August 2nd

 

In 1955, Elvis is at the Community Center, Sheffield, Alabama for two shows. He steals the show from headliner Webb Pierce, with Sun newcomer, Johnny Cash added to the bill.

 

In 1965, Elvis arrives at Paramount for preproduction on Paradise Hawaiian Style. After a cast insurance medical exam and wardrobe fittings, Elvis reports to Radio Recorders at 2.00pm to do vocals over previously recorded instrumental tracks. He sings one additional song, Sand Castles, before winding up at 2.30am.

 

 

In 1971, Elvis closes an engagement that has broken attendance records at the Sahara Tahoe and, after expenses and commissions, takes home $142,062.50. :dance:

August 3rd

 

In 1956, Elvis is at the Olympic Theater, Miami, Florida for three shows. Girlfriend June Juanico arrives with a friend to join Elvis on tour, and her appearance is immediately noted by the press. ‘Right now, he’s married to his career,’ she tells the Miami News in a backstage interview, but this does not begin to assuage the Colonel, who is beside himself about this new speculation regarding Elvis’ ‘morals.’ :blink:

August 4th

 

In 1970, three days of rehearsals begin today at the International’s Convention Center, with the singers scheduled for 1.00pm and the entire group at 7.00pm. Filming for That’s The Way It Is takes place today (Tuesday) and on Friday in the showroom.

 

In 1956, Elvis trades in the new lavender Lincoln, already defaced by fan’s messages, for an even more upscale white 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II. That day he is at the Olympic Theater in Miami for four shows.

August 5th

 

In 1974, Elvis responds to a request for donations to help r& b singer-songwriter Ivory Joe Hunter, best known for ‘Since I Met You Baby’ (and author of several ‘Elvis’ songs, including My Wish Came True) who is hospitalised with cancer. Elvis sends a generous cheque to the Ivory Joe Hunter Fund in Memphis, together with a lovely personal letter saying he’s been a long-time admirer of Ivory Joe and his talent, and says that he has been an inspiration to many artists that have come along. :wub:

 

In 1955, Elvis is at the Overton Park Shell in Memphis. Bob Neal’s eighth annual Country Music Jamboree, prominently featuring Elvis Presley, includes Webb Pierce, Sonny James and Johnny Cash, drawing an audience of over 4,000 to the open-air amphitheater where Elvis began his professional career. :dance:

August 6th

 

In 1956, Elvis is at the Polk Theater in Lakeland, Florida for three shows. Backstage, Elvis responds angrily to Tampa Tribune reporter, Paul Wilder, an old pal of the Colonel from his Tampa days, when Wilder reads him a scathing review of his Miami performance. ‘Sir, those kids that come here and pay their money to see this show come to have a good time,’ Elvis declares. ‘I don’t see that [the reviewer] should call those people idiots-because they’re somebody’s kids. They’re somebody’s decent kids.'

 

Ed Sullivan is hospitalised after a bad car accident that will prevent him from hosting Elvis’ first appearance on his show in September.

August 7th

 

In 1971, because the entire group had come directly from performing in Tahoe, the rehearsals were held for just three days at the Hilton showroom, beginning today.

August 8th

 

In 1957, Elvis takes a group of friends to the Memphis Fairgrounds and then to a private midnight showing of Loving You at the Strand.

 

In 1958, all through the summer, Gladys Presley has been feeling ill, with poor colour, loss of appetite and deepening depression. As her condition worsens, Elvis finally insists that she do something about it, putting his parents on a train to Memphis so that she can see her personal physician, Dr Charles Clarke. :(

August 9th

 

In 1958, responding to an 11.30am emergency call, an ambulance transfers Mrs Presley from Graceland to Methodist Hospital, where her condition is listed as grave. She appears to be suffering from an undiagnosed liver ailment. :cry:

 

August 10th

 

In 1956, Elvis is at the Florida Theater in Jacksonville, Florida for three shows. Judge Marion Goodling warns Elvis in chambers after the first show that he must tone down his act. Elvis tells reporters, ’I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I know my mother approves of what I’m doing.’ But he modifies the show non-the-less, wiggling his little finger suggestively with a gesture that replaces some of his less restrained body movements and at the same time, still drives the audience wild. :yahoo:

 

August 11th

 

In 1956, Elvis is at the Florida Theater in Jacksonville for three shows, 3.30,7.00 and 9.00pm.

 

August 12th

 

In 1960, in the wake of his marriage to Dee Stanley, Vernon signs a quitclaim deed, assigning Elvis sole ownership of Graceland

 

August 13th

 

In 1956, William Morris Agency president, Abe Lastfogel, telegrams the Colonel from Hollywood that a movie deal with 20th Century Fox has been set. Because he does not yet have a suitable script ready, and perhaps to allow someone else to test the waters, Hal Wallis has waived his right to produce Elvis’ first picture, thus allowing him to appear in The Reno Brothers, which will begin shooting later in the month.

 

 

August 14th

 

In 1972, under pressure from MGM which is concerned about the October/November opening of the movie, the Colonel agrees to postpone the satellite broadcast of the Hawaiian show until early next year. Probably, this appeals to his sense of drama anyway, since the satellite broadcast now goes from the televising of just another concert, however ambitious, to a stand-alone, one-of-a-kind event. :cheer:

 

In 1958, at approximately 3.15am, with Vernon at her side, Gladys Love Presley dies. Both Elvis and his father are devastated. Elvis wants the funeral to be conducted at Graceland, but the colonel explains the problems of security and the service will be held at Memphis Funeral Home, where Gladys’ favourite quartet, the Blackwood Brothers perform, the following day. :cry:

 

August 15th

 

In 1969, throughout the Las Vegas engagement, Elvis entertains friends and celebrities in his suite after the late show. He sings with the Imperials as often as he can, and with friends like Tom Jones. One night he conducts a karate demonstration with Ed Parker who has come to see him about a business proposition to market Parker’s kenpo system of karate. Elvis has already begun to include karate moves in his performance.

