Elvis and the Birth of Rock and Roll - in pictures

Splash!: Elvis horses around with his younger cousin Billy Smith in the spring of 1956. They had to fill the pool with a garden hose attached to the kitchen sink and after six hours it was still only half full Photograph: Alfred Wertheimer

Elvis takes a break between the rehearsal and the live taping of Stage Show at CBS’s TV Studio 50 in Manhattan. He’s reading some of that day’s fan letters Photograph: Alfred Wertheimer

A backstage colour portrait just before going on to record the Steve Allen Show Photograph: Alfred Wertheimer

Elvis and fellow soldiers of Company D 1st Battalion 32nd Armor and 3rd Armored Division walk the gangplank of the USS Randall. They had to repeat the manoeuvre for the assembled photographers Photograph: Alfred Wertheimer

Elvis at the piano in a mid-Manhattan loft studio. Elvis and his cousin Junior Smith are waiting for the Steve Allen Show script rehearsal to start on 29 June 1956 Photograph: Alfred Wertheimer

Final touch: the famous quiff is already a feature Photograph: Alfred Wertheimer

Elvis relaxes on the back patio with his family before the concert at Russwood Park. His cousin Bobby and father are in the background Photograph: Alfred Wertheimer

Rare portrait studies in colour of Elvis performing the 8pm show live at the Mosque Theater, as they appear in Elvis and the Birth of Rock and Roll Photograph: Alfred Wertheimer

'Don't be Cruel': RCA Victor Studio 1, 2 July 1956 Photograph: Alfred Wertheimer

The King's speech: Elvis on tthe Armed Forces Radio Service in 1958
Photograph: Alfred Wertheimer