THE END OF A GOLDEN PERIOD, THE BEATLES ENTER THE SCENE
On January 30, 1964, Elvis purchased the Potomac, Franklin Roosevelt’s former presidential yacht, for a total of $55,000. He intends to donate it to the March of Dimes for use as a national shrine (FDR suffered from polio, the main disease fought by the March of Dimes). The costs of maintaining the yacht were prohibitive, so the March of Dimes Foundation declined the gift. Elvis’s attempts to give it to the 7th Coast Guard Auxiliary Miami District also do not work. Finally, on February 13, he presents the yacht as a gift to St. Jude Children’s Hospital Research in Memphis so they can use it to raise funds as they see fit. The ceremony takes place in Long Beach, California, on February 14, with actor and hospital founder Danny Thomas.
In January 1964, the Beatles appeared for the first time on the small screen with the Ed Sullivan Show. Like Elvis in 1956, this group from Liverpool has come to conquer the American market. The truth is that it doesn’t cost them much. For that year, Elvis, who is currently focused on his films, being considered the highest paid actor of the moment, practically did not make quality singles or albums, which closed a period of Presley’s dominance both in the US and in the United Kingdom.
THE FILM KISSIN COUSINS ARRIVES AT Nº11
In February 1964 Elvis began filming his 16th film, “Roustabout“, co-starring Hollywood legend Barbara Stanwyck. The film produced by Hal B. Wallis of Paramount Pictures, tells the story of a traveling circus. “Kissin’ Cousins” premiered nationally on March 6, 1964. It is one of the poorest quality films of his career, even though at the box office it manages to reach number #11 and it would soon begin to descend The reason for the low quality is caused by the numerous production costs of the film Viva Las Vegas. To avoid another disaster, Col. Tom Parker hires producer Sam Katzman, known for controlling expenses to the smallest detail (the control was both money and time to make the film) thus guaranteeing good profits.
Unfortunately, these cuts clearly had an impact on the film, which did not seek to give Elvis a role and a film that would give him fame, but was only a purely economic vehicle. For its part, the soundtrack, also lacking in quality, surprisingly manages to reach number 6 on the Billboard list. At the same time, Elvis met Larry Geller (he would become Elvis’s hairdresser and confidant) on April 30, 1964 and a time of deep spiritual study began.
Information provided by Club Elvis Spain http://www.clubelvis.org
Access the Complete Biography of Elvis Presley in the following link of Elvis Radio 24h
https://elvisradio24h.com/tag/biography/
We remind you that you can also listen to Elvis Radio 24 hours on your mobile phone by downloading our free applications for Android in the Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=elvis.radio24h and for iPhone in your Apple Store https://apps.apple.com/app/elvis-radio-24h/id6444257119. Thank you very much
