May 8 in Elvis History: A Fateful Meeting And A BBC Ban

It's May 8, and on May 8, 1954, 19-year-old Elvis Presley attended the Memphis Cotton Carnival with his girlfriend, Dixie Locke. That night, the gospel group The Jordanaires performed—an event widely believed to be the first time Elvis encountered the group that would later shape his signature sound.

That same day, across the Atlantic, Britain’s BBC banned Johnnie Ray’s “Such a Night” for being too suggestive—a song Elvis would later make his own with sultry swagger.

On May 8, 1976, Elvis performed a dinner show at the Sahara Tahoe in Nevada, still holding court with fans who came to see the King in action.