Elvis backstage at Ellis Auditorium, Memphis - May 15, 1956 More than 7,000 people jammed Ellis Auditorium on the night of May 15, 1956, to stomp, shudder, shriek and sigh as a young Elvis shaked, rattled, rock 'n rolled. Elvis was the blockbuster of Bob Neal's Cotton Picking Jamboree, a feature of Cotton Carnival opening night.
![July 4, 1956. 1034 Auburn Drive, Memphis. I call it Pepsi in hand, which it is. This is [Elvis at home] with his cousin, Billy Smith (left), who’s still alive, and Bobby Smith (right), who committed suicide. He took rat poison. I was told he was jealous of Elvis for some reason and wondered why he too couldn't become famous. Elvis Presley, Milton Berle, Image American, Old Singers](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/79/e4/ac/79e4acccaa594b0e4e5ac090127a044d--pepsi-rats.jpg)
