Today sees Elvis performing from NBC studios his famous Milton Berle routine with the slowed down ending to Hound Dog.
The structure of the day appears as follows:
Rehearsal with band off stage of Hound Dog and I Want You I Need You I Love You
Rehearsal of banter with Uncle Milt off stage.
Rehearsal of Hound Dog on stage. No apparent photos of dress rehearsal of I Want You I Need You I Love You
Rehearsal of banter with Uncle Milt and Deborah Paget
Watching other acts rehearsing.
Rehearsing final part of show.
Full dress rehearsal of show. We can see some of the photos with Elvis in the dress that he wore for the broadcast but with tell tale differences which show they were from a full dress rehearsal and not the show. Uncle Milt when he comes out to mimic Elvis after Hound Dog uses the opposite hand to grab the mic stand in the photo to the one he uses in the broadcast.
I imagine that so no one was put off or distracted there were no photos taken of the broadcast performances and all the ones we have are from various rehearsals taken throughout the day.
Elvis' attire throughout the day in order is dark shirt, dark shirt and striped jacket, two coloured shirt and square pin striped jacket (Hound Dog), two coloured shirt and striped jacket (I Want You I Need You I Love You).
The guests on Berle's show attended several days of rehearsals in preparation for the live broadcast but Elvis was unable to attend the first day because he was performing somewhere on the East Coast. Debra Paget was also appearing on the show, and when Elvis arrived she and Irish McCalla sat out front in the audience with all of the dancers to watch as he came in. Irish's immediate impression was that he didn't look any different from the guys back home in Nebraska where she grew up ('I thought he was another 'in-joke' or something'.) When Elvis smiled, however, she saw something boyish and shy in that smile that reminded her of James Dean and she said that it made her want to 'ruffle his hair'. When the music started and Elvis began singing Irish turned to Debra Paget and said, 'It's a good beat, but what's he singing about ... a hound dog?' Paget, obviously a fan, was entranced and replied laughingly, 'Who cares!' Irish said that it was obvious to her even then that Elvis could sing the first page of the dictionary and the girls would still go wild.
Over the next couple of days she got to know him better and learned to love the rhythmic music and his voice as well. She was somewhat astonished and delighted when he told her that he was a big fan of hers because he had seen Sheena on television ('I showed him Tahitian dancing and how it differed from his rock and roll. He was a real nice kid'). Irish also remembered that the dancers were all over him and he loved it.
End of that rehearsal.
A full dress rehearsal now follows, Elvis had changed his shirt for the one he'll wear for the broadcast.
phpBB [media]
