Elvis first appeared on US national television on “Stage Show” on January 28, 1956. It was the first of six appearances on the show in the first three months of that year.
Elvis’ first appearance on the “Milton Berle Show” was on April 3, 1956, broadcast from the flight deck of the USS Hancock aircraft carrier in San Diego Harbor. He sang “Shake, Rattle & Roll”, “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Suede Shoes”.
Each appearance attracted a higher audience. The younger generation was hooked while parents, TV critics and civil leaders were criticising his movements, and the developing rock ‘n’ roll phenomenon of which Elvis was now the leader.
A single performance on the “Milton Berle Show” created a huge controversy of the kind never before witnessed in a television performance. That performance was Elvis singing “Hound Dog” on June 5, 1956. The performance thrilled teenagers but incensed those who opposed rock ‘n’ roll.
“Hound Dog” was written as a twelve-bar blues song for Big Mama Thornton by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller in 1953. It told the story of a love cheat coming snooping round the door seeking forgiveness from his partner. Elvis had seen the song performed with different lyrics whilst he was in Las Vegas for two weeks in late April and early May, by “Freddy and the Bellboys”. Elvis began using the song in his own performance, with the group’s lyrics, but set to a raucous rock ‘n’ roll beat.
Elvis had not yet recorded the song when he performed it on the “Milton Berle Show”, but he had perfected the sound by then with the backing of his band.
After first performing his second RCA hit, the ballad, “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You”, Elvis put everything into the two minutes and thirty seconds it took to perform “Hound Dog” and changed the course of music forever.
Elvis performed without his usual acoustic guitar, grabbing the microphone as if it were a dance partner, moving from side to side, shaking his hips and legs. Then he did something the band were not expecting, he slowed the tempo by flinging his arm back as a signal to pause. He then slowly started the next chorus with “You ain’t nothin’ but a”, grabbing the microphone with intensity. The band followed his lead and as Elvis progressed, he incorporated a series of pelvic thrusts, hip shakes and high intensity leg movements during a drum roll that was described by critics as being highly sexual.
The next day, it was as if a war had broken out between those who loved it and those who hated it. A “Daily News” TV critic reported on June 8, “Popular music has been sinking in this country for some years.” Continuing, “he gave an exhibition that was suggestive and vulgar, tinged with the kind of animalism that should be confined to dives and bordellos.”
Others went further still, and when referencing the influence of Black musicians on rock ‘n’ roll, they used the kind of racist language that broadcasters and printers would not be allowed to use if such comments were made today. In fact, when the original comments are repeated on TV as part of documentaries, the documentaries often come with warnings that the programme contains racist language reflective of the times that some viewers might find offensive.
Elvis was shocked by the reaction, saying he was just singing and dancing, but this one performance broke down barriers that no one else had dared to challenge. It is one of the defining moments of rock ‘n’ roll history, truly iconic.
