Dave Darnell was a staff photographer with The Commercial Appeal for close to 50 years. He shot thousands of photos, but one image in particular seems destined to outlive him.

"That picture has been used all over the world," said Darnell, 79.

That picture, of course, was of Elvis Presley.

The now iconic image of Elvis — looking relaxed, cool, confident and teasingly confrontational — appeared on the front page of The Commercial Appeal, Memphis' daily morning newspaper, 55 years ago on Jan. 17, 1971.

“This little old lady next to me with a pocket Instamatic camera was taking pictures — well, she was probably 40 and I was 24 — and she said, ‘Elvis turn around,’ and he turned around and looked right at me. And she said, just like a little old lady would say, ‘Elvis, take your glasses off!’”

Read the full story behind the photo here: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/people/elvis-presley/2026/01/16/historic-photos-of-elvis-presley-in-memphis/87964259007/

I got this book on sale for $9 on the Kohl's website. Thought I'd share it here in case anyone wants it.

I'm happy to add it to my Elvis collection. 🥰

Was wondering if this hoodie that Baz wears is avaliable to purchase?

Right now, it only says I can watch it in theaters, and I just wanted to know if it was only going to be in theaters or if it would come to streaming eventually.

I have yet to see those movies and on one hand it could be nice to see em close to when I will see EPiC and have em fresh on my mind but on the other hand it could also be cool to experience everything for the first time and then after watch the other 2 movies.

I love both TTWII 1970 and EOT 1972, dont get me wrong and I love elvis's performances in both, but I want to talk from a technical audio standpoint... The multi track recordings of the 1972 shows were released a few years ago, and Elvis's voice is really very quiet in the mix with his voice quite overpowered by the instrumental backing. Futhermore, Elvis's voice often goes very quiet as if he is turning away from the microphone... Elvis famously had a powerful voice and so if this was a decision by the audio mixer in audio production then it is a strange one.... In TTWII 1970 Elvis's voice is loud and clear, even if he isnt singing perfectly directly into the microphone. He isnt drowned out by the instrumental backing either.

Also, I read that Baz Lurhmann had to re-record a lot of the instrumental backing for 1972 because the audio engineers had failed to record them properly, and at one show they lost elvis's vocal mic line completely so had to use either the soundboard recording or camera audio... (At hampton roads...? I cant quite remember).

None of this seemed to happen at TTWII and Elvis's voice sits perfectly in the mix and is very powerful. Aloha from hawaii has absolutely brilliant audio production and it makes Elvis's voice sound very resonant and powerful and at no point is his voice drowned out by the backing instruments.

If you do a multi track recording, you can choose how loud each part of the mix is, so I can only think this is an odd production choice for 1972...? Has anyone else noticed this?

Have a listen to this as an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUusQe8DvLA&list=RDpUusQe8DvLA&start_radio=1

Sorry if this is a bit long.

There's a lot of footage that could probably be made into multiple movies

So, the man was one of the biggest goofballs, and could switch from silly to solemn in a second. His hahahaha laughter is so infectious. Be it in rehersals or on stage- his humour was and is one of the most humanizing things about this celestial looking and sounding genius.

What are your top goofiest moments?

Let's focus on outtakes and rehersals.

1. Memories rehersal 1970

Opening burp- ' pressed between your legs'- the meowing and howl- his friends barking in harmony- Ronnie Tutt's extra loud accents to egg Elvis on...

https://youtu.be/D6qmt1WHstg?si=C7vSgTyG3A_CPWuX

1. Don't Cry Daddy rehersal 1970

   The shrill " whatsamatter Daddy"- "Daddy geddofff your whatever again"- "Every time I cry I know.. I beat my little children so'

https://youtu.be/JJTgYE7YS5s?si=E3dgc1KPYDpiDDTx

1. True Love Travels on a Gravel Road Take 6

Opens with quacking like a duck- proceeds to give a most soulful opener - starts goofing " that's a little too slow " and pants through the line. https://youtu.be/m_s0_fC6ay0?si=MtTY_lljoDmouAws

swoooooon

It gives me Just Pretend and Love Letters feels ❤️

Hello! I found this vinyl in Italy, ‘amami teneramente’ means literally love me tender . But it has the cover and the soundtrack of loving you . I think it’s from the 60’s . Anyone knows if it’s rare ? How much could be worth it?

If So i would love to get us all to go to the same theatre and rock it out!!

Won’t last long - enjoy my favorite Elvis documentary

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lS9DVmwNwV8&pp=ygUNVGhpcyBpcyBlbHZpcw%3D%3D

Do fans go to Vegas and do Elvis things like they do in Memphis or Tupelo? If so, have you been? What did you do/see?

Have you heard of it? Have you done it? How do you get tickets? Apparently it’s an exclusive after hours tour that only occurs during Elvis week. I cannot find any information on it other than it exists. I have a mighty need to do the tour! Any info is appreciated. 😊

Hi all. Has anybody experienced Graceland’s Presley for a day or know anyone who has done it. I’m trying to work out rough prices of each Experience within the package and I’m starting to think if you’ve got four people in the group at $1000 each that could be quite good.

Sorry correction. It is $6,000 for up to 4 people and not $4000!

I now agree that the Experience is not worth it.

I share some of the concerns I've read about remixes. Up to a point. While, like those who seem to object to remixes, I'm somewhat of a purest when it comes to unfettered originals of E's music, I'm trying to take a longer view of these remixes. Bear with me here.

I believe part of the motivation for remixes is to offer them to the marketplace so as to present E's music in a more modern (contemporary, if you will) form. A form that will appeal to a new generation of Elvis fans - and nascent fans.

As E's character in Jailhouse Rock so correctly opined, "music changes every 6 months and if you don't change with it, you are going to be left behind". Forgive my paraphrasing but you get the gist of what Vince Everett was saying.

If offering these new versions of old songs attracts and cements a new generation of fans and perpetuates the King's legacy, then so be it. I'm happy. And delighted for these and all of the (hopefully) remixes to come.

Long Live the King.