Biography

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1935 - 1957

July 2, 1956
The Jordanaires, a gospel quartet and popular country back-up group, begin working with Elvis in the studio during his 4th RCA session and soon begin touring with him. They will also appear with him in several films and remain his main back-up group until the late sixties.

August 1956
Elvis begins shooting his first movie, Love Me Tender on loan-out from Paramount to Twentieth Century Fox. It is originally titled The Reno Brothers, but is re-titled before its release to capitalize on Elvis’ sure-to-be-a-hit single from the soundtrack.

September 9, 1956

Elvis makes the first of three appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, the top television program of the era. Elvis attracts the highest ratings ever for any television variety show receiving 80% of the National Viewing Audience. Character actor Charles Laughton hosts in place of Sullivan, who is recuperating from a car accident.

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		Don't Be Cruel
		Introducing New Song
		Love Me Tender
		Ready Teddy

September 26, 1956
Elvis Presley Day is proclaimed in Tupelo, Mississippi. Elvis’ parents join him as he returns to the town of his birth as a big star. He performs two shows at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, the same fair at which he had performed at age 10. This time there are a hundred National Guardsmen surrounding the stage to control the crowds of excited fans.

By this time, souvenir merchandising using Elvis’ name, image, and likeness has become a big part of the Elvis phenomenon. Licensees will soon be producing as many as thirty different products including hats, T-shirts, jeans, kerchiefs, sneakers, shirts, blouses, belts, purses, billfolds, wallets, charm bracelets, necklaces, magazines, gloves, bookends, a statue, lipstick, cologne, stuffed hound dogs, stationery, sweaters, crockery, and more. Elvis and the Colonel are to blaze new trails in the area of celebrity merchandising. This is to be forever a part of the marketing of Elvis Presley, feeding a never-ending demand.

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		Interview with Vernon and Gladys Presley
		Interview with Elvis Presley

October 28, 1956
Elvis makes his second of three appearances on Ed Sullivan.

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	Love Me Tender
	Love Me

November 15, 1956
Elvis’ first movie, Love Me Tender premieres at the Paramount Theater in New York City, opening nationwide in the days following. It becomes a smash hit, and the critics’ reviews aren’t bad for his acting in this melodrama, which is set in the American South of the 1800’s Civil War era. The film has Elvis performing several songs, of course.

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Love Me Tender

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