Elvis Presley

ELVIS PRESLEY

Widely regarded as the most influential singer of all time, selling over 1,300,000,000 albums worldwide, Elvis Presley, idolized by fans and musicians alike, is indeed the undisputed King of Rock and Roll.

Elvis Aron Presley was born on January 8th, 1935 in a two-room shotgun house in Tupelo, Mississippi.  He had a twin brother, Jesse Garon, who died at birth.  As an only child, Elvis was extremely close to his mother, Gladys, and would frequently accompany her to the local Assemblies of God church.  Though she was a woman of strong Christian faith, Gladys was not adverse to self-medicating with alcohol and prescribed pharmaceuticals ... vices which would vex Elvis decades on.  Though at grade school, Elvis’ teachers considered him a “well-mannered and quiet child,” the boy’s tight relationship with his mother caused him grief with schoolmates, as they quickly dubbed him a “stuttering mama’s boy.”  Elvis’ father, Vernon, held a number of jobs through the Great Depression, but served eight months in prison in 1938 for attempting to pass a forged check in the amount of eight dollars ... hard times, indeed.

In 1948, the Presleys moved to Memphis, Tennessee – while the reason was employment related (Vernon needed work), he was also running from the law for transporting bootleg liquor.  In 1953, after Elvis graduated from Humes High School, he held a number of jobs, including a movie theater usher and a truck driver for Crown Electric.  Music had always been a driving influence in Elvis’ life – from the gospel he sang in church, to the hillbilly pervading Tennessee, to the blues that, as a white boy in the racist south, Elvis had to enjoy ... carefully.  From a young age, even Elvis’ appearance rebelled against the conservative styles of the day.  While other kids sported crew cuts, Elvis had his hair piled high in a ducktailed pompadour; where his peers were clean shaven, Elvis had long sideburns; while his classmates dressed down, Elvis liked his clothes wild and flashy ... high collars, low necks, poofy shirts, studded pants, and tapped shoes.  In the mid-fifties bible belt, Elvis didn’t really fit in ... to put it mildly.  But all that was about to change.

THE PRESLEYS

On July 18th, 1953, 18-year-old Elvis entered Sun Records, a Memphis recording studio, to make a record for his mama mother.  Owner Sam Phillips was out, but his assistant, Marion Keisker, was in, and asked the boy, “What kind of singer are you?”  “All kinds,” Elvis replied.  “Who do you sound like?” Marion went on.  “I don’t sound like nobody,” Elvis told her.  Indeed.  Elvis did make a record that day, Side A was My Happiness, Side B was That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.  Marion made a note, Good ballad singer, hold.  Almost a year later, while Sam Phillips was looking for a white singer with a black sound and feel, Marion remembered the “kid with the sideburns.” 

After they called him in, and realized the boy was a nervous wreck, Sam asked local musicians Scotty Moore and Bill Black to join Elvis in the studio.  They were not initially impressed but, while fooling around during a break, Elvis began singing Arthur Crudup’s That’s All Right (Mama).  When the boys jumped in, Sam took notice and realized THIS was the sound he had been looking for – a brave mix of gospel, blues, and hillbilly -- what would go on to become rock and roll.  After recording the track, along with a pop version of the Bill Monroe classic Blue Moon of Kentucky, Bill Black remarked, "Damn.  Get that on the radio and they'll run us out of town.”

Elvis, Scotty, and Bill soon began playing local venues and, while reaction was at first mixed, The Hillbilly Cat and the Blue Moon Boys (as they came to be known) eventually garnered a huge following.  Elvis, at first mumbling, stuttering and nervous, gradually gained enough confidence to sing his heart out.  He also began to incorporate more body movements, hip swiveling and leg shaking, when he realized the girls in the audience would scream whenever he did so.  While many more conservative people were shocked at such seemingly “lewd” behavior, there was no denying the kid’s talent and charisma -- no one had ever heard or seen anything quite like this.  Some of Elvis’ early hits with the Sun label include, Good Rockin’ Tonight, Baby Let’s Play House, Mystery Train, Money Honey, Just Because, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, and Tryin’ To Get To You.  It would be called “rockabilly” – and it was the birth of rock and roll.

