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Above, vaudeville and movies at the Orpheum ... At left, an automobile and a streetcar collide at 9th Street and Flower.
Also note the Latin American Republican League--and that in 1908 this group included Spanish, French and Italians ...
"Although there are 5,000 Spanish American voters in the county, there is not a single Spanish American holding a county office and there are very few of them employed at the courthouse."
--Frank Dominguez, president of the Latin American Republican League.
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July 16, 1967
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At left, Marshal Dillon and Miss Kitty! But wait, there's roller derby: the San Francisco Bay Bombers vs. the Los Angeles Braves!
Talk about mind-rotting nostalgia: "Heckle and Jeckle," "Mighty Mouse" and "Howdy Doody."
And, hmm.... "Bowling Time" or "Topper"? Oh, I think I'll watch "Topper."
Tough choice at 8 p.m.: Gale Storm, Perry Como or Spade Cooley.
On second thought, I'll wait until 8:30 p.m. for "Have Gun, Will Travel."
Best of all: "Perry Mason."
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Note that William Grant Still took part in the rehearsals for these performances of "Lennox Avenue."
Here's a link to more information from Duke University about William Grant Still.
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Above, Arnold Schoenberg's orchestration of Brahms' quartet for piano and strings receives its U.S. premiere. I once listened to a recording of a talk by Schoenberg and was surprised to hear him pronounce his name "Shane-berg" as in "Bei Mir Bist du Schoen." Below, Nazi teachers (the National Socialist Teachers Assn.) burn books, starting with "Three Times Austria" (Dreimal Oesterreich) by Kurt von Schuschnigg. This bonfire of 2,000 books was largely ceremonial, The Times said. The Nazis planned an even bigger fire for 30,000 volumes collected from libraries and universities to purge "objectionable literature" forced on the people. Quote of the Day: " 'Books by Emil Ludwig, Stefan Zweig, Vicki Baum' and 'clerical monarchist literature' must disappear from German homes."
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Above, Shirley Temple, Peter Lorre and Mickey Mouse ... Below, what do we have in Gothic type above the masthead? Yes, it is Easter Sunday in 1938 ... At least 16 Arabs die in a fight between British troops and terrorists in the Holy Land ... A devoted dog pays daily visits to the grave of its master in a Bloomington, Ind., cemetery ... Britain and Italy sign an agreement that "pulls powers from the abyss of war."  Email me
Below, an old-fashioned lunatic--really crazy--is on trial in the killing of his ex-wife, who used to sleep with a knife under her pillow. He uses the "everything went black" defense ... The Police Board appoints a committee to study scam artists who specialize in the occult: "slate writers, trance mediums," etc. ... Quong Wai, who is fighting a deportation order, says he is an American born in San Francisco. He says immigration officers arrested him at a streetcar station without reason.
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Above, the Dodgers get a champagne welcome from Lawrence Welk at the Aragon Ballroom. Below, can it really be 50 years since Van Cliburn won the Tchaikovsky piano competition? And in case you're wondering: Liu Shi-kun and Lev Vlasenko tied for second place. Daniel Pollack of Los Angeles was awarded eighth place ... Mary Livingston is just fine, by the way....  Email me
KNOB-FM (103.1) went on the air in August 1957 as the world's first all-jazz station under the ownership of Sleepy Stein, The Times said. According to an Aug. 18, 1957, story by Don Page, the station had received permission to raise its power to 70,000 watts and would be moving 97.9-FM. However a 1958 story says the station wanted to raise its power to 7,000 watts.
By 1966, the station had moved to Anaheim and was sold to Jack and Jeannette Banoczi and by October of that year KNOB-FM had a pop music format. Several 1984 stories say the station was in Anaheim and had an easy listening format. Think MOR: Barry Manilow, Kenny Rogers and Olivia Newton-John. In 1986, the station went to "love rock" and in 1988, it became KSKQ-FM, all-Spanish contemporary.
Alex "Sleepy" Stein died July 27, 2000, at the age of 81. The Los Angeles Jazz Institute has a collection of his material.
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Above, a review of a concert at the Million Dollar Theater (coming up May 11: Mariachi Vargas!) Below, Mickey Cohen touches off a sensation by releasing Lana Turner's love letters to Johnny Stompanato. Quote of the Day: "In all my years on the force, I have never seen a more open and shut case of a child defending its mother." --Beverly Hills Police Capt. Ray Borders, on allegations of a cover-up in the Johnny Stompanato killing.
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Above, Al Jolson in blackface as the lead in "Porgy and Bess" while African Americans play all the other roles? Now there's a casting idea that takes my breath away. Philip Scheuer interviews Ira Gershwin and notes that the lyricist will be back on the lot where he and his brother George wrote their last song together: "Our Love Is Here to Stay." And a little explanation of the old gag about the film credit on "Taming of the Shrew" : "Additional dialogue by Sam Taylor."
