Netflix’s Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley revisits the 1968 television special that marked Presley’s return to live performance after a seven-year hiatus. Presley first exploded onto the national music scene when he appeared on the Dorsey Brothers’ Stage Show several times between January and March 1956. 21-year-old Elvis was entirely unknown, but the show’s exposure led to the release of his first single – “Heartbreak Hotel”- and a September appearance on the hugely popular Ed Sullivan Show, the platform that propelled him to super-stardom. Sullivan paid $50,000 for the privilege.
Over the following two years, the singer’s unique blend of gospel and rock music and his energetic, charismatic, and Elvis Presley’s controversial stage persona took America by storm. He released his first album, Elvis Presley, which topped the Billboard charts for 10 weeks. In 1957, Presley released three singles that went straight to number one: “Too Much”, “All Shook Up”, and “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear”. The money rolled in, and he bought his lifelong home, Graceland, in March 1957. Elvis Presley began making movies and was on the set of King Creole when he received his draft notice in December 1957.
Elvis Presley Spent Two Years In The Army 1958-1960
Elvis Refused To Enroll in Special Services
When Presley accepted the draft on March 28, 1958, at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas, he arrived to find hundreds of people, and the world’s media, waiting for him. His trademark black hair was shorn and he was temporarily assigned to Company A, 2d Medium Tank Battalion, at Ford Hood, Texas. Almost immediately, his mother Gladys was taken ill with hepatitis, and Presley was granted leave to visit until his mother’s death in August 1957.
Related
10 Famous Actors You Probably Didn’t Know Made A Movie With Elvis Presley
Across Elvis Presley’s 31 feature films, there were plenty of recognizable names viewers may be surprised to learn starred opposite The King.
Interestingly, Elvis wasn’t permitted to perform, having been persuaded by his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to serve as a regular soldier rather than in Special Services. Presley made it clear he wanted no preferential treatment, and to be seen as an able, ordinary soldier despite his fame. He donated his Army pay to charity, bought television sets for the base, and even extra fatigues for soldiers in his outfit. Colonel Parker, however, had made sure that Presley’s two-year absence would not be felt by his fans, as RCA, his record company, had him record a substantial amount of music before leaving, and kept up a steady diet of new releases throughout his time away.
Elvis Presley’s Army Career Explained
Presley Was Promoted To Sergeant in 1960
On October 1, 1958, Presley was assigned to the 1st Medium Tank Battalion, 32d Armor, 3d Armored Division, at Ray Barracks, West Germany, where he served as an armor intelligence specialist. He was promoted to sergeant in 1960. He was honorably discharged on March 5, 1960, and returned to the U.S. where the train that took him from New Jersey to Tennessee was mobbed. His legion of American female fans didn’t know that, while stationed in Bad Nauheim, Presley had met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, who he’d marry seven years later.
Priscilla relates in Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley, that Presley was concerned that his army stint would bring his singing career to an end, despite the Colonel’s arrangements back home. He need not have worried: during the two years he was abroad, Presley had ten top-40 hits, including “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck”, “Hard Headed Woman”, “One Night”, and the 1959 number one “A Big Hunk o’ Love”. He returned to find his singing career intact and to a welcome from show business royalty in Frank Sinatra, who immediately booked him for his show, The Frank Sinatra Timex Special.
