• first real Rock & Roll star; "the King;" model for generations of cool rebels
• 1935—born in Tupelo, MS to Gladys & Vernon Presley, a sewing machine operator & truck driver (twin brother stillborn)
  • father served 8-month prison term when Elvis was 3 (for writing bad checks), afterwards work was sporatic … barely kept has family above the poverty line
• 1948—moved to Memphis; spent much of his spare time hanging out in the black section of town
• 6/53—graduated from Humes High, worked at the Precision Tool Factory, then drove a truck for Crown Electric ($1.25 per hour)
  • planned to become a truck driver like his dad
• went to Sun Records studios to record songs as a gift for his mom
  • anyone could record a 10-inch record for $4.00
  • Elvis was disappointed with the results of his first effort
• after a second recording session, Sam Phillips (producer/promoter; big name in Memphis, but fairly unapproachable for newcomers) asked him to come in to record a song
• Elvis failed miserably as he attempted to record "Without You" as a demo
• succeeded in impressing Phillips once he was allowed to just "sing songs" … "white man with the Negro sound and the Negro feel"
• Enlisted the assistance of backup musicians ...
  • Scotty Moore, guitar (also early manager)
  • Bill Black, bass
  • DJ Fontana, drums
  • the Jordanaires, vocal quartet
• 7/54—Phillips signed him to a contract with Sun Records
  • released 5 singles between mid-1954 and the end of 1955

• first release was "That's All Right Mama" (R&B tune by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup recorded in Chicago, late 1946) b/w "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (C&W standard)

became a regional hit

• by the time of his 5^th (and final) release for Sun … "Mystery Train" b/w "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" … Elvis was an important figure in C&W

• 1955—voted #1 "up and coming" C&W artist in a Billboard disc jockey poll; still considered a country act, though didn't fit the mold

• 1956—release of "Heartbreak Hotel" (#1, 3/56 on both Pop & C&W, but #3 on R&B) established Elvis as a national star; 1^st recording for RCA Victor made in Nashville

• 3/56--Elvis had 6 of RCA Victor's 25 top selling singles

Elvis screen test with "Blue Suede Shoes" (April 3, 1956):
Director Hal Wallace signed him immediately offered a 3-picture deal with Paramount Pictures; before they could find an appropriate script, 20th Century Fox hired him to star in The Reno Brothers (changed the film title to Love Me Tender, Elvis' contemporaneous hit single, and integrated the song in to the film)

• 4/56--selling $75,000 worth of records daily; singles selling ~50,000 per day, albums & EPs about 5,000 per day!!
  • accounted for 50% of RCA Victor's popular record business

The furor begins: Elvis' performance of "Hound Dog" on The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956 (commentary )

this video contains an interesting comparison of the performances of "Hound Dog" on Milton Berle & Steve Allen ** (commentary )

returns to perform "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" on The Steve Allen Show on July 1, 1956

• teen idol & focus of wrath of critics, teachers, clergymen, etc.
  • called "Elvis the Pelvis
• introduced the merchandising scheme to popular music artists
  • lipstick--Heartbreak Pink, Hound Dog Orange, Tutti Frutti
  • hats, T-shirts, jeans, handkerchiefs, glow in the dark pix, etc. etc. ...

• 8/56—filmed his first movie (Love Me Tender); recouped $1 million production cost in 3 days!!
• 8/56—2-sided hit single ("Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel")
• In fact, evidencing the crumbling of the walls between R&B, C&W, & Pop, between 8/56 & 10/57 Elvis had a series of hits that placed #1 on all three charts:
  • Don't Be Cruel
  • Hound Dog
  • All Shook Up
  • (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear
  • Jailhouse Rock

Hound Dog

• 8/4/56—b/w "Don't Be Cruel" (#1 for 11 weeks—longest yet); composed by Leiber & Stoller; cover of Big Mama Thornton (#1 R&B)

Don't Be Cruel

Cover version by Cheap Trick (1988)

• 8/4/56—composed by Otis Blackwell (Brooklyn composer), Leiber, & Stoller
  • Blackwell had composed "Great Balls of Fire"
  • Elvis is listed as coauthor at the insistence of Parker ... royalties
• 9/9/56 - performance of "Ready Teddy" on the Ed Sullivan Show
• 1/6/57—Elvis performs "Don't Be Cruel" on the Ed Sullivan show (for the 3rd time!)
  • from the waist up only!!

