David B. Hecht 56 publicity photo files - location found!

After a fair amount of research, I feel confident that I have found the location and a possible date for the now famous publicity photographs taken RCA Victor staff photographer David B. Hecht.

The evidence for the location is found in a section of text by RCA Executive (at that time - Country & Western Promotions Manager) Chick Crumpacker

Chick Crumpacker : "RCA had a man on staff named David Hecht,who had a studio in Carnegie Hall (New York City),It was called the Caruso Room because Caruso had rehearsed there. It had the northern light that Hecht liked. We did the photo shoot,then went for milkshakes across the street."**
Note : Chick Crumpacker wrote linear notes for the LP LPM-1382(see below)

The date,for these photographs. I know has been discussed at great length on this message board. Having read the information contained,I have concluded the date for these images may be Thursday 26th or Friday the 27th of January 1956.


This image is reproduced further down in a full frame version.


Carnegie Hall tower,New York City,152 West 57th Street


Neubert Ballet Studio 819,Carneige Hall,New York City,with the impressive skylights in view.


Carnegie Hall Studios,New York City.
The studios were created especially for music rehearsal, dance and small performing groups No two are alike and many are duplexes and have large skylights. the first tenant was the American Academy of Dramatic Art . Over the years, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly and Robert Redford took acting lessons here and Lucille Ball had voice coaching. James Dean studied scripts and Leonard Bernstein, music. Women once lined up on the street to visit an alluring resident – the young Marlon Brando.

History of the Studio's and building.http://www.thecityreview.com/carnegie.h ... +this+site

Enrico Caruso found the acoustics of Studio 826 so good that he made his first recording there with RCA Victor.

Enrico Caruso recorded this selection in 1904,in room 826,the location for David Hecht's photographic studio : http://dietcookingrecipes.com/video/t93 ... -1904.html

With the location now confirmed,the date has always shifted from early 1956 up to July 1956. Like other's on this board I have felt that they were taken during the first part of 56',with late January being the most likely as this is when Elvis and his party travelled to New York City for the CBS TV Jackie Gleason 'Stage Show'. David B Hecht makes reference (shown below) that Colonel Parker visiting his studio to collect the films a couple of days after the session.

Elvis Day By Day

Wednesday January 25th 1956 :
At the end of the morning Elvis and the Colonel flew first-class from Nashville to New York City with American Airlines flight 148. They stayed at the Warwick Hotel and had dinner at the Hickory House Restaurant. As always, Elvis made several telephone calls from his hotel room.

Thursday January 26th 1956
Elvis and the Colonel at RCA,with Steve Sholes and the head of RCA Victor record division Larry Kanga. They also met Anne Fulchino in the publicity department in the morning where talks took place about concert tours,acting etc. Anne Fulchino states that she asked Elvis to wait in her office after lunch, this only gives a small period of time late afternoon for the publicity photo's.


Friday January 27th 1956
Scotty, Bill and DJ arrived in New York by car from Memphis. This day is a strong contender for the date that the publicity shots took place.

Saturday January 28th 1956
During the morning there were rehearsals for Stage Show at the Nola Studios. The show was broadcast from the CBS Studios at 8.00 p.m. Because of the weather and because Elvis was unknown in New York City there were not much people attending the show.

Sunday January 29th 1956 : Day off for Elvis in New York,but with the reference to buying milkshakes,this is unlikely on a Sunday.

Monday January 30th Recording Session RCA Studios

Tuesday January 31st Recording Session RCA Studios,meeting William Morris Agency,1740 Broadway,New York.

Wednesday February 1st : The Colonel returns to Tennessee ,therefore by this time with the fact that David B Hecht made reference to the Colonel returning to his studio,this puts the date back from here towards the 26th/27th.



Getty Images caption provides 'CBS photo Archive' as the source for the caption for the Black and White images from these sessions (see below)

"Studio portrait of American singer Elvis Presley (1935 - 1977) taken for an appearance on the American television series 'Stage Show'
January 26, 1956. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
Date created: 26 Jan 1956.

Interesting to where this date comes from - This date does work in the time line,just meaning the afternoon of the 26th. Getty Images' site reveal more of the image from the original negative with the border intact,than seen before.


THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS









***

Ger Rijff : Chick Crumpacker and I got to talking about the RCA photo files.Chick ,besides being one heck of a nice guy,was - and still is - employed by RCA as an engineer and had known Elvis since 1955,when he was working as a talent scout and A&R man for the company. He mentioned that for many years there'd been a fairly well-stocked photo file at the RCA building in New York,but after Elvis' passing The Colonel had sent some of his flunkies in to clean it out,claiming the photo's were his property.

I had hoped to locate the material shot by David B. Hecht,the photographer responable for that ultra-cool image on the front of the second album,Elvis (LPM 1382) - for which Chuck wrote the liner notes!