Below, unemployment is up ... An atomic physicist dies when his helicopter crashes in bad weather off Eniwetok ... Technicians go on strike at CBS ... And a judge denies requests to release Cheryl Crane to her family pending the investigation into Johnny Stompanato's killing. Quote of the Day: "I am not satisfied with the current version of the story. I think the timetable in the case is too pat.... It doesn't seem possible he would just stand there and let somebody put a knife into him. He was in the Marine Corps and had lots of training. He was very quick." --Carmine Stompanato, on the killing of his brother Johnny
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Above, the tars of the Great White Fleet are fed up with the same old songs. I'm not sure about "I'm Afraid to Go Home in the Dark," but I did find a song titled "I Used to Be Afraid to Go Home in the Dark. And what's this? "You've Heard of Hiawatha" at Indiana University's sheet music collections. Of course, it's a model of multiculturalism.
Below, a crowd of unemployed men in the council chambers applauds as the city approves hiring 80 men for 20 days to work for the street department ... The council also approves a law making it illegal for bicyclists to hitch a free ride by grabbing hold of a streetcar or automobile ... A man is granted a divorce after testifying that he has made his own breakfast and lunch for years and that although his wife cooks his dinner, she refuses to sit at the table with him while he eats it ... And a judge rules against a motorist who was fined for not having a license plate on his car and claims that the law is biased because motorcycles don't need to carry license plates.
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Below, notes on pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski during his stay in Los Angeles. A typical musician, he is usually so wound up after his performances that he doesn't go to bed until 4 a.m., then sleeps to noon ... The Times boasts about its gains in circulation ... Temperance speaker William Murphy is to be honored in a celebration at Temple Auditorium ... And Coulter Dry Goods Store moves its ribbon counter.
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OK, who's the young man with the guitar?
Phil Spector? (Kris Gray, Fred Ahlert). Absolutely.... This is a photo taken Nov. 10, 1958, and published in the Los Angeles Examiner. It was sent to me by William Dotson of the USC libraries and appears in a new exhibit at the Doheny Library, "Mobsters, Molls, and Mayhem: A Year in the Life of Los Angeles." The exhibit features 55 photos from the Examiner collection, including subjects such as Mickey Cohen and the Dodgers, and will be on display until May 16.
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Feb. 1, 1958
Los Angeles
Rock 'n' roll singer Li'l Julian "These Lonely Nights" Herrera and two
companions are in custody on rape charges after taking two teenage
girls to Griffith Park, The Times says.
The girls told police that Herrera (Ronald Wayne Gregory), 19, 4159 Verdant St.; David Luan, 20, 440 La Cleve [La Clede?] Ave.; and Manny Ortiz, 19, 475 Maple Ave., drove them to a lonely spot near the observatory, The Times says.
One of the girls said Luan and Ortiz attacked her on a hillside, while
Herrera "attempted to molest her," The Times says. Luan and Ortiz admit
being at the park with the girls, but deny any attack. "I am not
involved," Luan said.
Unfortunately, The Times never followed up on this story, so we don't
know whether Herrera made his weekend concert dates. He is
usually identified as an East L.A. performer, but he lived Glendale and
Herrera was apparently a stage name.
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Jan. 29, 1958
Charles Judson, former city editor of the late
lamented L.A. Daily News, is now farm editor of the daily Grand
Junction (Colo.) Sentinel. His job requires that he travel about the
countryside, checking agricultural conditions and writing about them.
Last
week he spent some time around Grand Valley, Colo.--about 50 miles from
home base. While there he dropped in at the office of the Grand Valley
News, a four-page tabloid with a small circulation run by an oldster
who sets all the type by hand, does the printing and sweeps the joint.
IT HAD COME to Judson's attention that his stories, by line and all, were being reprinted in the paper.
Jud
walked into the shop and caught the old boy in the act. He had a stick
of type in his hand and was looking at a clipping of a story Jud had
written a few days before.
When Jud introduced himself, the old
editor said, "Say, I've been cribbing your stuff. I hope you don't
mind. I always give you and your paper credit."
"That's all right," assured Jud, "I don't care how I get syndicated."
IT'S PRETTY well
out in the open now that the economy is sagging--no one is certain how
much. Mostly we've got a bunch of confused experts asking each other, "Wha' Hoppen?"
Here and there, however, someone claims to have the answer. For instance, a man close to the finance business.
His
key to the dilemma goes like this: "Here's this car we repossessed. The
guy owed $1,200 on it but it's only worth $800. The catch is that in
today's market you can't get $800 for it. So everybody's stuck.
THE WAY Raul
Rodriguez tells it, Santa Claus died and those in charge of
arrangements refused to let his funeral chariot be drawn by his
reindeer. That, they said, would be putting the hart before the corse.
ONLY IN L.A.--Persons
entering a downtown building after office hours are required to sign
their names on a paper posted at the elevator. Well, two consecutive
names on the list the other night were Elvis Presley and Evelyn Throsby Scott.
PAUL GANGELIN is whooping at a rhapsodic ad for the sackline chemiserie
stating, "The entire look fluid, uncluttered, simply stating the facts
of the body beneath." Clearly the time has come to take a cue from Jack
Webb and say, "All we want is the facts, ma'am."
THE COUNTDOWN -- Tom Cracraft says the whole thing got off to a bad start. Instead of missiles we should have been making "hitles" ... Joe Steele was so fascinated by the sign "Expert Sputnik Repairs" on a machine shop on Sawtelle Boulevard near Pico
he stopped for a closer look--only to discover just a machine shop ...
Rose-colored recollection by Carter Barber: "Remember when Russian
satellites were countries?"
