Elvis and the Birth of Rock and Roll

“Elvis who?” was photographer Alfred Wertheimer’s response when, in early 1956, an RCA Victor publicist asked him to shoot an up-and-coming crooner from Memphis. Little did Wertheimer know that this would be the job of his life: just 21 years old, Elvis Presley was—as we now know—about to become a legend. Trailing him like a shadow, Wertheimer was given unlimited access to get up close and personal with Elvis; even as the singer was seducing young women in dark hallways, he allowed the photographer to record his every move. Wertheimer took nearly 3,000 photographs of Presley that year, creating a penetrating portrait of a man poised on the brink of superstardom. Join us as we welcome Wertheimer for a discussion about the book that resulted from this monumental project, Elvis and the Birth of Rock and Roll. Joining Wertheimer will be GRAMMY Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli, who also wrote the forward for the book, and the editor of the book, Chris Murray. Murray is the Director of Govinda Gallery in Washington, DC, where he hosted the first exhibition of Alfred Wertheimer’s photographs in 1997. He is also the editor of Wertheimer’s books Elvis at 21 and Elvis 1956, as well as the curator of the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer.