Give us this day, August 31, our daily Elvis
1939
Frank Sinatra recorded “All or Nothing at All” with the Harry James Band.
The Sun Records Rockabilly Era
August 31, 1955
A London judge fined Sidney Turner three pounds, ten shillings for “creating an abominable noise” after Turner threatened his neighbors by saying, “I will drive you mad.” Turner played Bill Haley And His Comets‘ “Shake Rattle & Roll” as loud as possible from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene” reached #5 pop while spending eleven weeks at #1 on the R&B hit list.
The RCA Victor Atomic Powered Singer
August 31, 1956
One of the great early songs of the Rock Era, “My Prayer” from the Platters, was #1 on the R&B chart.
Elvis Presley: August 31, 1956, on the set of Love Me Tender
August 31, 1957
Elvis Presley played his third and last concert in Canada, the only concerts performed outside of the USA; 26,000 fans attended the show with tickets costing $1.50, $2.50 and $3.50.
(1957 $1.50 Canadian would be $13.22 Canadian in 2017; in American money, $13.07)
Vancouver DJ Red Robinson MCed Elvis in 1957 and The Beatles in 1964 on the same stage.
MANDATORY PHOTO CREDIT: Collection of Red Robinson/ Elvis Presley with Vancouver disc jockey Red Robinson before his concert at Empire Stadium on Aug. 31, 1957.
Talking to the press in Vancouver on August 31, 1957
With Opening Acts: Howard Hardin, The Burns Twins & Evelyn, Joe Termini, Wells & The Four Fays, Paul Desmond and The Jordanaires, who also joined Elvis onstage:
Elvis performed at the Empire Stadium, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Heartbreak Hotel
All Shook Up
I Was The One
I Got A Woman
That’s When Your Heartaches Begin
Fools Hall Of Fame
Don’t Be Cruel
Love Me
Mean Woman Blues
Hound Dog
Vancouver DJ & Concert MC Red Robinson recorded this concert, which has not been released in full or officially. Recently Robinson provided some of his archive to the Elvis The Seeker documentary – and your Daily Elvis blogger has met Robinson and heard from him directly that he recorded the Vancouver show.
Scotty Moore – Empire Stadium – Vancouver. B.C.
Elvis Presley Vancouver, Canada. Empire Stadium August 31, 1957
Memories of Elvis in Vancouver, B.C.
Classic Elvis shots from legendary Empire Stadium show unearthed …
The Military Service Disruption
August 31, 1958
Ricky Nelson kicks off his musical concert career by appearing at Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he sets an all time attendance record for the venue by performing in front of 44,221 people, spread out over two days. His fee for the gig was $10,000 and his supporting acts were comedian Henny Youngman and The Four Preps.
Following Ricky Nelson, Domenico Modugno posted the second #1 in the history of Billboardmagazine with “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)”. The Elegants moved from 14 to 2 with “Little Star”.
Military service at Fort Hood in Texas., for Advanced Tank Training as part of the Second Armored Division. He was stationed there for six months.
The Hollywood Decade/The Elvis Establishment
August 31, 1960
August 31, 1961
August 31, 1962
Ringo Starr debuted with the Beatles as their new drummer at a concert at the Horticultural Society Dance in Birkenhead, England.
The Shirelles, ben E. King, Little Eva, Chuck Jackson, Dee Dee Sharp, the Marvelettes, the Ronettes, the Del-Satins, the Majors and Tony Orlando (years before Dawn) performed at Murray the K’s annual New York Labor Day Rock ‘n’ Roll show at the Brooklyn Fox Theater.
Bobby Vinton posted his fourth week at #1 on the Easy Listening chart with “Roses Are Red (My Love)”
Elvis reported to wardrobe fitting at MGM
It Happened at the World’s Fair
August 31, 1963
The Angels become the first white girl group to have a US number one hit when “My Boyfriend’s Back” topped the Billboard Hot 100.
