Black & White Elvis Presley

On Sunday mornings I like to catch the CBS Sunday Morning show. Today's ending piece was about a traveling exhibition starting in Los Angeles at the Grammy Museum of B&W photographs taken by photographer Alfred Wertheimer in 1956 when Elvis was just 21 and not quite yet famous. It was when he didn't have bodyguards which meant that the photos are very down to Earth, casual, unpretentious, natural, and in my opinion absolutely fantastic! One series of photos was Elvis jumping off a train and walking the rest of the way home - all by himself.

I remember I must have been 9 when he was just getting popular. We lived out in Newberry, 30 miles south of Barstow. Our parents took us on a drive towards Las Vegas. Just outside the town, which was very small at that time, was a small amusement park that contained electric bumper cars - remember those? Well, we're standing at the fence watching and my Mom yells, "There's Elvis! Quick you kids, go get his autograph!" Well, before any of us, my oldest sister being the teenager, could go over there, our Mom runs over and gets his autograph on the inside of a postage stamp cardboard cover (the kind from vending machines). We always teased her about that later, about how we never had a chance! Oh, yeah, and my brother who was probably 2 or 3 went to the men's room with Elvis! Aaaahhh, memories!