Elvis and Uncle Miltie

You can find it on the Internet now, but when I went to Memphis a couple of years ago, the video clip of Elvis on The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956, in which he performs “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” was a true rarity. I got a copy of it from Jamie Aaron Kelley, a young – and very good – Elvis tribute artist.

It features some of Elvis’ earliest acting, as he was roped into doing a comedy sketch. Uncle Miltie is in a record shop, where girls are waiting for Elvis. He brags that he knows the star, but when Elvis strolls in and identifies himself, Berle doesn’t believe him. Oddly, none of the girls recognize him either, until Berle, finally convinced, shouts out his name. The girls scream, mob Elvis, and wind up tearing the jacket off of…Milton! Comedy gold!

Anyway, Presley then does his song, although, possibly unnerved by all the acting he’d had to do, messes up the last verse, singing, “I need you, I miss you, I want you…” But, of course, the girls screamed anyway.

So, go search for Elvis and Milton Berle and check it out. And don’t be surprised if you wind up screaming.