Today in Elvis History

It's October second, and on this day in 1954... Elvis Presley made his one and only appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, performing "Blue Moon of Kentucky" at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The reception was polite but far from enthusiastic, and afterward, Opry manager Jim Denny reportedly told Elvis he should stick to driving a truck. The remark left Elvis crushed—but also determined. That same night, he appeared on Ernest Tubb’s *Midnight Jamboree* radio show and said he still hoped to make it in country music.

And on this day in 1977... the bodies of Elvis Presley and his mother, Gladys, were moved from Forest Hill Cemetery to the Meditation Garden behind Graceland. The reburial was supervised by Sam Thompson and carried out for both privacy and security. Graceland would now forever be the final resting place of the King.

It's October first, and on this day in 1958... the USS Randall docked at the port of Bremerhaven, Germany at 8:46 a.m., carrying Elvis Presley and his fellow soldiers. Over 1,500 fans and members of the press gathered to greet him. Later that evening, Elvis and his battalion arrived in Friedberg by troop train, marking the official start of his military service in West Germany—an era that would change both his life and his music.

And on this day in 1968... Elvis attended the funeral of legendary Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips, the man who first played an Elvis record on the radio. At the Memphis Funeral Home, where his own mother's service had been held ten years earlier, Elvis offered quiet condolences to Dewey’s widow, saying, “Mrs. Dorothy, Dewey was my friend.”

It's September thirtieth, and on this day in 1955... Elvis Presley was staying at a hotel in Gladewater, Texas, when he heard the tragic news that actor James Dean had died in a car crash at the age of 24. Deeply moved, Elvis cried upon hearing the news. Dean had been one of Elvis’s heroes, and the loss left a lasting impression on the young performer.

And on this day in 1965... while wrapping up filming for *Paradise, Hawaiian Style*, Elvis met Tom Jones for the first time. In a spontaneous and lighthearted moment, Elvis sang Jones’s hit *What’s New Pussycat* right to him—a fitting meeting between two powerhouse voices destined to become legends.

It's September twenty-eighth, and on this day in 1955... Elvis Presley performed at the B & B Club in Gobler, Missouri. According to a signed contract from the time, Elvis and his band were to receive 75 percent of the door admissions—a clear sign of his rising popularity and growing negotiating power on the Southern club circuit.

And on this day in 1974... Elvis returned to the stage at the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House in College Park. Now 39 years old, Elvis performed for a crowd that included students and local fans, bridging generations as he continued to command stages across the country.

It's September twenty-seventh, and on this day in 1957... Elvis Presley returned to his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, for a benefit concert at the Fairgrounds to support the creation of the Elvis Presley Youth Center. He was joined by Anita Wood, his parents, and close friends. The local newspaper praised him as “the best ambassador any town could have,” encouraging residents to greet him with pride. Backed by Hank Garland, D.J. Fontana, and Chuck Wiggington on bass, Elvis performed for a crowd of 12,000, turning a hometown visit into a heartfelt act of generosity and community legacy.

It's September twenty-sixth, and on this day in 1956... Elvis Presley returned to his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, for a triumphant homecoming concert at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show—the same stage where he had first performed as a ten-year-old boy. In honor of his return, the city declared it *Elvis Presley Day*. Elvis performed two shows that drew massive crowds and required over 100 National Guardsmen to maintain order. He wore a blue velvet shirt made by Natalie Wood’s dressmaker and performed hits like *Heartbreak Hotel*, *Don’t Be Cruel*, and *Hound Dog*. Fourteen-year-old Tammy Wynette watched from the front row, and the show was filmed by Fox Movietone News, making it one of the few professionally recorded performances of Elvis in the 1950s.

It's September twenty-fifth, and on this day in 1956... Elvis received a telegram from RCA celebrating an unprecedented achievement: his single *Love Me Tender* had been certified a gold record **before its official release**. With over 918,000 advance orders, it became the first record in industry history to reach gold status purely on pre-sales—another clear sign that Elvis wasn’t just popular… he was a phenomenon.

It's September twenty-fourth, and on this day in 1956... Elvis returned to Humes High School in Memphis, where he and his friend Nick Adams paid a surprise visit to his former senior homeroom teacher, Mildred Scrivener. During the visit, Elvis donated nine hundred dollars to the school’s ROTC program to provide new uniforms—a generous gift from the rising star to the place where his journey had begun just a few years earlier.

It's September twenty-third, and on this day in 1955... Elvis attended a gospel concert by the Blackwood Brothers at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis. When James Blackwood learned that Elvis had quietly purchased his own ticket instead of requesting special treatment, he personally apologized and refunded the cost. Elvis’s humility and deep respect for gospel music were already well known—and moments like this only reinforced his genuine admiration for the artists who inspired him.

It's September twenty-second, and on this day in 1958... Elvis Presley arrived at the Brooklyn Army Terminal at 9:00 a.m. aboard a troop train, preparing to ship out for military service in Germany. Before boarding the USS Randall, Elvis held a press conference and assured fans he hoped they wouldn’t forget him. For the cameras, he walked up the gangplank eight separate times, each with his duffel bag in hand. During the voyage, he grew close to fellow soldier Charlie Hodge, whose humor and friendship helped lift Elvis’s spirits on the long journey across the Atlantic.