May of 2003 and 2004

In 2003-2004 Tampa Downtown hosted the Elvis Presley Festival and the Antique Car Show which started from the Tampa Theatre on Polk to Jackson Street.  There were many antique cars whose owners traveled as far as Pennsylvania just to be part of the show.  I (Sodie’s Inc) was fortunate enough to be the only vendor invited to be there.  It was alot of fun and everyone had a good time.

These past few years, other areas in Tampa are now hosting the Elvis Presley Festival but not with the ambience that we experienced here.

One of the earliest and most widely seen performance photos of Elvis Presley was taken right here in Tampa, during a 1955 concert appearance at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory.  A tightly cropped version of the photo was used on the cover of Presley’s first album.  That much, at least, seems to be accepted as fact by most of the King’s archivists and biographers.

Connections To Tampa

Elvis Presley was just 20 years old when he hit the stage in Tampa on Sunday, July 31, 1955. Presley already had cut a handful of singles with producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tenn., but those original Sun Studio recordings had not received wide distribution. He was still primarily a regional act, although word of his wildly energetic shows was spreading through the South.

It was not the first time the future pop idol had performed for a Tampa audience. Presley had appeared at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory once before – on May 8, 1955, as the closing act in country singer Hank Snow’s All Star Jamboree tour.

Five days after his first Tampa appearance, Presley caused a minor riot in Jacksonville by closing his show with the announcement, “Girls, I’ll see you backstage.” In their 1999 book, “Elvis Day by Day,” Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen write that fans pursued Presley into his dressing room, where they tore off his clothes and shoes.

Col. Tom Parker, a music promoter with longstanding ties to Tampa, was impressed by Presley’s potential and had begun looking for ways to work more closely with the young singer. Steve Rinaldi Sr. of Tampa, whose parents were friendly with the Colonel, recalls hearing Parker talking enthusiastically about ‘the kid’ in early 1955, confidently predicting he would become ‘the biggest thing in show business’.

By the time Presley returned to Tampa in July, Parker had forged a deal to handle all his booking and long-term planning, according to Guralnick and Jorgensen. Parker also was working to move Presley from Sun Records and onto a major record label.

On The Road To Stardom

Presley performed two shows in Tampa on July 31, 1955, both of them at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory on North Howard Avenue.

The shows, fundraisers sponsored by the Sertoma Club of Tampa, featured folksy comic Andy Griffith as headliner, along with Ferlin Husky, Marty Robbins and other Grand Ole Opry stars. Presley’s name was listed near the bottom of the bill in an ad that appeared in The Tampa Tribune. Guitarist Scotty Moore and bass player Bill Black shared the stage with Presley. General-admission tickets for the shows, a 2:30 matinee and an 8:15 evening performance, were $1.25 each. Children younger than 12 were admitted for 50 cents.

Below are pictures of the event of 2003 and 2004.  Since then downtown Tampa has gone through some changes. Streets have been paved and restaurants have closed and new restaurants took their place.