Chick remembered Hecht and also recalled him having his studio in New York at the time.He quickly thumbed through the yellow pages and within minutes was able to hand me his telephone number.*

THE COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHS


EP release: RCA EPA-992,Volume 1 October 19, 1956


LPM-1382, October 19, 1956


"Perfect For Parties" Highlight Album . EP release: RCA SPA-7-37, October 25, 1956.


The same image was used for the RCA Victor release's (above)EP release: RCA EPA-993 volume II, November 1956





Full frame of the image used below for the EP release 'Strictly Elvis EPA-994
EP release: RCA EPA-994, January 1957

***



Black and White full frame version above.


This photo can can only be seen here,on this December 1956 Vintage Magazine,TV Movie fan. I have corrected this image,which has caused lettering to be reversed. This is the full frame version of the first photo seen at the start of the topic.

Ger Rijff : Mr Hecht explained to me exactly what happened back in 1956,"A day or two after i'd finished the photo session with Elvis,Colonel Parker came to my studio to look at the results. He took all the films away with him,saying that he was to have a meeting with the folks at RCA to discuss which photographs were to be used for Elvis product

He told me to contact RCA the following week and work out a deal with them. When I rang RCA i was told they were thrilled with the results but to contact the Colonel regarding payment. Back then I was pretty naive and believed his secretary when she told me The Colonel was out every time i rang. After a while it became clear he didn't want to talk business with me and I began to relize he had no intention to pay me for my work. I don't know if he still has the original films,but to this very day I've not seen a penny for them."*

Chick Crumpacker : I always disliked Parker.he was a very rude man and treated people like dirt. I'm sure if Elvis,who couldn't be bothered with business matters,wasn't aware of the situation.*



THE RED JACKET COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHS


This full length image (above) was used for the 'Too Much/Playing For Keeps (below) release,cropped and angle change.45rpm release RCA 47-6800, January 4, 1957. Strange that the Picture sleeve puts 'Playing For Keeps' as the lead title.












'All Shook Up/That's When Your Heartaches Begin ,45rpm released RCA 47-6870, March 22, 1957.
I have not seen this image in a full frame version. The colour on Elvis' jacket looks to be have been tweaked from the original red.


Just For You EP release: RCA EPA-4041, April 1957


Full frame version of the image used for the EP Just For You.

***

+




Full frame version.



TV Radio Mirror Magazine,December 1956. This image seems to be only found on the cover of this magazine,although attempts have been made to seperate the image of Elvis from Ed Sullivan and the background.








September TV Star Parade 1956

+
A Black and White version of the shot used in the magazine above

Chick Crumpacker contributed anoymously these liner notes for the LP Elvis LPM-1382. In July 1956 Chuck Crumper was promoted to post of Cordinator of Popular Artist and Repertoire planning,who reported to Joe Carlton RCA Victor's Pop A&R chief.



David B. Hecht


David B. Hecht


Any contributions would be most welcome.
Davide

+Thanks to Brian
**Elvis the official collector's edition No. 11
*Taken from an article from ETMAHM No. 22 March 1994,page 29/32
***Thanks to the Fool

Last edited by davide on Wed Aug 18, 2010 7:26 pm, edited 4 times in total.

God ! Really perfect

Thnx Davide

Awesome!

Another terrific topic, David!

However, I must insist that you start putting these in "All Elvis" -- they are more than just a collection of photos, you offer a living and accurate history. And they are a delight to read!

That said, it's cool to see some more verification of what I posted on FECC over 4 years ago:

Post Subject: 1956 Publicity Photo!
Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 8:52 pm
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=22893&p=272110&#p272110

We DO actually see those shoes in other photos. I'm almost certain it's the shoes Elvis wears in the pix after signing with RCA in NOvember 1955 and here they are on Feb 4, 1956 at the Dorsey show ...

Well Brian, a Presley expert I contacted off the MB regarding this query did not pan out, so I'm going to make an educated guess about this.

If we assume the photos were taken in NY, as evidenced by the guitar, and sometime close to the February 4, 1956 "Dorsey Brothers" appearance, based on those shoes:

Elvis likely had a photo session with David B. Hecht between January 26 (Thu) and February 4 (Sat).

1/26 was his first full day in NY, and he didn't leave town until Sunday morning, 2/5. This was the longest extended period of time Elvis ever spent in the "Big Apple," or at least in 1956.

DJC

My vote for the session date is Sunday (1-29). You could get a milkshake in New York on a Sunday.

The one question I have is this:

If the December 1, 1955 New York publicity shots by "PoPsie" were made at RCA New York, and Hecht's January 1956 images were created at Carnegie Hall, where did the guitar come from?

It's not Elvis' guitar, but the same instrument is used at both photo sessions.