MISCELLANY -- Those
Russians, always taking bows. Latest is the claim that a Soviet
scientist has invented a machine which puts people to sleep by shooting
electrical impulses into the body. Sing Sing has used one of those for
years, reminds Paul Drus
... Anyone besides Doris Hellman catch the congressman's fluff on a TV
interview about national security the other day? He said, "We have a
very great detergent power--I mean deterrent power" ... Lots of
reunions on Sunset Boulevard buses among housemaids who haven't seen
each other since before the strike
... You think you've got worries. Consider the plight of the Detroit
auto engineers. Probably have recurrent nightmares wondering what to do
with the taillights on the 1959 models.
Oct. 26, 1952
Los Angeles
Now playing at the Daily Mirror HQ: "Bess, You Is My Woman Now," from "Oscar Peterson Plays 'Porgy and Bess' " and "You Go to My Head" from "Jazz 'Round Midnight."
Oct. 29, 1957
Los Angeles
You may remember my post on Elvis Presley's concerts at the Pan-Pacific
Auditorium, based on contemporary reviews by those two keen observers
of popular culture: Wally George and Hedda Hopper.
I'm sorry to say I did a very poor job of capturing what actually
happened and I've been too pressed for time until now to set the record
straight.
In fact, Presley put on a graphic, controversial show. The performance
was so raunchy that the LAPD vice squad filmed Presley's second concert
for possible legal action. I'll never be able to look at the RCA dog in
the same way after reading what Presley did with a statue of the
company's emblem. Poor Nipper!
Here's Dick Williams' review from the Mirror, which touched off an incredible controversy and caused Presley to curb his performance. "That's the worst he's ever been," socialite Judy Spreckles sobbed after his more conservative show.
Sexhibitionist Elvis Presley has come at last in person to a visibly
palpitating, adolescent female Los Angeles to give all the little
girls' libidos the jolt of their lives.
Six thousand kids, predominantly feminine by a ratio of 10 to 1, jammed
Pan-Pacific Auditorium to the rafters last night. They screamed their
lungs out without letup as Elvis shook, bumped and did the grinds from
one end of the stage to the other until he was a quivering heap on the
floor 35 minutes later.
With anyone else, the police would have closed the show 10 minutes
after it started. But not Elvis, our new national teenage hero.
If any further proof were needed that what Elvis offers is not
basically music but a sex show, it was provided last night. Pandemonium
took over from the time he swaggered triumphantly on stage like some
ancient Caesar, resplendent in gold lame tux jacket with rhinestone
lapels, until he weaved off at the end of his stint.
It was almost impossible to hear the music despite a turned-up public
address system. A cloud of thumping drums, whining guitars and Elvis'
hoarse shouts rose like some lascivious steaming brew from the bare
stage (except for a banner plugging his next picture, "Jailhouse Rock")
and filled the auditorium.
The only way I knew what Elvis was singing was by asking the youths
sitting next to me. They somehow recognized every number. It started
with "Heartbreak Hotel" and wound its way through all his popular
record hits from "Hound Dog" to "Don't Be Cruel." There is but scant
difference in any of them. Only the wild abandon varies.
Hundreds of little girls brought their flash cameras although what they
expected to get sitting far back in this vast barn of a place I don't
know. Constantly, amidst the high, sustained screaming, the thumping,
clapping and wild shouts, innumerable flashes kept going off so that
the darkness was intermittently lit as if by lightning.
The whole panorama, from the frenzy on stage to the far reaches of the
jammed bleachers which seemed a mile back at the rear, looked like one
of those screeching, uninhibited party rallies which the Nazis used to
hold for Hitler.
Scores of police circled the auditorium and at the slightest hint of
trouble plunged in ominous pairs up the aisles toward the offenders.
There have been too many Elvis "concerts" which ended in riots in the
past to risk any trouble.
Elvis worked with two guitarists, a drummer and a pianist plus the
Jordinaires, a quartet of young harmonists who were lost in the hubbub.
He attempted almost no talking after his initial muttered, "Friends, I
want to introduce yuh to the members of muh gang." Most of the time he
was weaving over the stage like a horse with the blind staggers.
He wiggled, bounced, shook and ground in the style which stripteasers
of the opposite sex have been using at stag shows since grandpa was a
boy.
He used frequent contrived sensual gestures such as constantly hitching
up his pants, fooling with his belt buckle and yanking down his coat to
elicit further wild screams from his audience.
He played up to the mike stand like it was a girl in a gesture which is
expressly forbidden by the police department in every burlesque show in
Los Angeles County.
The wilder Elvis got in his pelvic gyrations, the more frenzied his
audience became. Inevitably, he announced midway, sweat pouring down
his face, that he was "all shook up."
The madness reached its peak at the finish with "Hound Dog." Elvis
writhed in complete abandon, hair hanging down over his face. He got
down on the floor with a huge replica of the RCA singing dog and made
love to it as if it were a girl. Slowly, he rolled over and over on the
floor.
The little brunette of maybe 15 sitting in front of me bent her head
and covered her eyes, whether with embarrassment, fright, sickness or
excitement, I know not.
I do know this is corruption of the innocent on a scale such as I have
never witnessed before. For these are children to whom Elvis appeals,
preconditioned, curious adolescents, who are artificially and
unhealthfully stimulated. Their reactions would shock many a parent if
he or she could see this display. They are not adults who can take his
crudities and laugh or shrug them off.
