Podcast: Today In Elvis History

  • February 1st in Elvis History

    Today in Elvis History
    Today in Elvis History
    February 1st in Elvis History
    Loading
    /

    It's February first, and on this day in 1968, Lisa Marie Presley was born to Elvis and Priscilla at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis. The baby arrived at 5:01 p.m., weighing six pounds, fifteen ounces, and measuring 20 inches long. Elvis, nervously pacing the halls with family and friends, waited in a special lounge arranged just for them. So anxious was he that his grandmother had to remind him *he* wasn't the one having the baby. Memphis police, paid by Elvis, stood guard at the hospital for the next four days. Lisa Marie’s middle name honored Colonel Parker’s wife, Marie, and Elvis affectionately called his daughter “Buttonhead” and “Yisa.” It was the beginning of a bond that would become one of the most cherished in Elvis’s life.

  • January 31st in Elvis History

    Today in Elvis History
    Today in Elvis History
    January 31st in Elvis History
    Loading
    /

    It's January thirty-first, and on this day in 1955… Scotty Moore—Elvis’s lead guitarist and first manager—sat down to tally the group’s January earnings from their whirlwind month of touring. The total came to $2,083.63, a sizable haul for a band still on the rise. After expenses, Elvis took home 50 percent, while Moore and bassist Bill Black each received 25 percent. It was a glimpse of things to come, as the band’s momentum—and Elvis’s stardom—were only just beginning to snowball.

  • January 30th in Elvis History

    Today in Elvis History
    Today in Elvis History
    January 30th in Elvis History
    Loading
    /

    It's January thirtieth, and on this day in 1956… Elvis Presley walked into RCA’s New York studio at 155 East 24th Street for his first official recording session with the label that had just signed him. With the pressure high and RCA executives skeptical about whether “Heartbreak Hotel” would succeed, producer Steve Sholes made a strategic call. He had Elvis cut a cover of Carl Perkins’s “Blue Suede Shoes” as insurance—though he promised Sun Records he wouldn’t release it as a single to protect Perkins’s version.

    Backed by his regular band and joined by pianist Shorty Long—on break from a Broadway musical—Elvis recorded four songs between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. That studio session not only marked a key moment in his leap to a national audience, but also planted the seeds for one of his most iconic tunes.

  • January 29th in Elvis History

    Today in Elvis History
    Today in Elvis History
    January 29th in Elvis History
    Loading
    /

    It's January twenty-ninth, and on this day in 1975… Elvis Presley was rushed to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis after Linda Thompson found him struggling to breathe in their Graceland bedroom. Though the official explanation given to the public cited hypertension and a liver issue, the real reason was far more serious—Dr. George Nichopoulos, known as “Dr. Nick,” was attempting to manage Elvis’s escalating use of prescription medication. Elvis was admitted to the eighteenth floor of the Madison East Wing, where Linda stayed by his side. The two passed time watching newborn babies in the hospital nursery through a closed-circuit television system.

  • January 28th in Elvis History

    Today in Elvis History
    Today in Elvis History
    January 28th in Elvis History
    Loading
    /

    It's January 28, and on this day in 1956… Elvis Presley made his national television debut on CBS’s *Stage Show*, hosted by the Dorsey Brothers. Rehearsals took place that morning at Nola Studios, and the show went live at 8:00 p.m. from the CBS Studios in New York. Although winter weather and Elvis’s then-limited fame kept the studio audience small, the moment marked a pivotal turning point in his career. With slicked-back hair, a pink jacket, and raw energy, Elvis delivered a performance that would soon launch him into national stardom.

  • January 27th in Elvis History

    Today in Elvis History
    Today in Elvis History
    January 27th in Elvis History
    Loading
    /

    It's January twenty-seventh, and on this day in 1971… Elvis Presley kicked off a new engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas with a major change that would define his stage presence for the rest of his career. For the first time, instead of walking onstage to the upbeat intro from “Baby I Don’t Care,” the King made his entrance to a powerful, orchestral rendition of “Also Sprach Zarathustra”—the dramatic theme famously associated with *2001: A Space Odyssey.* From this night forward, that thunderous buildup would become the unmistakable signal that Elvis was about to take the stage.

