Elvis’ first appearance on television, ever, occurred on this day. He was booked for six consecutive appearances on the Dorsey Brothers’ Stage Show, filmed out of the CBS Studios in New York. He had been to New York the year before, a couple of times, but this would be different. He was not there to “audition” for anything. He was there to perform. He bought clothes. He browsed in record shops. He tried to get some sleep. He called his parents and his girlfriend every night. He ate like shit.
In my recent trip to Memphis, I saw the suit he wore during this first momentous performance on the Dorsey Brothers show, the beginning of everything.
1955 had been a big year for this young man, but it would be nothing compared to the explosion that occurred in 1956. He had turned 21 years old on January 8 of that year. He was touring constantly throughout the South and South-west and East. He knew what was coming. I think he knew what was coming long before he ever walked into the Memphis Recording Service in 1954. His dreams were enormous, and his dreams were private. He knew what he had inside of him. It was the universe. And the universe means energy, and energy, when it is released, keeps going until something stops it. He knew he would not be stopped. He made decisions in 1955 that would impact his entire life (in good ways and bad), but dammit, he was a minor. Let’s cut him some slack. He was impatient.
Because when you have the Big Bang inside of you, you basically want to get a move on with it.
The Ed Sullivan Shows would come later that year, starting in September. But first, there would be the notorious second Milton Berle appearance when he sang “Hound Dog” and unleashed a tsunami of rabid criticism. (Watch the clip. Imagine what else was happening on TV during that time. Then watch the long drawn out half-time ending of “Hound Dog”. It’s still radical, still explosive. Context is imperative.) And there would also be the Steve Allen appearance, where Elvis appeared in a tuxedo singing “Hound Dog” to an actual hound dog, a compromise he always regretted and always felt shame about. But before all of that: came the Dorsey Brothers shows. Six in all.
On January 28 1956, America turned on their televisions and were confronted with this.
The Dorseys were the perfect midwives and signifiers for the TV birth of Elvis. Their music roots were deep, and America trusted them. I love it when their band plays on Heartbreak Hotel. Sharp. Everybody is tight on that ship.
Yes – that Heartbreak Hotel performance is so electrifying.
Unlike the condescension Elvis was shown on the Steve Allen show, the Dorseys seem enthusiastic and sweet. No hidden agenda.
Jackie Gleason had some interesting observations about young EP and apparently gave him one piece of advice, “You’re gonna be huge. Try not to hide. Go out in public. Have a normal life.”
How interesting, never heard that about Gleason and Elvis. Well, at least Jackie Gleason followed his own advice! They both wrote their own economic stimulus checks for mobs of people, Elvis in Tennessee and Gleason in Florida.
(Side note, Sheila, ever since you posted that Curtiz called him “Elvie” it has become his name in my head. I see Elvis, but hear “Elvie” – that set for King Crole must have been a hoot – Curtiz, Elvie, Matthau, Carolyn Jones and Vic Morrow!!)
I know, it just cracks me up. “Elvy and Valty, please start the scene again, yes?”
Can’t you imagine Elvis’ abashed politeness in the presence of this iconic director calling him ELVY??? Cracks me UP.
HAHAHA yes… bet there was MUCH stifled laughter, but it never shows onscreen! Fascinating directing technique…
Speaking of Elvy… he is loose in these Dorsey shows, yet dead ON. He is like a dancer that has to hit key poses but improvs in between the points. Structurally, he’s like living bebop, working the chords. Later on, when he’s slicker or bigger and more packaged his instinct is still strong, but not as loose. So great to see these performances. Love them, and that they are available in their entirety. The shows aired before I was born, and while I was growing up they were hardly seen… only about :30 seconds of them (at most) were ever shown in clips.
Kent – the way he throws back his head with abandon and shakes himself. He still looks like he’s about to leap out of the screen. It’s startling. And then when he leaps back to join the band, with that wide-legged aggressive stance – he’s really part of something, an ensemble – while only a couple months later on the Ed Sullivan Shows he’s isolated more. But you really get the sense of what his live shows must have been like from the Dorsey Brothers clips – more so than the more calculated star-making performances on Ed Sullivan.
He’s ROUGH. But like you said: dead ON.
AND he does it in Hungarican too!!
Always electrifying…I wonder how many acts were actually ever introduced with the words “We think he’s going to make television history?”….That would make a fascinating research subject (I can say I’ve watched LOT of variety show clips and rock and roll shows from the fifties and sixties and don’t recall anyone else doing this–who knew Bill R. was a prophet?)
Yeah, just a feeling in the air. Something was changing. Elvis is just RAW here, and yet totally in command of what he is doing.
Great clip! Talk about letting the Genie out of the bottle…
Elvis had something special going on vocally and I agree with you Sheila – his singing is amazing for it’s unselfconciousness.