April 1956 show

I got these two photos that I believe to be from April 1956. But where and when?

5604xx-1-bripet56.jpg

5604xx-2-bripet56.jpg

One of the photos has Houston texted at the bottom but the microphone is not the one used in Houston.

I believe he bought the jacket he wears in the photos above and a similar white one plus the mandarin-collared shirts during his stay in Los Angeles the last days of March while in town for his screen-test or during his stay in San Diego for the MIlton Berle show and the shows on April 4 and 5 as we see him wear any of these for the first time in San Diego.

The two shots are most likely from the same show which indicates that they are from April as Bill would have worn a jacket and butterfly if from May onwards. Five dates on the April tour are possibilities.
April 11, El Paso, Tx.
April 12, Albuquerque, NM.
April 18, Tulsa, Ok.
April 19, Oklahoma City, Ok.
On all other dates we either have photos or descriptions of the clothes Elvis wore that don't fit in with the two photos above.

Anybody got any ideas?

Sincerely
Brian
www.brian56.dk

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I got these two photos that I believe to be from April 1956. But where and when?

5604xx-1-bripet56.jpg

5604xx-2-bripet56.jpg

One of the photos has Houston texted at the bottom but the microphone is not the one used in Houston.

I believe he bought the jacket he wears in the photos above and a similar white one plus the mandarin-collared shirts during his stay in Los Angeles the last days of March while in town for his screen-test or during his stay in San Diego for the MIlton Berle show and the shows on April 4 and 5 as we see him wear any of these for the first time in San Diego.

The two shots are most likely from the same show which indicates that they are from April as Bill would have worn a jacket and butterfly if from May onwards. Five dates on the April tour are possibilities.
April 11, El Paso, Tx.
April 12, Albuquerque, NM.
April 18, Tulsa, Ok.
April 19, Oklahoma City, Ok.
On all other dates we either have photos or descriptions of the clothes Elvis wore that don't fit in with the two photos above.

Anybody got any ideas?

Sincerely
Brian
http://www.brian56.dk

Cool stuff. I'll jump in and brainstorm it with you later. Need coffee right now.

Wasn't this one said to be the 19th in Oklahoma City?
If so that narrows them to Tulsa, El Paso or Albuquerque.


If we assume for the time being that these others we never nailed were Albuquerque that leaves Tulsa or El Paso



What's interesting in the two sets is the precence of the Fender amp onstage and the lack of a floor tom for DJ. They suggest to me dates very close in time.

Yeah, but he did two shows in Oklahoma City and we can't see anything in both photos to compare.
As for the "Albuquerque" photos, I still don't believe them to be just that. If you by tom means one of the large drums then the same set-up appears in 1955 as well.

Sincerely
Brian
www.brian56.dk

Yeah, but he did two shows in Oklahoma City and we can't see anything in both photos to compare.
As for the "Albuquerque" photos, I still don't believe them to be just that. If you by tom means one of the large drums then the same set-up appears in 1955 as well.

Sincerely
Brian
http://www.brian56.dk

Yes, the set up was common because his original floor tom had been stolen. He's often seen with a white one as a replacement. I'm talking about the odds of the set up though and the presence and position of the Fender amp that was not thiers. It suggests to me a close time frame with the same acts for each of the dates.
Like I said, we never nailed the Albuquerque date but I was just proceeding from an assumption. We are running out of sates thay can be though.

I've added this to the mix that Cristi resurrected

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As far as I've been able to find out Fontana's floor tom was stolen sometime between September 2 and 26, 1955 so the "Albuquerque" photos could still be from the fall of 1955.
The amp could be an indicator. I searched my late 55 and early 56 photos without being able to locate this specific amp but we're missing photos from that period.

As for the last photo posted (filename 063.jpg) we should be able to narrow this down a bit. The band wore those shirts from at least Feb 26 and up to April 21. After Las Vegas they wore jackets and butterflies at all shows as far as I can tell.
Looking only to which shows we already have photos from I came up with the following dates including all of February just in case.
Feb: 5-9, 14-16, 20-22
Mar: 14-15, 18-20, 22
Apr: 11-12, 15, 18
Please take a look at the dates to see if I missed any.

