[467][468], Presley holds the records for most songs charting in Billboard's top 40 (115)[469][470][471] and top 100 (152), according to chart statistician Joel Whitburn,[471][472] 139 according to Presley historian Adam Victor. ELVIS PRESLEY's first live performance took place 75 years ago this week and he finished far from first place. [226], Presley returned to the International early in 1970 for the first of the year's two-month-long engagements, performing two shows a night. [267], Presley's condition declined precipitously in September. Twice during the year, he overdosed on barbiturates, spending three days in a coma in his hotel suite after the first incident. Most had accompanying soundtrack albums, and together the movies and the records made him a rich man, although they nearly ruined him as any kind of artist. [246] He often raised the possibility of her moving into Graceland, saying that he was likely to leave Priscilla. [218], Presley took to the stage without introduction. Elvis Presley came into the studio on Saturday, 26 June 1954. But what struck Sam most was his quality of genuine humility - humility mixed with intense determination. Aug. 16, 2001 -- Fat, white men long ago lost their absolute grip over the Elvis impersonation market. [224], Cassandra Peterson, later television's Elvira, met Presley during this period in Las Vegas, where she was working as a showgirl. Several weeks worth of recording sessions ensued with a band consisting of Presley, guitarist Scotty Moore, and bassist Bill Black. He said, 'Don't ever do that again. She and Priscilla Presley have a love for horses and have formed a special friendship. [265], On the evening of August 16, 1977, Presley was scheduled to fly out of Memphis to begin another tour. In a way, that mourning has never ceased: Graceland remains one of the countrys top tourist attractions, and Presleys albums and other artifacts continue to sell briskly. [188] As described by John Robertson, it exemplifies the Nashville sound, the restrained, cosmopolitan style that would define country music in the 1960s. Though the camerawork was relatively discreet during his debut, with leg-concealing closeups when he danced, the studio audience reacted in customary style: screaming. He inspired literally thousands of musiciansinitially those more or less like-minded Southerners, from Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins on down, who were the first generation of rockabillies, and, later, people who had far different combinations of musical and cultural influences and ambitions. [303], President Jimmy Carter issued a statement that credited Presley with having "permanently changed the face of American popular culture". Elvis had died from cardiac arrhythmia and later, the doctors found out that Elvis had taken ten drugs and four of them were toxic (Peterson). ("Viva Las Vegas", the title track to the 1964 film, was a minor hit as a B-side, and became truly popular only later). The film was panned by critics but did very well at the box office. [296] Two days later, in Rapid City, South Dakota, "he looked healthier, seemed to have lost a little weight, and sounded better, too", though, by the conclusion of the performance, his face was "framed in a helmet of blue-black hair from which sweat sheets down over pale, swollen cheeks". It became the new closing number of his act. On the 25th anniversary of Presley's death, The New York Times asserted, "All the talentless impersonators and appalling black velvet paintings on display can make him seem little more than a perverse and distant memory. Presley grew up dirt-poor in Tupelo, moved to Memphis as a teenager, and, with his family, was off welfare only a few weeks when producer Sam Phillips at Sun Records, a local blues label, responded to his audition tape with a phone call. There is no word on the release date of "Hound Dog," however it was released on July 1, 1956. [381], When Dewey Phillips first aired "That's All Right" on Memphis' WHBQ, many listeners who contacted the station by phone and telegram to ask for it again assumed that its singer was black. [208] The show, NBC's highest-rated that season, captured 42 percent of the total viewing audience. Another week-long tour, of the West Coast, followed in November. But rock 'n' roll was here a long time before I came along. It was to be Presley's last public performance for seven years. He knew all of Hank Snow's songs,[37] and he loved records by other country singers such as Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Ted Daffan, Jimmie Rodgers, Jimmie Davis, and Bob Wills. [195] Julie Parrish, who appeared in Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966), says that he disliked many of the songs chosen for his films. Presley returned from the army in 1960, where he had served as a soldier in Germany rather than joining