At a time when the 75th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birthday is being celebrated, the publication of a lavishly illustrated book, Elvis 1956 vividly captures the year Elvis meteorically rose from obscurity to superstardom featuring Alfred Wertheimer's iconic photographs of Elvis -- some never-before published or rarely seen -- and his recollections.

The book serves as the exhibition catalog for a three-year nationally traveling Smithsonian show called Elvis at 21, premiering January 8 at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, and traveling to The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., later this year.

Wertheimer had access that would never again be equaled -- onstage, at home and in transit with Elvis. We see Elvis before he became the king, and how Elvis in one year could sit alone unrecognized at a railroad lunch counter and, later the same year, be mobbed by admirers, and have a stunning impact on pop culture internationally and the emerging popularity of rock and roll.

For a new generation of Elvis fans, the book provides an inexpensive edition of Wertheimer's memorable photos with spectacular tritone printing of the king's sensational impact in 1956 on the emerging popularity of rock and roll --with essays by Chris Murray, Director of the Govinda Gallery and Smithsonian scholars, including Amy Henderson, a cultural historian at the National Portrait Gallery focusing on the history of music and American celebrity culture. She colorfully describes how Elvis "altered the beat of everyday life."

Elvis at 21, the accompanying exhibition of Wertheimer's photos, is organized collaboratively by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and the Govinda Gallery, sponsored nationally by The History Channel.

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