Elvis Presley

This article is about the singer. For other uses, see Elvis Presley (disambiguation).

"Elvis" redirects here. For other uses, see Elvis (disambiguation).

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), was an American singer, musician and actor. He is often known simply as Elvis, and is also called "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", or simply "The King". He remains a pop icon and is regarded as one the most significant and influential entertainers of the 20th century.

Presley started as a singer of rockabilly, singing many songs from rhythm and blues, gospel, and country. He was first billed as "The Hillbilly Cat". His combination of country music with bluesy vocals and a strong back beat marked a clear path toward rock & roll. He was commercially successful with rock and roll, but he also had success with ballads, country, gospel, blues, pop, folk and even semi-operatic and jazz standards. His vocal characteristics, particularly in his pre-1960 recordings, gave him the potential to sound significantly different from one song to another. He was thus able to tackle a range of songs and musical styles. In a career of over two decades, Presley set numerous records for concert attendance, television ratings and records sales. Presley subsequently became one of the best-selling artists in the history of popular music.

After a performance hiatus imposed by movie commitments in the 1960s, Presley re-emerged as a live performer of old and new hit songs, both on tour and in residency at Las Vegas, Nevada. His performances were known for their energetic drive, his karate-influenced stage movements and his elaborate jump-suits and capes. He toured the U.S. extensively, performing 1,145 concerts in the eight years from 1969 to 1977. He continued to have sell-out shows in auditoriums around the U.S. until shortly before his sudden death in 1977. His death, on August 16th, 1977, appeared to stun the American nation and shock his fans worldwide. Only in the ensuing years did it emerge that Presley had complex and chronic health problems, including depression and perhaps most significantly, severe and enduring prescription drug addiction. His death sparked national mourning, but controversy regarding the circumstances and cause of his death soon followed.

Biography

Early life

Elvis Presley was born in a two-room shotgun house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8 1935 at around 4:35 a.m. His father Vernon Presley was a impoverished truck driver, and his mother Gladys Love Smith was a sewing machine operator at the time. His twin brother was stillborn and was given the name Jesse Garon Presley before burial. He grew up as an only child and lived just above the poverty line during his years in East Tupelo.

In 1938, when Presley was three years old, his father, Vernon, was convicted of forgery, along with Gladys's brother, Travis Smith, and Luther Gable. They were sentenced to three years at the Mississippi State Penitentiary for altering a check from Orville Bean, their boss, from $3 to $8 and then cashing it at a local bank. Though the elder Presley was released after serving eight months, his wife and son lost their house and were forced to move in briefly with Mrs. Presley's in-laws next door.

In 1941 Presley started school at the East Tupelo Consolidated. There he seems to have been an outsider. His few friends relate that he was separate from any crowd and did not belong to any "gang", but, according to his teachers, he was a sweet and average student, and he loved comic books.

In 1945 Elvis, just ten years old, entered a singing contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. Decked out in a cowboy outfit, young Elvis had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone singing a rendition of Red Foley's "Old Shep." He won second place, a $5 prize and a free ticket to all the rides.

In January 1946 Presley's mother took him shopping for a birthday present at Tupelo Hardware. She bought him his first guitar, in lieu of a bike and rifle, for $12.75. Two years later in 1948 the Presley family left Tupelo, moving 110 miles northwest to Memphis, Tennessee settling into Lauderdale Courts public housing development in 1949. Here young Presley took up guitar at 11 and would practice in the basement laundry room at Lauderdale Courts. He would play gigs in the malls and courtyards of the Courts with other musicians that lived there. Here, too, the thirteen-year-old Presley lived in the city's poorer section of town and attended a Pentecostal church. It was here where he would be near Memphis music and cultural influences like Beale Street, Ellis Auditorium, Poplar Tunes record store with Sun Studio about a mile away. It was at this time he became influenced by the Memphis blues music and the gospel sung at the church services.