the Special Services entertainment division. "There's no mistake, boy, just sign it and return it", Parker directed. "The most exciting single Elvis has made since 'All Shook Up'", wrote rock critic Robert Christgau. Graceland is Elvis Presley's estate in Memphis, Tennessee, and remains one of the the U.S.'s top tourist attractions. In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Yet, in every appearance on television, he appeared affable, polite, and soft-spoken, almost shy. As a result, he was anything but universally adored. "[161], Between March 28 and September 17, 1958, Presley completed basic and advanced military training at Fort Hood, Texas, where he was temporarily assigned to Company A, 2d Medium Tank Battalion, 37th Armor. [139] Between film shoots and recording sessions, Presley purchased an 18-room mansion, Graceland, on March 19, 1957, for the amount of $102,500. The name was chosen after the Presleys' friend and fellow congregation member Aaron Kennedy, though a single-A spelling was probably intended by Presley's parents to parallel the middle name of Presley's stillborn brother, Jesse Garon. They were part of a campaign that saw the re-release of all 18 of Presley's previous chart-topping UK singles. [191] His films were almost universally panned; critic Andrew Caine dismissed them as a "pantheon of bad taste". [324] The latter was an outright hit in Britain, debuting at number three on the pop chart; it also made the top ten in Canada. Parker, born in the Netherlands, had immigrated illegally to the United States and claimed to be from West Virginia; he had acquired an honorary colonel's commission from the Louisiana governor and country singer Jimmie Davis. He was sufficiently affected by what he heard to invite two local musicians, guitarist Winfield "Scotty" Moore and upright bass player Bill Black, to work something up with Presley for a recording session. There were two country songs and a bouncy pop tune. Leiber and Stoller, the writers of "Hound Dog", contributed "Love Me". [167][168] It became a lifelong interest, which he later included in his live performances. During his junior year, Presley began to stand out more among his classmates, largely because of his appearance: he grew his sideburns and styled his hair with rose oil and Vaseline. )Feb 24, 2010. The contest, held at the MississippiAlabama Fair and Dairy Show on October 3, 1945, was his first public performance. A more composed and energetic second set inspired an enthusiastic response. He played and sang during lunchtime and was often teased as a "trashy" kid who played hillbilly music. Released in June 1969, it was his first secular, non-soundtrack album from a dedicated period in the studio in eight years. However, Presley had also developed a lethal lifestyle. How Elvis Presley Got His Start From the May 14, 1956, issue of TIME TIME By Lily Rothman January 8, 2015 9:00 AM EST T hough Elvis Presley died nearly four decades ago, Thursday would. [360] Presley would record gospel periodically for the rest of his life. In the first, shot in Omaha on June 19, Presley's voice, Guralnick writes, "is almost unrecognizable, a small, childlike instrument in which he talks more than sings most of the songs, casts about uncertainly for the melody in others, and is virtually unable to articulate or project". Austin Butler has taken some flack for holding onto his Elvis accent long after actually playing Elvis. Presley was now a mainstream American entertainer, an icon but not so much an idol. According to friend Jerry Schilling, the special reminded Presley of what "he had not been able to do for years, being able to choose the people; being able to choose what songs and not being told what had to be on the soundtrack. It had been only 21 months since "Heartbreak Hotel" had brought him to the top for the first time. Allen, no fan of rock and roll, introduced a "new Elvis" in a white bow tie and black tails. [108] Television critics were outraged: Jack Gould of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Presley has no discernible singing ability. [487] He has the third-most gold singles (54, behind Drake and Taylor Swift),[488] and the eighth-most platinum singles (27). "[107] During the performance, Presley abruptly halted an uptempo rendition of "Hound Dog" with a wave of his arm and launched into a slow, grinding version accentuated with energetic, exaggerated body movements. [275], RCA, which had always enjoyed a steady stream of product from Presley, began to grow anxious as his interest in the recording studio waned. "[370] Marsh credits Presley with the introduction of the "vocal stutter" on 1955's "Baby Let's Play House". [402], The horse named Palomino Rising Sun was Elvis' favorite horse, and there are many photographs of him riding him. Under the headline "Presley Records a Craze in Soviet", The New York