If we look at which ones are thaetres we can rule out Feb 5-9, 16, 20-21 as well as Mar 14, 15, 22 which leaves us with:
Feb: 14, 15, 22
Mar: 18, 19, 20
Apr: 11, 12, 15, 18

Sincerely
Brian
http://www.brian56.dk

rule out February, the guitar doesn't show up until March

It's not march 20th, this is Bell Aud


It's not March 19th, this is township auditorium (something about it though looks familiar)


might be March 18th Charleston County Hall

rule out February, the guitar doesn't show up until March

It's not march 20th, this is Bell Aud


It's not March 19th, this is township auditorium (something about it though looks familiar)


might be March 18th Charleston County Hall

I wouldn't rule out Feb completely James, Elvis had the guitar with him in Charlotte on the 10th posing backstage.

Sincerely
Brian
www.brian56.dk

Brian and Jim...you're amazing!! Thank you for all your work, c'mon, another step and we'll have another date covered.
To me, the photo looks more like March than April, maibe March 18 is the answer.

I wouldn't rule out Feb completely James, Elvis had the guitar with him in Charlotte on the 10th posing backstage.

Sincerely
Brian
http://www.brian56.dk

Show me the picture. I haven't seen it in any before March 17 in New York

There's this photo I believe is the 9th with Bill with a Martin, unfortunately there isn't enough detail showing to determine if its his D-18 or even a D-18. There's a similar wear pattern but there's a capo on it which suggests it is at least used by someone else that really plays it.


Hmm, I had some other shots that ruled out Tulsa and questionably San Antonio in April but I must have messed up the edits.

The stage is not quite right and a bit too far out for San Antonio but the balcony is similar
http://scottymoore.net/sanantonioAud.html

Not Tulsa's fairground Pavilion



Not likely El Paso
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kingsandpriestsmm/5170583284/

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James I agree that both Tulsa and El Paso are out of question.
San Antonio could be right but it's hard to tell.

Here's the photo from Feb 10 backstage.

560210-Charlotte-b02-bripet56.jpg

I'm not so good at guitars but I think this is the one he used in March and onwards?

Sincerely
Brian
http://www.brian56.dk

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James I agree that both Tulsa and El Paso are out of question.
San Antonio could be right but it's hard to tell.

Here's the photo from Feb 10 backstage.

560210-Charlotte-b02-bripet56.jpg

I'm not so good at guitars but I think this is the one he used in March and onwards?

Sincerely
Brian
http://www.brian56.dk

I've seen that one but I thought it was backstage in New York in March. The shirt though looks like the one from Charlotte. What's interesting too is the lack of the knot in the string strap. If it's the same guitar as the one in the photo above from Spartanburg I think it might belong, or have belonged to Charlie Louvin. They were on the tour in February and though I can't find a good photo in any great detail there is this that shows him from that era with a capo on a D-28

Mother Maybelle used a capo too but she was famous for playing an L5, one of the sisters may have had it also but none are seen playing a Martin on the 12th
http://scottymoore.net/norfolk.html

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Also the jacket in the Charlotte photo is different from the on eh eused on the two last Dorsey shows. This one has three buttons on the sleeves while the one from the Dorsey shows has four.

Sincerely
Brian
www.brian56.dk

Looking only to which shows we already have photos from I came up with the following dates including all of February just in case.
Feb: 5-9, 14-16, 20-22
Mar: 14-15, 18-20, 22
Apr: 11-12, 15, 18
Please take a look at the dates to see if I missed any.

If we look at which ones are thaetres we can rule out Feb 5-9, 16, 20-21 as well as Mar 14, 15, 22 which leaves us with:
Feb: 14, 15, 22
Mar: 18, 19, 20
Apr: 11, 12, 15, 18

Sincerely
Brian
http://www.brian56.dk

Summing up the above we can rule out March 19-20 and April 11 and 18 as the venues look wrong so now we're down to:
Feb: 14, 15, 22
Mar: 18
Apr: 12, 15

San Antonio could fit in as seen in this photo from 2010.

