The King is known far and wide. Take this for example: The guided tour at Graceland, Elvis’ old mansion in Memphis, Tennessee 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 of course. 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 works, 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? Share this with your friends on Facebook ’cause this rare Elvis performance is made for sharing and watching.
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