Elvis Presley arrived in New York on July 1, 1956 for an appearance on the second episode of the new "Steve Allen Show." Allen desperately wanted the ratings that Presley had brought to the "Milton Berle Show" a few months earlier, but with none of the scandalous gyrating that had earned him the nickname “Elvis the Pelvis.”
Allen's solution was to have Presley in a tuxedo serenade “Hound Dog” to a Basset Hound. The performance bombed. Fans hated it, claiming Allen had deliberately set out to embarrass Presley. The New York Journal-American said, “It proved Presley’s excitement is not his voice but his erotic presentation… it was plain he couldn’t sing or act a lick.”
Elvis Presley in session at RCA Victor Studio A, July 2nd 1956. © Alfred Wertheimer.
At 2 p.m. the following day, Presley arrived at RCA Studio A on East 24th Street for a session to record “Hound Dog.” His anger at his treatment on the "Steve Allen Show" fueled a menacing version of the song, quite different from his usual stage performance, with Presley snarling “You ain't no friend of mine.”
Presley took command of the session, driving the band through 31 takes over 2 hours before he felt he had it the way he wanted.
Elvis Presley and the Jordanaires in session at RCA Victor Studios, July 2nd 1956. © Alfred Wertheimer.
Photographer Alfred Wertheimer remembers Presley reviewing playbacks. “The engineer racked take twenty-eight. Elvis crouched on the floor, in deep concentration, absorbed and motionless … At the end of the song, he slowly rose from his crouch and turned to us with a wide grin, and said, ‘This is the one.’” The lacquers for pressing were cut the same day and the single was released just eleven days later.
​
Following the session, Elvis went across the street to the loading dock of the Madison Square Post Office and signed autographs for the postal workers. It was the last time he recorded in New York City.
Elvis Presley in session at RCA Victor Studios, July 2nd 1956. © Alfred Wertheimer.
Presley's "Hound Dog" was a cultural and musical watershed that challenged the established norms of 1950s America.
​​​
His blend of country-boy charm, African American-influenced music, and rebellious stage moves captivated an American teenage audience, cementing his status as the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
RCA Victor moved its studios to Rockefeller Center in 1969 when the building was sold to City College of New York. In 1998, the building was demolished, and construction began on the Newman Vertical Campus, a $319 million, 786,000 sq.ft. campus for Baruch College, part of the City University of New York, with over 20,000 students.
The diversity of New York City is reflected in the student body, with racial and ethnic minorities making up 75% of undergraduates.