The boy next to me, bent forward on his seat taking it all in, turned
briefly to me between numbers. "He's great," he enthused. "He's simply
great, isn't he?"
The same lesson in pornography will be repeated tonight, barring an
interruption by the Police Department, which is unlikely, in view of
the fact that they might have a riot on their hands.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold, 1897-1957
The suite from "Robin Hood" is playing at the Daily Mirror HQ as I post The Times obituary on Korngold, one of the great film composers of his generation. And he lived in the Valley!
My goodness. Well, this is too good not to share.
A few months before Korngold's death, Times Hollywood writer Philip K. Scheuer responded to recent articles in Variety and the New York Times puzzling over the popularity of soundtrack albums (please trust me, this actually happened). According an article by Fred Hift in Variety, film producers and distributors were stunned that the soundtrack album for "Around the World in 80 Days" had sold nearly 1 million copies. (And yes, as soundtrack collectors know, that thing is in every Salvation Army record bin in America).
But why on earth are soundtrack albums popular, Hift asks. "Music in these pictures was penned to help to create and underscore a mood set by the film. Heard by itself, some of that music doesn't sound like much. Some trade people speculate that the glamour illustration and screen names appearing on the album fronts do the trick. Others point out that in today's crazy inflation, Americans are buy-happy."
Scheuer ticks off a list of current, popular soundtrack albums:
"The Man With the Golden Arm," "Saint Joan," "A Face in the Crowd," "The Pride and the Passion," "Picnic," "The Ten Commandments," "The Rainmaker," "The Sweet Smell of Success," "War and Peace," "Baby Doll," "An Affair to Remember," Band of Angels," "Trapeze," "Men in War" and the Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Eddy Duchin stories.
All of which were dismissed by legendary New York Times music critic Harold C. Schonberg.
"Take away the film and let the music stand on its own. Then what? The chances overwhelmingly are that the product suddenly becomes synthetic, a collection of musical banalities and inanities. What may work in a film does not necessarily work elsewhere," he wrote.
For example, Schonberg wrote, " 'Saint Joan' has a medieval setting. Thus (Mischa) Spoliansky has inserted into his score many sections of a quasi-modal character, even resorting to a basse dance at one point. The scoring, however, pays the usual debt to Rachmaninoff. One organ interlude could be by Franck. A big Hollywood musical sunburst ends the score.
" 'The Pride and the Passion' has a Spanish locale and (George) Antheil throws in the works--Albeniz-sounding Iberianisms, flamenco, nightclub-like heel and toe suggestions, and sections that nod fraternally to Ravel's 'Bolero.' What a hodgepodge!"
Scheuer concludes that although some composers (like Korngold) write good music, they are the exceptions that prove the rule. "These scores just do not stand up as hi-fi listening."
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Nov. 25, 1957
Los Angeles
The Daily Mirror is in mourning.
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Update: The 1947p's/LAPL's own Mary McCoy delves into ProQuest and turns up some ready answers, noting: "Gotta leave some for the rest of the kids to answer - no one likes a
ProQuest-it-all!"
Update II: I'm going to start filling in some of the answers--but very slowly just to give people one more chance to show off their expertise in Presleyana.
Update III: OK, here are the rest of the answers. Hope you had fun with that--I sure did.
And in case you're wondering, as I was, The Times apparently never shot Elvis in the 1950s. All we have are handout pictures. I would love to know the reason behind that.
I had so much fun doing yesterday's post on Elvis Presley that I had to share some of these wonderful factoids:
 1. In 1957, columnist Hedda Hopper listed Elvis Presley among the worst-dressed male personalities of the previous year. Who else was on the
list?
- Marlon Brando? (David Andrews) Bingo! He was one of them.
- James Dean? No. He died in 1955.
- Tab Hunter, at right. I should dig up some of the 1957 profiles of Hunter to show what he was trying to contend with. He told Hopper: "I'm a product of Hollywood publicity." Fairly astute for a young man of 24.
- Dennis Hopper (Gee, ya think?)
- Pa Kettle (Oh don't pick on poor Pa Kettle. That's as bad as saying Tugboat Annie is a slob. Oh wait, she says Tubgoat Annie is a slob).
- Bing Crosby, whom she singles out as a particularly notorious offender. He wears a shirt that looks like an Italian sunset with his best suit!
She also listed the worst-dress female personalities, including:
- Jayne Mansfield? (David Andrews) Bingo!
- Marilyn Monroe? (David Andrews) Absolutely.
Hedda Hopper's fashion tips for gals: "Some of them prefer slacks and turtle-neck sweaters, which are all right in their place, but not walking down Wilshire Boulevard, Fifth Avenue or Bond Street." That's it, ladies, no slacks and sweaters on Wilshire!
 2. On what campus was Presley performing when someone threw eggs at him from the balcony?
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University of Alabama? No. But an interesting guess.
- Villanova University? (Mary McCoy). Bingo! Juniors William Quinn, William B. Oates, James Stark and John Edit denied egging Presley.
3. What was the name of the neighborhood where Presley bought Graceland in 1957?
- Graceland was near Whitehaven, a suburb south of downtown. (Mary McCoy). Exactly right. According to The Times, Graceland was in Whitehaven.
