Waco, Texas... 1954

It was 1954, Waco, Texas.   There were hundreds of people... sitting, standing... Some were screaming, others quiet, waiting expectantly for something most of them had only heard about.   The push of humanity, all trying to get into better positions to see, was suffocating.   The excitement was electric.

My date and I had separated ourselves from the other kids who attending this occasion with us.   We were teenagers among many, many of our peers.   I looked across the sea of young faces (mostly girls.)   Some of them fainted before the evening was over.   We stood near the side in the coliseum where the event was taking place.   I wanted to see not only who was appearing, but the ones that were watching.   It was beginning to be quite a spectacle.   The adults that had chosen to attend were toward the back... and were the ones that were quiet.   As it turned out, this was a more momentous occasion than I had ever imagined.

Suddenly there was a hush... not complete quiet, but a lull in the overwhelming noise.   The lull lasted only a moment as a curtain behind the stage began to open.   Musicians, which were positioned on the stage, began to play... music that was only slightly familiar.
Then... a young man with black hair , some of which fell across his forehead , appeared in the opening of the curtains.   He was dressed completely in black.   Almost as quickly as he appeared his body began to gyrate in time to the music and he danced to the middle of the stage...   "You ain't nothin' but a hound-dog," he was singing.   He had a good voice.   The crowd went wild.   Girls were screaming... one or two were passed out in the aisle.   The adults looked a bit nonplussed.   The boys?   It was hard to say.

I watched the singer move from one side of the stage to the other.   I had never seen anyone move like that.   Each time he stopped to give an extra twist, the crowd screamed louder.

"I don't think he'll ever make it big-time," I remarked to my companion.