Give us this day, May 13, our daily Elvis
May 13, 1955
Elvis performed at the Jacksonville Baseball Park (renamed Wolfson Park) Florida.
Elvis Presley‘s performance in Jacksonville, Florida is the first Presley show at which a riot ensues: At the end of his performance Elvis said to the audience: “Girls, I’ll see you backstage”. This became a riot with fans pursuing Elvis into his dressing room and tearing off his clothes and shoes.
Elvis, Faron Young and Mae Boren Axton
Peter Guralnick in Last Train To Memphis wrote, “Almost immediately they were after him. The Police got him into the dugout locker room, where Mae and the Colonel were totaling up the nights receipts. Most of the other acts were backstage too Mae recalled, when the fans started pouring in through an overhead window that had been inadvertently left open. ”I heard feet like a thundering herd and the next thing I knew I heard his voice from the shower area, I started running and three or four policemen started running too and by the time we got there several hundred must have crawled in – well maybe not that many but a lot and Elvis was on top of one of the showers looking sheepish and scared, like What do I do? and his shirt was shredded and his coat was torn to pieces. Somebody had even gotten his belt and his socks.”
Reportedly, Tom Parker was convinced of the magnitude of Elvis’ popularity.
Elvis Presley | May 13, 1955 | Elvis with Mae Boren Axton
may 13 1956
Elvis performed at the St. Paul, MN St. Paul Auditorium at 3.00 p.m.
“I Love You Baby,” Fans Cry– Teen-Age Girls Rock Auditorium While Elvis ‘Rolls’
By Allen W. Doerr, The St. Paul Pioneer Press
Elvis Aaron Presley, swarthy young singing idol of teenage rock and roll fans, held court for 26 minutes in the St. Paul auditorium Sunday.
There were no casualties.
Some 4000 present, mostly girls, greeted the 21 year-old former Tennessee truck driver.
They screamed, they cheered, they whistled, they clapped and they cried. Then they fought like demons for a touch or close-up glimpse of their king.
Another 4,000 persons, only slightly less exuberant, screamed and squealed through Presley’s evening show in the Minneapolis auditorium.
Youths lined up at the doors before noon. They bought photographs of Presley for 50 cents, 75 cents and $1.
Presley, in nondescript black shirt and slacks slipped in a side door at 3:15 p.m. A dozen patrolmen held back the mob.
In his dressing room Presley admitted in his southern drawl that he doesn’t know how long his popularity will last. “Ah’m not worried. There were plenty of good ‘rock and roll’ men before I came along. “This is good. I hope it keeps on. Ah’ll keep working as long as it does.”
He signed autographs and posed for pictures and explained he hopes to try serious acting in movies. It would be a career to fall back on if the rock and roll boom fades, he said.
Outside the crowd was chanting “We want Elvis.” When he emerged in a Kelly green jacket and started for the stage, they began screaming again. Police formed a ring around the stage.
After the first words of his hit song “Heartbreak Hotel,” the noise of the crowd drowned out the music. Only the beat carried over the loudspeaker system.
“Over Here, Elvis” “I Got A Woman . . .”
“You don’t need to know what he’s saying,” one girl shouted. “It’s just to look at him.”
Presley grabbed the microphone with both hands and tossed his head. He shook his shoulders in a motion that carried down through his body to his feet. He shuffled stiff-legged from side to side. He leaned his forehead on the microphone closed his eyes and twitched slowly through his body as he sang.
He threw his guitar from side to side and moved jerkily around the stage. The guitar gashed the side of his head and girls in the audience moaned and through their handkerchiefs to him as blood flowed.
“Over here, Elvis, over here,” a 13-year-old shouted falling on her knees pleading in the front row.
“I love you, baby I love you. I love you,” another girl chanted, tears streaming down her face.
Police formed a flying wedge to take Presley in a waiting car after the show, but the crowd broke through. The Kelly green coat was half torn off.