Times reported that pressings of his music on discarded X-ray plates were commanding high prices in Leningrad. "[84] The trio became a quartet when Hayride drummer Fontana joined as a full member. [194], In the early 1960s, the circle of friends with whom Presley constantly surrounded himself until his death came to be known as the "Memphis Mafia". Berle persuaded Presley to leave his guitar backstage, advising, "Let 'em see you, son. [176] RCA Victor also generated four albums compiling previously issued material during this period, most successfully Elvis' Golden Records (1958), which hit number three on the LP chart. One of the examiners, E. Eric Muirhead, "could not believe his ears. His television appearances, especially those on Ed Sullivans Sunday night variety show, set records for the size of the audiences. [380], Music critic Henry Pleasants observes that "Presley has been described variously as a baritone and a tenor. They and three other boysincluding two future rockabilly pioneers, brothers Dorsey and Johnny Burnetteformed a loose musical collective that played frequently around the Courts. Unlike many white artists who watered down the gritty edges of the original R&B versions of songs in the '50s, Presley reshaped them. They kept him separate. [146] A Detroit newspaper suggested that "the trouble with going to see Elvis Presley is that you're liable to get killed". He had married in 1967 without much furor, became a parent with the birth of his daughter, Lisa Marie, in 1968, and got divorced in 1973. [227] In late February, Presley performed six attendance-recordbreaking shows at the Houston Astrodome. "[390] Moreover, Presley also acknowledged his debt to African-American musicians throughout his career. [73], Many fledgling performers, like Minnie Pearl, Johnny Horton, and Johnny Cash, sang the praises of Louisiana Hayride sponsor, Southern Maid Donuts, including Presley, who developed a lifelong love of donuts. [265] Since his comeback, he had staged more live shows with each passing year, and 1973 saw 168 concerts, his busiest schedule ever. Grossly overweight, his mind dulled by the pharmacopia he daily ingested, he was barely able to pull himself through his abbreviated concerts. "[210] Rumors that he would play overseas for the first time were fueled in 1974 by a million-dollar bid for an Australian tour. [229] The FBI took the threat seriously and security was stepped up for the next two shows. [4], On October 1, 1958, Presley was assigned to the 1st Medium Tank Battalion, 32d Armor, 3d Armored Division, at Ray Barracks, Germany, where he served as an armor intelligence specialist. Hold. About 40 titles are recorded, most of them incomplete. "[427], Larry Geller became Presley's hairdresser in 1964. [395] In his Presley obituary, Lester Bangs credited him as "the man who brought overt blatant vulgar sexual frenzy to the popular arts in America". In the case of his albums, the distinction between "official" studio records and other forms is often blurred. [179] The train that carried him from New Jersey to Tennessee was mobbed all the way, and Presley was called upon to appear at scheduled stops to please his fans. ", a number-one in 1960. [72] Soon after the show, the Hayride engaged Presley for a year's worth of Saturday-night appearances. Their repertoire consisted of the kind of material for which Presley would become famous: blues and country songs, Tin Pan Alley ballads, and gospel hymns. In his free time, he would head down to Beale Street, the heart of Memphis's thriving blues scene, and gaze longingly at the wild, flashy clothes in the windows of Lansky Brothers. It reached number 13 on the US pop chart and number 3 in the UK, remarkable figures for a gospel album. Moore recalled, "All of a sudden, Elvis just started singing this song, jumping around and acting the fool, and then Bill picked up his bass, and he started acting the fool, too, and I started playing with them. He aimed to pay for a few minutes of studio time to record a two-sided acetate disc: "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". When assessing Presley's career, the Texas presence looms large, especially in the initial stages of his rise to the top. When Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller met him two years later, they were astonished at his encyclopedic understanding of the blues,[343] and, as Stoller put it, "He certainly knew a lot more than we did about country music and gospel music. [81], Presley renewed Neal's management contract in August 1955, simultaneously appointing Parker as his special adviser. According to Guralnick, fans "were becoming increasingly voluble about their disappointment, but it all seemed to go right past Presley, whose world was now confined almost entirely to his room and his spiritualism books". [113] Allen later wrote that he found Presley's "strange, gangly, country-boy charisma, his hard-to-define cuteness, and his charming eccentricity intriguing" and simply worked him into the customary "comedy fabric" of his program. He was devastated by the book, and tried unsuccessfully to halt its publication by offering money to the publishers. It was on March 26, 1960, when after a week of rehearsals, 'The King' joined 'The Voice' on stage at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Florida to film The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis special. