Back to New York to do the live Steve Allen Show (where Allen has him famously sing "Hound Dog" to an actual dog; the strategy was to keep Elvis from gyrating - if he did, the dog would get scared and leap off of its stool), then the very next day recording both "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" for the first time. And back to Memphis, where Elvis reconnects with family and friends, and where the local-boy-makes-good gives a 4th of July concert in his hometown.
Because Wertheimer shoots so many candid shots, and because Elvis is still getting used to the idea of being a star, there are many gems here, pictures that could only have been taken at that time and place. What jumps out immediately is how many of these pictures show Elvis casually in public, being completely undisturbed. He reads magazines next to a chubby old guy in a train station, sits at a lunch counter flirting, has to convince a young woman on the train that he really is Elvis, then hops off the train alone near Memphis and walks home, leaving his handlers behind.
The shots of Elvis at home, as well as the scene itself, are priceless. His parents have a new pool, but they have to fill it with a garden hose, so Elvis and his friends jump in and wrestle around in the three feet of water that have managed to accumulate in the deep end.
Twenty-one is a young age in the overall scheme of things, and the Elvis captured here looks alternately like a polite, baby-faced young adult in one shot and a confident man fully aware of his gifts and charms in the next. Again, it's a moment in time that Wertheimer was lucky enough and smart enough to fully capture with his camera.
If you're an Elvis fan or know someone who is, Elvis at 21 is definitely gift material. First, it's simply a pretty book in terms of the quality of Wertheimer's photos and how they are presented. Just as important, if not more so, it's a new look at an icon about whom you might think there can't possibly be anything left to publish (or exploit). Definitely recommended.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!
2 - Maurice Colgan
Alfred Wertheimer's beautiful photos in his book "Elvis '56" have graced a great many books magazines, and documentaries about the legendary Elvis Presley. His photo of Elvis, once a poor boy in Tupelo Mississippi, confidently walking into the Warwick Hotel in New York, back in 1956 says it all.The man knew where he was going!
Having seen a selection of the wonderful photos from the new book, taken in that eventful year, "Elvis at 21" is sure to appeal to millions of Elvis fans and popular music historians world-wide.
At the time the photos were taken Elvis had not yet purchased his beloved Graceland mansion in Memphis.
Later in 1956 after the release of the movie "Love Me Tender", Elvis at 21 became a millionaire!
50 years later Mr Alfred Wertheimer's intuition about Elvis and his photographic artistry have come full circle.