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Early Elvis in Cleveland
Elvis in Cleveland, 1955
© PineTree Productions, 2005
Bill Randle: Unsung Elvis Promoter
Why isn't Bill Randle in the Rock and Roll of Fame?
Recommended Early Elvis Recordings
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Documentary about early years of Elvis Presley in Tupelo and Memphis and including interviews with authors Elaine Dundy and Alanna Nash, DJs George Klein and Wink Martindale, Historian Roy Turner, several Elvis friends from his youth. Also excerpts from early Elvis songs. This fascinating DVD is highly recommended for your collection...
NEW Publication from PineTree Press!
Read about the singer and promoter in
"Shake, Rattle and Roll" - Electric Elvis and Bill Randle
Bill Randle:
Unsung Elvis Promoter
Bill Randle (1923-2004) was a key person in the emerging popularity of Elvis Presley in the 1950s, and also helped promote such artists as Bill Haley & His Comets, Pat Boone, The Crew-Cuts and others.
Having worked for him as his assistant in the 1970s, I prepared a special tribute CD and essay in 2004 with the passing of Bill Randle, including several rare interviews with Randle from the 1970s and 1980s.
A portion of this tribute was used in the program ceremony on " Bill Randle Day" at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame on September 26, 2004.
A copy of this Bill Randle Tribute CD was donated to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
During the 1950s, Bill Randle was an very influential WERE disc jockey in Cleveland and the first one outside of the South to write about Elvis in a newspaper in 1955.
I worked as his assistant in the 1970s at a Cleveland university and he told me some interesting stories about his days with Elvis when he was wild and wicked.
Together with his fellow disc jockey Tommy Edwards, Bill helped promote Elvis in 1955 in a series of live appearances in Cleveland at the "Hillbilly Jamboree" stage show and on WERE radio.
Bill was also the producer of the first commercial movie made of Elvis performing in a concert. It was to be a Universal documentary short titled, The Pied Piper of Cleveland: A Day in the Life of a Famous Disc Jockey.
This rare picture shows Cleveland disc jockeys Bill Randle and Tommy Edwards at the micophone introducing Elvis, Scotty and Bill during the filming in October of 1955:
© PineTree Productions, 2006
The filming took place at Brooklyn High School in Cleveland. The other performers included: Pat Boone ("Ain't That A Shame"), Bill Haley & His Comets ("Rock Around the Clock"), The Four Lads ("Moments to Remember") and Patricia Wright ("Man in a Rancoat").
Unfortunately, due to legal problems, this documentary was never completed and released.
According to an article in People magazine dated January 11, 1993, the existing footage was sold to a European company for nearly $2 million.
It remains a mystery why this very rare first commercial footage of Elvis has not been released.
How much of this footage still survives? It is difficult to know for sure, but the complicated copyright issues are probably the reason it has not been released yet on DVD.
I was told by Bill that he was asked by Elvis to be his manager before Col. Tom Parker took over. He even said Elvis had a contract ready for him to sign.
Bill Randle was also the disc jockey who introduced Elvis on national television in 1956 on The Dorsey Brothers "Stage Show."
He had a wide variety of interests besides being a disc jockey and one of them was as a record producer. He also produced an LP set of rare recordings about the Shakers and I edited the music sections for a 2 CD set on Rounder Records,
Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers.Read more about Bill Randle (some information provided from this Early Elvis site) at:
Why isn't Bill Randle in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Disc jockey Alan Freed (1986), TV host Dick Clark (1993), and
other early non-performers are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Yet the influential WERE radio host,
who in the mid-1950s was one of America's top disc jockeys
and helped promote major rock stars like Bill Haley & His Comets
and Elvis Presley
is still not in the Hall of Fame.Why not send an email to the Hall of Fame to let them know
you think Bill Randle should be in there.Send your request to:
Rock and Rolll Hall of Fame (Cleveland, Ohio)
Read more about the home of the Hall of Fame atHello Cleveland: The City's Rock and Roll Legacy
Recommended Early Elvis Recordings
(1954-1956)
Two other CDs are recommended for the SUN Records years:
Sunrise (2 CDs) - this is the best collection available, even the alternate tracks on CD 2 are worth a listen.
The Sun Sessions - may be hard to find but worth it for the outtakes & alternate takes.
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- Official Elvis Presley web site
- Song Hits 1956
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- Song Hits 1959
- Song Hits 1960
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