Elvis Presley 1955-56
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Source: EPE | Prev.| |
January 1955
Elvis Presley signs a contract with Bob Neal, who becomes his
manager.
1955
Elvis, Scotty, and Bill continue touring on their own
and in package shows with various country stars, including
package tours of artists from the Hayride. Colonel Parker
is involved. This includes touring with
Hank Snow. The regular
Hayride appearances continue. Drummer
D.J. Fontana joins Elvis’ band. In the spring, Elvis
fails to be accepted on
Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, a network television show.
As always, Elvis’ live appearances have special appeal for the
teenagers, especially the females. His unusual style, sexy
moves, and good looks start to cause more and more excitement
wherever he plays. Sometimes the crowds break through the
barricades in near-riot behavior. Elvis gains more and more
popularity and begins to receive national attention.
Colonel Parker
becomes more involved in Elvis’ career.
August 15, 1955
Elvis Presley signs a management contract with Hank Snow
Attractions, which is owned equally by Snow and Colonel Tom
Parker.
Bob Neal
remains involved as an advisor. Colonel Parker is to be Elvis’
exclusive manager from this time on, and Snow is soon no longer
connected to Elvis.
November 20, 1955
Elvis signs his first contract with RCA
Records. Colonel Parker negotiates the sale of Elvis’ Sun
contract to RCA, which includes his
five Sun singles and his unreleased Sun material. The
price is an unprecedented $40,000, with a $5,000 bonus for
Elvis. RCA soon re-releases the five Sun singles on the RCA
label. At the same time Elvis signs a contract with Hill and
Range Publishing Company, which is to set up a separate firm
called Elvis Presley Music, Inc. Elvis will share with Hill and
Range the publishing ownership of songs bought by Hill and Range
for him to record. Elvis is the hottest new star in the music
business.
January 10, 1956
Two days after his twenty-first birthday, Elvis has his first
recording session for RCA, held at their studio in Nashville.
Among the songs laid to tape during this session is "Heartbreak
Hotel."
The Jordanaires,
a gospel quartet and popular country back-up group, begin
working with Elvis in the studio during the first few RCA
sessions and soon begin touring with him. They will also appear
with him in several films and remain his main back-up group
until the late sixties.
January 27, 1956
"Heartbreak
Hotel" b/w "I Was the One" is released by RCA and sells
over 300,000 copies in its first three weeks on the market. It
is soon to go to number one on Billboard’s pop singles chart for
eight weeks and hit number one on the
country
chart and number five on the
R&B chart.
It becomes the first Elvis single to sell over one million
copies, thus earning Elvis his very first gold record award.
January 28, 1956
Elvis appears with Scotty, Bill, and D.J. on the Jackie
Gleason-produced Stage Show, starring Tommy and Jimmy
Dorsey on CBS. This is Elvis’ first network television
appearance. He appears five more nights on Stage Show
over the weeks ahead and makes minor waves nationally. The last
of these six appearances is March 24. Traveling and personal
appearances continue during this time, including the
Louisiana Hayride appearances for which he is still under
contract.
Fame and “infamy” build.
February, 1956
As "Heartbreak Hotel" makes its climb up the charts on its way
to number one, "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" b/w "Mystery
Train", Elvis' fifth and last single to be released on the Sun
label, hits number one on Billboard’s national country singles
chart. His first number one hit on a national chart.
March 13, 1956
RCA releases Elvis Presley, Elvis’ first album. The album
soon goes to number one on Billboard’s pop album chart for ten
weeks. It is the first Elvis album to reach over $1 million in
sales, thus earning Elvis his first gold album award.
April 1, 1956
Elvis has a screen test for Paramount Studios in Hollywood. He
lip synchs "Blue Suede Shoes" and he performs a scene from the
as yet unmade film,
The Rainmaker, a film he does not end
up being in.
April 3, 1956
Elvis appears on The
Milton
Berle Show on ABC, which, for this particular
broadcast, originates from the deck of the aircraft carrier, the
USS Hancock.
April 6, 1956
Elvis signs a seven-year movie contract with Hal Wallis and
Paramount Pictures.
April 23 - May 9, 1956
Compared to the usual hysteria, Elvis has lukewarm acceptance
for his two-week engagement at the New Frontier Hotel in Las
Vegas. He is not exactly what the adult audience of Vegas
gamblers relates to very well. During these two weeks, the
single Heartbreak Hotel and the album Elvis Presley both hit
number one on the
Billboard pop charts.
Through all of this, the travel and personal appearances around
the country and new record releases continue. The crowds get
bigger and bigger, wilder and wilder. Elvis’ fame grows
dramatically. Some of these shows have to end early due to fans’
storming the stage. Elvis creates pandemonium wherever he goes.
June 5, 1956
Elvis appears again on The Milton Berle Show, this time
in the studio where the show usually originates, this time
backed by
The Jordanaires in addition to
Scotty,
Bill and
D.J. Fontana Among his selections is a playfully
sensuous performance of "Hound Dog" that drives the kids in the
audience wild, and, the next day, has the press and some of the
adult viewers appalled. It is one of his most controversial
performances. This merely serves to fuel his seemingly
unstoppable popularity even more.
Traveling and personal appearances and new record releases
continue. By this time Elvis, with his sexy moves and
black-influenced sound, is being condemned by certain factions
of the “morally concerned” establishment and the religious
community.
But, the kids love it.
July 1, 1956
Elvis appears on The Steve Allen Show on NBC. Among his
performances this night is a much toned down version of "Hound
Dog". Allen has Elvis dressed in white tie and black tux with
tails and has him sing the song to a live Basset hound, a
tongue-in-cheek response to all controversy created by the Berle
appearance the month before. Elvis good-naturedly goes along
with it, but is not too happy about it. Elvis also appears in a
cowboy comedy sketch with Allen, Imogene Coca and Andy Griffith.
Record releases, touring, and recording continue. The
condemnation and controversy continue along with the
ever-growing popularity.
Ed Sullivan, who had said that he would never have the
likes of Elvis Presley on his show, changes his tune when he
sees the big ratings that Elvis attracts to the Berle and Allen
shows. A three-appearance deal is worked out for $50,000 and is
the highest amount ever paid to a performer, up to that time,
for appearing on a variety show.
August 1956
Elvis begins shooting his first movie,
Love Me Tender
on loan-out from Paramount to Twentieth Century Fox. It is
originally titled The Reno Brothers, but is re-titled
before its release to capitalize on Elvis’ sure-to-be-a-hit
single from the soundtrack.
September 9, 1956
Elvis makes the first of three appearances on the
Ed Sullivan Show, the top
television program of the era. Elvis attracts the
highest ratings ever for any television variety show. Character
actor Charles Laughton hosts in place of Sullivan, who is
recuperating from a car accident.
September 26, 1956
Elvis Presley Day is proclaimed in Tupelo, Mississippi. Elvis’
parents join him as he returns to the town of his birth as a big
star. He performs two shows at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and
Dairy Show, the same fair at which he had performed at age 10.
This time there are a hundred National Guardsmen surrounding the
stage to control the crowds of excited fans.
By this time, souvenir merchandising using Elvis’ name, image,
and likeness has become a big part of the Elvis phenomenon.
Licensees will soon be producing as many as thirty different
products including hats, T-shirts, jeans, kerchiefs, sneakers,
shirts, blouses, belts, purses, billfolds, wallets, charm
bracelets, necklaces, magazines, gloves, bookends, a statue,
lipstick, cologne, stuffed hound dogs, stationery, sweaters,
crockery, and more. Elvis and the Colonel are to blaze new
trails in the area of celebrity merchandising. This is to be
forever a part of the marketing of Elvis Presley, feeding a
never-ending demand.
October 28, 1956
Elvis makes his second of three appearances on Ed Sullivan.
November 16, 1956
Elvis’ first movie, Love Me Tender premieres at the
Paramount Theater in New York City, opening nationwide in the
days following. It becomes a smash hit, and the critics’ reviews
aren’t bad for his acting in this melodrama, which is set in the
American South of the 1800’s Civil War era. The film has Elvis
performing several songs, of course.
December 31, 1956
The front page of The Wall Street Journal reports
that in the past few months Elvis merchandise has grossed $22
million in sales.
Elvis ends the pivotal year of his career, when regional
popularity gave way to unprecedented national and international
fame. The year of 1956 has seen the beginning of Elvis souvenir
merchandising, the beginning of a successful movie career, huge
record sales (five number one singles on the pop chart, two
number one albums on the pop chart, and other hits),
history-making television appearances, record-breaking personal
appearances and more.
Elvis has become the primary symbol of the new youth culture in
America. He has also become one of society’s most controversial
figures. His unique blending of white country and gospel music,
black R&B and gospel, white pop music, his particular brand of
charisma and talent, and the resulting success and controversy,
have helped him greatly to begin, without premeditation, a cycle
of change in music and pop culture and the mores of American
society. Nothing will ever be the same for Elvis Presley or for
the world.