Elvis Presley Traveling Exhibition to Premiere at Los Angeles' GRAMMY Museum® on The King’s 75th Birthday

Elvis Presley Traveling Exhibition to Premiere at Los Angeles' GRAMMY Museum on The King’s 75th Birthday

12/18/2009



Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer, a new Smithsonian traveling exhibition, will debut at The GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Jan. 8, 2010, Elvis' 75th birthday. In 1956 photojournalist Alfred Wertheimer was hired by RCA Victor to shoot promotional images of a recently signed 21-year-old recording artist (Presley), and his instincts to "tag along" with the artist after the assignment resulted in 56 striking images that provide an intimate look at Elvis before he exploded onto the scene and became one of the most exciting performers of all time. The exhibit will run through March 28, 2010.

Developed collaboratively by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and the Govinda Gallery, the Elvis at 21 exhibition — sponsored nationally by The History Channel — will travel to museums around the country through 2013 following its premiere at the GRAMMY Museum.

Wertheimer had unparalleled access and documented Elvis on the road, backstage, in concert, in the recording studio and at home in Memphis, Tenn. "Colonel" Tom Parker, Elvis' manager, restricted contact just a short time later. The photographs document a remarkable time when Elvis could sit alone at a drugstore lunch counter.

"Henri Cartier-Bresson was known for photographing what he called the 'decisive moment,' that moment when everything falls into place," said Wertheimer. "But I was more interested in the moments before or after the decisive moment."

Wertheimer was up close to capture a flirtatious encounter with a young woman backstage in Richmond, Va. He was in the New York City recording studio on the historic day Elvis recorded "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog," the b-side to that record. Both songs hit No. 1 on the charts, the first and only time a single record would achieve this distinction.

Wertheimer also joined Elvis after the recording session as he traveled home to Memphis by train. One image shows Elvis as just part of the crowd surrounding a lunch vendor on a train platform during a brief stop on the 27-hour trip. The anonymity he had during this stop was short-lived; the trip followed a busy few months when Elvis appeared on the television shows "Stage Show," "The Milton Berle Show" and "The Steve Allen Show." The photographs of a concert in Russwood Park on his return to Memphis show a young man who now had to have a police escort to get through the crowd of fans between his car and the stadium.

Elvis at 21 is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalog, titled "Elvis 1956," available through Welcome Books.

Click here for more information on the catalog.

For more information on the exhibit at The Grammy Museum, click here.


==> http://elvis.com/news/full_story.asp?id=2057

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTRODUCTION AND ESSAYS

DOWNLOAD THE EXHIBITION PRESS RELEASE

Elvis 1956

Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer
128 pages, 8 1/4" x 10 1/2"
72 tritone photographs
Hardcover, $29.95 ($37.00 CAN)
ISBN 978-1-59962-073-2
November 2009 publication


In 1956, a twenty-one-year-old Elvis Presley was at the beginning of his remarkable and unparalleled career. Photojournalist Alfred Wertheimer was asked by Presley's new label, RCA Victor, to photograph the rising star for a one-day assignment that quickly developed into an odyssey. With unimpeded access to the young performer, Wertheimer was able to capture the unguarded and everyday moments in Elvis' life during March and July of that year, the pivotal year that made Elvis' career—taking him from virtual obscurity to the verge of international stardom and his crowning as "The King of Rock 'n' Roll."

Wertheimer's unobtrusive photographs of Elvis in performance, with his fans, in the recording studio, and at home with his family present a unique look at one of the world's most famous cultural figures. These images represent the first and the last unguarded look at Elvis, and are an extraordinary portrait of a charismatic young man who would go on to become a legend.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition Elvis at 21, developed collaboratively by the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and Govinda Gallery, and sponsored nationally by The History Channel. The national tour of Elvis at 21 launches at The GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles on January 8, 2010 and will travel through 2012.


http://welcomebooks.com/elvis1956/