4. What polite, modest, young TV personality emerged in 1957 who was described as a wholesome alternative to Presley?
- Pat Boone? No. Boone was offered as a wholesome alternative, but this man was described as representing a wholesome, literate, intellectual alternative to Presley.
- Charles Van Doren? (David Andrews) Incredible but true. "It's a long time--if ever--since the public has been so impressed by an intelligent, courteous, modest young man such as Van Doren." Charles Mercer, Associated Press.
5. 
What future movie star was kicked off the university track team for refusing to trim his Elvis-like sideburns?
- Michael Landon? No, but that's a great guess!
- Bruce Dern? (Mary McCoy) Bingo! Bruce Dern, star of Penn's two-mile relay team, quit rather than shave his sideburns. (At right, tragedy at the Dern home, 1962).
6. Bootleg Presley recordings were selling for 50 rubles ($12.50 USD 1957)
in the Soviet Union in 1957. These bootlegs were not vinyl but on
another medium. What was it?
- Reel-to-reel magnetic tape? No. The Soviets used a nontraditional recording medium.
- Shellac? No. The Soviets were using an improvised medium never intended for recording.
- Used X-ray film? (Mary McCoy). Absolutely. This was known as "music on bones."
7. What folk music expert said: Elvis Presley is "a crime against society.
Rock 'n' roll is going to die. In fact the process has already started."
- Pete Seeger? Interesting guess. No, but I wonder what Seeger thought of Presley.
- Alan Lomax? Excellent guess. But no.
- Burl Ives? Excellent guess! But no.
- Woody Guthrie? Excellent guess. But no.
- Dorothea Dix Lawrence? (Mary McCoy). Absolutely right. Lawrence cataloged 378 verses of "Frankie and Johnnie" (a.k.a. "Frankie and Albert").
8. Two young women making a promotional tour of the country ran into
Presley as he was parking his Cadillac at the Beverly Wilshire. What
were they promoting and what scary prop did they have with them?
- National Mothproofing Month? (Mary McCoy) Bingo! Mary Hall and Cherry Gordon (at right, behold the fearsome terror of proto-Mothra) were carrying a 35-pound giant prop moth nicknamed "Max the Monster." Elvis said: "What's that?" They replied: "Pat Boone."
9. What famous Presley movie was briefly given the working title "Treat Me Nice?"
- "Jailhouse Rock?" (Delilah Schelen) Exactly right.
10. What rumor about Presley was hotly denied in a 1957 magazine article? (Note: There may be many rumors, I'm thinking of a specific rumor listed in The Times).
- That he had left the building: "One rumor even had it that he was dead," The Times said May 2, 1957. "You may think he's out of this world or down the tube but you'll have to agree he's far from dead!
11. What actress wasn't allowed to visit Presley while he was filming in 1957?
- Natalie Wood? No, another actress was specifically banned from visiting him, according to The Times.
- Debra Paget? No. Interesting guess, but no.
- Mae West? Interesting guess. But no.
- Tura Satana? Well that's different. No, but interesting guess.
- Vampira? Oh very interesting guess. But no.
- Jayne Mansfield? No. Unless you are a total Elvis freak you have never heard of this woman.
- Yvonne Lime. "Another studio spokesman said Miss Lime was refused admittance this week to the set where Presley is working." (Don't tell me you've never heard of her! She appeared in "High School Hellcats" and "Dragstrip Riot," and was Policewoman Gloria Harbor in "Dragnet 1967").
12. What was the name of the manager at radio station KEX who fired disc
jockey Al Priddy after he played Presley's recording of "White
Christmas?" What was the reason?
- Nobody even tried this one. How sad. KEX manager Mel Bailey said Al Priddy was fired because he played Presley's recording of "White Christmas." The record was banned at the Portland, Ore., station because "it is not in the good taste we ascribe to Christmas music. Presley gives it a rhythm and blues interpretation. It doesn't seem to me to be in keeping with the intent of the song," Bailey said.
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Read on »
Oct. 29, 1957
Los Angeles
He came out of nowhere, barely a blip on the nation's radar in 1955
(according to Proquest, he wasn't mentioned even once in The Times that
year). But by 1957, he was an unstoppable sensation.
So when
Elvis Presley performed his first live concert in Los Angeles at the
Pan-Pacific Auditorium, The Times carried two reviews, perhaps sensing
a pivotal moment in American pop music.
Then again, maybe not.
One review was by Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, by then
(Lord help me) 67 years old and accustomed to dealing with pliant movie
stars hungry for good press.* The other review was by (Lord help me)
George Walter Pearch, a.k.a. Wally George, 25, whose column, titled
"Strictly off the Record" and then "Court of Records," appeared in The
Times from 1957 to 1961 and heavily favored 1940s big band music.
The Times clips from the 1950s are a feast of Elvis trivia (What
famous movie star was booted off the university track team because he
refused to trim his Elvis-like sideburns? What famous Presley movie was
briefly titled "Treat Me Nice"?).
The 1957 stories are especially
illuminating as to how unaware people were that Presley's career was
merely beginning. He was compared to faded singers like Frankie Laine
and frequently came out second best to singers promoted as his rivals:
Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson.