ELVIS PRESLEY

In August of 1955, Dutch entertainment impresario Colonel Tom Parker (who had previously groomed the careers of Minnie Pearl, Hank Snow, and Eddy Arnold) became Elvis’ manager.  Their professional relationship would last for the whole of Elvis’ career, and the man would eventually take 50% of Elvis’ earnings.  If a manager’s job is exploitation of his client, Colonel Parker had it down to a science.  One of the first things Parker did was field an offer from RCA Victor Records, who sought to buy out Elvis’ contract with Sun Records -- they did, for a then staggering $40,000.

By January 1956, Elvis made his first RCA record: Heartbreak Hotel.  Helped by numerous appearances on CBS’s Stage Show, the single went off the chart and sold over a million copies.  By March, Elvis released his self-titled debut album, which sold just as well.  By April, Elvis was signed to his first motion picture, The Reno Brothers (later retiled Love Me Tender, due to the success of the song) – the film was released in November of that year and instantly became a hit.  But not everyone loved Elvis – he bombed in Las Vegas ("I don't think the people there were ready for [him],” said drummer D.J. Fontana), and appearances on two NBC shows, The Milton Berle Show and The Steve Allen Show, garnered much outrage when the young man’s gyrating was labeled vulgar and obscene.  Appearing on a local New York talk show, Hy Gardner Calling, Elvis explained: "Rock and roll music, if you like it, and you feel it, you can't help but move to it.  That's what happens to me.  I have to move around.  I can't stand still.  I've tried it, and I can't do it."  He was thereafter dubbed by some, "Elvis the Pelvis."  Elvis hated the name, saying it was "one of the most childish expressions I ever heard.”

In September of 1956, as the hits began piling up (Don’t Be Cruel, Hound Dog, Love Me), Elvis was signed to three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.  While he was filmed from the waist up to avoid any more controversy, the much-trusted Mr. Sullivan helped ease the nation’s unrest over the performer when he publicly declared that Elvis was "a real decent, fine boy" and that they had never had "a pleasanter experience" on the show.  Over the next few months, Elvis continued to churn out hit songs like All Shook Up, Teddy Bear, and Wear My Ring Around Your Neck ... to name only a few.

ELVIS PRESLEY

After purchasing an American Colonial-style mansion for his family, Graceland, Elvis quickly made three more motion pictures, Loving You (1957), Jailhouse Rock (1957), and King Creole (1958) – each one spawning numerous hit songs, and grossing more than the one before.  And then ... the Army called.  On March 24th, 1958, Elvis was drafted and eventually sent to Friedberg, Germany, where he served until March of 1960.  Though Elvis longed to perform, he was discouraged from doing so by Colonel Parker and RCA, who thought he would gain more respect from the public if he simply served his time and did his duty.  Elvis did this, never demanding special treatment unless it was to the benefit of his platoon (who later vouched at his generosity) – even going so far as to donate his Army pay to charity.  Though Elvis worried that his fans might forget about him while he was abroad, RCA continued to release a back catalogue of songs, including One Night, I Got Stung, and (Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such As I – all were hits.

In August of 1958, Gladys Presley fell ill with hepatitis.  Elvis was granted emergency leave to attend her in Memphis, and she died of heart failure days later.  For a long time, Elvis was inconsolable.  Months later, back in Germany, Elvis found solace in work, friends (like Joe Esposito, who would go on to be his road manager and bodyguard), amphetamines (“bennies,” which helped the men stay awake during maneuvers), and the company of a strikingly lovely, 14-year-old girl by the name of Priscilla Beaulieu.  While Elvis’ relationship with this girl (10 years his junior) remained chaste, it was obvious to all that he was quite taken with her.

Honorably discharged from the Army on March 2nd, 1960, Elvis returned to the states and quickly set about trying to revive his dormant singing career.  His misgivings were assuaged, however, when the train which took him from New Jersey back to Memphis was mobbed at every stop by screaming fans.  Immediately hitting the studio, some of his first recordings included Are You Lonesome Tonight? and It’s Now or Never -- an opera-influenced number which marked a turning point in how many listeners viewed the erstwhile Hillbilly Cat.  The same month he was discharged, Elvis appeared on a Frank Sinatra special, where the duo performed a duet of Witchcraft and Love Me Tender.  The program was a huge success and further demolished any worries Elvis may have had about his post-Army relevance.  After performing three charity concerts, two in Memphis and one in Pearl Harbor, Elvis focused his attention back on the movies.  He would not perform live for another seven years.