Presley attended Humes High School in Memphis and worked at the school library and after school at Loew's State Theatre. In 1951 he enrolled in the school's ROTC unit and tried unsuccessfully to qualify for the high school football team, (the coach supposedly cut him from the team for not trimming his sideburns and ducktail). He spent his spare time around the African-American section of Memphis, especially on Beale Street. In 1953 he graduated from Humes, majoring in History, English, and Shop.

In his teens Presley was still a very shy person, a "kid who had spent scarcely a night away from home in his nineteen years." He was teased by his fellow classmates who threw "things at him - rotten fruit and stuff - because he was different, because he was quiet and he stuttered and he was a mama's boy." He is even said to have been cornered in the bathroom of his school by a couple of boys with scissors, but was rescued by upperclassman Red West.

After graduation Presley worked at the Parker Machinists Shop, the Precision Tool Company with his father, and then for Crown Electric Company as truck-driver. It is at this time be began wearing his hair in his signature pompadour style. In her book, Elvis and Gladys, author Elaine Dundy wrote that Elvis was a fan of the comic book superhero Captain Marvel, Jr. as a boy, and would later model his trademark hairstyle on the comic book character.

First recordings at Sun Studios

Main article: Elvis Presley's Sun recordings

On July 18, 1953 Presley paid $3.25 to record the first of two double-sided demo acetates at Sun Studios, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". Presley had made it for his mother as a much-belated birthday present. Presley returned to Sun Studios on January 4, 1954 recording a second demo, "I'll Never Stand in Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You" gaining the attention of the studio.

Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, who had already recorded blues artists such as B.B. King and Junior Parker, thought black blues and boogie-woogie music might become tremendously popular among white people if presented in the right way.

Phillips and assistant Marion Keisker had heard the Presley discs and called him on June 26, 1954, to fill in for a missing ballad singer. Although that session was not productive, Phillips put Presley together with local Western swing musicians Scotty Moore and Bill Black to see what might develop. During a rehearsal break on July 5, 1954, Presley began singing a blues song written by Arthur Crudup called "That's All Right". Phillips liked the resulting recording and played it for local DJ Dewey Phillips, who played the song on Memphis radio station WHBQ from an acetate pressing. Phillips then received orders for five thousand copies of a record that did not yet exist. Ten days after the "Than's Alright Mama" session, Presley, Black, and Moore recorded an uptempo version of bluegrass musician Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky", a waltz. Sam Phillips now had two songs to release, which he did on July 19, 1954.

When "That's Alright" was played on Memphis radio, listeners called to ask about the song. Nevertheless, from August 18 1954 through December 8, 1954 "Blue Moon of Kentucky", which had been a country standard since the later 1940s, was consistently charted at a higher postion. By December both sides of the record had been charted from Richmond, Virginia to Houston, Texas.

First public performances

Presley’s earliest public performances were at the Bon Air Club in Memphis, a club with hard drinking lovers of hillbilly music. Elvis neither looked the part nor sounded like anything they were used to. Elvis, Scotty and Bill played their two songs at the Bon Air a couple of weekends that July, 1954. Johnny Cash remembers seeing Elvis when he played during breaks at the Eagle’s Nest that summer and fall. [4] A July 30, 1954 appearance at the Overton Park Shell with Elvis as one of the Blue Moon Boys (Presley, Scotty and Bill), along with head liner Slim Whitman, was more successful.

Elvis was so nervous during this show that his legs wobbled and shook uncontrollably. Then fashionable wide legged pants emphasized the motion, causing the young ladies in the audience to go crazy and start screaming. Presley did not understand what the screaming was about, but learned quickly.

Sam Phillips then convinced Jim Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville to book Elvis. On October 2, 1954 Hank Snow introduced Presley. Presley, Scotty and Bill performed their version of Blue Moon of Kentucky, and received a polite respond. Afterwards, Jim Denny told Elvis, "Boy, you’d better keep driving that truck."

The second Elvis single with Good Rockin' Tonight and I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine was released on September 25, 1954. Then on October 16, 1954, he made his first appearance on Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, Louisiana. During the first set nothing seemed to click, and the audience reacted politely. The second show would have more young people, however, and Tillman Franks advised Elvis to "Let it all go!" House drummer DJ Fontana had worked in strip joints, and accentuated Elvis' leg and body movements. The crowd came alive.

