Wed Jun 24, 2015 3:26 am
Wed Jun 24, 2015 3:53 am
Wed Jun 24, 2015 5:40 am
ElvisAronPresley1935 wrote:I've seen this photo numerous times on the web but unfortunately, no description about it. It's one of my favourite early elvis photos. The tall and greasy pompadour, long sideburns and high collar are a visual representation of how wildly this young man dressed in the early 50s. I assume it dates back to 1953-1954.
Wed Jun 24, 2015 3:15 pm
Thu Sep 24, 2015 5:53 am
drjohncarpenter wrote:ElvisAronPresley1935 wrote:I've seen this photo numerous times on the web but unfortunately, no description about it. It's one of my favourite early elvis photos. The tall and greasy pompadour, long sideburns and high collar are a visual representation of how wildly this young man dressed in the early 50s. I assume it dates back to 1953-1954.
Elvis "put his cat clothes on," and wore them proudly. There are photos from both 1953 and 1954 where we see those long sideburns, although the ones from 1953 also show him with a perm, a la 27 year-old movie hero Tony Curtis. It is not a casual shot but a publicity portrait. My guess is this was taken circa April-May 1954, when he was trying to get something going as a singer, despite the indifference to date of Sun Records owner Sam Phillips.
At that time there was an incident which stayed with him forever, although the story got convoluted after fame hit. I refer to the now-legendary "go back to driving a truck" comment often attributed as coming from the Grand Ole Opry's Jim Denny, after Elvis' October 2, 1954 debut. It was actually from a previous rejection a few months earlier, where the statement was made by someone else.
That awful rebuke occurred when Presley joined local Memphis musician Eddie Bond and his group at the Hi Hat Club for a couple of numbers. The date may have been Saturday, May 15, 1954, and Elvis had girlfriend Dixie Locke along with him. He never forgot Bond's curt dismissal. A few years later, traveling by train in late April 1957 to Culver City to film "Jailhouse Rock," Elvis mentioned to pal George Klein that Bond had told him to stick to driving a truck, because he would never make it as a singer. "I wonder what Eddie Bond thinks now, GK," he said. "Man, that sonaofbitch broke my heart."
Sat Sep 26, 2015 6:04 pm
Sun Sep 27, 2015 12:16 am
ElvisAronPresley1935 wrote:Thanks for the feedback doc! This is definitely a professional shot and thanks to this ad we can be sure this picture was taken pre '55.
What I don't understand is why in some newspapers ad they "photoshopped" his sideburns.
Mon Sep 28, 2015 3:08 am
Tue Sep 29, 2015 4:46 am
ElvisAronPresley1935 wrote:To make him more "suitable" for the public right?
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