ELVIS PRESLEY

ELVIS’S EARLY LIFE

• HIS FATHER, VERNON, WORKED A SERIES OF ODD JOBS, AND IN 1938 WAS SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON FOR FORGING A $4 CHECK (HE SPENT LESS THAN A YEAR BEHIND

BARS).

• 3RD OCTOBER 1945: 10 YEAR OLD ELVIS STANDS ON A CHAIR AT A MICROPHONE AND SINGS "OLD SHEP" IN A YOUTH TALENT CONTEST AT THE MISSISSIPPI-ALABAMA FAIR AND DAIRY

SHOW, HELD IN TUPELO. THE TALENT SHOW IS BROADCAST OVER WELO RADIO.

• WINNING FIFTH PRIZE, ELVIS RECEIVES $5.00 IN FAIR RIDE TICKETS. THIS IS ONE OF THE FIRST PUBLIC MUSICAL PERFORMANCES FOR ELVIS PRESLEY AS A CHILD.

• 1946: ELVIS’ PARENTS CANNOT AFFORD A BICYCLE THAT ELVIS WANTS, SO GLADYS TALKS HIM INTO ACCEPTING A GUITAR INSTEAD. ELVIS' FIRST GUITAR COSTS $12.95 AND IS PURCHASED AT

THE TUPELO HARDWARE COMPANY.

ELVIS’S EARLY LIFE • IN 1948, THE PRESLEYS MOVED FROM TUPELO TO MEMPHIS IN SEARCH OF BETTER

OPPORTUNITIES.

• THERE, ELVIS ATTENDED HUMES HIGH SCHOOL, WHERE HE FAILED A MUSIC CLASS AND WAS CONSIDERED QUIET AND AN OUTSIDER.

• HE GRADUATED IN 1953, BECOMING THE FIRST MEMBER OF HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY TO EARN A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA.

• THE TEENAGE ELVIS BUYS HIS CLOTHES ON BEALE STREET, AND HE ABSORBS THE BLACK BLUES AND GOSPEL HE HEARS THERE.

• HE’S ALSO A REGULAR AUDIENCE MEMBER AT THE ALL-NIGHT, WHITE AND BLACK, GOSPEL SINGS THAT ARE HELD DOWNTOWN. HE WEARS HIS HAIR LONG AND SLICK, AND LETS HIS

SIDEBURNS GROW.

• HE’S REALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER KIDS, A GOOD-NATURED MISFIT. • AFTER GRADUATION, HE WORKED AT A MACHINIST SHOP AND DROVE A TRUCK BEFORE

LAUNCHING HIS MUSIC CAREER WITH THE JULY 1954 RECORDING OF “THAT’S ALL RIGHT.”

ELVIS’S CONTRIBUTION TO ROCK AND ROLL

• ELVIS WAS A HUGE FORCE IN THE BOOMING POPULARITY OF ROCK DURING THE 1950'S • THE MAJORITY OF WHITE TEENS TURNED TO RHYTHM AND BLUES (R&B) BECAUSE IT WAS SOMETHING NEW AND ENTIRELY

DIFFERENT THAN GENRE THEY HAD BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO

• THE GENRE, "ROCK AND ROLL" EVENTUALLY FORMED FROM R&B • PRESLEY'S HAIRSTYLE, FASHION AND MUSIC BECAME PART OF THIS EMERGING TEENAGE CULTURE. • HE WAS THE FIRST ROCK AND ROLL ARTIST OF THE TIME TO COMBINE SOUTHERN, COUNTRY WESTERN MUSIC WITH R&B • PRESLEY'S HIGHLY PROVOCATIVE STYLE OF PERFORMING ATTRACTED THE 1950 REBELLIOUS TEENAGE MAJORITY AND HIS

INFAMOUS HIP MOVEMENTS MADE HIM THE PERFECT CELEBRITY IDOL FOR THE TEENAGE GIRLS.

• PRESLEY'S FIRST MAJOR ALBUM WAS "HEARTBREAK HOTEL," WHICH SOLD, 300,000 COPIES IN THE FIRST WEEK • HE ALSO STARRED IN MANY MOVIES, SUCH AS ‘JAILHOUSE ROCK’, ‘BLUE HAWAII’ AND ‘LIVE A LITTLE, LOVE A LITTLE’.