San Antonio Municipal Auditorium 2010.jpg

Sincerely
Brian
www.brian56.dk

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Mar: 18, 19, 20
Apr: 11, 12, 15, 18

Brian, are these not the correct possible remaining dates for 063.jpg?

March 18 (Sun) - Charleston, NC, County Hall
March 19 (Mon) - Columbia, SC, Township Auditorium
March 20 (Tue) - Augusta, GA, Bell Auditorium

April 11 (Wed) - El Paso, TX, Coliseum
April 12 (Thu) - Albuquerque, NM, Armory
April 17 (Tue) - Waco, TX, Heart O' Texas Coliseum
April 18 (Wed) - Tulsa, OK, Fairgrounds Pavilion
April 19 (Thu) - Oklahoma City, OK, Municipal Auditorium

One thing interesting about the photo is Elvis' guitar is uncovered, Scotty is wearing white slacks, and his sleeves are rolled way up, indicating it might have been a bit warm.

Mar: 18, 19, 20
Apr: 11, 12, 15, 18

Brian, are these not the correct possible remaining dates for 063.jpg?

March 18 (Sun) - Charleston, NC, County Hall
March 19 (Mon) - Columbia, SC, Township Auditorium
March 20 (Tue) - Augusta, GA, Bell Auditorium

April 11 (Wed) - El Paso, TX, Coliseum
April 12 (Thu) - Albuquerque, NM, Armory
April 17 (Tue) - Waco, TX, Heart O' Texas Coliseum
April 18 (Wed) - Tulsa, OK, Fairgrounds Pavilion
April 19 (Thu) - Oklahoma City, OK, Municipal Auditorium

One thing interesting about the photo is Elvis' guitar is uncovered, Scotty is wearing white slacks, and his sleeves are rolled way up, indicating it might have been a bit warm.

I'm not quite sure which dates you mean Doc. The ones in red above your question or all the ones above your question or the ones below your question.

I still think Feb could be an option, although it would be my last guess but here's the dates I think could still be possibilities:
Feb: 14, 15, 22
Mar: 18
Apr: 12, 15.

Sincerely
Brian
www.brian56.dk

I'm not quite sure which dates you mean Doc.

I mean the ones fully written out in my previous post. The ones in red seem incomplete or erroneous.

For example, we have a photo from April 15 on James' site:



http://www.scottymoore.net/sanantonioAud.html

Elvis' acoustic guitar has his leather cover on, and we can see the stage curtain is dark. In the photo we're investigating, the curtain is light, and the guitar is not covered.

So I question why you think April 15 is viable. The other dates I list do not have photos, and I have not been able to find data or images of the inside of the venues yet.

I omit the February dates because I thought you guys eliminated them from the list. In any event, I'd be surprised if Scotty Moore would be playing in a shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and no jacket, during winter.

Last edited by drjohncarpenter on Sat Jan 15, 2011 5:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm not quite sure which dates you mean Doc.

I mean the ones fully written out in my previous post. The ones in red seem incomplete or erroneous.

For example, we have a photo from April 15 on James' site:



http://www.scottymoore.net/sanantonioAud.html

Elvis' acoustic guitar has his leather cover on, and we can see the stage curtain is dark. In the photo we're investigating, the curtain is light, and the guitar is not covered.

So I question why you think April 15 is viable. The other dates I list do not have photos, and I have not been able to find data or images of the inside of the venues yet.

I omit the February dates because I thought you guys eliminated them from the list. In any event, I'd be surprised if Scotty Moore would be playing in a shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and no jacket, during winter.

