Between filming “Wild in The Country” and “Blue Hawaii”, Elvis performed three concerts for charity. On February 25, 1961, he performed an afternoon matinee at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, followed by an evening show. The third would be a concert for the Pearl Harbor Memorial in March.
TV performances aside, these would be the only times that Elvis performed on stage with a live audience until he opened at the International Hotel, Las Vegas, in July 1969. Elvis did not perform in Memphis again until 1974.
Over 10,000 people attended the shows at the Ellis Auditorium, raising nearly $52,000 for charity. Of which approximately $48,000 was donated to twenty-six Memphis charities and $4,000 to the Elvis Presley Youth Centre in his birth town of Tupelo.
At the afternoon show, Elvis performed:
- Heartbreak Hotel
- All Shook Up
- (Now And Then There’s) A Fool Such As I
- I Got a Woman
- Love Me
- Such A Night
- Reconsider Baby
- I Need Your Love Tonight
- That’s All Right
- Doin’ The Best I Can
- Don’t Be Cruel
- One Night
- Are You Lonesome Tonight?
- It’s Now or Never
- Surrender
- Hound Dog
In the evening, Elvis performed:
- Heartbreak Hotel
- All Shook Up
- (Now And Then There’s) A Fool Such As I
- I Got a Woman
- Love Me
- Such A Night
- Reconsider Baby
- Fever
- I Need Your Love Tonight
- That’s All Right
- Don’t Be Cruel
- One Night
- Are You Lonesome Tonight?
- It’s Now or Never
- Swing Down, Sweet Chariot
- Hound Dog
No two shows were ever performed with the same song list.
