When Alfred Wertheimer arrived at the midtown Manhattan loft to photograph Elvis’s rehearsal for NBC’s The Steve Allen Show, Elvis was in a corner of the studio, deep within himself, intimately playing and singing his beloved gospel music on a beautiful upright piano.
It was Friday June 29, 1956.
Next to him was his cousin Junior Smith, also a partner and bodyguard, who at this time always accompanied him and watched diligently.
Elvis, when he wanted to be alone with himself, always preferred to play music, to make people gather quietly and not interrupt his concentration.
The next day they would leave for a night of concerts in Richmond, Virginia, at the Mosque Theater, and then return again, the next day, to New York City, to perform on television’s The Steve Allen Show, in the Hudson Theater on July 1, 1956.
“I took approximately 2,500 photographs of Elvis.
Many were taken throughout 1956, and then I met him again on September 22, 1958, the day he left the Brooklyn port of shipment for Germany… In all, I had eight days of work with Elvis. . A lot of people feel like I captured more of the essence of Elvis than anyone. All I wanted Elvis to do was be himself… Every other photographer had something they wanted him to do.”
Alfred Wertheimer
Photos: Alfred Wertheimer.
ELVIS. The Tupelo Boy