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. [63][64] A combination of his strong response to rhythm and nervousness at playing before a large crowd led Presley to shake his legs as he performed: his wide-cut pants emphasized his movements, causing young women in the audience to start screaming. [43] Many of his future recordings were inspired by local African-American musicians such as Arthur Crudup and Rufus Thomas. Hal Wallis, who produced nine of them, declared, "A Presley picture is the only sure thing in Hollywood. would ruin his career. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. [325] In 2005, another three reissued singles, "Jailhouse Rock", "One Night"/"I Got Stung", and "It's Now or Never", went to number one in the United Kingdom. Addressing his '68 Comeback Special audience, he said, "Rock 'n' roll music is basically gospel or rhythm and blues, or it sprang from that. Elvis sang in public for the first time when he was 10 years old. [285] Presley's home, Graceland, was opened to the public in 1982. On this day in 1969, Elvis Presley performed at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. [241] The biggest seller was Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas, "the truest statement of all", according to Greil Marcus. [28], In November 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. [13] His mother and the rest of the family believed that her great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was Cherokee. [147] Villanova students pelted him with eggs in Philadelphia,[147] and in Vancouver the crowd rioted after the end of the show, destroying the stage. After going full method for two years to play the King of Rock 'n' Roll in last year's Baz Luhrmann-directed biopic, Elvis, the Oscar-nominated Butler, 31, is still trying to shake Presley . [205] Of the eight Presley singles released between January 1967 and May 1968, only two charted in the top 40, and none higher than number 28. [4] It reads Aron on most official documents produced during his lifetime, including his high school diploma, RCA Victor record contract, and marriage license, and this was generally taken to be the proper spelling. He. [353] While Katherine Charlton calls Presley "rockabilly's originator",[354] Presley's guitarist Carl Perkins said that "[Sam] Phillips, Elvis, and I didn't create rockabilly";[355] according to Michael Campbell, the first major rockabilly song was recorded by Bill Haley. [261] It was Presley's last US number-one pop album during his lifetime. By 1977 journalist Tony Scherman, "Presley had become a grotesque caricature of his sleek, energetic former self.". Butler's performances throughout the first half of the film certainly assuage any doubt about his vocal abilities: his range and lilting Presley drawl when singing is flawless. [162] In early August, his mother was diagnosed with hepatitis, and her condition rapidly worsened. Presley played piano on songs such as "Old Shep" and "First in Line" from his 1956 album Elvis. Elvis Aaron Presley, who was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, began his music career with Sun Records in Memphis in 1954. Billed as "The Atomic Powered Singer," the rising star had just . "[68] Presley made what would be his only appearance on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry stage on October 2; after a polite audience response, Opry manager Jim Denny told Phillips that his singer was "not bad" but did not suit the program. He now lacked the ambition and power of his early work, but that may have been a good thing: he never seemed a dated relic of the 1950s trying to catch up to trends but was just a performer, unrelentingly himself. He entered a contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair where he sang the Red Foley song Old Shep. Presley's best octave is in the middle, D-flat to D-flat, granting an extra full step up or down. How did Elvis learn to sing? But, thanks to the concerts, spectaculars best described by critic Jon Landau as an apotheosis of American musical comedy, he remained a big money earner. Knowing his wishes for his middle name, Aaron is the spelling his father chose for Presley's tombstone, and it is the spelling his estate has designated as official. Two days later, she died of heart failure at age 46. Elvis Presley