{"id":48568,"date":"2012-01-28T20:21:39","date_gmt":"2012-01-29T01:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=48568"},"modified":"2012-01-29T10:45:19","modified_gmt":"2012-01-29T15:45:19","slug":"on-this-day-january-28-1956-and-so-it-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=48568","title":{"rendered":"On This Day: January 28, 1956: And So It Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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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. <\/p>\n

Because when you have the Big Bang inside of you, you basically want to get a move on with it<\/i>. <\/p>\n

The Ed Sullivan Shows would come later that year, starting in September. But first, there would be the notorious second Milton Berle appearance<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

On January 28 1956, America turned on their televisions and were confronted with this<\/i>. <\/p>\n