Is Elvis Quitting For God? (1957 article)

[The fool]

Is Elvis Quitting For God?
by Claire Williams
Modern Screen, December 1957

[The fool]

And the last page...

[drjohncarpenter]

As always, your uploads are so fascinating, insightful and fun! Thank you for the share.

It's not clear who Claire Williams was, save that she was based in New York, and interviewed Elvis at least once before, probably in the summer of 1956. The "mean landowner struck by lightning" story from when Elvis was a kid in Tupelo was also told to journalist James Gregory in his July 1961 Florida interview with Presley, which you kindly uploaded for us via that October 1961 issue of Photoplay magazine, so it must have happened. It is uncertain, though, whether Elvis actually witnessed the event, as Ms. Williams writes in her essay.

She seems to have been in Memphis circa September 1957, although she did not land a meeting with Elvis. The comments from Rev. James Hamill are interesting. I did not know he was so anti-rock 'n' roll. And his recounting of Elvis' failed 1954 audition with the Songfellows gospel quartet is fairly accurate, confirming how Elvis would ruefully recall they had told him he "couldn't sing." Of course, what they actually meant was that he couldn't sing harmony. The narratives shared by one of his Memphis pals (Cliff Gleaves?) and a recently-retired maid are also interesting.

I wonder if the photos on the first pages with Hamill, and the other with James Blackwood, Jackie Marshall, J.D. Sumner and Mark Blackwood (not a group member, but a son of Cecil) appeared for the first and only time in this magazine? It's almost certain these backstage shots are from a gospel show at Ellis Auditorium in mid-March 1957.

Thanks again.

[The fool]

As always, your uploads are so fascinating, insightful and fun! Thank you for the share.

You are welcome, Doc.

[George Smith]

Glorious, thank you!

The lightning story, which as John says has been printed before, is fantastic.

[The fool]

Glorious, thank you!

You are welcome, George.

[hilton22000]

Another wonderful magazine, thank you so much for that!!
For our luck, Elvis wasn't give it up

Can you upload the bigger scans for pages IMG1_0002 and IMG2_0002, please? There is a new photo for me from Vegas 56 - amazing what gems you can find in these old magazines...

[drjohncarpenter]

Thanks to Dixie Locke's 2021 memoir, Unlocked, we can confirm the man with Elvis is indeed Reverend James Hamill, pastor of the Assembly of God Church in Memphis.

See this topic for more:

Holy Hamill! --> Gospel Guns, Easter Tears 1957
https://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=111681