ELVIS PRESLEY -- ARMY DAYS

In the summer of 1962, after frequent phone calls and letters, Elvis invited Priscilla Beaulieu to come visit Graceland.  After a return visit at Christmas time, Elvis asked Priscilla’s parents if she could come and live with him.  The Beaulieus reluctantly agreed, as long as she attended a Catholic girls school, lived with Elvis' father and his stepmother in a separate house on the Graceland estate until she graduated high school, and that Elvis would promise to eventually marry her.  Elvis agreed -- although he and Priscilla would not marry until May of 1967.  Their only child, Lisa Marie, was born on February 1st, 1968.  (Infinitely more information about this can be found in Priscilla’s 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me – highly recommended).

ELVIS AND PRISCILLA -- WEDDING DAY 1967

By 1968, disgusted by this, Elvis jumped at the chance to redefine himself in a TV special.  Though the NBC program had been masterminded by Colonel Parker, Elvis was determined to do it his way.  Taped in June of 1968 and aired in December, the hour-long special, entitled simply Elvis (later dubbed by fans The ‘68 Comeback Special), allowed the 33-year-old singer to perform only those songs which meant something to him.  Bedecked in black leather, Elvis looked dangerous in a way that he hadn’t since his pre-Army days.  With sexy production numbers and an intimate theater-in-the-round, Elvis reminded all who watched why he had become the sensation he had a dozen years earlier.  Rolling Stone said it was: "a performance of emotional grandeur and historical resonance."  Eye Magazine opined: "There is something magical about watching a man who has lost himself find his way back home.  He sang with the kind of power people no longer expect of rock 'n' roll singers.  He moved his body with a lack of pretension and effort that must have made Jim Morrison green with envy."  Smoking hot after this, Elvis was invited to return to Las Vegas where he had bombed over a decade earlier.  Performing fifty-seven shows over four weeks at the International Hotel, Elvis was soon signed to a five year contract, to play each February and August, at a salary of $1 million per year.  Elvis was back.

 

And yet, all was not well with Elvis’ marriage.  Due to his increasing time on the road (not to mention incessant rumors of infidelity), Elvis and Priscilla divorced in October of 1973.  That same year, Elvis did another television concert, Aloha From Hawaii.  It was the world’s first live concert satellite broadcast, and was seen by 1.5 billion people around the globe.

 

In 1976, film producer Jon Peters offered Elvis a costarring role in his remake of A Star Is Born opposite Barbara Streisand -- but when Colonel Parker balked at the fact that Elvis would receive second billing, the deal fell through (the role eventually went to Kris Kristofferson).

 

ELVIS -- '68 COMEBACK SPECIAL

Though it seemed to the world that Elvis Presley was a massive success, the very embodiment of the American Dream, the man was not content – he relied increasingly on narcotics and fatty foods to self-medicate.  By 1977, though he still performed live, Elvis appeared grossly overweight, and was often so stoned onstage as to be incomprehensible.  Yet legions of fans still flocked to see The King of Rock and Roll, and swooned with delight when he would acknowledge them from the stage.

 

On August 16th, 1977, Elvis was found dead in his bathroom at Graceland.  He was 42.  Though heart failure was given as the official cause of death, two lab reports later confirmed “the primary cause of death was polypharmacy ... indicating the detection of fourteen drugs in Elvis' system, ten in significant quantity.”  According to Elvis’ personal physician, Dr. George Nichopoulos, "[Elvis] felt that by getting [pills] from a doctor, he wasn't the common everyday junkie getting something off the street.  He thought that as far as medications and drugs went, there was something for everything.”  Although Nichopoulos was later exonerated in regards to Elvis’ death, in 1977 alone, he prescribed more than 10,000 doses of sedatives, amphetamines, and narcotics for the singer.

