Elvis Presley

Childhood

• Born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1935

• Came from a poor, white family

• Surrounded by black culture

• Influenced by R & B, black and white gospel, C & W, bluegrass, Western swing, and pop

• Family moved to Memphis where Elvis would discover Beale Street: the center of black music in Memphis

First Recording

• First recording was meant to be a birthday present for his mom

• Memphis Recording Service, owned by Sam Phillips

• Phillips' secretary, Marion Keisker, heard Presley and told Phillips about him

• Phillips signed Elvis to Sun Records in 1954 and released his first single "That's All Right (Mama)" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky."

• First single eventually sold 20,000 copies.

Sun Records

Public Perception

• Originally, some white stations wouldn't play Elvis because they assumed he was mixed race

• By his 5th Sun release, Elvis was named #1 up and coming C & W artist in a 1955 dj poll

Performances

• Vocal style was much more gospel/R & B than country

• Appearance was a mixture of black style and teenage rebel look

• Performances included suggestive body movements

Elvis signs with RCA Victor

1956

• With his new manager, Col. Tom Parker, Elvis signs with RCA Victor for $40,000

• Releases "Heartbreak Hotel," which goes on to sell 1 million copies within months

• "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" sell over 3 million copies in a year (both reached #1 on the charts)

• Sale orders for "Love Me Tender" exceed 1 million before its release.

Elvis - Middle Years Life - Changing Events

• 1958–DraftedintotheArmy

• Life-changingevents• Motherdied• Methisfuturewife,Priscilla,whowastheteenagedaughterofanArmyof9icer.

• 1960–ReturnfromGermany.Resumed9ilmcareer.

• 1960’s–Rockismovinginanotherdirectionwithanin9luxofnewsounds

♣ declineinpopularity♣ endedliveperformancesandwasrarelyseenfrom1962-68

• 1967–MarriesPriscillaandhasdaughterLisaMarie9monthslater

• 1968–TVcomebackspecial

Elvis - Later Years

• Col.TomParkerarrangedaVegasshowandtour.

• 1973–releasesTVspecialAlohafromHawaii.Thiswasthe9irstTVshowtobetransmittedinternationallybysatellite.Itwasviewedby1billionpeople.

• 1973–personalproblemstookover.DivorcedPriscillain73.

• Weight:luctuation–whennotontourhewouldgettobeover200pounds.Thenhewouldcrashdietandlose20-30poundsinweeks.Fluctuatingweightanddrug

• DrugUse-Useofprescriptiondrugsforenergyduringshows,thentosleepatnight

• August16,1977–diedofheartrelatedproblemsat42.

Elvis’ Impact on Rock ’n’ Roll• Personified Rock ’n’ Roll

• Personality and versatility gave him extra appeal

• Overwhelming commercial success

3 Emerging Trends in Rock ’n’ Roll• MainstreamRock

• HeavyR&Bin9luence• 12-barblues• melodicbasslines• backbeat• shoutvocals

♣ AUDIO:LittleRichard–LongTallSally• Rockabilly

• CombinationofcountrystylesandR&Bbasedrock• Moreemphasisonacousticguitarandbass• Noshoutvocals

♣ AUDIO:GeneVincent:Be-Bop-a-Lula”• SoftRock

•Whitesoftrock–Elvis,PatBoone,goodlookingteenidolsthatweremodeledafterthem•Blacksoftrock–doowop–vocalheavygroups