with Dolores Hart, now a Benedictine nun, in the 1957 movie Loving You. "[222] Rolling Stone called Presley "supernatural, his own resurrection. [416] In 1968, he remarked, "Before too long I'm going to make some personal appearance tours. In February, Presley's "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", a Sun recording initially released the previous August, reached the top of the Billboard country chart. In the 1970s, his most heavily promoted and bestselling LP releases tended to be concert albums. "It's Now or Never", which also topped the chart that year, was a classically influenced variation of pop based on the Neapolitan song "'O sole mio" and concluding with a "full-voiced operatic cadence". [39][40] He was a regular audience member at the monthly All-Night Singings downtown, where many of the white gospel groups that performed reflected the influence of African-American spiritual music. "[106], The second Milton Berle Show appearance came on June 5 at NBC's Hollywood studio, amid another hectic tour. His gospel album He Touched Me, released that month, would earn him his second Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance, for that year's Grammy Awards. 1956, the first album, Elvis Presley, was released (RCA 1254). [365] Presley's output during most of the 1960s emphasized pop music, often in the form of ballads such as "Are You Lonesome Tonight? In December his one-man Christmas TV special aired: a tour de force of rock and roll and rhythm and blues, it restored much of his dissipated credibility. [10], In September 1941, Presley entered first grade at East Tupelo Consolidated, where his teachers regarded him as "average". In Japan, where it capped a nationwide Elvis Presley Week, it smashed viewing records. Elvis didn't take music lessons. The films' rapid production and release scheduleshe frequently starred in three a yearaffected his music. From the make-up over his eyes, the hair falling in his face, the overwhelmingly sexual cast of his mouth, he was playing Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik, with all stops out. On the set of Jailhouse Rock, Presley granted Robinson an interview, though he was no longer dealing with the mainstream press. A couple of weeks into the new year, "Don't", another Leiber and Stoller tune, became Presley's tenth number-one seller. [219] At a press conference after the show, when a journalist referred to him as "The King", Presley gestured toward Fats Domino, who was taking in the scene. [221] Newsweek commented, "There are several unbelievable things about Elvis, but the most incredible is his staying power in a world where meteoric careers fade like shooting stars. Asked if drugs were involved, he declared that "drugs played no role in Presley's death". "[391] Nine years earlier, he had said, "Rock 'n' roll has been around for many years. Later known as the '68 Comeback Special, the show featured lavishly staged studio productions as well as songs performed with a band in front of a small audiencePresley's first live performances since 1961. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elvis-Presley, Memphis Music Hall of Fame - Biography of Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Elvis Presley - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Q&A: Austin Butler on what 'Elvis' taught him about fear, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1986), Elvis Presley's single Milkcow Blues Boogie. By 1968 the changes in the music world had overtaken Presleyboth movie grosses and record sales had fallen. [155] On December 20, Presley received his draft notice. [333][334] As of mid-2011, there were an estimated 15,000 licensed Presley products,[335] and he was again the second-highest-earning deceased celebrity. Leiber thought there was a mistakethe sheet of paper was blank except for Parker's signature and a line on which to enter his. He also began doing concerts again and quickly won back a sizable following, although it was not nearly as universal as his audience in the 1950s; in the main, it was Southern and Midwestern, working-class and unsophisticated, and overwhelmingly female. He sings country songs, soul songs and rockers with real conviction, a stunning achievement. I know that. He was slurring. [174] Media reports echoed Presley's concerns about his career, but RCA Victor producer Steve Sholes and Freddy Bienstock of Hill and Range had carefully prepared for his two-year hiatus. Sam, I think, had the door to the control booth open he stuck his head out and said, 'What are you doing?' [112], The Berle shows drew such high ratings that Presley was booked for a July 1 appearance on NBC's Steve Allen Show in New York. Presleys management was then turned over to Colonel Tom Parker, a country music hustler who had made stars of Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow.