Elvis Presley 1957-59
Source: EPE | Prev. |
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January 6, 1957 |
January, 1957
Elvis begins production of his second movie,
Loving You.
February 3, 1957
The New York Times runs a story entitled, "Presley Records a
Craze in Soviet Union." Elvis records are not legally available
in the Soviet Union. The article tells of
bootleg recordings
being cut on discarded X-ray plates and being sold in Leningrad
on the black market for fifty rubles (about twelve and a half
dollars) each, a lot of money at the time.
March 1957
Elvis buys Graceland Mansion
for himself, his parents, and his paternal grandmother to live
in. It will be ready for them to
move into in early April.
April , 1957
While touring with his show, Elvis performs outside the United
States for the first time when he appears in Canada:
two shows
in Toronto on April 2 and two shows in Ottawa on April 3.
May, 1957
Elvis begins work on his third motion picture,
Jailhouse Rock
for MGM.
July 9, 1957
Elvis' second motion picture, Loving You, premieres and quickly
reaches the top ten at the box office. Hit records include the
title song and the classic smash "Teddy
Bear".
Traveling, touring, record releases, and personal appearances
continue.
August 31, 1957
Elvis performs in Vancouver. This is the third Canadian city he
has performed in, and marks the last time he
will perform in
concert outside the United States.
September 27, 1957
Elvis returns once more to the town of his birth to perform.
This time it is a benefit for the proposed Elvis Presley Youth
Recreation Center in Tupelo, Mississippi. The grounds include
Elvis’ birthplace home. He will donate regularly to the center
for the rest of his life.
(The center is still used by the general community today. The
birthplace home is open for tours, and there is a small museum
and a memorial chapel.)
October 17, 1957
Jailhouse Rock, Elvis Presley's third motion picture, premieres
in Memphis, opening nationally in November and quickly going to
the top five at the box office. The title song is a smash hit.
Years later, this film will be considered one of Elvis’ best
acting performances, surpassed only by
King Creole,
which is to follow in 1958. Jailhouse Rock will come to be
considered the ultimate classic of all “rock opera” movies, and
the "Jailhouse Rock" production number in the film is to be
recognized as the grandfather of pop/rock music videos,
a music
format to become widely popular by the 1980’s.
November 10, 11 1957
Elvis performs shows in Hawaii for the first time.
December, 1957
Elvis and family enjoy their first Christmas at Graceland and
Elvis officially receives his draft notice, a day he has known
would be coming soon.
Late January- Early March, 1958
Elvis films and records for his fourth motion picture,
King Creole.
March 15, 1958
Elvis performs two shows in Memphis. These are to be his last
stage performances until after his army release in 1960.
March 24, 1958
Elvis Presley is inducted into the U.S. Army at the Memphis
Draft Board and is assigned serial
number 53310761.
March 25, 1958
Elvis gets his famous G.I. haircut at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.
March 29, 1958
Private Presley arrives at Fort Hood, Texas for basic training
and is stationed there for six months. His parents soon move to
a temporary home near the base.
June 10, 1958
After basic training, while on his first leave, Elvis has a
recording session, his last until 1960.
July, 1958
King Creole, Elvis’ fourth motion picture opens
nationally and the reviews are the best he will ever have for
his acting. Its impressive list of co-stars and supporting cast
includes
Carolyn Jones,
Walter Matthau, Dean Jagger and Vic Morrow. It becomes
a top five film at the box office. This Michael (Casablanca)
Curtiz-directed movie, set in New Orleans and based upon the
Harold Robbins novel, "A Stone for Danny Fisher," will come to
be regarded as Elvis’ finest film, his greatest acting
performance, and proof positive of his potential to have become
a respected serious actor,
though the realization of this desire
will remain forever out of his grasp.
August, 1958
Gladys Presley becomes ill and returns to Memphis to be
hospitalized with acute hepatitis. Elvis is granted emergency
leave and arrives in Memphis on the afternoon of August 12th. He
visits her that night, and the next day and night. A few hours
after Elvis goes home to Graceland to rest, she dies in the
early hours of August 14 at age 46. Her body lies in state at
Graceland that afternoon. Services are at the Memphis Funeral
Home on the 15th, with the Blackwood Brothers singing "Precious
Memories" and "Rock of Ages," two of Gladys Presley’s favorite
hymns. She is laid to rest at Forest Hill Cemetery, a few miles
down the road from Graceland. Elvis is devastated.
August 25, 1958
Elvis reports back to Fort Hood.
September/October 1958
September 19, Elvis boards a troop train to New York, later
boards the USS. Randall and sails to Germany, arriving on
October 1. He will be stationed in Friedberg for 18 months,
maintaining an off-base residence in Bad Nauheim, shared with
his father and grandmother, and some friends from Memphis. He
finds the fans in Europe to be as enthusiastic as those in
America.
January 8, 1959
Elvis is interviewed off-camera via trans-Atlantic telephone by
Dick Clark on his American Bandstand show on ABC-TV. The show
commemorates the star’s twenty-fourth birthday. (Elvis never
performed on American Bandstand.) On a two-week leave, Elvis
visits Munich, then goes clubbing in Paris, which includes a
visit to the Lido. Colonel Parker continues to keep Elvis’ career
alive with promotions and hit record releases.
November 1959
Captain Joseph Beaulieu is transferred from Texas to Weisbaden
Air Force Base near Friedberg, accompanied by his wife and
children, including his fourteen-and-a-half- year-old
stepdaughter, Priscilla Ann. (Priscilla is the only child from
Ann Beaulieu’s marriage to her first husband, James Wagner, a
Navy pilot who was killed in a plane crash when Priscilla was an
infant.) Through a mutual friend, Priscilla is invited to a
party at Elvis’ home soon after her arrival in Germany. They
meet, and the rest is history.