Elvis Presley | Detroit, MI. Fox Theater | May 25, 1956
Unseen Elvis: Presley's first visit to Detroit in never|published photos
By Susan Whitall / Detroit News Music Writer.
It's May 1956. Americans were fretting about President Eisenhower's health, slugger Mickey Mantle was the toast of the baseball world, and 21-year-old Elvis Presley was about to make his first appearance at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. It had been a whirlwind five months for the soft-spoken truck driver from Tupelo, Miss., who recorded his first RCA Records session in January, yielding 'Heartbreak Hotel', which shot to No. 1.
Elvis was winding up a tour of the Midwest when he came to Detroit on Friday, May 25, 1956.
By the time Alan opened the curtains to yell, 'Ladies and gentleman, Elvis Presley', the screaming was already so loud that nobody heard a thing. 'I screamed so much I never heard a word he sang', Bainbridge says. 'I'll never forget how he dressed, the way he held the microphone, moved around on the stage.
Elvis stood legs apart to swivel, then crouched down to touch outstretched hands.
He was different, original and, damn, he was cool. The girls today would say 'hot', and he was'.
The photographs show Elvis in and around the Fox Theatre, greeting Detroit Times contest winners backstage, relaxing in a downtown arcade and enjoying himself at an adult party.
Detroit teenagers may have been ecstatic at Elvis' arrival, but newspaper writers barely hid their disdain.
Elvis Presley relaxes at an adult party in Detroit after his Fox shows on May 25, 1956.
These lucky teen winners of a Detroit Times essay contest got to meet with Elvis Presley backstage at the Fox on May 25, 1956.
Elvis lets off steam at a downtown pinball arcade, in between Fox Theatre shows. (Photo courtesy of MRPI Collection).
Elvis Presley talks as two young reporters listen attentively backstage at the Fox Theatre.
Elvis Presley talks as two young reporters listen attentively backstage at the Fox Theatre.
Excited teens scream as Elvis performs at the Fox Theatre, his first time in Detroit. (Photo courtesy of MRPI Collection).
Are you in these photos? | See below ...
Vera Brown wrote in typically snappy, Detroit Times tabloid style of Elvis: 'He rarely gets a haircut, does a kind of hillbilly derivative. When he winds himself around a mike and gives out, the kids go crazy. Nothing like it since the early Frank Sinatra days. Only way to keep calm about all this is to try to remember how silly you were in your high school days'. Brown met Elvis at the airport, where she demanded to know why he needed four Cadillacs. 'I just like automobiles', he said. His latest one was pink with white leather upholstery. Brown also described his turnout: a black shirt open at the throat, and black pegged pants.
Why, the columnist demanded of the singer, was he so popular?
'If I knew I would tell you', Elvis replied politely. 'I honestly don't know how it took place, but if I can go on from here into the movies, that would be swell'. He told reporters he doesn't drink and has no girlfriend yet. 'I still love my mother who lives in Memphis'. Incredibly, the day before Elvis' three Friday shows (4, 7 and 9:45 p.m.), Bob Bothwell, managing director of the Fox Theatre, said good seats were still available.
As if Elvis wasn't enough entertainment for the $1.50 ticket, there were numerous other acts on the bill:
The Jordanaires (his backup singers), Frankie Connors, Jackie Little and Maurice King and the Wolverines (the house band at Detroit's Flame Showbar). At age 14, Carol Bainbridge was one of the 'teeners' who really didn't care what snarky, middle-aged newspaper writers thought of Elvis. Her father, Larry McCann, had interviewed Elvis on his WXYZ-TV talk show, and he scored her two tickets to the 4 p.m. show. Bainbridge and a girlfriend took a bus downtown from Three Mile Drive and Mack, and sat in the front row. 'I touched his shoes and screamed my heart out while he sang in front of me', Bainbridge says.
Elvis had been introduced at that early show by a young Detroiter, Lee Alan Reicheld, who held down the all-night air shift at WJLB. Reicheld, better known by his later disc jockey name, Lee Alan, was told by WJLB's top jock, 'Frantic' Ernie Durham, that he had a gig for him. 'He said, 'You've got to go to the Fox Theatre and introduce Elvis', Alan recalls. The young jock went to the Fox as ordered, and was preparing to open the stage curtains when he heard a soft voice behind him say, 'Hey, what's your name?' Alan turned, and it was Elvis, ever the gentleman. He really wanted to know. 'Lee Reicheld', Alan told him. 'I didn't think he could pronounce it anyway.' But he did, and always remembered Alan's real name after that.
By the time Alan opened the curtains to yell, 'Ladies and gentleman, Elvis Presley', the screaming was already so loud that nobody heard a thing. 'I screamed so much I never heard a word he sang', Bainbridge says. 'I'll never forget how he dressed, the way he held the microphone, moved around on the stage.
Elvis stood legs apart to swivel, then crouched down to touch outstretched hands.
He was different, original and, damn, he was cool. The girls today would say 'hot', and he was'.
