Elvis Presley whose ducktail haircut, pounding guitar and gyrating movements combined with a voice blending elements of rhythm and blues and country and western to create a distinctive personality that set the entertainment world on fire in the early 1950's will appear today at the Hampton Roads Coliseum.

The brightest star of the rock and roll era, Presley, considered one of the most controversial performers when he first burst upon the national scene singing "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel," and "Blue Suede Shoes," has become one of the all-time giants among the most elite group of show business superstars, easily conquering records, movies, concert tours, television and night clubs.

Elvis Presley today is calmer and smoother than those days when his star began rising to the top, but those millions of fans from the early days have remained loyal and, as Presley has become more polished and sophisticated, so have his fans. Reports from other cities on his current tour indicate that the Presley magic is still as potent as ever.

Although best known as a rock performer, his hits have run the gamut from the rousing "All Shook Up" and "Jailhouse Rock" to ballads such as "Love Me Tender," the touching "Old Ship" and the recent "In The Ghetto," which gained him a whole new legion of fans who were in kindergarten when his earlier records were filling the airwaves. In 1967, he received a Grammy award for best sacred recording, and songs like "Peace In The Valley" have proven equally popular.

While his films have not always received the highest critical acclaim, they've been extremely successful at the box office, and his portrayal of an Indian half-breed in "Flaming Star" is remembered as one of the most sensitive performances of the 1950s. His television specials, on the other hand, have always drawn high praise, and the professional quality of his night club act has made him one of the top-drawing performers in Las Vegas.

His shows at 2:30 and 8:30 p.m. today may not resemble his last performance in Newport News in 1955, when he played to throngs of screaming teenagers at the old James Theater just as his career was beginning, but among the audience will be many who remember that day vividly.

No other performer, not Frank Sinatra, not Tom Jones, not Donny Osmond or even David Cassidy has created quite the pandemonium Elvis did during the years between the Korean War and the Vietnam war.

He made national headlines the day he was drafter into the Army, and Life Magazine ran pictures of him as he took his induction physical - and the day he returned to civilian life was almost a national holiday, as it coincided with his first new movie in two years which just happened to be "GI Blues."

It's not every day anyone gets a chance to watch a living legend in action, but today is one of those days.

Courtesy of Hampton Public Library