• 3/57—purchased Graceland
• 7/9/57 - Loving You (Presley's 2nd film) is released featuring the hit single "Teddy Bear"
  • extended excerpt from the opening of the film: a mere vehicle for Elvis' "star power"
  • another excerpt, revealing the role of promoters and the presence of emotionally overwrought audience members
  • end of film - more Elvis, singing "Loving You" and "Lot of Living"
    
    
    
    

Jailhouse Rock

• 10/14/57—3^rd movie is released
  • Vince (Elvis) develops his own singing style on "Don't Leave Me Now":
  • Vince & partners record "Treat Me Nice" and establish their own record company:
  • title song also composed by Leiber & Stoller:
• 1^st record to enter the British singles chart at #1 (previously considered an impossibility for an American artist)
  
  

• 1958 to 1960- inducted into the army, put career on hold
  • delayed 2 months to complete King Creole (4^th film; these first four were probably the best); boxing story based on Harold Robbins' A Stone for Eddie Fisher; during his career, Elvis starred in 33 films, grossing over $180 million!!
    • opening of the film (after the credits), including "Crawfish" call-and-response
    • Danny Fisher (Elvis's character) takes up with a group of hoodlums and participates in a robbery
    • Danny proves his singing prowess to club owner Maxy (actor Walter Matthau)
    • Danny begins a successful stint as singer at the King Creole Club, Maxy's primary competition

   

  • monthly salary dropped from $100,000 to $78!!!!
  • took leave a few months later, mom died the day after he arrived!!

• 7/60—Elvis' life became increasingly insular

• 1961—Priscilla Beaulieu, teenage daughter of an army officer he had met while stationed in Germany, moved into Graceland
  • not married ‘til 5/67
• 3/61—last live performance prior to an 7-year absence from the stage
  • starred in a series of formulaic films incorporating his songs into the soundtrack
• 5/67—Elvis & Priscilla wed in Las Vegas
• 2/68—Lisa Marie is born
• 12/3/68—"Comeback Special" is aired on television
  • 1^st performance before a live audience in over 7 years
  • afterward, turned to performing in Vegas

performances from that show:

Opening - "Trouble / Guitar Man"

"All Shook Up"

Medley: Heartbreak Hotel [banter] / Hound Dog / All Shook Up

Production number: "Guitar Man"

• though Elvis experienced a level of "fan-worship" surpassing almost all other celebrities, offstage he was plagued by self-doubt (!!)
  • poor managment (Parker)
  • dissatisfaction with his life ... sometimes he would rent an entire movie theater or amusement park
  • by the late 60s, he was nearly a total recluse
• turned to drugs ... remained devoutly spiritual, never drinking alcohol & publicly denouncing the use of recreational drugs

"Suspicious Minds" from the Elvis: That's the Way It Is ... concert (November 11, 1970)

• 2/72—separated from Priscilla
  • filed for divorce on his birthday in 1973
• 1973—Parker negotiated a deal whereby Presley was paid a large lump-sum payment in exchange for the rights to many of his masters
  • STUPID!!--Elvis' cut was a "mere" $2.8 million
  • by this time Parker was earning a 50% commission
  • Elvis' income was substantially reduced by not receiving royalties from his pre-1973 material

"American Trilogy" from the Aloha from Hawaii concert (January 14, 1973)

• 1974—Streisand offered him the opportunity to costar in the remake of A Star is Born
  • Parker balked, feeling that Streisand didn't deserve equal billing (!!)
• performs "Unchained Melody" at the piano for Elvis in Concert on June 21, 1977, less than two months before his death
• 6/25/77—last live performance (Indianapolis)
  • reportedly horrified by the impending publication of Elvis: What Happened?—a tell-all book written by 3 of his ex-bodyguards in which they confirmed his drug abuse, obsession with firearms, etc.
• 8/16/77—2 days after the book was published, found dead in his bathroom at Graceland (congestive heart failure; drug use was likely to have been at least partially responsible)
• 9/79—Presley's private physician was indicted for "indiscriminately prescribing 5,300 pills and vials for Elvis in the seven months before his death" (over 25 pills per day!) ... later acquitted
• 1982—assuming control of the estate, Priscilla opened Graceland to the public, claiming that the funds were needed to maintain the property
• 1986—Elvis was among the first ten performers to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
• 1988—Lisa Marie (sole heir) married Danny Keough, a fellow Scientologist; divorced in 1993; 5/94 married Michael Jackson, divorced