The film Jailhouse Rock premiered on October 17, 1957, in Memphis, Tennesse. The movie went nationwide a little bit later on November 8, 1957. However, the single of Elvis Presley singing “Jailhouse Rock” came out a little bit earlier on September 24, 1957, to build excitement.
The song “Jailhouse Rock” was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. In 1957 it went to #1 on the U.S.Pop Chart, the R&B Chart, the Country & Western Chart, and the U.K. Chart. The song is on Rolling Stone‘s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” and is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.” The record was backed with “Treat Me Nice,” which also charted well.
The dance sequence was the first scene shot for the 1957 film Jailhouse Rock, which starred Elvis, Judy Tyler (who was Princess Summerfall Winterspsring on Howdy Doody), and Mickey Shaughnessy. Elvis gave the number all he had. Unfortunately, he aspirated a temporary cap on one of his teeth. It lodged in his lung and required surgery to be removed. He was hoarse for a few days and recovered. Strangely enough, where life imitates art, there is a scene in the movie where the character Elvis played, Vince Everett, gets punched in the throat and loses his voice. They wait to see if he could sing again…and he could.
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More interesting stuff on daily doo wop. thanks. I remember Princess summer fall winter spring but i didn’t know she was in Jailhouse rock. Sadly, I see that she was killed in an auto accident at the age of 24. I liked Elvis but I was never a big fan. I have a 4 album set on RCA called Elvis’s Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits.