The Life And Career Of Elvis Aron Presley: 1957
On January 6th Elvis appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the third and final time. Upfront the host had promoted the program by claiming to show the singer just from the waist up to prevent his audience from having to witness vulgar moves. Elvis himself surprised the viewers with a rendition of the gospel "Peace In The Valley".
The performance was another attempt to broaden the target group. In April RCA released an extended player with religious songs, of course named "Peace In The Valley". Elvis himself welcomed the idea, because he liked country and gospel music much better than rock'n'roll songs. But before the religious ep hit the stores, RCA released "Playing For Keeps" / "Too Much". The a-side wasn't all that popular, but "Too Much" became a number two hit and propelled the sales to more than two million units.
On January 22nd the king started to work on "Loving You". According to his contract with Paramount he was to receive 15,000 USD, but Colonel Parker was able to negotiate an additional bonus of 50,000 USD. But even now Elvis was getting 25,000 USD less than 20th Century Fox had paid him for "Love Me Tender". No matter how Parker twisted and turned it, the deal with Paramount was disastrous. Nevertheless the manager had learned from his mistake. When MGM wanted to get into business with the new superstar, the Colonel demanded 250,000 USD plus a profit share of 50% (reduced by the 250,000 USD, his client had received upfront). Needless to say, that he got it.
On March 16th Elvis was released from the Paramount production. Nine days later he paid 102,000 USD for a part of Graceland Farms in Whitehaven. The property included a small mansion, which the singer had customized to his needs.
From March 27th to April 6th the king undertook a short concert tour and his new golden suit added to the hype. To increase the efficiency, Elvis didn't grant individual interviews anymore, but simply held short press conferences before each concert. It was also a tool to keep the media people at distance. Meanwhile RCA released "All Shook Up" / "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". The combination of a fluffy piece of radio pop and a tender ballad met the taste of the audience and lead to another number one hit and sales of more than 2.5 million records. On April 30th the king began to work on MGM's "Jailhouse Rock". The shootings kept him busy until June 17th.
In contrast to the previous year, Colonel Parker didn't want his client to be shown on television anymore. Instead of seeing and hearing their idol for free, the fans were supposed to pay for cinema tickets and records. To keep all options open, the Colonel simply raised Elvis' fee to a level, nobody was willing to pay. When RCA asked for an appearance on an extravaganza produced by NBC, Parker demanded 50,000 USD. Later he even raised that amount to a ridiculous 75,000 USD. For Elvis himself this was no big deal, because he didn't like television work anyway.
In June RCA released the single "Teddy Bear" / "Loving You" and the extended player "Loving You". The teenage fluff on the a-side was the opposite of the singer's image as King Of Rock'n'Roll, but the new strategy worked well. Elvis' female fans loved their idol asking them to be their cuddly plush bear and they turned the tune into a number one hit with several million sales. In July RCA followed with a second volume of "Loving You" and a longplayer (of course also called "Loving You"), which combined the tracks of the two eps.
During the summer of 1957 Elvis met Anita Wood, a 19 years old beauty queen and radio deejane at WTJS in Jackson/Mississippi. They soon started a relationship and would remain a couple until 1962.
Between August 30th and September 2nd the king undertook another short concert tour. Three days later he recorded several Xmas tunes for a seasonal album. It was another attempt of Colonel Parker to broaden the audience of his client. The manager also desperately tried to improve the rotten deal with Paramount. According to the contract Elvis' second movie for the studio was to be paid with 20,000 USD. Given the fact, that MGM had paid more than twelve times as much for "Jailhouse Rock", the Colonel tried to convince Hal Wallis (the producer of the Paramount movies) to meet the fee Elvis had gotten from 20th Century Fox. In November it was agreed, that the singer would be paid 100,000 USD as well as a bonus of 50,000 USD and a cost lump sum of 30,000 USD. Parker was also able to improve the contract with RCA. From now on the label would not just pay royalties for the music, but also a royalty to use photos of the singer on the record sleeves. Because the label had already agreed to release the forthcoming "Elvis' Christmas Album" with a photo booklet, the new arrangement earned the king 16,000 USD right on the spot.
While Elvis was making tons of money, Scotty Moore and Bill Black were not too happy about their payment. Because neither Elvis, nor Colonel Parker did anything to sort things out, the musicians officially separated from the rock'n'roll king. As a result they were substituted by Hank Garland (guitar) and Chuck Wigginton (bass). However, for the next tour Scotty and Bill were back and it was agreed to pay them 250 USD per show. On the surface the matter was fixed, but Moore was stricken by the recognition, that his supposed friend hadn't even tried to talk to him and solve the matter.
In September RCA released "Jailhouse Rock" / "Treat Me Nice", a month later the extended players "Jailhouse Rock" and "Elvis Sings Christmas Songs" as well as the longplayer "Elvis' Christmas Album" followed. All records made it to the number one spot of their accordant charts, "Jailhouse Rock" even became the most successful extended player ever. The movie hit the cinemas on November 8th, earned more than 4 million USD on the domestic market and became number 15 on the list of the most successful motion pictures of the year.
On December 20th Elvis received his draft notice, according to which he had to join the US Army in the middle of January 1958. Colonel Parker tried to postpone the procedure, because Paramount's "King Creole" already was in pre-production. His request was turned down, because according to the statutes the draftee had to make such inquiries himself. Four days later Elvis wrote a letter to the draft board and explained the situation. Because the young man was a well known star and the draft board didn't want to be responsible for crashing a potential blockbuster movie, they granded a delay and set the date to March 24, 1958. At first Elvis wanted to be assigned to the Special Services, which would allow him to continue his career with just a few minor impairments. But the Colonel convinced him, that it was better to serve as a regular soldier. He knew, that his client couldn't stay a teenage idol forever and needed to appeal to a mature, more conservative audience. It was not just a matter of age, but also a matter of the target audience's size and purchase power. By serving the US Army like any other young man, Elvis would prove, that he was a dutiful, patriotic person. To make it short: Parker turned the military service of his client into a huge image campaign.