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December 12th

 

1966

Elvis donates checks totalling $105,000 to combined local charities. :cheer:

 

1969

The Colonel makes a special agreement with RCA for four Elvis Presley albums to be released on RCA’s Camden budget label, three in 1970 and one in 1971. Since it is a special agreement, Elvis and Colonel Parker will split the advance against royalties of $300,000 50-50, with the full amount due between January 1st and January 10th 1970.

 

1973

Working hard until 5.00am, Elvis focuses exclusively on four songs either written or brought to him by Voice – Mr Songman, Thinking About You, Love Song Of The Year and Help Me.

 

Thinking About You

 

 

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December 13th

 

1956

Hal Kanter, screenwriter-director for Elvis’ upcoming film for Hal Wallis at Paramount, comes to town to meet the young singer. His plan is to accompany Elvis to the specially arranged Louisiana Hayride benefit show on the fifteenth, which was stipulated as part of the April buyout agreement.

Hill and Range and Paramount, working together, have already come up with much of the soundtrack for the picture, currently titled Lonesome Cowboy, including four numbers by ‘Hound Dog’ composers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Hill and Range representative Freddy Bienstock is also in Memphis to help Elvis with song selection

 

1973

Another productive session, with three masters achieved by 4.00am: My Boy, Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues and Loving Arms :wub:

 

Loving Arms

 

 

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December 14th

 

1956

Elvis and director Hal Kanter drive to Shreveport with the Colonel’s brother-in-law, Bitsy Mott, and Gene and Junior Smith, stopping off at the Trio restaurant in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where they have dinner with Jim Ed and Maxine Brown. According to the Pine Bluff newspaper, ‘The singer was not recognised until about 10 o’clock, when a crowd began to grow. When one teenager admired his sport shirt, Elvis good - naturedly traded shirts with him.’ Elvis and his party do not leave till after midnight, arriving at Shreveport at five in the morning, where they register at the Captain Shreve Hotel.

 

1964

Elvis again donates $55,000 to Memphis charities. :thumbup:

 

1973

Only one song, Jerry Reed’s Talk About The Good Times is cut.

 

Talk About The Good Times

 

 

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December 15th

 

1955

*Catholic Club, Helena, Arkansas

All five hundred tickets for this show with Carl Perkins are sold two days in advance.

 

1956

*Louisiana Hayride, Hirsch Youth Center, Louisiana Fairgrounds, Shreveport

The crowd’s hysterical reaction to Elvis’ only public appearance in December provides the basis for a number of touches that Hal Kanter adds to his finished screenplay, the story of the rise of a young singer who very much resembles-Elvis Presley. :thumbup:

 

1973

The session picks up again running from 9.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m. They recorded Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming, There’s A Honky Tonk Angel and a rocking version of Chuck Berry’s Promised Land. :yahoo:

 

Promised Land

 

 

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December 16th

 

1957

Elvis bought the Santa sleigh and 8 reindeer for $300 from Bain Sigh Company in Memphis. They are still displayed on the Graceland lawn every year.

 

The Memphis Draft Board has let it be known that Elvis will soon receive his draft notice, and every major branch of the military except the Marines make bids for his service. The navy would create a specially trained ‘Elvis Presley company’; the air force would have him tour recruiting centers; and the army offers a two-year enlistment with a 120-day deferment to allow him to complete his new movie, which has been rescheduled for January.

 

Meanwhile Colonel Parker tries to interest MGM in casting Elvis as doomed country music legend Hank Williams in a bio-pic about the first major star to come out of the Louisiana Hayride.

 

1973

After a final night that goes until 5.00am, with Elvis completing If That Isn’t Love, Spanish Eyes and She Wears My Ring, Felton has eighteen masters to deliver to RCA, many of a quality that reflects Elvis’ healthier and happier state. :wub:

 

She Wears My Ring

 

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December 17th

 

1955

* Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport

Elvis performs six songs, including Tennessee Ernie Ford’s huge hit on Merle Travis’ Sixteen Tons, the Platters’ doo-wap classic Only You; and Little Richard’s debut (and definitive) rocker, Tutti Frutti. The crowd does not want him to leave the stage. :yahoo:

 

1956

The Colonel reports to Elvis that his new single, One Night, has sold 1,250,000.

 

 

1963

In Memphis, Elvis is photographed in the mayor’s office, presenting a cheque for $55,000 for fifty-eight Memphis charities. :cheer:

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December 18th

 

1954

* Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport

Elvis includes Otis Williams and the Charms’ Hearts Of Stone and Joe Turner’s Shake, Rattle And Roll, two current r&b hits, along with his more familiar repertoire.