The Ronettes first entered the US singles chart with ‘Be My Baby’ the girl group’s only top 10 hit. Lead singer, Veronica Bennett who became Ronnie Spector, took producer and ex-husband Phil Spector to court in the late 1990s for unpaid royalties.
Romances: Ann-Margaret
August 31, 1964
The Beatles arrived in San Francisco to begin their first tour of America and were met by 9,000 frenzied fans. The Beatles were driven into a protective enclosure so that photographers could take pictures. The fans, however, pressed against the fencing, and the Beatles barely managed to get out before it came down on them.
August 31, 1965
The Beatles were in concert at Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia before a sellout crowd of 35,000. Fans paid $5.50 for the highly sought-after tickets.
August 31, 1966
August 31, 1967
The Beatles announced that they would handle their own affairs following the death of manager Brian Epstein.
August 31, 1968
Decca Records released what has been called The Rolling Stones most political song, ‘Street Fighting Man’, written after Mick Jagger attended a March 1968 anti-war rally at London’s US embassy, during which mounted police attempted to control a crowd of 25,000. The single was kept out of the US Top 40 (reaching No.48) because many radio stations refused to play it based on what were perceived as subversive lyrics
The Elvis Presley single “Your Time Hasn’t Come Yet, Baby” hit #22 in the U.K.
August 31, 1969
Bob Dylan makes his first paid appearance since his motorcycle accident three years earlier at England’s Isle of Wight Pop Festival. He’s backed by The Band and pockets 38,000 Pounds for the one hour show.
31-year-old Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul And Mary is involved in an incident at the Shoreham Hotel in New York City that would severely damage his reputation. After a 14-year-old girl and her 17-year-old sister went to Yarrow’s hotel room seeking an autograph, he was accused of making sexual advances toward the younger girl. Six months later he would plead guilty and would serve three months of a one to three year prison sentence. In 1981 Yarrow received a Presidential Pardon from Jimmy Carter, but would later acknowledge the deed as “the most terrible mistake I have ever made.”
The Vegas Artist in Residence and Tour Decade
August 31, 1970
The Beach Boys release their album, “Sunflower”, which, despite enthusiastic critical reception, would stall at #151 on the Billboard 200 LP chart during a brief four week stay. With record buyers focusing on the likes of Black Sabbath, Neil Young, Simon And Garfunkel, Creedence Clearwater Revival and others, the effort would become their poorest performing album up to that time.
Elvis did Dinner and Midnight Vegas Shows. That’s the Way It Is Production
August 31, 1971
The Rolling Stones plus the father of Brian Jones filed a high court writ against ex managers Oldham and Easton. Claiming they made a secret deal with Decca Records in 1963 to deprive the group of royalties
Elvis did Dinner and Midnight Vegas Shows.
August 31, 1972
Elvis did Dinner and Midnight Vegas Shows.
August 31, 1973
Diana Ross hit #1 again with “Touch Me In The Morning”, jumping over both “Live And Let Die” from Wings and “Brother Louie” by the Stories. Maureen McGovern fell with “The Morning After” and Marvin Gaye had his 45th hit with “Let’s Get It On” at #5. The rest of the Top 10: Jim Croce’s former #1 “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”, Gilbert O’Sullivan followed up his #1 “Alone Again (Naturally)” with “Get Down” at #7, Helen Reddy moved from 15 to 8 with “Delta Dawn”, Charlie Daniels had “Uneasy Rider” and Chicago moved into the Top 10 with their great song “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day”.
Elvis did Dinner and Midnight Vegas Shows.
August 31, 1974
In a US federal court, John Lennon testifies that he believes the Nixon administration tried to have him deported because of his involvement with the anti-war demonstrations at the 1972 Republican convention in Miami. He also suspected his phones were tapped and that he was under surveillance by government agents.
The Rolling Stones released “Goat’s Head Soup.”
“The Partridge Family” television show ended.
Elvis did Dinner and Midnight Vegas Shows.
