ELVIS PRESLEY THE SCANDALIZER
Elvis, The Scandalizer ….When he made his first appearance on a Phoenix stage, a sold-out concert at the Arizona State Fairgrounds, Elvis Presley was the most popular rockabilly singer on the planet.
It was June 9, 1956. “Heartbreak Hotel,” her first single since signing with RCA Records, spent its sixth week of seven at #1 on the Billboard Top 100. Four days before performing at the fairgrounds, Presley shocked the nation as he belted his way through a fiery version of “Hound Dog” on “The Milton Berle Show.”
The sexual energy of her pelvic gyrations inspired the New York Daily News to say that pop culture had “…reached its lowest depths,” dismissing the performance as having been “…tinged with the kind of animalism that should be confined to dives and brothels.”
The 5,000 tickets available to see the 21-year-old’s first date in Phoenix sold out within two hours at $1.50 each. In the 1950s there was no stage at the fairgrounds; Presley performed where rodeos and car races were held.
An advertisement in The Arizona Republic promised “…a brand new variety show” with opening sets by the Flaim Sextet, Miss Jackie Little, Frankie Connors, Phil Maraquin and the Jordanaires Quartet.
Ray Odom, the concert promoter who also flew Presley to Tucson the following night, had erected a chain-link fence to prevent fans from going onstage, as girls had torn his clothes and pulled his hair at other concerts.
Elvis Presley rode on stage in a green Cadillac.
Odom: “…we were surrounded by young girls. When Elvis was singing, they would pull each other’s hair and ears.”
A review in The Arizona Republic the next morning referred to the evening’s events as “…Elvis Presley sang before 5,000 screaming teenagers at the state fairgrounds last night guttural rock’n’roll songs, swaying and violent spasms.”
Elvis Presley performed a 30-minute set, singing “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Long Tall Sally,” “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” and “Blue Suede Shoes,” among others, for “..the hundreds of female admirers lying on a wire mesh fence about 25 meters from the platform.”
“…the Vaseline melted and Presley’s long, curly hair hung in his face. His dark blue suit and shirt were wrinkled.”
The set ended with several choruses of “Hound Dog,” during which “…police warned the teens away from the fences as Presley left the platform and knelt toward the bleachers.”
The man knew how to work a crowd.
The next morning, when Odom returned to the fairgrounds to set up shop, the groundskeeper said, “Ray, I’ve never seen anything like this. This morning, when we walked into the club, we found over 60 pairs of underwear nailed to the chain link fence.”
The Phoenix Gazette also covered the concert in a column by Bobbie Johnston titled “…Presley’s performance is disgusting.” “…the novelty of his popularity is strange and frightening, but it is there nonetheless,” he wrote, clearly siding with “the angry and disgruntled” who called her to let her know that the singer’s “quirky style” is not appreciated by the older generation.
“…the sight of Mr. Presley wailing his unintelligible lyrics in an inappropriate voice during a display of primitive, hard-to-describe movements is enough to upset parents,” Johnston wrote. “His entire career seems to be based on rudeness that no teenager should ever witness. It’s good to know that many of the parents in the audience seemed to fear that such displays might spread and grow. His performance can be summed up briefly: little talent, bad taste.”
Sources: Nigel Patterson Elvisinfonet.com , Ed Masley azcentral.com
Information provided by Elvis Shop Argentina. https://www.facebook.com/elvis.shop.argentina/
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