6th December 1957, Friday

Post by **Graeme** » Sun Dec 06, 2015 9:16 pm

Yesterday << 6th December 1957, Friday >> Tomorrow

ColinB · Post by **ColinB** » Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:04 pm

: With Brook Benton

Private Presley · Post by **Private Presley** » Sat Oct 02, 2021 7:01 am

On this day, December 6 1957, Elvis attended the WDIA goodwill revue. Located at the Ellis auditorium in Memphis, the event sought to make the annual fundraiser for needy black children. This was his second visit to the event, having visited it the previous year.
Memphis photographer Ernest C. Withers remembered Elvis as a "mild mannered, good hearted fellow". His photographs show Elvis not so much as the King of Rock and Roll but as a white variant in a continuing black tradition. In Withers' now famous backstage images from WDIA's 1956 and 1957 Goodwill Revues, we see Elvis paying tribute to B.B. King, Rufus Thomas, and Junior Parker, among others. And we get the extraordinary vision of a grinning Presley working his way upstream against a sea of black "Indians". As a teenager, Elvis not only listened to WDIA but visited Reverend Brewster's church for the Gospel music and studied Calvin Newborn's dynamic, hip swiveling stage show. Wither's portraits of Presley reflect these influences while refusing to express any resentment. He was an unusual Escalator is how Wither's puts it.