I would never rule out a photo because Scotty has his sleeves rolled up during winter-time. There are lots of photos of the guys wearing only shirts during late 55 early 56 although they don't seem to have their sleeves rolled up. It could have been a warm winters day or it could have been very hot inside the venue. That would be the same as omitting a photo from the August tour of Florida because they're wearing shirt, butterfly AND a jacket on a hot summer day in Florida. So I would not omit the February dates although I find them least likely as I stated in one of my posts above.

As for the March dates James posted photos of the inside of Township Auditorium (March 19) and Bell Auditorium (March 20) above which I think clearly shows that the photo is not from either Columbia nor Augusta.
El Paso (April 11) and Tulsa (April 18) are also ruled out thanks to photos from the inside provided by James above.
Waco (April 17) is also ruled out as Elvis wore a black suit and a red high-necked sports shirt. It's a bit hard to tell which shirt Elvis wears in the photo. It could be the bright red shirt (mandarin-collared?) he wore in Detroit in May but when the review mentions a black suit I reckon they mean both jacket and trousers or at least his jacket and it's clearly not a black jacket in the photo. So I think we can rule out Waco as well.

Then there's the question about the guitar. As you correctly pointed out Elvis plays the guitar without the leather cover but if you look in the lower left corner you'll find the leather-covered guitar onstage as well. Elvis could have played one of the guitars at the start of the show, then after breaking all strings he put it down to sing without it and picked up the other one to finish the show. Maybe not likely but at least a possibility. Why else would he have both guitars with him onstage.

I don't agree that the curtain in San Antonio is dark as you can see in the other photos from the Municipal Auditorium on James' site. However, there is a dark pattern on the curtain that is clearly not visible in "our" photo so I think you're right in not mentioning San Antonio as a possibility.

Looking at James' site from Waycross (Feb 22) I think we can rule out that date as well. http://www.scottymoore.net/waycross.html

And Oklahoma City (April 19) can be ruled out as this photo shows.

Oklahoma City-Municipal Aud-02.jpg

This I think leaves us with:
Feb: 14, 15
Mar: 18
Apr: 12
with probably March 18 as the most likely possibility.

I just emailed someone from Albuquerque (April 12) so maybe we can soon rule out or confirm that date for this photo as well as for the photos above with hayballs and cactii on stage.

We're closing in on this one.

Sincerely
Brian
www.brian56.dk

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Then there's the question about the guitar. As you correctly pointed out Elvis plays the guitar without the leather cover but if you look in the lower left corner you'll find the leather-covered guitar onstage as well.

The image is too nondescript to be certain on that item, but I can say I have never seen a guitar of Elvis' left flat on the floor of any concert stage.

However, there is a dark pattern on the curtain that is clearly not visible in "our" photo so I think you're right in not mentioning San Antonio as a possibility.

Cool.

Then there's the question about the guitar. As you correctly pointed out Elvis plays the guitar without the leather cover but if you look in the lower left corner you'll find the leather-covered guitar onstage as well.

The image is too nondescript to be certain on that item, but I can say I have never seen a guitar of Elvis' left flat on the floor of any concert stage.

Here you can see a bit more of the guitar. I don't think there's no doubt about it being Elvis' leather-covered guiter.

560214 15 22 0318 0412.jpg

Sincerely
Brian
www.brian56.dk

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The larger image is helpful. Thanks.

[ If it's the same guitar as the one in the photo above from Spartanburg I think it might belong, or have belonged to Charlie Louvin. They were on the tour in February and though I can't find a good photo in any great detail there is this that shows him from that era with a capo on a D-28

Mother Maybelle used a capo too but she was famous for playing an L5, one of the sisters may have had it also but none are seen playing a Martin on the 12th
http://scottymoore.net/norfolk.html

Unfortunately it looks like chances to verify that are now gone. Sadly, Charlie died Wednesday of pancreatic cancer at age 83.

And Oklahoma City (April 19) can be ruled out as this photo shows.

We can probably still rule it out but not because of this photo. This is not the stage they played in that Auditorium, though it is in the building see http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60350

I'll support you guys!!

Keep up the good work, very, very interesting topic!

Ed