Elvis Presley Biography
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Elvis Aron Presley (January 8, 1935 - August 16, 1977), known as the king
of rock and roll, was an American singer, who had a profound effect on world
culture.
Born to a poor family, in Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley was raised both in
Tupelo and later in Memphis, Tennessee, where his family moved when he was
13. He had a twin brother (Jesse Garon Presley), who died at birth. The
young Elvis took up guitar at 11 and, after high school, worked at a tool
company and then an electric company. In the summer of 1953 he paid to
record the first of two double-sided demo acetates at Sun Studios, singing
"My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", popular ballads of
the time.
Sun Records founder Sam Phillips and assistant Marion Keisker heard the
discs and, recognizing Presley's nascent talent, called him in June 1954 to
fill in for a missing ballad singer. Although the session did not prove
fruitful, Sam then put Elvis together with local musicians Scotty Moore and
Bill Black to see what might develop. During a rehearsal break on July 5,
1954 Elvis started fooling around with a song called "That's All Right" and
Sam hit the record button, thinking Elvis may have found his niche. The
resulting single, backed with Elvis' hopped-up version of the country song
"Blue Moon Of Kentucky", was a huge local hit in Memphis after WHBQ aired it
two days later and regular touring started to expand his fame beyond
Tennessee.
Elvis Presley recorded five singles while at Sun, garnering increasing
attention both for his music and for the rioting girls that were becoming a
staple of his live performances. The last of the Sun singles, "I Forgot To
Remember To Forget" b/w "Mystery Train", went to #1 on the Country Singles
chart. During this period Elvis toured incessantly throughout the south and
southwest, also appearing 50 times on the regional show "Louisiana Hayride".
Hayride founder and producer Horace Logan had shrewdly signed Elvis to
weekly appearances after noting the audience reaction to the then-unknown
singer. It was during Elvis' last appearance on the Hayride that Logan
announced, "Elvis has left the building", desperate to quell the screaming
teenagers trying to reach Elvis as he exited the stage.
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A string of hit records followed as the public's desire for his product
seemed insatiable. On January 28, 1956 he made his national television debut
by appearing on The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show. Now recording for RCA, and
under the management of (honorary) Col. Tom Parker, Elvis entered the
Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time on February 22 with "Heartbreak
Hotel". After a string of other TV appearances he made his first appearance
on the top-rated Ed Sullivan Show on September 9, earning the show a record
52-60 million viewers (82.6% of viewership that night). Presley had dyed his
sandy blond hair jet black by the time of his second Sullivan performance on
October 28 of the same year. On his third and final Sullivan appearance
(January 6, 1957) Sullivan bowed to pressure from moralists and ordered
Presley to be filmed only from the waist up due to his customary suggestive
hip movements.
On January 20, 1958 Presley received a draft notice for a 2-year tour with
the US Army. Presley served in Germany where he drove a jeep for Sgt. Ira
Jones and was honorably discharged on March 5, 1960. Many have since
wondered why an only child, by then the sole support of his parents and
grandmother, was drafted during peacetime, his services clearly not critical
for the defense of his country. It has long been suspected that Elvis' draft
notice was either politically instigated to shunt his 'dangerous',
'race-mixing' influence, or quietly encouraged by his manager in order to
keep the increasingly world-wise southern lad under his thumb.
Presley was deeply religious, and he recorded several gospel albums. His 3
Grammy awards are all for gospel music .
Beginning with Love Me Tender (opened on November 15, 1956), Presley starred
in 31 motion pictures, signed to multiple long-term contracts on the advice
of his manager. These were usually musicals based around Presley
performances and marked the beginning of his transition from rebellious rock
and roller to all-round family entertainer. The 1960s saw the quality of his
recorded output drop, although he was still capable of creating records
equal to his best and did so on the infrequent occasions where he was
presented with decent material at his movie recording sessions. With this
drop-off, and in the face of the social upheaval of the 1960s and the
British Invasion spearheaded by The Beatles, Presley's star faded slightly
before a triumphant TV comeback special in 1968 that saw him return to his
rock and roll roots. His 1969 return to live performances, first in Las
Vegas and then across the country, was noted for the constant stream of
sold-out shows, many setting attendance records in the venues where he
performed.
From the beginning of his career, Elvis was a sex symbol sending legions of
women swooning. On May 1, 1967 he married
Priscilla Anne Beaulieu at the Alladin Hotel in Las Vegas. A daughter, Lisa Marie, was born exactly nine
months after their wedding, on February 1, 1968. After their divorce in 1973
she lived with Priscilla. However, Elvis: The Hollywood Years, a new
biography by David Bret, claims the star had a secret gay affair. The author
says that his manager Colonel Tom Parker "held secret information about a
homosexual affair between Elvis and actor Nick Adams over his head like a
sword. He made it clear that... if Elvis didn't toe the line, he'd let it
get out. At that time, it could well have ruined his career. That is why
Parker had so much control over him." Many journalists' attempts to 'out'
the star in the past were thwarted by his manager.
After seven years off the top of the charts, Elvis Presley's song
"Suspicious Minds," hit No. 1 on the Billboard Music charts on November 1,
1969. This was the last time any song by Presley hit no. 1 while he was
still alive. The mid-1970s saw Elvis becoming increasing isolated, battling
an addiction to prescription drugs and the resulting toll on his appearance
and performances. He died at his palatial home Graceland in Memphis,
Tennessee in 1977 and is now buried on its grounds. Originally buried at
Forest Hill Cemetery, his tomb was eventually moved to Graceland after an
attempted theft of his body. Numerous examinations of his death by medical
personnel have not resulted in a final public cause of death, causes most
often cited are polypharmacy (drug mixing) or heart disease exacerbated by
his drug use. Since his death there have been numerous conspiracy theories
and Elvis sightings.
Elvis Presley spawned Rock and Roll interest in Europe, his name even known
by people behind the then Iron Curtain. In France, Johnny Hallyday copied
Presley in the French language becoming a huge star in that country. Presley
paved the way for other American rockers whose records sold in Europe and
who began to tour there. Teenagers around the world began copying his "Duck
tail" hair style and the demand for transistor radios exploded so much so
that Sony went from a small Japanese telecommunications company making
radios, to a giant global conglomerate. Too, through his new look with black
slacks and loose open-necked shirts he created a huge demand for new lines
of clothing. Presley's influence created a generation of teenagers who, for
the first time became an economic powerhouse through their spending
capacity.
Now, more than twenty years after his death, Elvis Presley remains a
foremost icon of the 20th century. His image, especially his trademark quiff
(or forelock), is instantly recognizable. He is still the gold standard
against which modern notions of fame are measured. At least one modern
recording artist, Elvis Costello, borrowed Presley's first name to help his
fledgling career.
But all too often, Elvis Presley's kitsch appeal, the industry which has
grown up around chronicling his dietary and chemical predilections and the
trappings of his celebrity, have tended to obscure the vibrant and vital
music he made as a young man, the vocally-influential recordings of his
later career, and the lasting influence both he and his music had on
American popular culture. Nonetheless, in October 2002, nearly 50 years
after he made his first hit record and 25 years after his death, an Elvis
Presley album titled "ELV1S 30 #1 Hits," reached number 1 on the charts.
Amongst his many accomplishments, Elvis Presley is only one of two singers
to ever simultaneously have two Top 5 albums on the charts. He has been
inducted into the Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall
of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.