August 31, 1976
George Harrison is found guilty of subconscious plagiarism of the song “He’s So Fine” by The Chiffons in writing his hit, “My Sweet Lord”. He would eventually pay the copyright holder, Bright Tunes, $587,000 in damages. In a case of sweet retribution, the Chiffons then recorded their own version of “My Sweet Lord.”
Marvin Gaye faced two consecutive five-day prison terms in the Los Angeles county jail for contempt of court after missing alimony and child support payments.
Elvis performed on tour at the Coliseum, Macon, Georgia.
The Wake and Aftermath
1977
The Police performed as a trio for the first time after guitarist Henri Padovani left the group when they played at Rebecca’s in Birmingham, England.
Following the graverobbing attempt, Vernon obtained permission to move Elvis and Gladys – on this day, the second funeral was held for Elvis Presley at Graceland near Memphis, Tennessee. Only 150 people were invited but tens of thousands gathered outside the gates
1982
The City of Liverpool, England named four streets after the Beatles–John Lennon Drive, Paul McCartney Way, Ringo Starr Drive and George Harrison Close.
1984
‘Purple Rain’ the movie-starring Prince opened at cinemas across the UK with special late night previews. The film grossed more than US $80 million at the box office and became a cult classic.
Prince enjoyed eight weeks at #1 on the R&B chart with his classic “When Doves Cry”.
Lionel Richie had the top AC song with “Stuck On You” for the third straight week.
1985
Twenty years after it originally topped the UK chart for Sonny And Cher, “I Got You Babe” was a number one hit all over again for UB40 and Chrissie Hynde.
1986
Bon Jovi released the album Slippery When Wet in the United States on Mercury Records.
1987
The largest pre-order of albums in the history of CBS Records occurred as 2.25 million copies of Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ album were shipped to record stores in the US. The LP followed the Jackson album, Thriller the biggest Jackson-seller of all time (over 35 million copies sold). ‘Bad’ went on to sell over 13 million copies.
Michael Jackson’s “Bad” video was televised for the first time on CBS-TV.
1989
The Rolling Stones began their first concert tour in eight years at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, PA. There was a pre-tour ‘surprise show’ in New Haven, CT, on August 12
1990
“Vision Of Love” gave Mariah Carey a #1 song on the R&B chart for a second week, was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for the third week and number 1 on the pop chart. “Vision Of Love” was #1 overall for the third straight week.
2002
| 2002, NASA announced that Lance Bass, singer with *NSYNC, was to become the first celebrity astronaut. His $23.8 million (£14 million), place on a Russian Soyuz module would make him the youngest person at 23 years of age to go into orbit. Bass ended up not taking part in the flight after failing to pay for his $20 million ticket on the craft. |
2003
Elton John went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Are You Ready For Love.’ The song was recorded in 1977 and released in 1979, when it reached No.42. It was used by Sky TV for their Premiership football ads.
2004
UK medical magazine Thorax issued a warning to music fans saying that listening to loud music in the car can give you a collapsed lung. One 19 year-old had been treated in Bristol after his left lung collapsed as his 1,000-watt bass box boomed out in his Fiat Panda.
2005
Kanye West called for an end to homophobia in the hip-hop world.
2006
The Times ran a story on the demands of rock stars when on tour. Ozzy Osbourne insists on an eye, ear, nose and throat doctor at each venue. The Beach Boys require a licensed masseur, Meat Loaf a mask and one small tank of oxygen. David Bowie requests that the dressing room temperature is between 14c and 18c and Paul McCartney must have a large
Blogger Nina notes – Elvis Presley only required a case of a Tennessee brnd of bottled water be in his dressing room.
2018
A funeral service for Aretha Franklin was held at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple. Several of the nation’s top recording artists performed, including Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Ronald Isley, Jennifer Hudson, Faith Hill, Fantasia and Yolanda Adams.
Our Daily Elvis 
You must be logged in to post a comment.