Built in 1928, the Rendezvous Ballroom was constructed on the Balboa peninsula in Orange County, CA.

Capitalizing on the popularity of swing and big band music, the ballroom featured numerous performers of that era: Artie Shaw, Ozzie Nelson, Benny Goodman, Guy Lombardo, Bob Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, and more.

In the early '60, Dick Dale was playing at an ice cream parlor in the area. He added members of a backing band to form the Del-Tones, and he played his first gig at the Rendezvous on July 1, 1961. Only 17 people showed up, most of them his surfer friends.

But Dale continued to play and within four months, thousands of people were attending nightly to see the band perform and dance "The Surfer Stomp." Several other bands formed as a result of these shows, and surf rock was born.

The Rendezvous Ballroom burnt down in 1966 (coincidentally, a band called the Cinderman played the night before). In 1986, the O.C. Historical Commission dedicated a plaque here.

view full location details...

Built in 1913 at this location in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, this theater changed hands several times until it was purchased, refurbished, and renamed the Apollo Theater by Frank Schulman in 1934.

Since the neighborhood had benefited from a large influx of African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance, Schulman wanted to make the theater exclusively black entertainment. He hired in-house producer Clarence Robinson, and the famous "audition night" was instituted.

In 1934, a seventeen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald won the $25 first prize for her vocal renditions of "Judy" (by Hoagy Carmichael) and "The Object of My Affection" (by Pinky Tomlin).

In 1962, James Brown recorded the album Live at the Apollo at the theater. The album was very popular (66 weeks on the Billboard charts), and led to 3 more James Brown live albums and a tv special at the Apollo.

view full location details...

The statue stands on hallowed ground for Elvis fans. The site used to be the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, where Elvis took fifth prize in a singing competition at the age of 10 for his rendition of "Old Shep."

When Elvis returned to this location in Tupelo in 1956 and 1957 for some homecoming concerts, the National Guard was called in to provide security.

view full location details...

Elvis attended seventh and eighth grade at Milam Junior High School, bringing his guitar to school everyday and playing for other kids at lunch.

view full location details...

Placed in the park across from the Tupelo City Hall, this young Elvis statue was unveiled on August 9, 2012.

Elvis is depicted as he looked during the 1956 and 1957 Tupelo concerts. His hand is outstretched so you can reach out and touch the magic.

view full location details...