 

Hearts Of Stone

 

 

1968

The Trouble With Girls is completed and Elvis is released by the studio.

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December 19th

 

1957

Elvis receives informal word from Memphis draft board chairman Milton Bowers that his induction notice has been drawn up and is waiting for him.

 

1962

Vernon and Dee fly to Idlewild Airport in New York to meet Priscilla Beaulieu, who is arriving on a flight from Germany. They will accompany her to Memphis with her ticket reserved in the name of Priscilla Fisher. Elvis picks her up from his father’s home on Hermitage Road so he can show her Graceland for the first time himself, driving her past the annual Christmas display on the lawn, including the life-size Nativity scene that is still in use today.

 

1963

The Legion Of Decency objects to some of the dance scenes in Viva Las Vegas, and the Colonel expresses his concerns about releasing such a picture at Easter time.

 

1968

The Colonel accepts a deal for Elvis to perform at Kirk Kerkorian’s yet-to-be-built International Hotel, but turns down the opportunity to open the projected two-thousand seat showroom (the largest in Vegas) in July, since the Colonel feels someone else should have the opportunity to iron out the bugs.

 

1970

This is the day that Elvis leaves Graceland alone, drives to the airport and boards a flight to Washington D.C. where he briefly checks into the Hotel Washington, before flying on to Los Angeles via Dallas. Elvis calls his new limousine driver, Gerald Peters, and Jerry Schilling from Dallas, arranging for them to meet his TWA flight but warning them to tell no one where he is.

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December 20th

 

1957

Elvis stops by Sun Records after picking up his draft notice in person. Later Elvis tells reporters it is a ‘duty I’ve got to fill and I’m going to do it.’ In the evening, Elvis leaves for Nashville to deliver the Colonel’s Christmas present, a red Isetta sports car.

 

1958

Elvis returns from maneuvers with a promise to Elisabeth Stefaniak that she will come to work for him as his live-in secretary after the first of the year, helping to answer the stacks of fan mail the Colonel forwards to Germany.

 

1960

The Colonel is in Memphis to announce that Elvis will perform at the Memphis Charity Show on February 25th 1961. Even Elvis will have to buy a ticket to get into Ellis Auditorium’s North Hall, according to the Colonel, and, he adds, he will pay the $1,000 fee for celebrated toastmaster George Jessel to appear as master of ceremonies. ‘I wanted someone who could tell you people in Memphis what Hollywood and the show world think of Elvis,’ he explains.

 

1970

Elvis arrived in Los Angeles at 2.17 a.m. and saw a doctor about a rash he had developed on his face and neck. Most likely caused by an allergic reaction to the medication he was taking for an eye infection, but aggravated by the chocolate he ate on the plane. In the afternoon he explained to Jerry that he wanted to return to Washington.

Jerry protested because he had to be back in California for work. Elvis then allowed him to call Sonny West and have him meet them in Washington. He gave Sonny permission to tell Vernon and Priscilla he was safe, but not where he was. On the plane Elvis wrote a letter to President Nixon offering his services in the government's effort to combat illicit drug use.

 

http://andthenithoughtofyou.blogspot.com/2...-president.html

 

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December 21st

 

1957

After visiting and conferring with the Colonel, Elvis attended the Grand Ole Opry, accompanied by Gordon Stoker, who took him to a clothing store where he purchased a tuxedo for the evening. Elvis spent the evening chatting with performers backstage and even made a brief appearance to wave at the audience. Before he left for Memphis he changed back into his old clothes and threw the tuxedo in the trash.

 

1962

Girls! Girls! Girls! Opens nationwide and Variety’s National Box Office Survey will ultimately rank it #31. For the year 1962, Elvis will have three of the fifty top-grossing films. The others are Blue Hawaii at #14 and Kid Galahad at #37.

 

 

1970

Elvis arrives in Washington and drops off his letter to the President at about 6.30am. After registering again at the Hotel Washington, Elvis goes to BNDD headquarters to try to meet with Bureau Director John Ingersoll. He is unsuccessful, but President Nixon’s deputy counsel, Egil Krogh does call to inquire if Elvis can meet with him in forty-five minutes at the Old Executive Office Building on the White House grounds.

