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Elvis in Memphis

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More than 7,000 people jammed Ellis Auditorium on the night of May 15, 1956, to stomp, shudder, shriek and sigh as a young Elvis Presley writhed his way through a rock and roll repertoire. Presley was the blockbuster of Bob Neal's Cotton Picking Jamboree, a feature of Cotton Carnival opening night.

Photo by Bob Williams/The Commercial Appeal, buyitnow

More than 7,000 people jammed Ellis Auditorium on the night of May 15, 1956, to stomp, shudder, shriek and sigh as a young Elvis Presley writhed his way through a rock and roll repertoire. Presley was the blockbuster of Bob Neal's Cotton Picking Jamboree, a feature of Cotton Carnival opening night.

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  • More than 7,000 people jammed Ellis Auditorium on the night of May 15, 1956, to stomp, shudder, shriek and sigh as a young Elvis Presley writhed his way through a rock and roll repertoire. Presley was the blockbuster of Bob Neal's Cotton Picking Jamboree, a feature of Cotton Carnival opening night.
  • Maid of Cotton Patricia Cowden (left) and Memphis Cotton Carnival Queen Clare Mallory gave Elvis Presley royal kisses just before the rock and roll singer walked on stage before a packed Ellis Auditorium audience on the night of May 15, 1956.
  • Elvis Presley posed with one of his cars outside Graceland in this photograph published March 7, 1965, in the first issue of Mid-South, the now-defunct Sunday magazine of The Commercial Appeal. Elvis complained of the long sessions with photographers making movie publicity stills: 'I try to cut the time down to three or four hours, but sometimes you have to pose for six or eight. A man only has so many different smiles, and I don't have many.'
  • Elvis Presley performs what would be his last Memphis concert July 5, 1976, before a crowd of 12,000 at the Mid-South Coliseum. Twenty-two years earlier to the day, Elvis recorded 'That's All Right' at Sam Phillips' little studio at 706 Union. Introducing the song, he said: 'I've had some people say - well, you can't do that song anymore - well, you, by God, just watch me.'
  • Clutching an Elvis Presley 'Love Me Tender' wrist watch, Sue Manker was all aflutter when the rock and roll king bussed her Nov. 30, 1956, at Crump Stadium. The singer was tardy and missed the opportunity to crown her as queen of half-time activities at the E.H. Crump Memorial Football Game for the Blind. But what a consolation prize!
  • Elvis fiddles with an electric bass inside Graceland in this photograph published March 7, 1965, in the first issue of Mid-South, the now-defunct Sunday magazine of The Commercial Appeal. Elvis had misgivings about allowing pictures to be made inside his home. 'It's not that I don't want pictures,' he said. 'You know what I mean. Some people might think I am looking for publicity or trying to exploit my home. I certainly don't want anyone to think that.'
  • Elvis Presley and several friends took a spin around McKellar Lake in his new boat on July 8, 1960. He purchased the 16-foot powder blue speedboat the night before. Elvis said he had first become interested in boating while in California. Asked if he planned to ski, he said: 'Not today. Don't want to make an idiot of myself.'
  • Comedian George Jessel hit the stage in an exaggerated salaam to the King of rock and roll at Elvis' evening performance at Ellis Auditorium Feb. 25, 1961. Jessel, the master of ceremonies, could not make it to the earlier matinee performance because of an airline strike. Elvis Presley Day began earlier with a luncheon honoring the singer at Hotel Claridge. More than $50,000 was raised for charity from the events.
  • He was born on Jan. 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Miss., and became a legend in his own time. More than 7,000 people jammed Ellis Auditorium on the night of May 15, 1956, to stomp, shudder, shriek and sigh as a young Elvis Presley writhed his way through a rock and roll repertoire. Presley was the blockbuster of Bob Neal's Cotton Picking Jamboree, a feature of Cotton Carnival opening night.