  • January 26th in Elvis History

    Today in Elvis History
    Today in Elvis History
    January 26th in Elvis History
    Loading
    /

    It's January twenty-sixth, and on this day in 1970… Elvis Presley opened a four-week engagement at the International Hotel's showroom in Las Vegas with an invitation-only performance that marked a turning point in his stage career. The star-studded audience included the likes of Fats Domino and Zsa Zsa Gabor, and the reviews were glowing—*The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner* boldly declared, “The new decade will belong to him.”

    This performance was historic not only for the crowd it drew but for the debut of Elvis’s now-iconic one-piece jumpsuits, designed by Bill Belew and made by Ice Capades Costumes. The new look offered him more freedom of movement on stage, and he took full advantage of it, weaving karate moves into his performance and setting the tone for the high-energy Vegas shows that would define the 1970s Elvis era.

  • January 25th in Elvis History

    Today in Elvis History
    Today in Elvis History
    January 25th in Elvis History
    Loading
    /

    It's January twenty-fifth, and on this day in 1957… Colonel Tom Parker announced a new deal with MGM for Elvis Presley's third film, tentatively titled *The Rock*. Parker called it “the biggest deal ever made in Hollywood,” though the terms were modest: $250,000 and fifty percent of the net profits. Behind the scenes, the message to producer Hal Wallis was clear—and the project soon evolved into *Jailhouse Rock*, one of Elvis’s most iconic films.

    The movie would go on to produce some rare collector’s items, including a picture sleeve for the fictional Vince Everett single “Treat Me Nice” backed with “Baby I Don’t Care,” released on the made-up Laurel Records label. Only around 100 of those sleeves were ever printed. And in a small but clever detail, a poster on the office wall of Geneva Records in the film bears the image of a fictional singer named Mickey Alba—whose face, upon closer look, is none other than Elvis himself.

  • January 24th in Elvis History

    Today in Elvis History
    Today in Elvis History
    January 24th in Elvis History
    Loading
    /

    It's January twenty-fourth, and on this day in 1965… a rushed and unusual recording session took place in Nashville for the soundtrack to Elvis’s next film, *Harum Scarum*. With his usual band unavailable due to the tight schedule, producer Sam Katzman pulled together a group of Nashville session pros, including Charlie McCoy from the Grand Ole Opry on guitar, Henry Strzelecki on bass, and Kenny Buttrey on drums. To capture the film’s Middle Eastern theme, a flutist and an oboist were added to the mix. Elvis, returning to the studio after an eight-month hiatus, seemed distracted and disinterested. The session wrapped after just four hours, with an exhausted King of Rock 'n' Roll completing 38 drawn-out takes of “Shake That Tambourine.”

  • January 23rd in Elvis History

    Today in Elvis History
    Today in Elvis History
    January 23rd in Elvis History
    Loading
    /

    It's January 23rd, and on this day in 1976… Elvis Presley returned to Memphis to prepare for one of the most unique recording sessions of his career—this one not in a studio, but inside his own home at Graceland. With RCA setting up a mobile recording truck on the property, Elvis had the furniture cleared from the Jungle Room, the den behind the kitchen, and cables were run in to transform the space into a temporary studio. This marked the beginning of the now-legendary Graceland sessions, which would yield some of the most soulful and personal recordings of his later years.

    It's January 23rd, and on this day in 1957… Steve Sholes, the RCA producer who first signed Elvis, had booked a session at Radio Recorders in Hollywood with the goal of getting a hit single from the movie *Loving You*. But Elvis had other ideas. Instead of sticking to the plan, he pivoted and recorded “I Beg of You” and “One Night.” Thanks to Sholes’ trust in Elvis's instincts—letting him control the creative direction—the session produced two standout tracks that captured the raw energy of early Elvis at his finest.