Reviews of Elvis' show are inadvertently hilarious. The Detroit Times reviewer complained that Elvis did 'unknown' songs like 'I've Got a Woman' and 'Long Lost Sally' (meaning, 'Long Tall Sally'.)
The Detroit News reviewer recognized 'Long Tall Sally', but deployed several zingers, describing Elvis as an ex-trucker with a shimmy, and sniffing: 'The guitar seldom got twanged, because Elvis was too busy flexing his knees and swinging his thighs like a soubrette in the palmy days of burlesque'.
Meanwhile, backstage at the Fox, another Detroit radio personality was making his way to Elvis' dressing room to meet the legend. Robin Seymour had been embroiled in controversy since he'd dismissed Elvis on his WKMH radio show as a fly-by-night phenomenon that wouldn't last. 'There were 100 kids on bikes in front of my house with signs', Seymour recalls, laughing. 'Get rid of Robin Seymour, he's a jerk! 'It was a gimmick, Seymour insists; he didn't really dislike Elvis. But Seymour didn't introduce the singer at the later shows - that honor was reserved for Mickey Schorr. Seymour did want to meet him, though, and Fox manager Bothwell got him backstage. There Seymour was to discover that, despite the wholesome reports in the press about not drinking and such, Elvis was having big fun. When the dressing room door opened, the disc jockey was startled to see several naked girls. 'He was sitting on the couch wearing a silk robe; there were about five girls trotting around', Seymour says. Showgirls from the nearby Stone Burlesk? He hasn't a clue.
'I didn't stay that long', Seymour says with a laugh.
From the book, 
A Moment In Time : 4 Days In '56.
January 1956
= Elvis on TV | 1956 One incredible year !!!
Elvis Presley RCA's McGavock St Studio | January 10 and 11, April 14, 1956
1956 business contract signed by Colonel Parker and Elvis for The Elvis Presley Show
Elvis Presley The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show | January 28, 1956
February
Elvis Presley The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show | February 4, 1956
Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore and Bill Black | February 9, 1956
Elvis Presley Backstage February 10, 1956
Elvis Presley The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show| February 11, 1956
Elvis Presley The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show | February 18, 1956
March
Elvis Presley 1956 | March/June/July
Elvis Presley's 1956 Home | 1034 Audubon Drive, Memphis, TN
Elvis Presley The Lousinana Hayride | March 10, 1956
Elvis Presley The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show | March 17, 1956
Elvis Presley singing and playing gospel music | March 17, 1956
Jimmy Dean and Elvis Presley on the Jimmy Dean WMAL-TV Show, March 23, 1956
Elvis Presley The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show | March 24, 1956
April
Elvis Presley The Milton Berle Show | April 3, 1956
Elvis Presley Arena | San Diego | April 4, 1956
Elvis Presley Wichita Falls, Texas | April 9, 1956
Elvis Presley Fair Park Coliseum, Lubbock, TX | April 10, 1956
Elvis Presley RCA's McGavock St Studio | January 10 and 11, April 14, 1956
Elvis Presley San Antonio | April 15, 1956
Elvis Gives Out With Crazy Cool Interview | April 17, 1956
Elvis thrilled Tulsa teens at fairgrounds April 18, 1956
Elvis Presley Oklahoma City | April 19, 1956
Elvis Presley April 20, 1956 | North Side Coliseum, Forth Worth
Elvis Presley, New Singing Find, Booked Into New Frontier | April 21, 1956
Elvis Presley at The New Frontier Hotel | From April 23, 1956
Review | Elvis Presley at The New Frontier | Las Vegas Sun | April 26, 1956
Review | Elvis Presley at The New Frontier | Las Vegas SUN | April 28, 1956
May
Review | Elvis Presley at The New Frontier | Las Vegas SUN | May 1, 1956
Letter to the editor | Las Vegas SUN | May 12, 1956
Elvis Presley Auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota | May 13, 1956
Elvis Presley May 14, 1956 | LaCrosse Wisconsin
Elvis Presley May 15, 1956 | Ellis Auditorium
Elvis Presley Detroit, MI. Fox Theater May 25, 1956
Elvis Presley Columbus, Ohio | May 26, 1956
Elvis, Scotty, Bill and DJ performed two shows at the UD Fieldhouse in Dayton | May 27, 1956
Elvis Presley Dayton, Oh., as Elvis left for Memphis | May 28, 1956
Elvis greeting fans at Los Angeles Airport, 1956
June
Elvis Presley 1956 | March/ June/ July
Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley swap autographs, Memphis | June 1, 1956
Elvis Presley Arriving in Oakland | June 3, 1956
Elvis Presley In Concert | Oakland California | June 3, 1956
