I've been an Elvis fan for years and never saw this pic...

That looks to be JD Sumner to the right. Must be a Gospel concert.

I have this dated as October 1962, attending a Blackwood Brothers appearance at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis.

I have this dated as October 1962, attending a Blackwood Brothers appearance at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis.

I think that's correct. There was a thread a long while back discussing this picture but I can't find it.

New one for me!

It's been posted here twice, the first time in 2008. FECC member The fool found it on an eBay auction page.

The copy you posted is slightly cropped when compared to the eBay example. Perhaps it was scanned from The Elvis Files, Volume 3: 1960-1964.

The photo is likely from late October 1962 at the National Quartet Convention, held at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis.

J.D. Sumner co-founded the NQC in 1956, and was still a member of the Blackwood Brothers in 1962 -- Elvis was probably watching backstage and asked to come out and take a bow.

Most ironically, RCA released an LP in July 1963 from this very convention -->




Billboard - July 27, 1963


Sadly, no introductions of Elvis are heard on the album.

Could the guy on the right be Jake Hess? I can see a resemblance with both men.

Could the guy on the right be Jake Hess? I can see a resemblance with both men.

The tall man in the gray suit is J.D. Sumner.

"Mr. Sumner, have you ever simulated a dive bomber with your voice? Just askin'....."

Fantastic photo and interesting information. Could Elvis have possibly sung anything that day / night? And if RCA recorded the show, well, over to Ernst.....

A good friend (and a Gospel quartet expert) points out that also visible in the background is James "Big Chief" Wetherington (bass singer for The Statesmen) and "Pop" Speer. Also downstage in the photo are the sound systems of both The Blackwood Brothers and The Statesmen.

"Mr. Sumner, have you ever simulated a dive bomber with your voice? Just askin'....."

And then, about 10 years later...