User Reviews

Steve Allen had Elvis on his Sunday night show which was on opposite the Ed Sullivan Show (Toast of The Town). Mr. Allen was no fan of Rock and Roll and for years continued to make fun of Rock and Roll singers and their songs. I believe it was Little Richard's "Tutti Fruitti" that Mr. Allen once read on his show, as if it were a poem and not song lyrics, much to his and his audiences humorous delight. Years late in the sixties Allen was still doing the same thing with the lyrics of The Beatles. While not certain I believe the song was "Hello, Goodbye". Anyone familiar with this song knows that the lyrics are simple, however, most people know that lyrics are meant to be sung and not read as poetry. Mr. Allen, a songwriter himself, should know better. With this background in mind Mr. Allen had Elvis come on the show and sing "Hound Dog" dressed in a Tuxedo singing to a real hound dog. Elvis was also part of a comedy skit that was embarrassingly bad. I assume Mr. Allen got his ratings that night and beat out Mr. Sullivan. But Mr. Sullivan and Elvis got the last laugh when Elvis made three appearances on the Toast of The Town and music has never been the same since. I gave this a five only because of its historical value. Toegether with the Sullivan shows and his appearances on Milton Berle show Elvis changed the musical landscape. Elvis first appeared on Milton Berle's show and if you want to see the Real Elvis catch the unedited hip grinding version of "Hound Dog" he performed for Mr. Television!