 

In 1965, Elvis, Vernon and the Colonel visit the USS Arizona memorial to lay a bell-shaped wreath designed by Colonel Parker and containing 1,177 carnations, one for each serviceman killed aboard the ship. :)

 

 

August 16th 1977

 

Elvis and Ginger Alden return to Graceland just after midnight. At about 2.15am, Elvis calls Dr Nick to request some painkillers because the fillings he has just had are bothering him, and his stepbrother, Rick Stanley, is sent to the hospital pharmacy with a prescription. A couple of hours later, Elvis awakens his cousin Billy Smith and his wife with a phone call to see if they will play racquetball. The game is shortlived, but before leaving the racquetball building, Elvis sits down at the piano and sings a couple of gospel numbers and the old country song, Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain. He then goes to bed and is found the next day, at about 1.30pm in the bathroom at Graceland. An ambulance rushes him to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where all efforts to revive him fail, and his death is recorded at 3.30pm.

 

 

August 17th

 

In 1977, Vernon insists that there will be a viewing at Graceland for the fans, who have been gathering outside since news of Elvis’ death, and by now, has swelled to an estimated 50,000. At 3.00pm, the mourners begin filing in, from every location and walk of life, passing by the open copper casket that lies in the front hallway, in a steady, tearful stream. Because the number is so large, viewing is extended from 5.00 to 6.30pm, after which, the coffin is moved into the living room for a private viewing by family and close friends. Sam Thompson and Dick Grob remain by the body throughout the night.

 

 

August 18th

 

1977 and the 2.00pm service is held in the living room of Graceland, led by the Reverend C.W.Bradley of the Wooddale Church of Christ, who barely knew Elvis but has been asked by Vernon to preside because he was Vernon’s ex-wife Dee’s pastor. Televangelist Rex Humbard offers a guest sermon and comedian Jackie Kahane delivers an informal eulogy composed on the plane. J.D. Sumner and the Stamps, the Statesmen, Jake Hess, James Blackwood and Kathy Westmoreland all perform some of Elvis’ favourite hymns in a ceremony that extends far beyond the half hour allotted. The body is carried in a white hearse, followed by seventeen white limousines, to the Forest Hill cemetery, where, after a brief service in the mausoleum chapel, Elvis is interred in a crypt, a few hundred yards from his mother’s grave.

 

 

British TV Report

 

 

August 19th

 

In 1975, Elvis continues the practice that he began in North Carolina of collecting requests from the audience (here Charlie Hodge takes the requests in a champagne bucket) and then doing his best to fulfil them. In this way, such rarely performed songs, such as Loving You, Trouble and Crying In The Chapel turn up in the show, and he regularly duets with Sherrill Nielsen on Softly As I Leave You. :wub:

 

 

August 20th

In 1956, Elvis reports to the Fox lot for pre-production on The Reno Brothers (Love Me Tender), where he is assigned to Dressing Room 6. He soon meets Nick Adams, a close friend of Rebel Without A Cause star, James Dean. :dance:

August 21st

 

In 1969, Felton Jarvis tests recording equipment during both an afternoon rehearsal and the dinner show for taping of the midnight show. These will be the first recordings of Elvis performing with his new stage band.

August 22nd

 

In 1969, RCA again records Elvis’ performance, taping both shows that night and continuing each night through Tuesday August 26th. By now, Elvis appears almost totally at ease onstage, engaging in informal, sometimes close to stream-of-conscious bantering with the audience. :cheer:

 

In 1963, Hal Wallis commissions the script that will eventually become Roustabout for the next Presley picture. It is to be based on the story of a travelling circus.

August 23rd

 

In 1955, Elvis is at Bryan, Texas, as part of a week-long tour with Hayride artists Johnny Horton and Betty Amos.

August 24th

 

Soundtrack recording of the three songs to be included in The Reno Brothers begins on the Fox soundstage and runs from 1.00pm till 6pm. Scotty, Bill and D.J. have driven to Hollywood with Elvis’ encouragement, in hopes of appearing in the movie, as well as cutting an RCA session. Upon their rejection (they are told they are not hillbilly enough), Elvis finds himself working with studio musicians in an uncomfortable situation. In the end, recording does not go badly and he particularly likes one of the songs, Love Me Tender, a reworking of the Civil War ballad ‘Aura Lee’. He vows, however, that he will work with his band hereafter. :wub:

 

 

August 25th

 

In 1960, Don Cravens photographs Elvis at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for Life magazine, following up with an interview the next day, on the set. The Colonel has also commissioned Cravens to take some shots for future record sleeves, including covers for the upcoming single, Are You Lonesome Tonight? and a gospel album that Elvis plans to record in October, called His Hand In Mine.

August 26th

 

In 1969, as RCA continues taping, Elvis cannot help laughing during (and after) Cissy Houston’s soprano obbligato on Are You Lonesome Tonight at the midnight show. This perplexing performance becomes an underground legend among Elvis fans until its official release on Elvis Aron Presley, an eight-LP set, in 1980 :dance:

 

August 27th

 

In 1965 and in the midst of elaborate security arrangements, the Beatles arrive at 10.00pm for a visit at Elvis’ Perugia Way home. Despite the security precautions, or perhaps, because of them, hundreds if fans gather at the Bel Air gates.

 

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