From Rags to Riches…
In conjunction with the 32nd anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death on 16thAugust, I have decided to write about the photographer Alfred Wertheimer, who in 1956 was hired by RCA, Elvis’ record label, to get some official publicity shots of their new star.
After Elvis’ first successful television performance on the Dorsey Brothers’ Stage Show at the CBS studio in New York on 28thJanuary 1956, Alfred Wertheimer, a freelance photographer on the photographers rota at RCA’s press office, was commissioned to photograph Elvis’ next Stage Show performance in March. Being a big music fan, Wertheimer jumped at the chance and got his brief: to photograph Elvis Presley (‘Elvis who?’ he proclaimed), and his shot list: head shots; Elvis on stage with microphone; Elvis with fans; Elvis mingling with celebrities, etc.
During and after the initial one-day assignment, Wetheimer photographed Elvis in what became the last period of his anonymity. Wertheimer captured the small group of fans that waited outside the theatre for the soon-to-be-named ’King of Rock’n’Roll’ – a group of fans that within weeks would multiply into hundreds of screaming girls; candid shots of Elvis combing his hair, shopping for new shirts, listening to the first play-back of newly recorded songs that would have an unimagined affect on the direction of music for decades to come, and waiting for his cue to go on stage.
My favourite shots are of his performances. The sheer energy and charisma that radiates from the shots make me wish that I was there to witness the moves that would later be imitated by Michael Jackson, and to hear the voice that inspired so many future singers and performers. Imagining what songs that he could be singing in them make these shots come alive.
The ironic thing about this period and the photographic documentation of it is that in 1956, Elvis was 21 years old – half the age he was when he died. They capture the rawness of a young man who was accused of being possessed by the devil and too sexual because of the unique way he moved when singing – quite an insult given the fact that he grew up singing gospel music in church ‘praising the Lord’.
…from Riches to Ruin
After these pictures were taken, Elvis’ career spiraled out of his control. His image was toned down considerably to appeal to a wider audience. And before being conscripted for a 2-year stint in the US army in 1958, he made 4 good films that could have led to a career as a serious actor. Instead, on his return he made a further 29 films that he was contractually obliged to make – same plot, different location – which he grew to hate. A come-back concert in 1968, his first performance in front of a live audience in 10 years, gave him the bug to go on tour, which only led him to be tied in to another grueling contract where, as the years passed, he gradually became the sorry and sad figure that countless ‘impersonators’ make their living from.
I have enjoyed looking through these pictures as they capture and document a period of his life and career that not many people are aware of.
There doesn’t appear to be a site dedicated to Albert Wertheimer, but “Elvis At 21: From New York To Memphis” is a great book with a wide selection of photographs showcasing Elvis’ performances, and time at his home, Graceland in Memphis with his friends and family.
Post by Nicola Charalambous (Picture Editor of PA Photocall)
