courtesy elvis presley enterprises, inc.
On July 30th, 1954, a young Elvis Presley played what is
considered his first real public concert at the Overton Park
Shell. Elvis’ first single for Sun Records, the now-legendary
“That’s All Right (Mama),” had just been released, and Presley was a
relatively unknown opening act on a multi-artist bill headlined by
country singer Slim Whitman.
Elvis would perform several shows at the shell over the next year,
before becoming the biggest star rock-and-roll would ever know. This
fall, the King returns, in a way, to the venue that launched him when
Elvis, the 1968 NBC television special now popularly
known as “The ’68 Comeback Special,” will be screened in the park as
part of the 12th Indie Memphis Film Festival.
The screening will take place at 7 p.m., Friday, October 9th, at the
recently refurbished and renamed Levitt Shell. The screening is
being presented by Elvis Presley Enterprises and co-presented by
the Levitt Shell and the Memphis Flyer. It will be free
and open to the public.
“Elvis changed the world with his performance of ‘That’s All Right’
at the Overton Park Shell 55 years ago. It’s exciting that a whole new
generation of Memphians will be able to experience that song and many
others in the same venue in 2009,” Scott Williams, vice president of
marketing for Elvis Presley Enterprises, said in a release announcing
the event.
The Elvis special includes the intimate and justly famous
concert-in-the-round performances where Elvis, clad in an iconic black
leather suit, ripped through some of his classic ’50s material
surrounded by friends and original bandmates.
For more information on the Indie Memphis Film Festival, which runs
October 8th-15th, go to IndieMemphis.com.
