Why A Jacksonville, Florida Justice Almost Had Elvis Arrested

Because Elvis Presley rose to fame in a particularly conservative period in American history, he generated a fair amount of controversy for his onstage dancing, which was quite suggestive for its time. In fact, his gyrating pelvis nearly got him arrested, per News4Jax.

Elvis was scheduled to perform six shows at the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville over the course of August 10 and 11, 1956. However, his thrusting hips were well known to locals, which led to him getting a warning from the authorities just before his concerts. Numa Saisselin, the current president of Florida Theatre, told News4Jax, "Marion Gooding, who was at that time the juvenile court justice in Jacksonville, summoned young Mr. Presley to his offices and told him there would be no hip-swiveling and no suggestive body movements." Apparently, Elvis had played in the city before, and his performance got the audience so excited that they charged to the stage and tried to rip his clothes off, exactly the sort of indecent behavior that Gooding wanted to avoid. To prove that his warning was serious, Gooding added the threat of charging Elvis with "impairing the morality of minors."

Elvis did what he was told and played a show that one could comfortably bring their grandmother to. Not very rock 'n' roll of him, but it's said that the experience angered him so much that he performed with a snarl, which would become one of his bad-boy trademarks.

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