  • Elvis Presley in a Memphis city court on Oct. 19, 1956, along with Gulf service station employees Edd Hopper (left) and Aubrey Brown. The trio had a fight the previous night when Elvis pulled into the station at Gayoso and Second for repairs and was besieged by fans. Hopper, the station manager, ordered Presley away and a brief altercation ensued. All three were booked for assault and battery and disorderly conduct. Charges against Presley were dismissed. Hopper and Brown both had to pay fines.
  • Elvis Presley on the day of his induction into the army March 24, 1958. Miss Judy Spreckels and Miss Anita Wood (next to Elvis) were among those to see him off. After reporting for duty about 6:30 a.m. at the Draft Board office in the M&M Building, 198 South Main, he and other inductees would spend much of the day at Kennedy Veterans Hospital for processing and physicals before boarding a bus for Fort Chaffee, Arks. By the 28th, Elvis arrived at Fort Hood, Texas, where he would undergo six months of training before shipping off to Germany.
  • Elvis Presley performs what would be his last Memphis concert July 5, 1976, before a crowd of 12,000 at Mid-South Coliseum.
  • Elvis Presley leaving a luncheon at the Holiday Inn Rivermont in 1971. Presley was being honored by the Jaycees as one of the Outstanding Young Men In America.
  • Elvis Presley at Kennedy Veterans Hospital on Getwell Jan. 4, 1957. Elvis reported to the hospital that afternoon for his army pre-induction physical performed by Capt. Leonard Glick and a written qualification exam administered by Lt. Jack Zager just days before his 22nd birthday on Jan. 8. Elvis left for New York by train later that evening for his third and final appearance on Ed Sullivan's 'Toast of the Town Show,' which broadcast Jan. 6.
  • Elvis and Priscilla Presley with Lisa Marie at Baptist Hospital. Born Feb. 1, 1968, the baby weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces.
  • Some 200 fans waited at Union Station to welcome Elvis Presley home from his stint in the U.S. Army on March 7, 1960. He was wearing a (non-issue) dress blue Army uniform made in Germany. Elvis was discharged at the rank of sergeant, but the tailor had mistakenly given him the stripes of staff sergeant. The formal white shirt was a gift from Frank Sinatra delivered March 3 by his daughter, Nancy, on Elvis' first day back in the U.S. On March 26, Elvis would tape a special 'Welcome Home, Elvis' version of Sinatra's ABC-TV variety show, which aired May 12. Asked by reporters if he planned to wiggle his hips when he returned to singing, Elvis said: 'I'm gonna sing and I'll let the shaking come naturally. If I had to stand still and sing, I'd be lost. I can't get any feeling that way.'
  • Yvonne Lime, Hollywood starlet, and Elvis Presley looked lovey-dovey at each other on April 19, 1957, in front of Graceland, Elvis' new $100,000 mansion near Whitehaven. Miss Lime, who was visiting for the Easter holidays, had a small part in 'Loving You,' Elvis' second motion picture which premiered July 9 of that year. Production had begun in mid-January and wrapped by mid-March.
  • The U.S. Army provided a box lunch for Elvis Presley and other inductees the day they reported for duty March 24, 1958.
  • Elvis Presley performed for 14,000 fans at Russwood Park in Memphis the night of July 4, 1956. The big charity event included a speech by Mississippi Sen. James O. Eastland and the annual picnic. The marathon show featured over 100 performers and lasted more than three hours. Elvis topped off the review with a half-hour stint in the spotlight.
  • Elvis Presley fans hoping for the chance to get his autograph on the night of May 15, 1956, at Ellis Auditorium, where Elvis performed for more than 7,000. His performance was a feature of Cotton Carnival opening night.
  • An unidentified woman approached Elvis Presley at Goodfellows headquarters Dec. 16, 1957, with a request: 'Elvis, please autograph my arm!' Elvis was at the headquarters to present the Press-Scimitar Goodfellows with 100 brand new $10 bills. Elvis let it be known that the Goodfellows had played Santa Claus for him seven years earlier. 'Our family had it pretty rough that year,' he recalled. 'The Goodfellows made my Christmas for me.'
