22nd November 1956, Thursday

[Graeme]

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[Graeme]

      

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[Private Presley]

November 22, 1956

A memorable event that took place on November 22nd in Toledo, Ohio’s history was the first appearance of Elvis Presley on a Toledo stage.   The year was 1956, and it was a special Thanksgiving Day show at the Sports Arena as part of a four city tour that Elvis was making just barely a year after he ended his music contract with Sun Records in Memphis and signed with RCA.  Elvis historian Alan Hanson  writes that Elvis’ fame had been increasing in the weeks leading up to the Ohio tour after making his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.  He had just filmed his first movie in Hollywood and the night that Elvis arrived in Toledo,  “Love Me Tender”, which had been released that day, started a run at Toledo’s Paramount Theater.

November 22, 1956 was a bitterly cold day and Elvis’ appearance lasted only 30 minutes following two hours of warm-up acts, but they were unforgettable to the 13,125 frenzied fans who were there. Elvis played his early hits, including his one of his latest hits - “Don't Be Cruel’. He closed the show with 'Hound Dog' and upon the start of of the song, the kids broke from their seats and rushed the stage and the aisles as 20 security guards watched helplessly.  This scenario was becoming a regular occurrence at Elvis’ concerts.

In the local papers the Toledo Blade, the following day, Reporter, Charles Gilmore, apparently did not share the young crowds enthusiasm for the “Hillbilly Hellcat” and his words of disdain for the music and the show drew a flood of angry letters to Blade editors in the days that followed. 

A different angle to the story of the Elvis Toledo visit focused on a fight incident involving Elvis at the Commodore Perry Hotel on the day that rock and roller and his entourage arrived in the city. While sitting in the Commodore Perry’s  Shalimar Room bar, Presley was confronted by 19-year-old Toledoan Louis Balint, who shouted, “My wife carries your picture but doesn’t carry mine.”  According to “The Blade”  a “free-for-all”  followed Ballint’s accusation and was eventually broken up by Toledo Police who found Presley earnestly punching Balint who was trying to toss one of the musicians, Scotty Moore, over a railing.  Balint, a local sheet metal worker, was carted off and  later sentenced to seven days in the Workhouse because he was unable to pay the $19 fine.

Elvis did not return to Toledo until 21 years later in April 1977.

[Private Presley]

November 22, 1956

A memorable event that took place on November 22nd in Toledo, Ohio’s history was the first appearance of Elvis Presley on a Toledo stage.   The year was 1956, and it was a special Thanksgiving Day show at the Sports Arena as part of a four city tour that Elvis was making just barely a year after he ended his music contract with Sun Records in Memphis and signed with RCA.  Elvis historian Alan Hanson  writes that Elvis’ fame had been increasing in the weeks leading up to the Ohio tour after making his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.  He had just filmed his first movie in Hollywood and the night that Elvis arrived in Toledo,  “Love Me Tender”, which had been released that day, started a run at Toledo’s Paramount Theater.

November 22, 1956 was a bitterly cold day and Elvis’ appearance lasted only 30 minutes following two hours of warm-up acts, but they were unforgettable to the 13,125 frenzied fans who were there. Elvis played his early hits, including his one of his latest hits - “Don't Be Cruel’. He closed the show with 'Hound Dog' and upon the start of of the song, the kids broke from their seats and rushed the stage and the aisles as 20 security guards watched helplessly.  This scenario was becoming a regular occurrence at Elvis’ concerts.

In the local papers the Toledo Blade, the following day, Reporter, Charles Gilmore, apparently did not share the young crowds enthusiasm for the “Hillbilly Hellcat” and his words of disdain for the music and the show drew a flood of angry letters to Blade editors in the days that followed. 

A different angle to the story of the Elvis Toledo visit focused on a fight incident involving Elvis at the Commodore Perry Hotel on the day that rock and roller and his entourage arrived in the city. While sitting in the Commodore Perry’s  Shalimar Room bar, Presley was confronted by 19-year-old Toledoan Louis Balint, who shouted, “My wife carries your picture but doesn’t carry mine.”  According to “The Blade”  a “free-for-all”  followed Ballint’s accusation and was eventually broken up by Toledo Police who found Presley earnestly punching Balint who was trying to toss one of the musicians, Scotty Moore, over a railing.  Balint, a local sheet metal worker, was carted off and  later sentenced to seven days in the Workhouse because he was unable to pay the $19 fine.

Elvis did not return to Toledo until 21 years later in April 1977.

[Alan]

Many thanks to Grzegorz Borzęcki, Keith Flynn and Chris Kennedy for doing the bloodhound dog work to track the balance of the audio down (we only had about 70 seconds before) and Tony Stuchbury for the audio restoration.
      
Youtube link :-
      

[Alan]

[Alan]

[Alan]

      
https://www.toledoblade.com/memories/20 ... -up-Toledo
(Published on line August 11th 2014)

Rock and roll legend Elvis Presley passed away 37 years ago, on Aug. 16, 1977. Today we turn back the clock to pay tribute to the singer who made young women scream in delight whenever he performed in concert.

Blade photographer Bob Jacobs got a front-row seat to see Elvis “The Pelvis” in action at the Toledo Sports Arena on Nov. 22, 1956. Elvis performed before 13,125 frenzied teen-agers and some less enthusiastic adults in two appearances.

The Blade review pointed out that Presley had soared from a $35 a week truck driver in Memphis, Tenn., to a singing sensation who could take home better than $16,000 for a one-day stand in Toledo. It added that Elvis had boasted that he never had a music lesson, an educational void he clearly demonstrated when he performed. But the hysterical screams that accompanied his every number completely obliterated whatever sounds he was making vocally or might have made on his standard prop — a huge guitar that he occasionally strummed but never played.

To hear Elvis, concert goers had to scrape together anywhere from $2 to $2.50 for tickets. And many purchased souvenir hats, albums, photos, popcorn and binoculars for the show. His performances were only 30-minutes long, accompanied by his famous torso twisting. Lead-in vaudeville acts and a series of warm-up groups, including a magician, and other “wholesome entertainment” preceded Elvis taking the stage.

Those in the crowd were coached by a female master of ceremonies on how to scream, when to scream and where to scream. Don’t Be Cruel and Hound Dog were on the play list. When fans surged toward the stage in the final seconds of his performance, an extra crew of 20 policemen watched helplessly. But by the time fans reached the stage Elvis had already left the building.

Presley’s driver took him to the Commodore Perry Hotel, where he ran into some trouble. He was seated in the Shalimar Room with his press agent and three musicians, when he was accosted by a 19-year-old Toledoan who shouted “my wife carries your picture, but doesn’t carry mine.” When police arrived, they found Presley pummeling his accuser who, reportedly, was attempting to throw one of the musicians over a railing that surrounded the Shalimar Room Terrace. The Toledo man pleaded guilty to creating a disturbance and was fined $10 plus $9.60 in court costs, or seven days in the Workhouse. No charges were filed against Elvis.

[Alan]

Elvis with Ron Ross of WOWO :-