Already owning a Number One hit with “Heartbreak Hotel,” Elvis had been on television before, but nothing compared to his debut on The Ed Sullivan Show when 60 million viewers tuned in. It was a high profile cultural moment and national event when 82% of the television viewing audience watched Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show.
This young man, whose sound and raw, energetic performances went against everything the conservative Eisenhower era stood for, captivated the youth of America. That night on the Sullivan show, Elvis entered living rooms across the country and created a cultural revolution that changed musical tastes and entertainment forever.
The King of Rock and Roll teams up with TV’s reigning variety program, as Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time on September 9, 1956.
After Presley earned big ratings for The Steve Allen Show, the Dorsey Brothers’ Stage Show and The Milton Berle Show, Sullivan finally reneged on his Presley ban, signing the controversial singing star to an unprecedented $50,000 contract for three appearances. With 60 million viewers—or 82.6 percent of TV viewers at the time—tuning in, the appearance garnered the show’s best ratings in two years and became the most-watched TV broadcast of the 1950s.
Although The Ed Sullivan Show was filmed in New York, Presley performed remotely from CBS’s Los Angeles studio. At the time, his first album, Elvis Presley had already debuted and “Heartbreak Hotel” was a hit single, but he wasn’t quite yet “The King.”
On the variety show, Presley, then 21, was introduced by British actor Charles Laughton, who was filling in for Sullivan that night, as the legendary host was at home recovering from a serious car accident. Presley performed “Don’t Be Cruel,” Little Richard’s “Ready Teddy” and “Hound Dog” and viewers got a full head-to-toe look at the singer despite fears of “vulgar” hip-shaking gyrations. He also sang “Love Me Tender” and, according to Variety, “For the first time in the history of the record business, a single record has achieved one million sales before being released to the public.”
Presley, clad in a plaid jacket, told the audience performing on the show was “probably the greatest honor I have ever had in my life,” before kicking things off with “Don’t Be Cruel.” He said, “Thank you, ladies,” to the screaming fans and then introduced “Love Me Tender” as “completely different from anything we’ve ever done.”
During his second segment, Presley sang “Ready Teddy” and “Hound Dog.” Laughton’s closing remarks that night? “Well, what did someone say? Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast?”
0 comments:
Post a Comment