From vinyl to tapes to optical media: The long and varied history of Speedway-related releases is a testament to Nancy and Elvis’s charisma as recording artists and actors, as well as their on-screen chemistry. The following retrospective traces the numerous Speedway soundtrack and video incarnations from the 1960s to the 2010s.
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It started not with a green flag, but with tuxedo shirts. Speedway history, in terms of Nancy and Elvis Presley’s friendship, originated in 1960 when Nancy was asked by her dad to meet Elvis upon his arrival at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Elvis was about to appear with Nancy on FS’s TV special to welcome Elvis back from his service in the Army. Nancy recalls the historic event in her 1985 book, Frank Sinatra, My Father:
“FS had asked me to take EP a welcome-home present and I did. On the advice of Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, I had picked out two ruffled tuxedo shirts and now presented them to Elvis along with Frank’s regards.”
The meeting was captured on newsreel film: March 3, 1960.
