Elvis Presley performed at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles on October 28 and 29, 1957.
Before the first concert, Elvis gave a press conference, as usual, in which he kindly answered questions from reporters.
In his first show in this Auditorium, Elvis was very happy and energetic, determined to impress his audience, which was full of celebrities… and so he did, Elvis drove the whole audience crazy, with an overwhelming force.
Throughout the show that night Elvis had with him, on stage, a three-foot tall replica of the little dog Nipper. Nipper was RCA’s trademark. At the end of the show Elvis grabbed Nipper by the neck with his left arm and lifted him off the floor, finally laying down on the floor while singing “Houng Dog”. This spontaneous gesture by Elvis would, as was customary at the time, give rise to controversy.
At a party in his hotel suite after the show, Elvis met Ricky Nelson, while receiving artists and friends, such as Nick Adams, Carol Channing, Sammy Davis Jr. and Tommy Sands. Elvis’ date for that night was with actress Anne Neyland, who had worked with him in Jailhouse Rock.
The audience went wild during the show, but the next day the newspapers adopted mixed views, as was often the case at Elvis concerts in the 1950s.
Elvis did nothing on stage with Nipper that was suggestive or out of character, even his musicians testified.
But witnesses saw the same shows differently, as they were filtered through predetermined biases, both for and against Elvis.
The media, the next day, some did not even mention the incident with ”Nipper” in their reviews, while others, only made reference to it, without giving major importance to Elvis having thrown himself on the floor on stage with Nipper.
But to Dick Williams, a staunch Elvis detractor, by definition, Elvis was obscene, and in that final number, Williams detected the ”vulgarity” he always saw in Elvis: ”The madness peaked at the end with Hound Dog,” Williams wrote in the Mirror-News the next day. ”Elvis writhed in complete abandon, hair hanging over his face. He threw himself on the floor with a huge replica of RCA’s singing dog and made love to it as if it were a girl.”
Other headlines announced, “Elvis Presley will have to clean up his act, or go to jail.”
The result was that “Los Angeles Vice Squad” contacted Colonel Parker and warned him that Elvis could go to jail for inappropriate behavior on stage. But according to The Colonel, Elvis remained unperturbed.
When the police showed up with cameras the next night, the show was toned down considerably. But through his hand gestures, Elvis indicated on numerous occasions to his audience that the censorship camera was on him. At one point, he held out his hands with his wrists together, wanting to tell his audience that his hands and actions were handcuffed and that the police were there.
He even challenged the police and told the fans : ”You should have been here last night!”
On the other hand the press supporting him issued fantastic reviews.
The most favorable and shocking press review, the day after the first show, came from Wally George of the L.A. Times.
George wrote: “The screams of the audience could be heard two blocks from the Pan-Pacific Auditorium last night. They anticipated Elvis Presley, who at that time had not yet emerged from his hotel room. Yet even a mere suggestion of his name elicited a sustained, almost terrified shriek from the 9,000 teenagers who had packed the hall to hear their idol. In fact, the impression as you walked through the audience was that of standing on the edge of a volcano from which an ominously rising cloud of smoke was rising. And at any moment you could feel the eruption come over you”.
Impressive words of Wally George, which were a true reflection of how far the strength and greatness of that incredible 22 year old boy could reach, who always remained faithful to his music and his feelings, and would cross the gates of immortality.
ELVIS. The Boy From Tupelo