Nice find on the location David

Chick Crumpacker : "RCA had a man on staff named David Hecht,who had a studio in Carnegie Hall

Getty Images caption provides 'CBS photo Archive' as the source for the caption for the Black and White images

A day or two after i'd finished the photo session with Elvis,Colonel Parker came to my studio to look at the results.
He took all the films away with him,

So if Hecht worked for / was hired by RCA and the Colonel took all his films away ...how can CBS end up with the copyrights of the B/W images?
Must we assume that CBS hired Hecht to take B/W images, while RCA instructed D. Hecht to take color images ..or was it perhaps the Colonel who
sold these (rejected) b/w negatives to CBS (which they never used)....

Thanks, Davide! Great as usual.

I have just a few additions.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

However, I must insist that you start putting these in "All Elvis" -- they are more than just a collection of photos, you offer a living and accurate history. And they are a delight to read!

At the very least I was thinking the other day that there should be a master thread that keeps links to all his threads, and then sticky that somewhere.

The one question I have is this:

If the December 1, 1955 New York publicity shots by "PoPsie" were made at RCA New York, and Hecht's January 1956 images were created at Carnegie Hall, where did the guitar come from?

It's not Elvis' guitar, but the same instrument is used at both photo sessions.

This came up before and I forget how/who resolved it but I recall somone saying they bought it in NY for the photo session in December because they didn't have one. If so it probably was kept by RCA and reused as needed.

OK I just did a search and that answer orignated here http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52311
with this but I don't know his source:

Hi all,

The shirt was Pink with maroon dots. Jacket , Dark grey & light pinkisch traces. (Both in private hands)
Elvis forgotten to bring his guitar.
So this guitar was bought in NY and later left behind.. in the studio (In private hands)
And it was the first photo shoot for RCA. No recordings made that day.

I do like the colorizing of Today, tomorrow...Very nice ! if every photo could be done in this way , I would buy them all over again !



sorry for the spelling but the info is correct.

Thanks for the comments,and to the Fool for the new and improved shots.

No one from New York City able to get the photo's of the Studio concerned?

Davide

Incredible David.

I also agree with the Doc, your topics should be in the 'All Elvis' section or you should even have your own section.

OK I just did a search and that answer orignated here

http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52311

But that answer only applies to the December 1955 visit.

OK I just did a search and that answer orignated here

http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52311

But that answer only applies to the December 1955 visit.

Right, didn't you acknowledge them as the same guitar? To my knowledge there was only the one D-18 with the D'Armond in it. Which other visit(s) were you asking about?

just Magnificent

Thanks davide

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Incredible David.

I also agree with the Doc, your topics should be in the 'All Elvis' section or you should even have your own section.

Great thread as always davide.

Here's a couple more

56012x-bripet56.jpg

scan-bripet56.jpg

I totally disagree with Doc and Bodie, the threads belong here with all their photos OR as Bodie suggests, we should have a special section for such threads.

Sincerely
Brian
http://www.brian56.dk

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Thanks Brian for the new shots

Davide

This photo can can only be seen here,on this December 1956 Vintage Magazine,TV Movie fan.

The same photo was later also on the cover of Popular Screen magazine.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

New one ?

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

New one ?

Thanks

The first one has been taken here


The second one is new to this topic ..thanks again

Some more info can be found here
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=55113

Davide

OK I just did a search and that answer orignated here

http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52311

But that answer only applies to the December 1955 visit.

Right, didn't you acknowledge them as the same guitar? To my knowledge there was only the one D-18 with the D'Armond in it. Which other visit(s) were you asking about?

From my post above:

The one question I have is this:

If the December 1, 1955 New York publicity shots by "PoPsie" were made at RCA New York, and Hecht's January 1956 images were created at Carnegie Hall, where did the guitar come from?

It's not Elvis' guitar, but the same instrument is used at both photo sessions.

From my post above:

The one question I have is this:

If the December 1, 1955 New York publicity shots by "PoPsie" were made at RCA New York, and Hecht's January 1956 images were created at Carnegie Hall, where did the guitar come from?

It's not Elvis' guitar, but the same instrument is used at both photo sessions.

Right, from my post above

This came up before and I forget how/who resolved it but I recall somone saying they bought it in NY for the photo session in December because they didn't have one. If so it probably was kept by RCA and reused as needed.

OK I just did a search and that answer orignated here http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52311
with this but I don't know his source:

Hi all,

The shirt was Pink with maroon dots. Jacket , Dark grey & light pinkisch traces. (Both in private hands)
Elvis forgotten to bring his guitar.
So this guitar was bought in NY and later left behind.. in the studio (In private hands)
And it was the first photo shoot for RCA. No recordings made that day.

I do like the colorizing of Today, tomorrow...Very nice ! if every photo could be done in this way , I would buy them all over again !



sorry for the spelling but the info is correct.

They likely brought it with them from RCA to Carnegie Hall for the shoot

They likely brought it with them from RCA to Carnegie Hall for the shoot

That's my assumption as well, but confirmation would be nice.

That sensational photos!! What unique beauty!! Thank you friends for these gems!

That sensational photos!! What unique beauty!! Thank you friends for these gems!

and thank you Dolly for reviving this post.....I love seeing properly researched posts...excellent stuff!