- Taken on:
- 1961/02/25
- Source:
- Elvis Day By Day (Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen)
- Photo:
- Elvis Day By Day (Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen)
- Location:
- Ellis Auditorium, Memphis
- Info:
-
Tennessee governor Bufford Ellington and Memphis mayor Henry Loeb both declare "Elvis Presley Day". At a special luncheon at the Hotel Claridge, Elvis is presented by RCA with a diamond-studded watch to honor record sales of more than 75 million.
Memphis Charity Show, Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, at 3:00 and 8:30 p.m.
Attendance at the matinee is 3,860, with 6,540 at the second show. Comedian George Jessel introduces Elvis in the evening as "one of the greatest singer-actors of this century", while the Memphis Commercial Appeal describes the show as combining elements : from Negro cotton field harmony, camp meeting fervor, Hollywood showmanship, beatnik nonchalance, and some of the manipulations of mass psychology". Overall $51,612 is raised, with $47,823 distributed among twenty-six Memphis charities and $3,789 earmarked for the Elvis Presley Youth Center in Tupelo.