On August 15, 1955, Presley was signed to a one year contract, by "Hank Snow Attractions", a management company jointly owned by singer Hank Snow and "Colonel" Tom Parker. "Colonel" Parker soon afterwards became Presley's manager.

Between August 1954 and August 1955 Sun released 10 sides by Presley, Scotty and Bill: five country, four blues, and one "ballad", but all uniquely Presley.

Going national with RCA

File:Elvispresleydebutalbum.jpeg

Elvis Presley's debut RCA album.

"Colonel" Parker, recognizing the limitations of Sun Studios, negotiated a deal with RCA Victor Records to acquire Presley's Sun contract for $35,000 on November 21, 1955. Presley's first single for RCA "Heartbreak Hotel" quickly reached #1 in April 1956, selling one million copies. Within a year RCA would go on to sell ten million Presley singles.

Parker was a master promoter who wasted no time in furthering Presley's image, licensing everything from guitars to cookware. Parker's first major coup was to market Presley on television. First, he had Presley booked in six of the Dorsey Shows (CBS). Presley appeared on the show on January 28, 1956, then on February 4, 11 & 18, 1956, with two more appearances on March 17 & 24, 1956. In March, he was able to obtain a lucrative deal with Milton Berle (NBC) for two appearances. The first appearance was on April 3, 1956. The second appearance was controversial due to Presley's performance of "Hound Dog" on June 5, 1956. It sparked a storm over his "gyrations" while singing. The criticism was so severe that Presley was obliged to explain himself on a local New York City TV show, "Hy Gardner Calling." The controversy lasted through the rest of the 1950s. Parker's success led to Presley expanding the "Colonel's" management contract to an even 50/50 split.

The Milton Berle appearances drew such huge ratings that Steve Allen (ABC), who was a jazz devotee and hated rock 'n' roll, booked him for one appearance, which took place early on July 1, 1956. Elvis often referred to this appearance as the most ridiculous performance of his career. [5]"Scotty Moore has testified that when the band went into the studio the next day to record 'Hound Dog,' they were all angry about their treatment the previous night." Notwithstanding, that night, Allen had for the first time beaten The Ed Sullivan Show in the Sunday night ratings, prompting Sullivan (CBS) to book Presley for three appearances: September 9, and October 28, 1956 as well as January 6, 1957, for an unprecedented fee of $50,000.

On September 9, 1956, at his first of three appearances on the Sullivan show, Presley drew an estimated 82.5% percent of the television audience, calculated at between 55-60 million viewers. His second appearance was on October 28, 1956. At one point Sullivan stood on stage with Presley. While Sullivan was addressing the audience, Presley, who had been standing quietly, began shaking his legs, elicting screams from the young girls in the stage audience. Sullivan then looked at Presley, who had assumed his former, serious demeanor. On his third and final Sullivan appearance on January 6, 1957, Presley was shown only in tight camera shots of his chest, shoulders, and head. At the end of this broadcast Sullivan, who had smiled broadly while introducing Elvis's several spots on both of the shows he had hosted, pointed to Presley and said, "This is a real decent, fine boy. We've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you... you're thoroughly all right."

Controversial king

Main article: Elvis Presley's cultural impact

By the spring of 1956, Presley was fast becoming a national phenomenon and teenagers came to his concerts in unprecedented numbers. There were many riots at his early concerts. Scotty Moore says, "He’d start out, 'You ain’t nothin’ but a Hound Dog,' and they’d just go to pieces. They’d always react the same way. There’d be a riot every time." When he performed at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair in 1956, 100 National Guardsmen surrounded the stage to control crowds of excited fans. The singer was considered to represent a threat to the moral well-being of young American women, because "Elvis Presley didn’t just represent a new type of music; he represented sexual liberation." In 1956, a critic for the New York Daily News wrote that popular music "has reached its lowest depths in the 'grunt and groin' antics of one Elvis Presley." The Roman Catholic Church denounced him in its weekly magazine, America, in an article headlined "Beware Elvis Presley."