But all those citations (including ads, news stories and TV listings, Presley's name
appeared in the paper 163 times in 1956 and 286 times in 1957, according to Proquest) are far
beyond the limits of this blog. So I'll stick to the concert.
Unfortunately, The Times apparently didn't send a photographer, so we have no pictures of what went on.
Before
the performance, Presley conducted a news conference before a fairly
hostile group of reporters in a back room of the Pan-Pacific. He was
wearing a black shirt, gold evening jacket and a rhinestone belt,
according to George.
Hopper and George noted that Presley was polite. Hopper called him "young, likable, wanting to please."
"He
was a pleasant, mild-mannered person who might have been any other
22-year-old young man," George wrote. "He was quiet, polite, somewhat
shy and made sure to sprinkle in plenty of 'sirs' when he answered
newsmen."
Here's the Q&A, reconstructed from George's articles:
Q: Unknown.
A: "I don't sing. I yell."
Q: Do you intend to change your presentation due to national criticism?
A: "I can't. It's all I can do."
Q: When will you write more songs?
A: "That's all a hoax. I can't even read music."
 Q: What about your guitar?
A: "Can't play it--use it as a brace."
Q: "What's your emotional power over women?" (Asked by a female reporter).
A: "Gosh..." replied Elvis, whispering something inaudible into a mike provided for the occasion.
Q:
"Read this!" snapped another reporter, shoving a magazine article into
Elvis' hands. It was an article written supposedly by Frank Sinatra
attacking the institution of rock 'n' roll music.
A: "I admire the man, he has a right to his own opinions," carefully replied the blackshirted Elvis.
Q: "That's all you have to say?"
A: "You can't knock success."
Q: Are you considering marriage?
A: No, he's enjoying playing the field too much.
Q: How long do you intend to wear your 2-inch sideburns?
A: Until Uncle Sam makes him shave them off, perhaps soon. He's 1-A.
Q: How much money are you making?
A: Over $1 million a year, he's not sure of the exact figures.
Q: What do you think of rock 'n' roll?
A: "It's the greatest ever, mainly because it's all I can do!"
For the statisticians among the Daily Mirror readers, Presley performed
for 50 minutes and sang 18 "of his biggest hits," including "Heartbreak
Hotel" and "Jailhouse Rock." The audience was estimated at 9,000.
Unfortunately,
not a note could be heard because of the shrieking audience, according
to Hopper as well as George, who also blamed a "frightfully poor audio
system."
"The screams came in a sort of rhythm like a great storm at sea so you couldn't hear a word he was singing," Hopper wrote.
"It wasn't an audience of just kids; whole families were there, nice
people. Dozens of policemen surrounded the stage but turned their backs
on Elvis to watch the audience and see that no one moved. They were
told if they got up or walked down the aisle toward Elvis the show
would be over."
"He smiled and the crowd screamed," George wrote. "He nodded his head
and they made as if to overrun the stage. The musical group behind him
struck a chord and Elvis opened his mouth as if to sing--nothing was
heard."
"Elvis rolled over and over on the floor, still clutching the mike,"
Hopper said. "but his performance isn't sickness. He knew what he was
doing.... You felt he was mentally saying to himself: 'Do you know an easier way of making a million a year?' "
She added: "In former days police would have been looking at the
performance [instead of watching the crowd]. I've seen performers
dragged off to jail for less."
And after it was all said and done, it sounds as if Hopper and George may have warmed to Presley:
Hopper wrote: "Elvis' audience got the emotional workout of their lives and screamed
their undying love for the greatest phenomenon I've seen in this
century."
After coming to Presley's defense against enraged critics, George said:
"Well, we don't particularly like his style either. But after observing
him closely at a press conference we feel that, as a person, he's not
too bad a kid."
I would like to salute the first Elvis impersonator apparently recorded in The
Times: A student dressed up like Elvis caused a riot at Corona High
School on March 6, 1957, during the school's weekly assembly. Students
began shrieking "We want Elvis!" The Times said, forcing Dean of Boys
Wayne Taylor to recruit every male teacher to quiet the crowd.
The student's name? Tony Colosimo. Wherever you are, Tony, here's to you!
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*California death records list her date of birth as June 2, 1890.
You're wondering about those trivia questions. Surely there are Elvis fans out there who know the answers.
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Oct. 21, 1957
When a funnyman tries to be serious, he doesn't always come across.
In fact, sometimes his sincerity is rewarded with laughs that approach
guffaws. And, much as he hates it, the guy is downright hilarious.
And maybe that was Sy Miller's trouble.
For years Sy had been known around Hollywood as a solid comedy writer,
a man who could knock out a funny script for television or a good act
for nightclubs with equal ease.
Occasionally, with his wife, Jill, he'd punch out a song, too. Novelty
numbers--the kind that have to hit the market at the right time with
the right voice or they fall harder than a bad joke.
It was two years ago last spring that Sy had his moment of seriousness.
He had an idea for a song, and with his wife he polished it into something final.
The lyric was based on an old Oriental proverb.
First, they played it for their two teenage daughters and the girls
liked it fine. Of course, Sy wasn't blind to the fact that the kids
might be favorably biased, inasmuch as the writers were their own
parents.
And he put his attempt to express a serious emotion into a drawer marked "Forget It."