  • After being released from jail following his arrest for a fight at a downtown service station Oct. 18, 1956, Elvis went home to 1034 Audubon to relax and play with his new pet. A week later the service station owner, Clarence Harwell, publicly apologized to Presley for the incident. Presley was cleared in city court of misconduct, but two station attendants with whom he tangled briefly drew fines for assault and battery.
  • Elvis Presley and Anita Wood embrace as she steps from an airliner at Memphis Municipal Airport the night of Sept. 13, 1957. Miss Wood, hostess for a Memphis TV show, 'Top 10 Dance Party,' was returning from a week in Hollywood preparing for her first movie role in 'Girl in the Woods.' Elvis had given the 19-year-old a friendship ring the previous week in Hollywood.
  • Elvis Presley, dressed in civilian clothes, after his return home from the army March 7, 1960. Elvis was greeted by a crowd of some 200 people in the early morning cold at Memphis' Union Station. In the afternoon, he held a press conference in the two-room office building behind Graceland where he explained to newsmen the use of karate, a form of judo. Presley became a student of karate while stationed in Germany.
  • Elvis Presley dropped by The Commercial Appeal on the night of June 8, 1956, and found an offbeat note. He saw a story that a Canadian radio station was banning his records. 'A lot of people like it,' was one of his comments.
  • Elvis Presley performs what would be his last Memphis concert July 5, 1976, before a crowd of 12,000 at the Mid-South Coliseum.
  • Elvis Presley performs what would be his last Memphis concert July 5, 1976, before a crowd of 12,000 at the Mid-South Coliseum.
  • Elvis Presley at the gates of Graceland in 1957.
  • While on his first furlough, Elvis Presley explains the insignia on his uniform to fans at the gates of Graceland on June 1, 1958. Elvis arrived late the previous night for a two-week leave. He was inducted into the U.S. Army on March 24, 1958.
  • Elvis Presley went backstage at The Auditorium on the night of March 9, 1962, to say hello to some of his friends in the Holiday on Ice cast, and skating star Dorothy Goos promptly put him to work holding yarn. Elvis had visited Holiday on Ice performers here during their last three annual visits.
  • Elvis Presley greets a young fan in this undated photo.
  • Elvis Presley signs autographs for fans during a luncheon at the Holiday Inn Rivermont in 1971. Presley was being honored by the Jaycees as one of the Outstanding Young Men In America. Priscilla Presley is seated by him. Seated on Elvis' other side is William N. Morris, former sheriff of Shelby County.
  • Elvis Presley aboard the train that brought him home to Memphis on March 7, 1960. Some 200 fans waited at Union Station to welcome him home from his stint in the U.S. Army. At left is Col. Tom Parker, who died Jan. 21, 1997.
  • Eight-year-old Mary Kosloski had a date with Elvis Presley Jan. 8, 1958, and he kept her waiting for more than two hours. The Collierville girl, who was the national March of Dimes poster child in 1955, seemed to forgive all when Elvis appeared and told her: 'If you were 10 years older, honey, I wouldn't let you go.' The pair were photographed with teddy bears and pandas Elvis was sending to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis for auction during an upcoming fund drive.
  • Elvis Presley leaves Memphis' Union Station on March 7, 1960. A crowd of 200 waited in the cold to see Elvis safely home from his stint in the U.S. Army. He arrived via private rail car on Southern Railway's Tennessean about 7:45 a.m. After speaking with fans, he hopped in Insp. Fred Woodward's police car and was driven to Graceland, escorted by city police, sheriff's deputies and state troopers.
  • More than 150 people jammed into the mayor's office Dec. 17, 1963, to see Elvis Presley hand out Christmas checks totaling $55,000. The checks benefited 58 Memphis and Mid-South charities. In appreciation, the organizations presented Elvis with a six-foot plaque. It was warm in the room, and when Commissioner Claude Armour announced Elvis was going to pass out the checks, the singer wiped his brow and said, 'Elvis is going to pass out, period.'
  • Elvis Presley on the day of his induction into the U.S. Army on March 24, 1958. He is shown leaving Downtown Memphis on the bus that will take him to Kennedy Veterans Hospital.

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