File:Elvis-MississippiAlabamaFair1956.jpg

Elvis Presley at the Mississippi-Alabama State Fair, 1956

In August, 1956 in Jacksonville, Florida a local Juvenile Court judge called Presley a "savage" and threatened to arrest him if he shook his body while performing at Jacksonville's Florida Theatre, justifying the restrictions by saying his music was undermining the youth of America. Throughout the performance, Presley stood still as ordered but poked fun at the judge by wiggling a finger. Similar attempts to stop his "sinful gyrations" continued for more than a year and included his often-noted January 6, 1957 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (during which he performed the spiritual number "Peace in the Valley"), when he was filmed only from the waist up.

Due to his controversial style of song and stage performances, municipal politicians throughout the United States began denying permits for Presley appearances. This caused teens to pile into cars and travel elsewhere to see him perform. Adult programmers announced they would not play Presley's music on their radio stations due to religious convictions that his music was "devil music" and to racist beliefs that it was "nigger music." Many of Presley's records were condemned as wicked by Pentecostal preachers, warning congregations to keep heathen rock and roll music out of their homes and away from their children's ears (especially the music of "that backslidden Pentecostal pup.") However, the economic power of Presley's fans became evident when they tuned in alternative radio stations playing his records. In an era when radio stations were shifting to an all-music format, in reaction to competition from television, profit-conscious radio station owners learned quickly when sponsors bought more advertising time on new all "rock and roll" stations, some of which reached enormous markets at night with clear channel signals from AM broadcasts.

As a result of his rising success and concerns over security for his family, Presley bought "Graceland", a mansion several acres in size, for $103,000 in 1957. This would become his permanent residence and center for his music career until his death in 1977.

Military service

On December 20, 1957, Presley received his draft notice for the then-compulsory two-year service with the United States Army. Presley worried that his absence in the public eye for 2 years, while serving in the Army, might end his career. Even more worried were Hal Wallis and Paramount who already spent $350,000 on pre-production of Presley's latest film King Creole and they feared the consequences of suspending the project or (worse) canceling it. Fortunately, the Memphis Draft Board granted Wallis and Colonel Parker a deferment until March 20 so Presley could complete his film project. On March 24, 1958, he was inducted into the Army at the Memphis Draft Board. Presley sailed to Europe on the USS General George M. Randall, and and was posted to Ray Barracks, Friedberg, Germany.

Presley was a member of the, 1st Battalion, US 32nd Armored Regiment. He received no special treatment and was widely praised for not acting on a suggestion to do Special Services where he could have sung and continued to maintain a public profile. His military service received massive media coverage with much speculation whether or not two years out of the limelight at the height of his popularity would do irreparable damage to his career. His rankings and dates of promotions were as follows: Private (upon draft March 24, 1958); Private First Class (November 27, 1958); Specialist Fourth Class (June 1, 1959); and Sergeant (January 20, 1960). While in the Army, he earned sharpshooter badges for both the .45 pistol and the M1 rifle, and a marksman badge for the M2 carbine, as well as a Good Conduct Medal.

It was during his time in Germany that Presley appears to have begun his long-term pill taking. Peter Guralnick details how: "... a sergeant had introduced him to [amphetamines] when they were on maneuvers at Grafenwöhr... it seemed like half the guys in the company were taking them".

During Presley's rising career, his mother Gladys became despairing, depressed and lonely and began to neglect her health. She put on weight and began to drink everyday. She'd wanted Elvis to succeed, "but not so that he would be apart from her. The hysteria of the crowd frightened her.". Doctors diagnosed liver problems, and Gladys's condition worsened. At that time, Elvis was stationed in Texas to fulfill his military obligations, but he got emergency leave to see her. He spent two days with his mother. However, shortly after his return to base, Gladys died on August 14, 1958. When he heard that his mother had died, Elvis was "sobbing and crying hysterically", and eye-witnesses relate that he was "grieving almost constantly" for days.

