1956 was a defining year for Elvis Presley as he rocketed from regional celebrity to national icon. In January, his first Number One hit, 'Heartbreak Hotel' was followed by his first album topping the charts in March.

By September 9th, all of America tuned in to watch Elvis's first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. It drew 60 million viewers, more than 80 per cent of the national TV audience. In November Elvis's first film Love Me Tender opened to packed-out theatres.

As his fame grew, so did the intensity of his critics, who saw Elvis as an oversexed enchanter: a danger to American culture, who was leading children to ruin.

On November 23rd 1956, a 17-year-old boy from Cleveland, a passionate photographer who worked for his high school newspaper, was invited to photograph Elvis Presley at the Cleveland Arena, Ohio. A labour strike at the three major newspapers in Cleveland meant that Lew Allen was the only photographer at the show.

Lew Allen: 'I didn't even shoot all the film I had with me! Had I known what I know today, things would have been very different!'

Mike McCartney, editor of ELVIS & THE BIRTH OF ROCK and lifelong Elvis fan, describes in his Foreword his first reaction at seeing Lew's photographs:

'I instantly fell in love with Lew's work... The photos transported me to a very special time in music... I also immediately noticed an interaction and identification between Elvis and Lew - he had a sympathy for the young kid who was taking his photo, and showed it.'

Above: The Everly Brothers (Phil, left and Don, right), Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, New York, January 19th 1958.

ELVIS & THE BIRTH OF ROCK exclusively presents the photographs of Lew Allen taken on three separate occasions.

Interspersed among the photographs of Elvis taken at the Cleveland Arena on November 23rd 1956, are images from two shows in Rochester, New York in 1958, both part of popular music bus tours throughout the States, which included several now legendary groups on the bill.

Lew Allen: 'Looking back, I realised that I had witnessed and captured the birth of rock 'n' roll.'

Above: Frankie Avalon.

The rare photographs capture Buddy Holly a year before his untimely death, The Everly Brothers as headliners with their hit 'Wake Up Little Susie', Frankie Avalon primping in front of the mirror, Buddy Holly and Don Everly laughing at a private joke, Bobby Darin winking on stage.

Offering an extraordinary insight into a bygone era, when musicians travelled by bus, casually helped each other with lyrics, carried their own stage outfits and were backed by the local orchestra.

Above: Jerry Allison stands next to Buddy Holly (holding a programme).

Above: Buddy Holly arriving at the Community War Memorial, Rochester, New York for a show with The Crickets, January 19th 1958.

Lew Allen: 'Many of the artists carried free airline bags given as promotions in the early days of aviation so the airline bags were a status symbol. The artists would much rather fly than be in a bus struggling through a snowdrift.'

Lew's photographs are reproduced in an opulent duotone with image varnishing on heavy-weight matt art paper. Bound exquisitely in either full or quarter blue suede. Archive-grade paper, a custom designed box, silver edging and a production quality second-to-none preserve the historic contents for generations to come.

Above: Bobby Darin exits the bus with his stage outfit and is greeted by fans.

Mike McCartney: 'Looks like he's already wearing the girl fan!'