It probably would still be there today, except for the fact that, a few
months later, his daughters went to "Anytowners" youth camp, sponsored
by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
And the fact that the girls have good memories.
Because one of them--in her first letter home--wrote:
Dad, when you visit us, would you bring some copies of the serious song
you and Mom wrote. We told some of the kids about it and we'd like to
use it in one of our 'sings' up here."
The Millers dug it out and took it to camp on their first visit.
And, before they left for home again, they heard some 200 teenagers join voices to sing it for them.
It wasn't long afterward that they started getting requests from school
and youth groups for copies. The young campers, on returning to their
homes, had obviously spread the word.
Shortly before Christmas of 1955, the Lincoln High School Choir learned
the song and presented it on a "Young America Sings" radio program.
And more requests came in--nearly all from teenagers.
But slowly, the word spread to some adults.
Jack Carson sang the song on New Year's Day of 1956.
Champ Butler made a recording. So did Roy Rogers.
One by one, other artists tried it on radio and TV. Among them,
Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bob Crosby, Jack Smith, Rhonda Fleming and
Roberta Linn.
Stanley S. Slotkin, president of Abbey Rents, was among those who heard
it. He liked it so much that he volunteered to distribute copies to all
who wanted them--for nothing.
In three months, he passed out more than 100,000.
Today, Miller estimates more than half a million persons in the United States and 15 other countries have sung his song.
The opening lines explain the emotion quite simply:
"Let there be peace on earth.
"Let it begin with me."
And now that his song is on its way, Miller's glad that it got its
start the way it did--through the interest of tomorrow's adults.
He's even optimistic enough to hope that it's significant.
Oct. 12, 1957
Burl Ives, who took off more than 40 pounds to play the part of the
viciously righteous father in "Desire Under the Elms,' was putting some
of it back on the other day at Frascati's and between bites took up the
slack on the three years since we last saw each other.
The word from Paramount is that Burl does a masterful job in the Eugene
O'Neill play. "I'm a heck of a villain," he confided with a booming
laugh.
Furthermore, it appears he'll be doing considerably more acting. He has been offered three important roles.
Despite his switch of emphasis from folk music to acting, Burl remains
the same hearty, uninhibited gentleman who gets a great kick out of
life.
His private passion is still boats. When he's in the East he lives
aboard the one that was reported this week as having gone aground in
New Jersey. "There was a 70-mile wind," he said, "but the men aboard
were all blue-water sailors." He can't figure what happened, not having
yet received a full account.
Since coming to Hollywood, Burl has acquired a shiny black 1934 Packard
phaeton Straight 8, a beautifully restored job with white leather
upholstery, red trim and pinstriping. You can't hardly get them like
that any more. I was curious about the name "Fosdick" neatly painted on
one door. Just a whim, he explained, then added, "Harry Emerson--not
Fearless."
What about folk music? It's as big as ever, he said, but in a different
way. It's no longer the sort of intellectual cult it used to be. It's
now accepted by people in all categories of society: businessmen,
professional men, housewives as well as devotees of pure Americana. In
a recent concert in Texas, he said, he broke the attendance record.
What's his feeling about being a big actor? It's nice work if you can
get it, he said, but it hasn't changed his way of life. He's still a
troubadour. For instance, he likes to go out at night and do a little
singing with friendly strangers.
And this is our thought for today--bearded Burl Ives, all 300 pounds of
him, guitar in hand, lumbering along the elegant Sunset Strip, where he
lives, looking in one bistro after another for convivial folk who might
like to join him in "Blue Tail Fly," "Barbara Allen" or "Jimmy Cracked
Corn"--and finding them.
KID STUFF -- Timmy
Deans, 3, is fascinated by all policemen. While his mother waited for a
signal to change, a motorcycle officer stopped alongside and Timmy,
enchanted, called out, "Hey, police, my mommy drive too fast. Give her
a tick!" The officer frowned fiercely, then smiled... A woman with two
little girls got on a bus on Catalina Island and the driver asked,
"Are they under 6?" The woman retorted menacingly, "Did you ask if my
girls are undersexed?"
THE PERIPATETIC
publicists are with us today. Al Hix, en route to Tripoli to do the
movie "No Time to Die," postcards from the island of Malta that he
asked for a Malta milk and the barmaid had to be dissuaded from taking
a poke at him... Jack Hirshberg writes from Munich, where Kirk Douglas
is making "The Vikings," that he forgot to put his pfennigs in a
parking meter and found a ticket under the windshield wiper. Seemed
like old times in Beverly Hills. But when he asked a nearby policeman
what to do about it, the officer wrote out a receipt, Jack handed him 2
marks--about 50 cents--and that was that.
ONLY IN L.A. -- A
man named Scotty gives his Pekingese half a Miltown when it has nervous
fits. Brings the Peke right out of it, he says... Civic Center cynics
were saying yesterday that it was very inconsiderate of Columbus to
have his birthday come this year on Saturday, already a holiday from
work.
FOOTNOTES -- An
attorney delivering an eloquent oration in an accident case in court
the other day had a distressing interruption. The bailiff fell asleep
and loudly snored... Agnes Moorehead, who created the classic role 14
years ago, will be doing "Sorry, Wrong Number" for the seventh time on
CBS radio's "Suspense" tomorrow... George T. Oussen, supervising the
smooth inaugural of Flying Tiger's nonstop freight service with a
43,000 payload, recalled the time in 1931 when another line started a
cargo service in Chicago and a live, crated pig got loose during the
loading and speaking ceremony, creating havoc, as the saying goes...
