Elvis Presley’s performances were unlike anything Americans had seen before. The smooth crooners of the 1940s and 1950s couldn’t compare to the raw energy of the King of Rock and Roll, whose provocative stage presence sent fans into a frenzy. One performance in particular, however, sparked national outrage as television viewers were left stunned by Presley’s suggestive moves.
Sixty-nine years ago, on June 5, 1956, the King of Rock and Roll made a second appearance on the Milton Berle Show. Presley appeared on the variety series one month prior, where he performed on the deck of the docked USS Hancockat the Naval Air Base in San Diego, California.
Per Graceland’s official website, for his second appearance, the entertainer appeared in a fun skit alongside Berle, singing his hit, “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You.” Additionally, he performed the tune “Hound Dog” alongside his bandmates.
Although Elvis had appeared on television before, he typically stuck to ballads or used his guitar to cover part of his body. But during this performance, he let loose completely, shaking his hips and gyrating with an energy that sent the in-studio audience into a frenzy.
The website wrote, “The next day, the press had a field day skewering Elvis and his performance. A Catholic publication ran the ‘Beware of Elvis Presley’ headline, and major publications like the New York Times and the Daily News claimed Elvis had no talent beyond shaking his hips.”
Although the performance was controversial, it also contributed to the entertainer’s rise to fame. It also solidified his status as a pop icon.
In an interview for Emmy TV Legends, Berle shared his thoughts regarding this iconic television moment. He alluded that despite how people perceived the king, Presley was “one of the nicest young men I ever met.”
Berle said that the singer’s performance that night caused a disturbance unlike any he had seen prior. “About 10 days later, I got 500,000 pan letters. Not fan letters, pan letters.”
He continued, “Blaming me. ‘We’ll never watch you again when you put that vulgar man that jives and wiggles his backside. It’s disgusting.’ I had to get people to open them.'”
“I called Colonel [Tom] Parker, [Presley’s manager],” Berle added, telling him about the situation. “I told him, ‘You have a star on your hands.'”
Following the backlash from his appearance on The Milton Berle Show, Elvis was invited to perform on The Steve Allen Show on July 1. To tone down the controversy and show he wasn’t a threat to public decency, he performed a brief, more comedic version of “Hound Dog” while singing to a real basset hound on stage dressed in a full tuxedo.