Presley returned to the United States on March 2, 1960, and was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant (E-5) on March 5. One of his post-discharge photos shows him wearing dress blues with the grade of Staff Sergeant (E-6), but this was a tailor's error.

Hollywood years

Main article: List of Elvis Presley films

Presley began his movie career with Love Me Tender which opened on November 15, 1956. The movies Jailhouse Rock (1957) and King Creole (1958) are regarded as among his best early films.

"Colonel" Parker eventually negotiated a multi-picture seven-year contract with Hal Wallis that shifted Presley's focus from music to films during the 1960s. Under the terms of his contract, Presley earned a fee for performing plus a percentage of the profits on the films, most of which were huge moneymakers. 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. Presley was praised by all his directors, including the highly respected Michael Curtiz, as unfailingly polite and extremely hardworking.

File:GIBluesElvis.jpg

Elvis movie G.I. Blues from 1960s.

Presley admired the style of Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Tony Curtis and returned from the military eager to make a career as a movie star. Although "he was definitely not the most talented actor around", he "became a film genre of his own." Pop film staples of the early sixties, such as the Presley musicals and the AIP beach movies were mainly produced for a teenage audience and called by film critics a "pantheon of bad taste". In the sixties, at Colonel Parker's command, Presley withdrew from concerts and television appearances, with the exception of a charity concert (Pearl Harbor, 1961) and a TV appearance with Frank Sinatra on ABC entitled "Welcome Home Elvis" where he sang "Fame And Fortune" and "Stuck On You", as well as "Witchcraft/Love Me Tender" with Sinatra. From then on it was full-time movies. "He blamed his fading popularity on his humdrum movies," Priscilla Presley recalled in her 1985 autobiography, Elvis and Me. "He loathed their stock plots and short shooting schedules. He could have demanded better, more substantial scripts, but he didn't." According to most critics, the scripts of the movies "were all the same, the songs progressively worse." The latter were "written on order by men who never really understood Elvis or rock and roll." For Blue Hawaii and its soundtrack LP, "fourteen songs were cut in just three days." Julie Parrish, starring in Paradise, Hawaiian Style, says that Presley hated such songs and that he "couldn't stop laughing while he was recording" one of them.

Although some film critics chastised these movies for their lack of depth, the fans turned out and they were enormously profitable. According to Jerry Hopkins's book, Elvis in Hawaii, Presley's "pretty-as-a-postcard movies" even "boosted the new state's (Hawaii) tourism. Some of his most enduring and popular songs came from those movies." Altogether, Presley had made 27 movies during the 1960s, "which had grossed about $130 million, and he had sold a hundred million records, which had made $150 million." Overall, he was one of the highest paid Hollywood actors during the 1960s; however, during the later sixties, "the Elvis Presley film was becoming passé. Young people were tuning in, dropping out and doing acid. Musical acts like the Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, the Doors, Janis Joplin and many others were dominating the airwaves. Elvis Presley was not considered as cool as he once was."

The movies Jailhouse Rock (1957), King Creole (1958), and Flaming Star (1960) are widely regarded as his best among film critics. Among fans, Blue Hawaii (1961) and Viva Las Vegas (1964) are also highly praised.

In addition to his own films, Presley has been the subject of more than seventy films that have his name in the title.

Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu, whom he had met in Germany and who had stayed with him during the 1960s, on May 1, 1967 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A daughter Lisa Marie was born nine months later on February 1, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.

1968 comeback special

Main article: Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special

Elvis Presley in his '68 Comeback Special

Presley's star had increasingly faded over the 1960s as he made his movies and America was struck by changing styles and tastes after the "British Invasion" spearheaded by the Beatles and the San Francisco sound of Haight Ashbury.