The Milton Berle Show Los Angeles | June 5, 1956
Elvis Presley June 7, 1956 | Long Beach Municipal Auditorium
Elvis Presley June 8, 1956
Elvis Presley | Wink Martindale Show | June 16, 1956
Elvis Presley Interview with Wink and Sandy Martindale
Elvis Presley and Red West at Elvis' 1034 Audubon Drive House | June 14, 1956
Vernon, Gladys and Elvis Presley sing at the piano | 1034 Audubon Drive House | June 17, 1956
Elvis Presley and Barbara Hearn | June 19, 1956 | Fairgrounds Amusement Park, Memphis
Elvis Presley and Barbara Hearn at Elvis' 1034 Audubon Drive House | June 19, 1956
Elvis Presley with Susan Hayward | June 28, 1956
Elvis Presley Mosque Theater, Richmond, Va | June 30, 1956
July
Elvis Presley 1956 | March | June | July
Elvis Presley Hudson Theater | New York City | Steve Allen Show | July 1, 1956
Elvis Presley RCA Studio One, Memphis, Tennessee | July 2, 1956
Elvis Presley On The Train to, Memphis, Tennessee | July 3, 1956
Elvis Presley Russwood Park, Memphis, Tennessee | July 4, 1956
Elvis Presley St. Joseph's Hospital Memphis Tennessee | July 5, 1956
Elvis Presley Ocean Springs, MS. | Thursday, July 12, 1956
Elvis performs with The Statesman Quartet at Ellis Auditorium | July 27, 1956
Elvis Presley Water Skiing | Biloxi July 31, 1956
August
Who The Hell Is Elvis Presley? By Leonard Bennett Cabaret, August 1956
Elvis Presley Love Me Tender Movie Set Photos
Elvis Presley Olympia Theater, Miami, Florida | August 3, 1956
Elvis Presley August 5, 1956 | Tampa Florida
Elvis Presley Florida Theatre St. Petersburg | August 7, 1956
Elvis Presley Jacksonville, FL. Florida Theater (3 shows per day) | August 10-11, 1956
Elvis Presley August 7, 1956 | Candid Photos
Elvis Presley at the Knickerbocker Hotel, Hollywood | August 18, 1956
Elvis Presley Love Me Tender Recording Sessions | August 24, 1956
Elvis Presley August 31, 1956 | On the set of Love Me Tender
September
Elvis Presley The Ed Sullivan Show 1956-1957
Elvis Presley September 1-3, 1956 Recording Sessions
Elvis Presley First Appearance | The Ed Sullivan Show | September 9, 1956
Elvis Presley Asleep In Flight | Back To Memphis September 23, 1956
Elvis Presley September 26, 1956 | Tupelo, MS. Mississippi-Alabama Fairgrounds
Elvis Presley wearing the new 'Elvis Presley hat', backstage in Tupelo, September 26, 1956
Elvis Presley at the Mid-South Fair | Memphis September 29, 1956
October
Elvis Presley October 5, 1956
Elvis Presley Cotton Bowl, Dallas | October 11, 1956
Elvis Presley October 18, 1956
Elvis Presley October 19, 1956 | Assault Charge
Elvis Presley The Ed Sullivan Show Rehearsals | October 26-28, 1956
Elvis Presley The Ed Sullivan Show | Dress Rehearsals | October 28, 1956
Elvis Presley The Ed Sullivan Show | Press Conference | October 28, 1956
Elvis Presley gets his Polio Shot | October 28, 1956
Elvis Presley The Ed Sullivan Show | October 28, 1956
Natalie Wood and Elvis Presley outside the Hotel Chisca | October 31, 1956
November
Elvis | Toledo | November 22, 1956
Elvis Presley Cleveland Arena, Ohio | November 23, 1956
Elvis Presley E.H. Crump Memorial Football Game | November 30, 1956
December
What is an Elvis Presley?
The Million Dollar Quartet (December 4, 1956)
Elvis Presley December 11, 1956 | Mobbed by fans in Memphis after running out of gas
Elvis Presley's Last Louisiana Hayride Performance | December 15, 1956
Elvis Presley Touch Football | Dave Wells Community Center | December 27, 1956
1957
Elvis Presley The Ed Sullivan Show | His third and final Appearance | January 6, 1957
Elvis Presley The King of Rock 'n' Roll
The Movies Of 1956
1956, Love Me Tender, Twentieth Century Fox
The Movies In Photos
CDs | DVDs | Books
Buy Elvis Presley CD, DVDs and Books at ...
Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD
Never before have we seen an Elvis Presley concert from the 1950's with sound. Until Now! The DVD Contains recently discovered unreleased film of Elvis performing 6 songs, including Heartbreak Hotel and Don't Be Cruel, live in Tupelo Mississippi 1956. Included we see a live performance of the elusive Long Tall Sally seen here for the first time ever. + Plus Bonus DVD Audio.
This is an excellent release no fan should be without it.
The 'parade' footage is good to see as it puts you in the right context with color and b&w footage. The interviews of Elvis' Parents are well worth hearing too. The afternoon show footage is wonderful and electrifying : Here is Elvis in his prime rocking and rolling in front of 11.000 people. Highly recommended.
Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD Video with Sound.