ELVIS AND HIS INFLUENCE ON MUSIC WORLDWIDE

SINCE THE BEGINNING OF HIS CAREER, ELVIS PRESLEY HAS HAD AN EXTENSIVE

CULTURAL IMPACT. ACCORDING TO ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE, "IT WAS ELVIS

WHO MADE ROCK 'N' ROLL THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE OF POP." ROLLING

STONE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ROCK AND ROLL DESCRIBES PRESLEY AS "AN

AMERICAN MUSIC GIANT OF THE 20TH CENTURY WHO SINGLE-HANDEDLY

CHANGED THE COURSE OF MUSIC AND CULTURE IN THE MID-1950S." HIS

RECORDINGS, DANCE MOVES AND ATTITUDE CAME TO BE SEEN AS

EMBODIMENTS OF ROCK AND ROLL. HIS MUSIC WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY

AFRICAN-AMERICAN BLUES, CHRISTIAN GOSPEL, AND SOUTHERN COUNTRY. IN A

LIST OF THE GREATEST ENGLISH LANGUAGE SINGERS, AS COMPILED BY Q

MAGAZINE, PRESLEY WAS RANKED FIRST, AND SECOND IN THE LIST OF GREATEST

SINGERS OF 20TH CENTURY BY BBC RADIO.

JOHN LENNON OF THE BEATLES ALSO LATER OBSERVED THAT , "BEFORE

ELVIS, THERE WAS NOTHING."

THE COMBINATION OF MUSICAL GENRES AND SOUNDS INTO A NEW STYLE OF MUSIC WAS

ELVIS’S TRUE GIFT. BECAUSE THIS WAS JUST PRIOR TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND

SOCIAL INTEGRATION, IT MAKES THIS MOMENT IN POP CULTURE HISTORY MOMENTOUS.

ELVIS AND TEENAGERS OF 1950

ELVIS ALSO YIELDED A STRONG INFLUENCE ON YOUTH CULTURE. DURING THE 1950S,

TEENAGERS HAD BEGUN TO THINK OF THEMSELVES AS BEING DIFFERENT FROM THEIR PARENTS’

GENERATION. BECAUSE OF THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY OF THE PERIOD, TEENS ENJOYED A

DISPOSABLE INCOME THAT THEY COULD SPEND ON THEMSELVES. WITH THAT MONEY THEY

DRESSED THEMSELVES IN FASHIONS MARKETED TO THEIR AGE GROUP, WENT TO MOVIES THAT

FEATURED STARS OF THEIR GENERATION, AND LISTENED TO MUSIC THAT APPEALED TO THEM.

SO IT WASN’T A SURPRISE WHEN PRESLEY’S ROCK ’N’ ROLL MUSIC, HIS HAIRSTYLE, AND HIS

FASHION SENSE BECAME A PART OF THIS NEW CULTURE FOR TEENAGERS.

ELVIS AND MODERN ARTISTS

YOU MIGHT NOT SEE ELVIS PRESLEY ATOP THE CHARTS THESE DAYS, BUT “THE KING” PLAYED

AN UNDENIABLY CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE HISTORY OF MUSIC — AND HIS INFLUENCE CONTINUES,

WHETHER YOU LISTEN TO HIM EVERY DAY OR NOT. ELVIS WAS ARGUABLY THE FIRST

MAINSTREAM RADIO AND TELEVISION ROCK STAR, AND HE STILL MAKES HIS WAY TO YOUR

EARS AND EYES, BECAUSE HE INFLUENCED SO MANY OF TODAY’S TOP ARTISTS LIKE HOZIER AND

ED SHEERAN,JUST TO NAME A FEW

LATER IN HIS CAREER, PRESLEY CHANGED HIS MUSICAL STYLE AND HIS

PERSONAL LOOK TO KEEP UP WITH THE TIMES AND GAIN POPULARITY AMONG

OLDER AUDIENCES. HE BECAME A MOVIE STAR DURING THE 1960S AND THEN

RETURNED TO LIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCES DURING THE 1970S.

BECAUSE HIS CAREER WENT THROUGH SO MANY CHANGES, HE WAS POPULAR

WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. EVEN AFTER HIS

DEATH, HIS POPULARITY REMAINS STRONG AMONG A WIDE VARIETY OF

PEOPLE. THIS WIDE POPULARITY, AS WELL AS HIS IMPORTANT ROLE IN

AMERICAN MUSICAL HISTORY, MAKES HIM A CULTURAL ICON.

ELVIS' S LATER LIFE- THE BEGINNING OF THE END

• A WEIGHT PROBLEM BECAME EVIDENT IN THE LATE 1960S, AND IN PRIVATE ELVIS BECAME INCREASINGLY DEPENDENT ON

DRUGS, PARTICULARLY AMPHETAMINES AND SEDATIVES. HIS

PERSONAL DOCTOR, WOULD LATER BE PROSECUTED, BUT

ACQUITTED, FOR PRESCRIBING AND DISPENSING THOUSANDS

OF PILLS AND NARCOTICS (ILLEGAL DRUGS) TO HIM.

