Milton Berle - elvis – a touch of gold

Elvis 1956 photo Wertheimer HudsonTheatre 1500 copy

rca victor ads for elvis presley records in 1956

ELVIS PRESLEY OWNED 1956! That year he ascended the heavens of popularity to become the most talked-about new personality in the last ten years of recorded music! By the end of the year, he had six #1 records on various charts, sold more than 12,000,000 singles, and was universally known, both derisively and affectionately, as “Elvis the Pelvis.” [Continue reading]

A FEW QUOTES

“[Elvis] came to the session, picked the songs, and if something in the arrangement was changed, he was the one to change it. Everything was worked out spontaneously. Nothing was really rehearsed. Consciously or unconsciously, everyone imitated him.” – Bones Howe

“You have no idea how great he is, really you don’t. You have no comprehension, it’s absolutely impossible. I can’t tell you why he’s so great, but he is. He’s sensational.” – Phil Spector

"I don’t think he ripped them off. I think once something has been exposed, anyone can add or take from it if they like. He was just so great, so popular, and so hot, and so anything that he played became a hit.” – B.B. King

“He was an integrator. Elvis was a blessing. They wouldn’t let black music through. He opened the door for black music.” – Little Richard

"Elvis was a great man and did more for civil rights than people know. To say he was a racist is an insult to us all.” – Ernest Withers

"The only white boy that had soul—who could sing as good as any of them—was Elvis When it comes to singing, nobody had everything like Elvis. I’ll tell the world, Elvis was the greatest of all time." – Muhammad Ali

“The first time that I appeared on stage, I really didn’t know what all the yelling was about. I didn’t realize that my body was moving. It’s a natural thing to me. So to the manager backstage I said, ‘What’d I do?’ And he said, 'Whatever it is, go back and do it again.' ” – Elvis Presley

"Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the 20th century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it’s a whole new social revolution [and] the '60s come from it.” – Leonard Bernstein