January 16 – Events – Today in Elvis Presley History

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1956

Elvis performed in “The Municipal Auditorium” Galveston, Texas

1957

The soundtrack session at Paramount went on from 9.00 a.m. tot 3.30 p.m. However,
Elvis was clearly not working well on the giant soundstage and recording went slowly.

1958

Elvis was recording songs at Radio Recorders for his new Paramount picture from 9.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.

1959

Elvis gives blood at a Red Cross facility in Friedberg, Germany

1968

Jerry Reed returns for an Elvis recording session, and when the King wonders aloud about finding a good new song, Reed suggests his composition “U.S. Male,” which is recorded on the spot. (For his “insolence” in pitching an outside song, Reed is later severely upbraided by the Colonel.)

1971

Having worked tirelessly on his speech the night before, Elvis attends the press conference for the Jaycees award at the Holiday Inn Rivermont in Memphis, stating, in part,
“I don’t go along with music advocating drugs and desecration of the flag.
I think an entertainer is for entertaining and to make people happy.”
After a $2000-a-plate dinner and a speech by future President George H.W. Bush,
Elvis gives his address, in which he quotes a favorite Roy Hamilton R&B tune,
“Without A Song”: “When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie.
So every dream I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times. These gentlemen over there,
these are the type who care, are dedicated. You realize if it´s not possible that they might be building the Kingdom, it´s not far-fetched from reality. I learned very early in life that: ‘Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain’t got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend, without a song.’ So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you.”