• THOUGH ELVIS'S WEIGHT AND DRUG DEPENDENCY WERE INCREASING, ELVIS CONTINUED A STEADY FLOW OF CONCERT

PERFORMANCES IN SOLD-OUT ARENAS WELL INTO THE 1970S. ON

AUGUST 16, 1977, THE DAY BEFORE ANOTHER CONCERT TOUR

WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN, ELVIS WAS FOUND DEAD IN GRACELAND

MANSION BY HIS FIANCÉE, GINGER ALDEN. THE OFFICIAL CAUSE

OF DEATH WAS HEART DISEASE, ALTHOUGH INFORMATION

REVEALED AFTER HIS DEATH ABOUT HIS DRUG DEPENDENCY

CREATED A MEDIA EVENT. HIS DEATH CAUSED WORLDWIDE

SCENES OF MOURNING.

ELVIS AND GINGER

HE PROPOSED MARRIAGE IN THE BATHROOM AT GRACELAND ON JANUARY 26 1977. ELVIS PREVIOUSLY PROMISED HIS FIANCEE THE “WEDDING

OF THE CENTURY” BUT MONTHS LATER HE WAS DEAD.

GINGER LATER DESCRIBED THE NIGHT PRESLEY DIED ON AUGUST 16, 1977.

UNABLE TO SLEEP, HE TOLD MISS ALDEN, “I’M GOING TO THE BATHROOM TO READ” .

THEY WERE TO BE HIS LAST WORDS. A FEW HOURS LATER MISS ALDEN WOKE UP AND SAW THE LIGHT IN THE BATHROOM WAS STILL ON AND

FOUND PRESLEY SLUMPED ON THE FLOOR.

ELVIS'S LEGACY ELVIS CONTINUES TO BE CELEBRATED AS SUPERSTAR AND LEGEND AS MUCH

IN DEATH AS HE WAS IN LIFE. GRACELAND MANSION, WHICH HE HAD

PURCHASED IN 1957 FOR $102,500, IS THE TOP TOURIST ATTRACTION IN

MEMPHIS AND HAS ATTRACTED MILLIONS OF VISITORS FROM BOTH

AMERICA AND AROUND THE WORLD.

FUN FACTS 1. ELVIS' GYRATING HIPS CAUSED OUTRAGE ACROSS THE U.S. AND WITHIN DAYS HE WAS

NICKNAMED ELVIS THE PELVIS.

2. HE PLAYED ONLY FIVE CONCERTS OUTSIDE THE U.S., ALL ON A 3-DAY TOUR OF CANADA IN 1957 3. ELVIS WAS 6 FEET TALL AND WORE A SIZE 11 SHOE 4. RECORDING HOUND DOG IN THE STUDIO, ELVIS REPORTEDLY DEMANDED 31 TAKES 5. ELVIS BOUGHT HIS MANSION, GRACELAND, IN MEMPHIS, IN 1957 FOR $100,000. IT WAS

NAMED BY ITS PREVIOUS OWNER AFTER HIS DAUGHTER, GRACE.

6. HE WENT ON TO MAKE A TOTAL OF 31 MOVIES IN HIS CAREER. 7. IN DECEMBER 1957, ELVIS WAS DRAFTED INTO THE U.S. ARMY, EARNING A $78 MONTHLY

SALARY. DURING HIS BRIEF TWO-YEAR STINT ON ACTIVE DUTY, HE WAS UNABLE TO ACCESS

HIS MUSIC-GENERATED INCOME OF $400,000

8. IN 1959, WHILE SERVING OVERSEAS IN GERMANY, ELVIS (THEN 24 YEARS OLD) MET HIS FUTURE WIFE, 14 YEAR-OLD PRISCILLA BEAULIEU. THEY WERE MARRIED 8 YEARS LATER

9. HIS ONLY DAUGHTER, LISA MARIE, LATER MARRIED MICHAEL JACKSON AND ACTOR (AND ELVIS OBSESSIVE) NICHOLAS CAGE

10.HE WAS DISTANTLY RELATED TO FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTS ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND JIMMY CARTER.

11.ELVIS RECORDED MORE THAN 600 SONGS, BUT DID NOT WRITE ANY OF THEM

LINKS • HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=KUPFHDUABPI PLAYLIST • HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=NMOPYUF4BZY THAT’S ALL RIGHT

• HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=PPSUOOFB-VE JAILHOUSE ROCK • HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=-EHJ12VHPYC HOUND DOG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUpfHDUAbpIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUpfHDUAbpIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmopYuF4BzYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmopYuF4BzYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpsUOOfb-vEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpsUOOfb-vEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpsUOOfb-vEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpsUOOfb-vEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eHJ12Vhpychttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eHJ12Vhpychttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eHJ12Vhpyc