Elvis Presley Milton Berle Show 3 Apr 1956: Blue Suede Shoes

[stallion1972jo]

you got that right dignankumar

[MrSimas1995]

Elvis Preslis-The King

[MsKoali]

His intro - he was imitating Ed Sullivan. Elvis was a kidder.

[GGE47]

Who was that riding the bass guitar like a horse?

[goodyboy64]

@GGE47 The legendary Bill Black

[MrGeorgeFree1]

elvis

[TheDJGrandPa]

I like this live version more than the studio, maybe it's because this is closer to the Perkins version

[goodyboy64]

@TheDJGrandPa The perkins version was better.

[TheDJGrandPa]

@goodyboy64 depends on who you ask... :)

[bobluman4]

love the guitar solo by Scotty



[edgardesouza27]

The ultimate showman of his time.

[dahouseizonfyre]

April 3? Today's April 3.. and it's my birthday:)

[dignankumar]

Jazz music itself is "jazzing' up standards, ballads, show tunes etc. Obviously there are millions of original compositions but nobody in their right mind would ever have accused John Coltrane of "ripping off" another artist or writers like Rogers and Hammerstein when he recorded "My Favorite Things". Elvis fits right into the music world of the 50s but ultimately he transcended it. He created a whole new style and sound. John Lennon said, "Before Elvis there was nothing"

[dignankumar]

Anyone who knows anything about the history of American popular music should know that every genre "borrows" from another. The roots of rock 'n roll is in Jazz, Blues, R&B, and Country. In traditional Blues everything was stolen by everybody all the time. Songs were recorded numerous times with only a line or a note or even just the title changed and appropriated by another artist. Robert Johnson's Sweet Home Chicago was transformed countless times and even the original they say was stolen.

[dignankumar]

Funny how all of these great Elvis clips turn into "defending Elvis" forums. I wish there were a way to put idiots straight once and for all. Elvis was the greatest stage performer probably of all time. Only James Brown comes close as a rival.

Also Elvis didn't "steal" anything from anyone. The most ironic thing about that mischaracterization is that it usually comes from people like Chuck D....a rapper whose entire genre of music is built on "sampling" or STEALING other people's music!

[nic01100]

i learned in a music class i took that elvis never really knew how to play guitar. they were just more for a prop. kinda disappointing! my professor even showed us a video of a performance and you can see the guitar has no strings! :(

[Misanthropia15]

@nic01100

watch the comeback show from 68 he's owning that guitar allright , even improvising

[rbound827]

@nic01100 I'm guessing that the clip he showed to you was Blue Suede Shoes ( in color) It was for a screen test to sample the color of the film for his movie- It wasnt a performance. They gave Elvis a prop guitar, and told him to jump around to see the color. Elvis was an excellent rhythm guitarist, go back and listen to his early Sun recordings. Your professor needs to learn a little more about Rock and Roll history.

[bchbys]

@nic01100 You are wrong, Elvis did know how to play guitar. Just watch the "68 comeback special". As for that video, what you were watching was Elvis doing a movie demo. The guitar was just a prop.  But he definitely knew how to play, maybe you need a different class!

[kingsmileypaul]

@bchbys  Agreed!! Also, he could play bass- he recorded the bass guitar for Baby I Dont Care because Bill couldnt play it the way he wanted.

[KaylaS999]

Wth What's there to not like about this? You would just not have to like Elvis at all to dislike it. If that's the case, then there's no point in watching it in the first place. It's waaaay better than a lot of the garbage they try to pass off as good music now days.

[smithdsmit]

I don't think Elvises band ever got the credit they deserved.they were really good.best rockabilly rythem section ever.Understandable that they would be left in the shadows because of te amazing sound and presence of elvis.But damn these guys rocked

[MrSilkydrew]

Well there`s not many people you get starstruck from these days, Elvis is one of the real stars this world created. Long live the King

[smithdsmit]

@MrSilkydrew yeah even in the 70's which was past his hey day.I only say this because by the mid 70'smost of his fans were older)but their were still leigions of them and also quite a few younger fans too.which back in the 70's a 40 yr old rock star seemed unheard of.but besides possibly led zeppelin.elvis even in his 40's was proably the biggest rock star around.I was11 when he died.I was a big fan.none of my friends liked him.But it was one of the sadest days my young life had experienced

[elvisinmunich]

Carl Perkins really said some very nice things about Elvis. He also said that Elvis did Blue Suede Shoes better than Carl's original.

[bubhub64]

This was the Heavy Metal of the 1950's. Scottie Moore easily the first ultra guitar hero.Some heavy rockin' going on here. Long live the King!!

[195477]

watch?v=YKy-ESDQvWQ

[dmichael1986]

Bill Black was a bad ass.

