On the 4th of July 1953 worked and
performed at Eagles Nest nightclub on Lamar Avenue in downtown Memphis
where is was photographed wearing a busboy uniform. Through JD Sumner
he met the black quartet the Swan Silverton and was impressed with
their harmonies. That July Elvis would often join the Blackwood
Brothers at the Ellis Auditorium. Gospel music credo became an integral
part of Elvis. He craved its message because it soothed and clamed him.
He fantasized about becoming a great tenor gospel soloist and this
dream was encouraged by his mother Gladys. Elvis
auditioned for the Songfellows and was mortified by their rejection.
Jim Hamill advised Elvis to keep driving a truck because in his opinion
Elvis could not hear harmony and was "flat." Luckily for all
of us Elvis fans... the young Elvis Presley was determined to prove
Hamill wrong.
4th
July 2010 Recently found
Rare
Elvis
Photo
On the 4th of July 1954
Elvis was at the Sun Studio recording on that very hot summers day. Sam
Phillips was dissatisfied with the session so he turned off the
recording machine. The boys, Scotty Moore, Bill Black and Elvis started
to fool around... and Elvis playfully started to mimic Arthur Crudup's
"That's All Right Mama" singing it in a mean up beat tempo.
Sam liked what he was hearing and turn on the tape machine ... and the
rest is history
On the 4th of July 1955
During the festive Fourth of July celebrations Elvis let himself go
during a performance at the City Recreational Building in Stephenville,
Texas.
On July 4th 1956
Elvis performed a benefit concert at the Russwood Park in Memphis
before 14 thousand screaming fans. To the Memphians Elvis was always
beloved hometown hero.
On July 4th 1976
Elvis appeared in an Uncle Sam costume for a Fourth of July performance
in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The audience laughed along with Elvis -
unfortunately it was not of his best concerts
The Star Spangled Banner
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous
fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of
the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.