August 25th in Elvis History

It's August 25, and on this day in Elvis history: In 1955, Elvis performed at the Sportcenter in Austin, Texas, continuing his rise as a live performer across the southern states. The previous day, August 24, 1956, Elvis was at the Fox Studio soundstage in California recording songs for *The Reno Brothers*, which would later be retitled *Love Me Tender*. Although his longtime bandmates Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and DJ Fontana had traveled with him to Hollywood hoping to appear in the film and record with him, they were rejected by the musical director for not being "hillbilly enough." As a result, Elvis worked with studio musicians—a situation that made him somewhat uncomfortable. Nevertheless, his manager Colonel Parker secured co-writing credit for Elvis and ensured the songs were assigned to Elvis’s publishing company. Among the songs recorded was "Love Me Tender," a reworking of the Civil War ballad "Aura Lee," which Elvis especially favored. In 1960, Elvis was photographed by Don Cravens at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for *Life* magazine, capturing a glamorous side of the King during his Hollywood years.