[Elvisisaliveorg]

Have you seen Elvis lately? We, yes.

visit: elvisisalive. org

[GeneracionBabaCool]

Grande elvis

[LandoftheShanks]

yes and carl perkins was friends with elvis... there was no ripping off going on back then. just friendly exchange of songs.

[CamaroFTW]

im 21, and elvis will always be the best, i started with "the living End", they were influenced by "the Stray Cats" who were heavily influenced by Chet Atkins and Elvis Presley...best music in the world :)

[elvisinmunich]

@CamaroFTW: I like that. Elvis' legacy must be kept alive by/for future generations.

[gombakhillbillies]

Elvis will always be the King!

[lizzyvance]

I wish I could have seen him live :( He was the first artist I listened to. He is still one of my favorites. Im 22 so it was impossible for me to see him live.

[katziekz]

@lizzyvance me too :( I'm 21 too bad for us

[andyjohnD]

Nothing against James Burton and the TCB guys, but Elvis sure had chemistry with his "Blue Moon Boys"

[rbound827]

I have met Mr. Perkins as well, and he was the nicest, humblest man I have ever met. I'm sure at first he was angry that the accident stopped him from performing his song on national TV first, but in the end I think he was ok with Elvis also getting a hit with his song. (And we all know that Carl's version is tops.)

[epmelodygirl]

Elvis paid all Perkins medical bills from the accident, and he asked permission to record his song.

[andyjohnD]

@rbound827 both versions are fun to play though.

[rbound827]

What is the myth?

[drbruce100]

Carl Perkins version better..Wonder why Elvis ripped off his Sun Records buddy??

Dr. Bruce KFTX Corpus CHristi

[1olrocker]

I wouldn't say he ripped him off..... he asked Carl if he could record it and Carl had no problem with it - he probably knew Elvis' version would skyrocket and he'd make even more money off the royalties.

Carl said later on, after Elvis died, that the second he heard the final mix of Elvis' version that it was going to be a bigger smash than Carl could have ever made it.

[LT1HILLINGHOE]

Yeah Elvis' version sold more than Carl's did and sounded better but Carl took it to #3 if memory serves.

[ToddCMorgan]

Carl's actually went to #2 on the Pop charts, Elvis' only went to #20, because it was only an album song that was released on a 45 single as part of a marketing tool along with every other song on that album! Elvis didn't actually rip Carl off, in my opinion though, because it was the song that RCA wanted him to record at the first session, but he told them no, because Carl was his friend, he then agreed to record it at the second session, after Heartbreak Hotel failed to take off right away!

[TrueLight55]

@1olrocker right u r. only ignorants say covering is ripping off. COVERING WAS THE NORM in the 50s. EVERYONE covered like crazy. Hound Dog was covered about 30 times in the 50s. God knows how many times Blue Suede Shoes was. Ignorant people never seem to grasp that Elvis is the one who made the songs famous, who made them so awesome. PERIOD. Btw, Carl Perkins adored Elvis and said that country/rockabilly artists were “very very lucky to have Elvis”...”he opened a tremendous field for all of us”

[kevinturvy]

@1olrocker Funny that Carl Perkins got it wrong, Perkins version outsold presley's version by a long shot, Presley due to later on gaining much greater fame, made the song more popular over time.

Shown here on youtube that presley version has more views than perkins if you add up all the views on the various uploads.

This proves the point that today the elvis version is the most popular, but perkins was the biggest seller

[goodyboy64]

@1olrocker BUt it wasn't a bigger hit. Carl's version topped the country, blues, and pop charts. Elvis's version only reached 20th on the pop charts.

[1olrocker]

@goodyboy64 Well, that depends on what you take into consideration. Perkins' version was released as a single and went to #2, while Elvis' version was on his first RCA album and not initially released as a single. The 1956 album "Elvis Presley" went to number one, and Blue Suede Shoes was the first track on side A.

[rbound827]

RCA wanted Elvis to record Blue Sued Shoes because they worried that they bought the wrong guy from Sun records. Elvis told RCA told hold off releasing the song in order to give Carl's song enough time to keep selling. Perkins and Presley were very close friends, and Carl, as writer of Blue Suede Shoes always acknowledged his gratitude that Elvis sang his song ( and Carl got paid pretty well too)

[1olrocker]

Bigbod, yes, Scotty Moore is still alive. In fact, he even has a website and still works a little. As far as the rest of Elvis' band, his drummer DJ Fontanna is still alive as well. Bassist Bill Black passed in 1965.

This is, to me as a rock history buff and classic rock enthusiast, the ORIGINAL hard rock band. Those guys could JAM! And to see this performance of Blue Suede Shoes is just awesome! Stripped down, snarling, raw, and authentic. What rock is supposed to be.

[bigbodawg77]

DOES ANY ONE KNOW if scotty moore is still alive the best damn guitar player in the world and brian seltzer stray cats

[gduwen]

what a great version!!!!!!

[annoyingu4fun]

a very good cover by Elvis...

[DrDanielLee]

Notice from 1:53-2:01, Bill Black showboats and gets that pop out of the crowd at the end.

Bill Black was awesome. Too awesome, apparently. This angered the Col. who told him to stop 'upstaging' Elvis. Scotty and Bill never get enough credit.

[yyhpwns4eva]

@DrDanielLee Ha ha, good ol' Bill. He's having a good time! He and Scotty (and Fotana) were just as important as Elvis..

[d820m]

@yyhpwns4eva this was the episode where afterwards Col. Parker told Bill Black not to ride his bass in the background any more........

[Dannoo007]

aristocracy

[epmelodygirl]

Milton Berle comes out as Elvis's TWIN brother which was really weird because Berle didn't know Elvis had a twin brother that died at birth. Elvis didn't let on anything to Berle, but it had to be sad for him.

[toonage56]

Great performance by elvis&the boys ,this is why elvis is the king.

[anna315]

got the rest of this performance? the skit he does with milton as his brother is very funny

[sketchtheart]

The reason I said that is because

in the 2 - Episode series "ELVIS"

as Jonathon Ryhrs Meyeres Actress

who played Priscilla put her hand

in his pants in the movie I bet

all the girls would do that is

what I was saying below.

[sketchtheart]

I bet Everyone would like to put

there hands down Elvis Presley's

Pants While His Singing.

[ThreeD2007]

Bill Black was awesome fooling around. He really got into it too. Scotty was cool and a cutie as usual. Elvis...Well, what can you say. He was rockin.

[bodhi008]

well its 1 for the money

2for the show

3 to get ready

now go cat go but dont you

step on my blue suede shoes

[Elvissivlelives]

So what if he broke strings.He had an agressive strumming style.I also have an

agressive strumming style.But it doesn´t mean you always break strings.Elvis was, is and always will be the coolest.

[Port20dude]

@Elvissivlelives What I think is interesting about this broken string situation (0:51-0:56) is here you've got Elvis having to deal with it during a live-TV broadcast with millions of people in the U.S. watching. There's no 2nd take. He has to get it away from the other strings and render it as safe and out of the way as possible. He does it quickly in mid performance. I saw this show when it was originally broadcast and thought it was all part of the act, didn't think guitar string.

[thebeatlessound]

It's Great, Elvis break a String ...

(0.31) It's Break the string

(0.41) the string break it's between others strings ...

(0.51) Elvis tire string break a bas

(0.53 - 0.57) Elvis tire string break in haut.

[oblivious0rebellion]

Do you know proper english?

And the string breaking is something you dont have to notice. Its the performance.

[rockinrodney5000]

@oblivious0rebellion broken string was Presley's classic,of in the performences,

later on in the movie "Loving You" in the song "Let's Have a Party" at the end,the host cowboy seen the broken string and looked up.

search up lets have a party elvis presley.

[wendy56mx]

Get a life... and give yourself a chance to know the real music, not the bubblegum u may listen.

[starrbeatlesqueen]

sounds very much like carl perkins' version. the later versions of elvis' sound better.

[Brutus2]

Yeah, the intro sounds like Perkins'.

[Elvissivlelives]

My favourite Elvis performance of Blue suede shoes is the 68 comeback sit down part.and yeah the intro here is a little bit like perkins then it gets little faster.Perkins version was slower but still good.JLL also did a cool version.

[007maguire]

rockin

[elvistheluke]

haha you can see him wiping sweat off at 0:54. I hate it when you get sweaty fingers while you play...

[535NW202]

has anyone seen the clip where Milton Berle joins in with him and starts dancing? Its hilarious!!

[Lijhina]

do you know where i can find it?i've been looking for it for ages!

thanks!

[535NW202]

I actually saw it on "Pioneers of Television" on PBS and it was hysterical!!! I searched YouTube, but no luck. If you find it, let me know!! Thanks

[Lijhina]

I saw it on youtube once,but i can't find it anymore! :(

[Rycher13]

I believe that the skit you are referring to is on the DVD "Elvis Through the Years"-it's part of a skit with Milton where he pretends to be Elvis' twin brother.Very Cute!

[535NW202]

hey thanks! if you happen to have, can you upload it? it'd be a smash i'm sure!

[ThreeD2007]

Look on Youtube under "Hound Dog Complete version". He dances around a little with Elvis after Elvis sings Hound Dog.

[ThreeD2007]

Actually, you have to put in

"Hound dog (Complete performance)"

[535NW202]

Thank You Very Much!!

[mojox7]

this is the shit.

[knot814]

better then the carl perkins version