Elvis Presley famously dated many women over the years and one of his first girlfriends during the mid-1950s was Dixie Locke. The couple met each other at a church function in Memphis, Tennessee and she remembers a handsome and very shy boy. The picture of them together here is from her junior prom on May 6, 1955.
Appearing on Channel 5’s documentary Elvis: The Man Who Shook Up The World, Dixie shared memories of the young King before his fame and fortune really took off.
She said: “He was very shy about meeting new people and even in our Sunday school class he didn’t make a whole lot of friends at that time.
“But, of course, all the girls were just goo goo over him, so the girls went up to him and spoke to him.
“He kinda loosened up a little after that, but he was so shy when we first met.”
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Dixie added: “He had such a God-given talent to sing. He had the most beautiful singing voice.
“And he felt truly that The Lord had given him that talent and that he was going to do something with it one day.”
Even though he was very talented, Elvis struggled with his shyness, even performing with the lights off at family gatherings when he was young.
The King’s first singing contest took place just over 75 years ago but he finished far from first place.
Some nine years later on October 2, 1954, Elvis had a chance to sing at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.
However, his performance did not go down so well, with the Opry’s talent director Jim Denny taking a big swipe at the future King.
The country music pioneer responded to the 19-year-old: “You ain’t going nowhere son. You ought to go back to driving a truck.”
Of course, Elvis had the last laugh by becoming the most successful solo artist in music history.
Now Elvis’ life and career are being adapted into a movie biopic this year.
Austin Butler stars as The King with Tom Hanks playing Colonel Tom Parker opposite him.
Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrmann is helming the movie, which has been shooting in Queensland, Australia.
Elvis is released in cinemas on November 5, 2021.
