The History of Elvis: 1954

Concerts/Apparances:

July 17: Bon Air Club, Memphis, TN
July 20: Overton Park Shell, Memphis, TN
August 1: KWEM, West Memphis, TN
August 7: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
August 16: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
August 18: Bellevue Park, Memphis, TN
August 27: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
August 29: Kennedy Hospital, Memphis, TN
September 9: Lamar-Airways Shopping Center, Memphis, TN
September 18: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
September 24: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
September 25: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 1: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 2: Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
October 6: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 8: Silver Slipper, Atlanta, GA
October 9: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 13: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 16: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
October 20: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 22: Old Barn Dance, New Orleans, LA
October 23: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
October 29: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 30: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
November 6: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
November 8: Memphis State University, Memphis, TN
November 13: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
November 17: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
November 19: Lake Cliff Club, Shreveport, LA
November 20: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
November 21: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX; Cook's Hoedown Club, Houston, TX
November 22: Mint Club, Gladewater, TX
November 23: Roundup Club, Gladewater, TX
November 24: Municipal Auditorium, Texarkana, TX
November 25: Paladium Club, Houston, TX
November 26: Paladium Club, Houston, TX
November 27: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
December 2: Catholic Club, Helena, AK
December 3: Municipal Auditorium, Texarkana, TX
December 4: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
December 10: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
December 11: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
December 18: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
December 22: Lake Cliff Club, Shreveport, LA
December 25: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
December 28: Cook's Hoedown Club, Houston, TX

Other important events:

May 15: Elvis auditions with the house band at Memphis' Hi Hat Club and is told he'll never make it as a singer.
June 26: Sam Phillips, head of Sun Records, calls Elvis in to record two songs, "Without You" and "Rag Mop."
July 7: Dewey Phillips of Memphis' WHBQ plays "That's All Right (Mama)" and its flip, "Blue Moon of Kentucky," on his Red Hot & Blue R&B show. An instant hit, the song is immediately played 14 more times. Callers to the station insist that Elvis must be a black man.
July 12: Elvis Presley signs his first contract with a manager -- his guitarist, Scotty Moore.
July 28: Elvis gives his first print interview.
July 30: Elvis gets his first billing, opening third at a Slim Whitman show.
October 2: Elvis bombs at the Grand Ole Opry, which does not approve of his take on traditional country music. The Opry's talent director, Jim Denny, famously tells Presley he should go back to driving a truck. Elvis swears never to return.
October 23: "That's All Right" b/w "Blue Moon of Kentucky" hits the Top Ten in the Nashville and New Orleans markets, representing the first hit for Elvis outside of Memphis.
October 25: Elvis records five songs at KWKH in Shreveport, LA. None of these recordings exist today.
November 6: After several very successful dates there, Elvis signs a year long contract with Shreveport's "Louisiana Hayride" concert/radio show.
November 26: Elvis sends a telegram to his father, Vernon: "HI BABIES HERES THE MONEY TO PAY THE BILLS STOP DONT TELL NO ONE HOW MUCH I SENT I WILL SEND MORE NEXT WEEK STOP THERE IS A CARD IN THE MAIL STOP LOVE ELVIS"