 

On the day of the funeral, hundreds of thousands of fans congregated outside the gates of Graceland to pay their final respects.  Though Elvis was buried next to his mother at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, after a failed attempt to steal his body, Elvis and Gladys were reburied in the Meditation Garden at Graceland.  Elvis’ middle name was misspelled on the grave marker as “Aaron,” instead of "Aron," leading many to believe that the singer had faked his death.

 

Though at the time of his passing, Elvis had less than $5 million in his bank account, he has gone on to posthumously earn hundreds of millions, and to this day is the highest earning deceased celebrity.  His influence on popular culture is nigh incalculable.  Graceland, which officially opened for tours in 1982, is the second most visited residence in the U.S. behind the White House.

 

Elvis may have left the building, but his legacy is going strong.  Long live the King.

 

ELVIS, PRISCILLA AND LISA MARIE PRESLEY

Quotes About Elvis:

 

John Lennon – "Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis.  If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been a Beatles."

 

Rod Stewart – “Elvis was the king.  No doubt about it.  People like myself, Mick Jagger and all the others only followed in his footsteps.”

 

Bruce Springsteen – “There have been a lot of tough guys.  There have been pretenders.  And there have been contenders.  But there is only one king.”

 

Bob Dylan – “When I first heard Elvis' voice I just knew that I wasn't going to work for anybody.  And nobody was going to be my boss.  Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.”

 

Leonard Bernstein – “Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century.  He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it's a whole new social revolution ... the 60's comes from it.”

 

Elvis Presley Quotes:

 

“I didn't know what I wanted to do as a kid.  But I used to pray to God that I'd amount to something some day.  I never dreamed that something like this would happen.”

 

On performing: “It's like a surge of electricity going through you.  It's almost like making love, but it's even stronger than that ... sometimes I think my heart is going to explode.”

 

“The image is one thing and the human being is another -- it's very hard to live up to an image.”

 

ELVIS PRESLEY -- ALOHA FROM HAWAII

“The first time that I appeared on stage, it scared me to death.  I really didn't know what all the yelling was about.  I didn't realize that my body was moving.  It's a natural thing to me.  So to the manager backstage I said, 'What'd I do? What'd I do?'  And he said, 'Whatever it is, go back and do it again'.”

 

“Roy Orbison is the greatest singer in the world.”

 

Regarding the blues: “The colored folks been singing it and playing it just like I'm doin' now, man, for more years than I know.  They played it like that in their shanties and in their juke joints and nobody paid it no mind 'til I goosed it up.  I got it from them.  Down in Tupelo, Mississippi, I used to hear old Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do now and I said if I ever got to a place I could feel all old Arthur felt, I'd be a music man like nobody ever saw.”

 

“I get tired of playing a guy who gets into a fight, then starts singing to the guy he's just beat up.”

“I am not the King.  Jesus Christ is the King.  I'm just an entertainer.”

 

“I believe in the Bible.  I believe that all good things come from God.  I don't believe I'd sing the way I do if God hadn't wanted me to.”

 

“Since I was two years old, all I knew was gospel music.  That music became such a part of my life it was as natural as dancing.  A way to escape from my problems, and my way of release.”

 

“Only thing worse than watching a bad movie is being in one.”

 

“Rhythm is something you either have or don't have, but when you have it, you have it all over.”

“Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.”

 

“From the time I was a kid, I always knew something was going to happen to me.  Didn't know exactly what.”

 

“I believe the key to happiness is: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to.”

EXAMINER'S NOTE: If you couldn't tell by this lengthy, but-still-abbreviated profile, I am a big Elvis fan.  I am especially fond of his early stuff at Sun Records – the linked songs go to YouTube versions.  If you are unfamiliar with Elvis, especially young Elvis, I highly recommend checking some of those out.  The videos above were chosen for two reasons: 1) I wanted to feature some lesser known gems, and 2) I love 'em.  On a side note: back in 1979, Dick Clark sanctioned a 3-hour bio-pic about Mr. Presley entitled simply ELVIS, directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell.  It was marvelous – one of the best film biographies ever made.  While it was unavailable on DVD for years, it was released (finally) in 2010.  Check out my review HERE.