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1 Don't Be Cruel 1956 2 Ready Teddy 1:51 3 Hound Dog 3:49 4 Too Much 5:24 1957 5 When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again 7:50 6 Peace in the Valley 9:00 This Elvis Presley video starts with the King first appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show from Los Angeles (introduced by Charles Laughton). Presley eventually made three appearances on the “Ed Sullivan Show“ (September 9, 1956, October 28, 1956, and January 6, 1967) and the half-dozen of his performances are shown here. Of course, everything is in black & white. Still, the historical value here is watching Elvis trying to keep his pelvis from gyrating too much and Sullivan having a good word to say about the lad as he heads off to military service. Remember, that Elvis was one of the few legendary performers NOT to make his television debut on “Ed Sullivan“ (he actually appeared first on Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey's “Stage Show“). It was his energetic rendition of “Hound Dog” on The Milton Berle Show that first incited the uproar. From that moment on, everyone was either hot with Elvis fever or sick with fear of the “youth-corrupting” musician. The more parents and concerned citizens urged against the rocker, the more teens wanted him. Television stations had to make a choice. They could either give the disproportionately-sized teen demographic their star and risk the backlash, or appease parents and lose the ratings. A compromise was reached. Elvis could appear on television, but it was demanded he be shot from the waist up only. In 1957, Elvis made his final of three agreed-upon appearances for The Ed Sullivan Show. While Elvis’ first two appearances, each scheduled a month or so apart, showed the rocker head-to-toe, his final performance was broadcasted without a pelvis in sight. Before the iconic host struck a three-show deal with Elvis, Sullivan was weary to book the rocker, wanting desperately to avoid the criticisms that came with playing host to such provocative performances. But he couldn’t deny the skyrocketing ratings other shows received when they welcomed the star. Upon the conclusion of Elvis' last performance, Ed genuinely complimented the singer saying, “I wanted to say to Elvis Presley and the country that this is a real decent, fine boy, and wherever you go, Elvis, we want to say we've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you.