Mickey Grayson, maitre d' at the Park Wilshire Hotel, has a piece of a
$7 pool on which day of the week Sputnik will sputter out and
disappear.
Oct. 9, 1957
Ventura, Calif.
Renzee Louis Alameda, 36, was the quietest man on the block. The
6-foot-2, 190-pound ex-Marine, a USC graduate, was unmarried and had
lived alone at 2412 Ridgeley Drive
for the last 10 years. He spent his days as a substitute music teacher
with the Los Angeles Unified School District and his nights at home
playing the piano by the hour.
He was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, The Times said, and had
appeared at the Pasadena Playhouse and in films as Richard Azano.
On the evening of Oct. 8, 1957, Alameda noticed that his landlady had
placed trash cans at the curb. Realizing that this was a signal that
the Communists were coming, he fled to Santa Barbara, The Times said.
At 7:40 p.m., California Highway Patrolman Robert E. Reed, 36, pulled
over a car on the southbound 101 near Point Mugu because the driver
refused to dim his lights.
As Reed began writing a ticket, Alameda made a U-turn and sped north on
the highway at 90 mph with Reed in pursuit before crashing into
barricades on a section of freeway that was under construction. Alameda
jumped from the car and began running, but was caught when he twisted
his ankle, The Times said.
Reed, Highway Patrolman Dale Fletcher and another officer transported
Alameda to Ventura General Hospital for treatment of his injured ankle.
A fight broke out when hospital staff tried to put Alameda in the
psychiatric ward because he grabbed a bottle of disinfectant from a
surgical tray and drank it.
As Reed, Fletcher and two orderlies struggled to restrain him, Alameda
grabbed Reed's revolver and shot him in the chest, killing him almost
instantly.
Alameda's only explanation: "I couldn't stand the idea of being locked up."
The Times noted that "Alameda admitted homosexual activities in Los
Angeles, of being a peeping Tom and other abnormal activities," as if
this explained his behavior. The next day, Alameda broke a light
fixture in the Ventura City Jail and tried to slash his throat with a
piece of glass.
On Oct. 23, 1957, a court ruled that Alameda was insane and committed him to Atascadero State Hospital. He died in San Luis Obispo County on July 28, 1960, at the age of 39. His behavior was never explained.
Reed was survived by a wife, Marilyn, and daughters Janet, 9, and
Christy, 4. The Times said he was the first officer killed on duty in
Ventura County. Robert Eugene Reed, who would have been 37 on Oct. 16, 1957, was buried at Ivy Lawn Cemetery.
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Sept. 16, 1957
Los Angeles
Franklyn West Storer, 50, woke up on a Saturday morning to discover
that his beloved 16-year-old daughter, Mary Alice, had taken a fatal
overdose of sleeping pills. In despair, he also took a fatal overdose.
Mary
had lived with her father since her parents' divorce and in her brief
life, developed a love of classical music, so Franklyn bought records
for her, about $1,000 worth, which police found scattered around the
home. Before he killed himself, Franklyn placed a few autographed
pictures of Mary's favorite classical composer around her body, The
Times said.
His sister, Lucille Miller of National City, found the bodies in the Storer home at 5750 Camerford Ave.
after becoming alarmed by two letters from Franklyn saying that he was
afraid Mary would kill herself and that if she did, "there would not be
anything for me to live for."
Beyond that brief, tragic story,
The Times offers no explanation of what happened. Was Mary a performer?
An aspiring composer? We simply don't know. But a further search
reveals at least a few details.
California death records say that Franklyn was born in Ohio and reveal that his wife's maiden name was Bettencourt.
He doesn't appear in the 1929, 1936 or 1938 online Los Angeles city directories, but is listed in 1939 as living at 511 S. Wilton Place, apparently an apartment house.
Franklyn took out a legal notice in The Times on Nov. 14, 1940, saying
that he would only be responsible for his own debts and the vital
records for March 13, 1942, list a divorce action by Franklyn W. Storer
vs. Victoria B. Storer.
According to the 1942 Los Angeles city
directory, Franklin W. Storer was an assistant electrical tester at the
Department of Water and Power and was living at 5722 Waring Ave.,
precisely one block from the death scene. Eliza C. McElwain, widow of
J.W. McElwain, was also living at that address. Because it was during
World War II, she could have been a landlady.
The 1956 street directory only lists Franklyn as living at 5750 Camerford.
The
Social Security Death Index has nothing on Franklyn, but lists a
Victoria B. Storer, born Aug. 30, 1913, died Jan. 14, 2002, in Turlock,
Calif.
Unfortunately, none of these fragmentary details explain the tragedy. We can only speculate.
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Read on »
Scenes from the Confidential trial:
Sept. 4, 1957, Dorothy Dandridge testifies
| |
hutes Park is not the sort of place where responsible parents want their children. Not only does it have boxing, above, there is dancing. The Sunday Rest League and Councilman Lyon have begun a "purity campaign" that would ban minors younger than 18--especially girls--from public dances unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian, The Times says. 