Elvis returns immediately to the hotel where he picks up Jeey Schilling and Sonny West (who has just arrived) and meets with Krogh and then Nixon. To everyone’s surprise perhaps but Elvis’, he persuades the President of his sincerity, patriotism and goodwill – in fact, in a strange way, they really hit it off. After an exchange of gifts, the President is convinced to have Ingersoll give him a badge, and Elvis leaves Washington the following day with what he came for – though he never does get to meet FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.

 

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/nixon.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/nixon1.jpg

 

 

More pictures :dance:

 

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/elvis/pho..._1335/index.htm

 

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/elvis/pho..._1346/index.htm

 

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December 22nd

 

1955

A&R head Steve Sholes sends Elvis demo records of ten songs he would like him to consider for his first RCA recording session, scheduled for Nashville in January. Elvis will eventually record two, I’m Counting On You and I Was The One, both ballads. :wub:

 

I Was The One (live in Tupelo – September 1956)

 

 

I’m Counting On You

 

 

1960

Flaming Star opens across the country. It will appear for only one week at #12, on the National Box Office Survey.

 

1964

The Colonel negotiates a new deal with MGM, to go into effect on January 4th 1965, for three motion pictures. They will be Scarum Harum, Spinout and Double Trouble.

 

1970

Elvis returns to Graceland after his trip to Washington with gifts for Priscilla and Lisa Marie and many stories to tell. :thumbup:

 

  • Author
December 21st

 

1957

After visiting and conferring with the Colonel, Elvis attended the Grand Ole Opry, accompanied by Gordon Stoker, who took him to a clothing store where he purchased a tuxedo for the evening. Elvis spent the evening chatting with performers backstage and even made a brief appearance to wave at the audience. Before he left for Memphis he changed back into his old clothes and threw the tuxedo in the trash.

 

1962

Girls! Girls! Girls! Opens nationwide and Variety’s National Box Office Survey will ultimately rank it #31. For the year 1962, Elvis will have three of the fifty top-grossing films. The others are Blue Hawaii at #14 and Kid Galahad at #37.

1970

Elvis arrives in Washington and drops off his letter to the President at about 6.30am. After registering again at the Hotel Washington, Elvis goes to BNDD headquarters to try to meet with Bureau Director John Ingersoll. He is unsuccessful, but President Nixon’s deputy counsel, Egil Krogh does call to inquire if Elvis can meet with him in forty-five minutes at the Old Executive Office Building on the White House grounds.

Elvis returns immediately to the hotel where he picks up Jeey Schilling and Sonny West (who has just arrived) and meets with Krogh and then Nixon. To everyone’s surprise perhaps but Elvis’, he persuades the President of his sincerity, patriotism and goodwill – in fact, in a strange way, they really hit it off. After an exchange of gifts, the President is convinced to have Ingersoll give him a badge, and Elvis leaves Washington the following day with what he came for – though he never does get to meet FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/nixon.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/nixon1.jpg

More pictures :dance:

 

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/elvis/pho..._1335/index.htm

 

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/elvis/pho..._1346/index.htm

Wanted to add this :thumbup:

 

Jerry Schilling Talks about Elvis' Meeting with President Nixon

 

http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/video/...lvis_nixon.html

 

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December 23rd

 

1954

In a 1966 interview Elvis recalls being stopped for speeding on his way home from Shreveport. ‘I thought, ‘Here goes my Christmas money for a traffic ticket.’ But the officer let us go with a warning…. After the officer left, the three of us got out of the car and counted our money by the car headlights. The money was mostly in dollar bills. Man, that was the most money I ever had in my pocket at one time! I blew the whole bundle the next day for Christmas presents.’

 

1968

Joe Esposito purchases gift certificates from Goldsmith’s Department Store in amounts between $100 and $200 to be used by Elvis as Christmas presents.

 

1974

Elvis flies back to Memphis through Amarillo, Texas with Linda Thompson and Lisa Marie.

 

  • Author

December 24th

 

1955

Elvis remains at home over Christmas. He does not appear on the Louisiana Hayride this week.

 

1956

Elvis goes Christmas shopping at Lamar Airways Center with his Christmas houseguest Dottie Harmony, the showgirl he dated in Las Vegas.

 

1957

In a letter to the Memphis Draft Board, Elvis formally requests a deferment for the filming of his new Paramount motion picture ‘so these folks will not lose so much money, with all they have done so far.’

 

1958

Elvis helps decorate the company’s Christmas tree, entertaining fellow soldiers with a moving rendition of Silent Night.