Two stowaway girls were waiting in the car. Police pushed one into the street and the car drove away.
“Hey,” screamed the girl. “My girl friend is in there.”
She stood in the street crying and the pouring rain matted her hair down around her face.
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| “Go, Man, Go” | “. . . A Lonely Place . . .” |
 Eager for Elvis This eager group of teen-age girls huddled in front of Minneapolis auditorium Sunday afternoon. They were getting the jump on the horde expected to hear singer Elvis Presley, the new teen-agers’ king of swoon, at 8 p.m. Several teens arrived at 6 a.m. and were questioned by a cautious squad car crew. Most came around noon; because their mothers insisted they get at least one hot meal. Kid stuff, huh? Well, two older women fans showed up early with the teen-agers. They thought Liberace was playing! |
| Minneapolis Tribune Photo by Bill Seaman |
Elvis signs Souvenir Programs for Timi Anderson, Suzie Olson, Dede Smith and Anna Skarning – May 13, 1956
Minneapolis Star Journal Tribune Photo courtesy Minnesota Historical SocietyElvis performed at the Minneapolis, MN Minneapolis Auditorium at 8.00 p.m.
Open Letter To Elvis PresleyBy Bill Diehl, Motion Picture Editor
OPEN LETTER to Elvis Presley:
Dear Elvis:
Last Sunday we met you for the first time. Remember Sunday? It was a day of disappointments. The weather was disappointing. Your crowds both at the St. Paul and Minneapolis auditoriums were disappointing (a Twin Cities total of something like 25,000 was expected and the combined total was only about 6,000). And Elvis, we’re sorry to say it, but your act was disappointing.
This column has been quite a booster of yours. And we’re not giving up on you. Yet. We liked you because you dared to be different. and we liked you because we heard you didn’t drink or smoke. Knowing you were idolized by millions of kids, we thought you were setting a fine example.
Texas DJ Bill Strength and Elvis in Minneapolis
Oh, we heard grown-ups make cracks about your sideburns but so what? And we heard that you looked like “one of those hoodlums.” Again, so what? Maybe the kids would let their sideburns grow, but also in setting an example — didn’t smoke and drink, maybe eventually the kids would ape you that way, too. And you’d accomplish something.
So we said, okay, come on, Elvis! We saw you, talked to you and were impressed by your courtesy and consideration and poise in the dressing room. You were generous with autographs and interviews. Your fingers showed no yellow stains, so we assume the stories about your not smoking are true. Your hair was long, sure, but neatly groomed. Even your fingernails were reasonably clean. Yes, you had pimples as some people cracked, but many at your age do. (I might be getting one on the end of my nose right now!)
But then, Elvis, we saw your act. And we were, in a word, disappointed. Somebody, probably an adult, has told you to wriggle around when you sing. Your actions, Elvis, were “low.” And you don’t have to be like that, boy. Your records are selling like crazy to kids who have never seen you but who like your singing style . . . free and uninhibited.
On stage, Elvis, you were nothing but a male burlesque dancer. Your gyrations were straight from strip-tease alley. Happily, you did leave your clothes on. Now, you flopped in Las Vegas because you were playing to adults who don’t dig you. some calculating adult booked you in there — and he was pushing you. You got the bounce.
Do you wonder why flops No. 2 in St. Paul and No. 3 in Minneapolis happened? Oh, they’ll blame the weather and Mother’s Day and anything else. We’ve been asking around, though, and I’ll tell you one big reason: Moms and Dads had seen you on TV and didn’t like your unnecessary bump-and-grind routine.
If more Moms and Dads had seen you, I bet not even the scattered 6,000 would have turned up. You disillusioned many of your fans needlessly. You set a fine example with your courtesy and by not smoking and not drinking. Why, Elvis, do you resort to your “Pelvis Presley” routine? You’d better drop it before more and more people drop you.
