Graceland, Elvis’ old mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, remains a cherished landmark in Blues City. Its guided tour is conducted in 12 pre-recorded languages, and English is not the first language! The first language on the list is Japanese. Seriously? Well, just look at the pop music scene in Japan. Many Japanese pop stars of today look as if they still dance like the King of Rock and Roll.
This rare clip was before all of that. It was past the height of the famed Sun Records recording sessions and Elvis had signed his first record deal with a major label. He’s about to make the commercial breakthrough into nationwide and worldwide stardom. Auditions for various major movie roles were in the work, and this video is a 1956 color screen test in which Elvis auditioned with a swinging and gyrating performance of “Blue Suede Shoes”.
The music of Elvis is blues and old-school rock and roll, an all-time classic that is still relevant today. He was one of those stars who were even better live than recorded. This one however was a screen test of his film personality and he was dancing and singing and playing the guitar to his recorded hit song.
It was a perfectly pleasurable performance – Elvis in his natural hair and his original svelteness! He was the biggest star before the Beatles and Bob Dylan dominated the mid and late 60s. What do you think? Is this still good entertainment today?