 

 

1970

Elvis presents Mercedes to Sonny West (who is about to get married, in the third wedding ceremony of the season that Elvis will sponsor), Dr Nick, and Bill Morris, the ex-Shelby County sheriff who has helped Elvis to obtain his deputy sheriff’s badge and has sponsored him for the JCC (Junior Chamber Of Commerce) Award as one of the nation’s Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Year that he will receive in January. In the early hours of Christmas Day, he visits Memphis Police Headquarters ‘to say hello,’ reports the Memphis Commercial Appeal,’ to the men and women who had to work on Christmas.’

  • Author

December 25th

 

1956

Christmas is celebrated in the Audubon Drive house.

At some point around this time, very likely during the Christmas season, Elvis buys a new tape recorder, and home recordings exist of Vernon and Gladys belting out a crude but enthusiastic If We Never Meet Again and I’ll Fly Away. Elvis, Arthur Hooton, and Marine private-on-leave Red West singing When The Saints Go Marching In, and Elvis shooting pool.

 

1958

The extended Presley family celebrates Christmas at the Hotel Grunwald with a special holiday meal and the gift of an electric guitar to Elvis from Vernon. The Colonel sends out a Christmas card on behalf of himself and Elvis in which he is dressed in a red Santa suit with Elvis in uniform.

 

1964

At Marty Lacker’s behest, the guy’s Christmas present to Elvis is a special Bible with a ‘tree of life’ motif drawn on the front page. On each of the branches is the name of one of the dozen or so guys, and at the bottom is one of Elvis’ favourite quotations: ‘And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free,’ written in English, Hebrew and Latin.

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December 26th

 

1957

The Draft Board grants a deferment until March 20th 1958.

 

1970

Elvis purchases more firearms from Taylor’s Gun Shop and in the evening screens That’s The Way It Is again at the Memphian.

  • Author

December 27th

 

1956

Elvis plays touch football at the Dave Wells Community Center with friends, including Red West.

 

1958

Elvis attends the Holiday On Ice Show in Frankfurt.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/HolidayOnIce.jpg

 

1976

* Wichita State University, Henry Levitt Arena, Wichita, Kansas

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/27_dec_76_01.jpg

 

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December 28th

 

1954

* Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston

Elvis ‘That’s All Right’ Presley returns to Houston for a ‘Yule Tide Jamboree,’ topping a Hayride bill that is being promoted again by Biff Collie. Elvis may well have played other Texas and Arkansas dates over the next three days, including the Red River Arsenal, near Texarkana.

 

1957

Elvis rents out the Rainbow Rollerdome for the evening.

1961

Vernon and his family move into their new home at 3650 Hermitage Drive.

 

1970

Elvis is best man, Priscilla matron of honour at Sonny West’s wedding. Elvis arrives in a ‘fur cloth’ black bell-bottomed suit that is a Christmas gift from Priscilla, along with a white tie, a belt with gold eagles and chains, a second belt adorned with the gold belt buckle set off a large sheriff’s star and his own official deputy number (six) that Sheriff Nixon has just presented to him, two guns in a shoulder holster, two pearl-handled pistols in the waist of his pants, a derringer in his boot, and a fifteen-inch flashlight. Then, after a church reception, he hosts a second reception at Graceland, where a picture is taken with Elvis and all the guys displaying the badges they, too, have just received from Sheriff Nixon. :cheer:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/sonnywest.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/sonnywest1.jpg

 

1976

* Memorial Auditorium, Dallas,Texas

 

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Elvis and the guys at Sonny's wedding :dance:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/theboys1970.jpg

  • Author

December 29th

 

1954

The Memphis Press-Scimitar reports that ‘Elvis Presley, the nineteen-year-old Memphian whose first two records….won him quick acclaim, has signed a management contract with Bob Neal, WMPS folk music disc jockey, it was announced yesterday.’ Starting in the new year, Neal will book dates within his own listening area on an exclusive basis as well as setting up engagements through the Hayride network in such far-flung new territory as west Texas and eastern New Mexico. A variant of the ‘spiky-haired’ photograph from Elvis’ original July 27th interview at the Press-Scimitar is used to accompany the story, which also announces the simultaneous release of Elvis’ third Sun single.

 

1970

Elvis drives to Tupelo to collect yet another badge, this one from Tupelo sheriff Bill Mitchell, whom Elvis has known from the time Mitchell played fiddle in the band led by Mississippi Slim on radio station WELO when Elvis was a child.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/sherrif.jpg

1976

* Birmingham-Jefferson County Coliseum, Birmingham, Alabama

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