Of course, there’ll always be a few crackpots to screech: “Oohhh, Elvis” when you do your hip-wriggle bit. But by now you should know that in show-biz nothing grows in dirt. Clean it up and you’ll really clean up.
Hopefully, Bill Diehl
St. Paul, 1956 … An Open Letter to Elvis Presley – Elvis History Blog
Elvis backstage with Tupelo friend, Airman Edward Thornton, at the Minneapolis Auditorium
Elvis driven away from the Minneapolis Auditorium through the crowd
Elvis Presley | Auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota | May 13, 1956
Elvis Presley : Auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota : May 13, 1956
Lot Detail – May 13, 1956 St. Paul, Minnesota Elvis Presley Concert
ELVIS IN THE TWIN CITIES – Twin Cities Music Highlights
May 13, 1957
Jailhouse RockPrincipal photography began on the jailhouse dance sequence.
May 13, 1969
Led Zeppelin became one of the first major British rock group to appear in Hawaii, when they appeared at The Civic Auditorium, Honolulu. A review in the Honolulu Advertiser stated: ‘The showmanship exceeded any rock performance here to date. I wondered before the concert if Led Zeppelin could sound as good as their Atlantic album – they sounded better’.
The Beatles, now with beards and long hair, met at EMI House in London to replicate the cover of their first album for the cover of their current album project, “Get Back.” When that project evolved into “Let It Be,” the photograph was put aside until its eventual use for the cover of the compilation release, “The Beatles 1967-1970,” nicknamed the “blue album.”
May 13, 1970
The world premiere of The Beatles film ‘Let It Be’ took place in New York City. The film, which was originally planned as a television documentary, features an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last performance in public. Released just after the album, it was the final original Beatles release.
May 13, 1971
On his twenty-first birthday Stevie Wonder received all his childhood earnings. Despite having earned $30 million so far, he received only $1 million.
Media coverage of Elvis Backstage at Caesar’s Palace, or in Tom Jones’ suite in Las Vegas with Merv Griffin, Tom Jones and Norm Crosby on the evening of Sunday May 9, 1971
May 13, 1973
In addition to the Dinner and Midnight Tahoe Shows; Elvis performed at the Sahara Tahoe at 3.00 p.m.
This 3 pm show was a special Mother’s Day engagement to benefit a local hospital and was released on the Follow that Dream Collector label in 2003.
May 13, 1974
Elvis performed at the Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California.
FTD releases portions in 2020 ‘Elvis In California’ Double-soundboard Released as a 2-CD 5” digi-pak, this set features Elvis touring during May 1974. The shows, taken from the original soundboard tapes, feature unreleased concerts from Selland Arena, Fresno (May 12) and Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino (May 10 & 13).
Go here for full tracklists
May 13, 1975
Listeners in Jacksonville, Florida knocked out phone service in that city while calling in to win tickets from a radio station to an Elvis Presley concert.
1979
The Donny & Marie Osmond television special A Little Bit of Country, A Little Bit of Rock ‘n’ Roll aired on ABC with guests Chuck Berry and Chubby Checker.
1985
Stevie Wonder was cited by the United Nations for his efforts against apartheid.
2005
CBS aired the TV special Elvis by the Presleys.
2008
The US Postal Service issued a 42-cent postage stamp in honour of Frank Sinatra. The design showed a 1950s-vintage image of Sinatra, wearing a hat.
2020
The Essential Memphis Library: Elvis Presley’s ‘Elvis is Back!’
The Daily Memphian–4 hours agoThe Essential Memphis Library: Elvis Presley’s ‘Elvis is Back!’ By Chris Herrington Updated: May 13, 2020 6:18 AM CT | Published: May 13, 2020 4:00 AM CT.
Glenn Danzig Sings Elvis
The New Yorker–19 hours agonow dutifully tidies the litter box and sings along to Elvis songs—and also an earnest homage. Danzig has covered some of Presley’s hits in the …
Our Daily Elvis 