Meet the dog at the scene
of the most sexually
charged concert of the
50's - now worth over
£5,000 - and his glamorous
new owner, Rebecca Hooper.
The famous hound is to be
displayed at Liverpool's
Fingerprints of Elvis
exhibition
Elvis shocked his
audience when in a burst
of high spirits he rolled
around on the stage floor
with the stuffed animal in
a highly uninhibited and
provocative manner during
a fast and furious
rendition of "'Hound Dog"
at the inaugural concert
of his 1957 California
Concert Tour. The LA
Deputy Police Chief
ordered the Vice Squad to
instruct Elvis to
eliminate any 'sexy
overtones' from his
performances or risk
obscenity charges. Even
Colonel Parker took him to
task.
The hound is an
original RCA Nipper Dog
from the California
Concert Tour 1957. It was
given to Elvis Presley by
RCA on the release of his
huge hit 'Hound Dog¹.
Elvis kept the dog at
Graceland for many years
before he gave it as a
gift to his great friend,
Paul Lickter, rock concert
promoter and manager of
the 60s groups The Soul
Survivors and The Vanilla
Fudge. Rebecca, bought it
for £3,000 in 1997.
Elvis Pets
Rebecca Hooper, Nipper's
owner, is available for
interviews.
Rebecca is an ardent Elvis
fan and as a sign of her
undying commitment has had
a picture of Elvis
tattooed on her
arm.
UPDATE: FROM A FAN THAT
WAS THERE: Dina Angus
...The picture of Elvis
with the RCA Nipper Dog...
I was there when that
photos was taken!
What a night that was!
That was the first time I
saw Elvis in person. My
dad, bless his heart, can
home one day with four
tickets to see Elvis in
L.A. After the show, a
bunch of us went
backstage, looked up and
there was Elvis... hanging
out the window, tossing
stuff out, like his socks,
shirts, etc. It was
unbelievable!
We
were all yelling back and
forth. Elvis was just a
kid himself and having a
ball with the fans. I
thought I would be
catching a treasure any
minute when my dad showed
up and he was none too
happy. He grabbed me
by the neck and said,
Let's go, now!" I pleaded
with him but it was no
use. So off we went, all
of us crying. All the way
home, we screamed, cried
and laughed. It was a
wonderful night.
When I think back to that
time and I can remember
all the details as if it
were yesterday.
