70th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s Memphis debut to be celebrated with tour and concert

This month marks the 70th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s historic 1954 appearance at the Overton Park Shell. The Shell, Backbeat Tours and the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum will celebrate that iconic event with the three organizations joining forces to offer a city-wide tour celebrating Presley’s stage debut. Set for July 27, the tour will offer fans a chance to experience some special Elvis-related exhibits at the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, take a city-wide Presley-focused bus tour — via Backbeat Tours, and visit the new Backstage History Experience at the Overton Park Shell.

Having made his first recordings for Sun Records just a few weeks earlier, Presley was still a teenager when he appeared at Overton Park Shell on July 30, 1954, part of a “Hillbilly Hoedown” headlined by country yodeler Slim Whitman. Presley’s first performance in his hometown would mark the start of his incredible rise over the next two years to national and international prominence. Presley would perform a second time at the Shell in 1955.

The 2⅟₂-hour tour celebrating Presley’s Shell performance will go in two groups, one at 2 p.m. and another 3 p.m., starting at the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum on Beale Street. That will be followed by a drive through the streets of Memphis, including rarely visited sites where the young Presley grew up and honed his talents. The tour will culminate with a stop at the Overton Park Shell, which recently launched a backstage history museum focusing on Presley’s show and other milestones in the venue’s history.

The tour will conclude with the recreation of Elvis Presley’s groundbreaking 1954 concert at the Shell. The concert will see Presley’s role taken on by veteran Elvis tribute artist Finley Watkins, from Missouri. Watkins has previously performed on Beale Street, in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, where appeared twice on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Cole Early, Overton Park Shell’s Content & Archives Manager, said the organization was “honored to be able to partner with the great folks at Backbeat Tours and the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum in celebrating the one-and-only Elvis Presley and the year that he changed music history by bringing rock ‘n’ roll to the world’s stage in a dramatic way.”

Tickets for the tour are $60. To book a spot, visit Backbeattours.com or call (901) 527-9415.