The Night Elvis Presley Shook the World

by Robert Wilkinson

68 years ago today the world of 1956 changed forever. A few minutes after 8 pm EDT on September 9, 1956, Elvis Presley made his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and was seen by a record 60.7 million people which at the time was 82.6 percent of the television audience, and the largest single audience in television history.

Thanks to Wikipedia, I found what purports to be the whole story. That entry has a lot of links to various references, but for convenience, I’ll reprint it here with other material which has been cut from that entry.

On September 9, 1956, Presley made his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (after earlier appearances on shows hosted by the Dorsey Brothers, Milton Berle, and Steve Allen) even though Sullivan had previously vowed never to allow the performer on his show.

According to biographer Michael David Harris, "Sullivan signed Presley when the host was having an intense Sunday-night rivalry with Steve Allen. Allen had the singer on July 1 and trounced Sullivan in the ratings. When asked to comment, the CBS star said that he wouldn't consider presenting Presley before a family audience. Less than two weeks later he changed his mind and signed a contract.

From the original account, now removed from Wikipedia, the newspapers asked him to explain his reversal. 'What I said then was off the reports I'd heard. I hadn't even seen the guy. Seeing the kinescopes, I don't know what the fuss was all about. For instance, the business about rubbing the thighs. He rubbed one hand on his hip to dry off the perspiration from playing his guitar.' "

Sullivan's reaction to Presley's performance on The Milton Berle Show was, "I don't know why everybody picked on Presley, I thought the whole show was dirty and vulgar."

Elvis mythology states that Sullivan censored Presley by only shooting him from the waist up. Sullivan may have helped create the myth when he told TV Guide, "as for his gyrations, the whole thing can be controlled with camera shots." In truth Presley's whole body was shown in the first and second shows. The current Wikipedia entry is in blockquotes below:

At the time, Presley was filming Love Me Tender, so Sullivan's producer, Marlo Lewis, flew to Los Angeles, California to supervise the two segments telecast that night from CBS Television City in Hollywood. Sullivan, however, was not able to host his show in New York City because he was recovering from a near fatal automobile accident. Charles Laughton guest-hosted in Sullivan's place, and opened the show.

From the original wiki entry, Laughton appeared in front of plaques with gold records and stated, "These gold records, four of them... are a tribute to the fact that four of his recordings have sold, each sold, more than a million copies. And this, by the way, is the first time in record making history that a singer has hit such a mark in such a short time. ...And now, away to Hollywood to meet Elvis Presley."

However, according to Greil Marcus, Laughton was the main act of Sullivan's show. "Presley was the headliner, and a Sullivan headliner normally opened the show, but Sullivan was burying him. Laughton had to make the moment invisible: to act as if nobody was actually waiting for anything. He did it instantly, with complete command, with the sort of television presence that some have and some—Steve Allen, or Ed Sullivan himself—don’t."

Host Laughton wrongly introduced the singer as "Elvin Presley". Once on camera, Elvis cleared his throat and said, “Thank you, Mr Laughton, ladies and gentlemen. Wow”, and wiped his brow. “This is probably the greatest honor I’ve ever had in my life. Ah. There’s not much I can say except, it really makes you feel good. We want to thank you from the bottom of our heart. And now..." "Don't Be Cruel", which was, after a short introduction by Elvis, followed by "Love Me Tender".

When the camera returned to Laughton, he stated, “Well, well, well well well. Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis Presley. And Mr. Presley, if you are watching this in Hollywood, and I may address myself to you. It has been many a year since any young performer has captured such a wide, and, as we heard tonight, devoted audience.”

According to Elaine Dundy, Presley sang "Love Me Tender" "straight, subdued and tender ... —a very different Elvis from the one in The Steve Allen Show three months before Elvis's second set in the show consisted of "Ready Teddy" and a shortened version of “Hound Dog….”

Although Laughton was the main star and there were seven other acts on the show, Elvis was on camera for more than a quarter of the time allotted to all acts. The show was viewed by a record 60 million people which at the time was 82.6 percent of the television audience, and the largest single audience in television history.

After doing “Ready Teddy,” Elvis made an on-air comment to Sullivan, "Ah, Mr. Sullivan. We know that somewhere out there you are looking in, and, ah, all the boys and myself, and everybody out here, are looking forward to seeing you back on television." Next, Elvis declared, "Friends, as a great philosopher once said, ‘You ain’t nothin’ but a Hound Dog...,' " as he launched into a short (1:07) version of the song.

According to Marcus, "For the first of his two appearances that night, as a performer Elvis had come on dressed in grandma’s nightgown and nightcap." Concerning the singer's second set in the show, the author adds that there were "Elvis, Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on stand-up bass, D. J. Fontana on drums, three Jordanaires on their feet, one at a piano. They were shown from behind; the camera pulled all the way back.

They went into 'Ready Teddy.' It was Little Richard’s most thrilling record," however, "there was no way Elvis was going to catch him, but he didn’t have to—the song is a wave and he rode it. Compared to moments on the Dorsey shows, on the Berle show, it was ice cream—Elvis’s face unthreatening, his legs as if in casts ..." When "he sang Little Richard’s 'Ready Teddy' and began to move and dance, and though popular mythology states Sullivan censored him by shooting him only from the waist up, in fact his body was shown in both the first and second shows.

From that point in time, Elvis rocketed into the stratosphere as a living Sun God, with each release selling millions. Every girl wanted to go with him, and every boy wanted to BE him. He was a musical trailblazing legend who was a fireball streaking across the sky. He changed collective consciousness like never before, as that show had almost 61 million people watching, representing 82.6% of all tv households, a level never achieved since, not even by the Beatles. On that note, a final insight from Dr. Winston O’Boogie:

"Before Elvis, there was nothing." - John Lennon

Welcome to the moment when a lightning bolt hit the stage and everyone looked up.

”Don’t Be Cruel,” “Love Me Tender,” “Ready Teddy,” and “Hound Dog”

© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson

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