New York was
very important in the early musical life of Elvis Presley, the undisputed King
of Rock & Roll.
In January 1956
Elvis made his first visit to Manhattan, for his inaugural national TV
appearance on the Dorsey Brothers Stage
Show. The following day he spent 7
hours at the RCA studio on East 24th Street, returning two days later to put
the finishing touches to a number of songs including the hit "Blue Suede Shoes". According to studio staff,
Elvis always enjoyed himself at RCA New York, hamming it up with the musicians
to keep morale high. This was probably
useful, considering that in July 1956 it took Elvis 31 takes to complete
"Hound Dog", and 28 takes to perfect "Don’t Be Cruel".
By 1957, Elvis had stopped recording at RCA
but he returned to NY to appear on the Ed
Sullivan Show. Well, his torso did
anyway. By order of the show's host, CBS
cameras were only allowed to film Elvis from the waist up, sparing home viewers
the scandal of Elvis's swivelling hips. But everyone got to hear his sweet tones.
Later that same year, while it wasn't musically motivated, Elvis made his most famous visit to New York - this time to the Brooklyn Army Terminal, before he was shipped off to Germany to serve with the US Army.
Later that same year, while it wasn't musically motivated, Elvis made his most famous visit to New York - this time to the Brooklyn Army Terminal, before he was shipped off to Germany to serve with the US Army.
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