Submitted by: Merle Temple

As the 32nd anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley approaches on August 16, 2009, a look back to how it all began might enlighten those who only knew Elvis the icon, not the human being who changed the landscape of popular music.

Rock and roll was young and innocent in 1956, but it was different, and more than a little threatening to the status quo. I grew up watching my older cousins practice for the sock hops featured on the local television station in Tupelo, Mississippi, and became a student of this new music and the records of one particular performer.

Each September, “the event” of the year took place in Tupelo. The Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show was a huge social and business happening in our rural, agricultural based economy. Marching bands from some 40 to 50 schools lead a parade kicking off four days of rides, games, chills, thrills, and pure escapism from the realities of every day life.

On September 26, 1956, the fair gained national attention when the reigning King of this new genre, Elvis Presley, came home to his birthplace of Tupelo. By the time Elvis hit Tupelo like a tornado, I was a hopeless, eight-year-old rock-a-billy. My mother, a teller then at a local bank, purchased a 75 cent child’s ticket to take me to my first concert. What an introduction to music!

Elvis had been with RCA for less than a year at the time. He had just rocked the nation with his appearance on the Ed Sullivan show on September 9 before 54 million viewers, a staggering number at that time. His career was in overdrive when he arrived for “Elvis Presley Day” in Tupelo and a parade in his honor. “Don’t be Cruel” and “Hound Dog” were running one and two on the national charts. The Tupelo Journal headline summed it up, “Tupelo Ain’t Nothing But A Town Agog.” Everything stopped in Tupelo that day.

Elvis returned to the same fairgrounds where he took second place and $5 in a talent contest at age 10 in 1945 with his rendition of “Old Shep”, a sad song about a boy and his dog that we all could relate to. When he was a kid of humble means in Tupelo, a ticket to the fair was everything and often beyond reach. Now, he was escorted by local police and 40 state troopers sent to control the crowds for an afternoon and evening show. His parents were with him and he wore a shirt made by his Mother. The Mayor and the Governor of Mississippi met him and gave him the keys to the city and state in a ceremony at the afternoon concert. The fair authority paid Elvis $10,000 which he then gave to the city to build a youth center near the house where he was born. I would later attend dances at Elvis’ youth center.

By the time the evening show approached, Elvis fever had reached epidemic proportions in Tupelo. Officials feared that there could be a repeat of the Jacksonville concert in July where his clothes were torn off, and fans chased Elvis to the dressing room where he had to be rescued. The National Guard was called in to assist local and state police who couldn’t handle a crowd larger than the population of Tupelo. 20,000+ fans jammed the fairgrounds as my Mother and I found our way to some pretty decent seats in the makeshift arena of grandstands and folding chairs.

It was a long time ago, but I can still remember the electricity in the air. Mother gave me a dollar, huge money then, to buy an 8×10 glossy picture of Elvis from Colonel Parker who, true to his carny roots, was hawking over-priced photos of “his boy”. The young girls in their poodle skirts in front of us began chanting, “We want Elvis, We want Elvis”. Even when the Jordanaires came out as a warm-up act, the chant continued until everyone gave up and the man strode on stage. Then, real pandemonium broke loose.

It is difficult to remember every detail of something that took place long ago, but I remember how thrilled I was. With pounding energy and in retrospect, not that great a sound system, Elvis ripped up the place with “Hound Dog”, “I Was The One”, “Blue Suede Shoes”, “Baby, Let’s Play House”, “I Got A Woman” and “Love Me Tender”. T he vinyl records and phono were liberating and 50’s high-tech, but this was the records come to life. Within the context of the times and the limited access to entertainment and the outside world that we had, this was like Christmas in September. I was a little upset because the girls in front of us stood in their chairs, and I couldn’t see the stage for a while. They screamed incessantly, and many were captured, forever young, in newsreels of the event that still play today. That night would spark an interest in music that would last the rest of my life.

Elvis left his hometown a conquering hero. In that one year, Elvis charted seventeen songs and broke the barriers for all who would follow. No one has ever had that kind of impact on the business before or since. It was a rare moment in time and the beginning of something unique. There would be many pretenders, and a few contenders, but only one King of Rock N Roll.

About the Author: Merle Temple

MerleTemple.com

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