Billy Ward and His Dominoes. There’s a guy out there who was doing a take-off on me, ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ and he tried so hard, until he got much better, boy, much better than that record of mine.”

Source: The Million Dollar Quartet, Elvis Presley, Colin Escott (liner notes), BMG Music, New York, 1990.

By 1957, Jackie Wilson had left Billy Ward’s Dominoes to pursue a solo career. He earned much success, with hits that included “Lonely Teardrops” (1958) and “Higher and Higher” (1967).

As Thomas commented yesterday, Elvis impersonating Jackie impersonating Elvis is one of the highlights of the December 4, 1956, “Million Dollar Quartet” jam session.

Elvis went on to repeat part of that impersonation when performing for the third and final time on the Ed Sullivan Show a month later. His January 6, 1957, appearance is also notable as the one where TV cameras shot him only from the waist up, a move that just increased his legend.

Thanks for playing, everyone. Congratulations to Fred.