Until the late sixties Presley continued to star in many B-movies that, although profitable, featured soundtracks that were of increasingly lower quality. Chart statistics for the summer of 1968 show that his recording career was floundering badly. He had apparently become deeply dissatisfied with the direction his career had taken over the preceding seven years, most notably the film contracts with a demanding schedule that eliminated creative recording and giving public concerts. This lead to a triumphant televised performance later dubbed the '68 Comeback Special, aired on the NBC television network on December 3, 1968, and released as an album by RCA. Although the Special featured big, lavish production numbers (not dissimilar to those in his movies), it also featured intimate and emotionally charged live sessions that saw him return to his rock and roll roots (he had not performed live since the Pearl Harbor concert of 1961). Rolling Stone magazine called it "a performance of emotional grandeur and historical resonance." Presley was greatly assisted in the success of the '68 Comeback by the director and co-producer, Steve Binder, who worked hard to make sure the show was not just a selection of Christmas songs, as Presley's manager had originally planned.

Return to live performances

The comeback of 1968 was followed by a 1969 return to live performances, first in Las Vegas and then across the United States. The return was noted for the constant stream of sold-out shows, with many setting venue attendance records. However, during this time, Presley's song repertoire clearly indicated that he was becoming distant from any current trends within pop and rock music, in which groups such as The Beatles and the Rolling Stones had been dominant during the 1960s. This moving away from his roots was much criticized by critics and other rock musicians.

After seven years off the top of the charts, Presley's song "Suspicious Minds" hit number one on the Billboard music charts on November 1, 1969. He also reached number one on charts elsewhere: "In the Ghetto" did so in West Germany in 1969 and "The Wonder of You" did so in the UK in 1970.

From 1969 to 1971 Presley would dominate singles charts in many countries with a string of Top 20 hits, although this was at a time when album sales for other acts were growing significantly. Presley's album sales (at the time) did not compete at the same level with artists such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and The Monkees.

From 1971 to his death in 1977 Presley employed the Stamps Quartet, a gospel group, for his backup vocals. He recorded several gospel albums, earning three Grammy Awards for his gospel music. In his later years his live stage performances almost always included a rendition of How Great Thou Art, the 19th century gospel song made famous by George Beverly Shea.

"I'd like to thank the Jaycees for electing me as one of their outstanding young men. When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream I ever dreamed, has come true a hundred times... And these gentlemen over here [referring to the other Jaycees named that year], these are the type of people who care, they're dedicated, and they realize that it is possible that they might be building the kingdom of heaven, it's not just too far fetched, from reality. I'd like to say that I learned very early in life that 'Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain't got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend - without a song.' So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you."

Acceptance speech for the 1970 Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation Award (January 16th, 1971).

At the International Hotel, MGM filmed some of the shows for a documentary called Elvis: That’s The Way It Is which also included behind the scenes footage. An album of the same name was released later. That fall he embarked on his first tour since 1957. More gold awards for both singles and albums followed.

1971 saw Presley named 'One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation' by the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (The Jaycees) and he won the Bing Crosby Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the organization that also presents Grammy awards).

MGM filmed some more live shows for the film Elvis On Tour, which won a Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary of 1972. The day before the tour began Elvis released the single American Trilogy. The next month he began a 14 date U.S. tour which started with 4 consecutive sold out shows at Madison Square Gardens in New York - the first artist ever to achieve this. The album As Recorded Live At Madison Square Garden became a triple-platinum seller in the U.S. and sold over 5 million copies worldwide. After the tour, on August 1, 1972, Presley released the single Burning Love / "It's A Matter Of Time". It did well commercially but it would prove to be his last top 10 hit on the U.S. pop charts (although he would continue to chart and experience success on the country charts until his passing).

File:ElvisPresleyAlohafromHawaii.jpg

Elvis Presley, 1973 Aloha From Hawaii television broadcast

In 1973 Presley began the year with two sold-out January shows in Hawaii. The second show was broadcast live around the world. Known as the "Aloha from Hawaii" concert, it was the first of its kind to be broadcast worldwide via satellite and was seen by at least one billion viewers - a quarter of 1973's world population. The album Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite went to #1 and spent a year in the charts.

Off stage, Presley and his wife Pricilla Beaulieu separated on February 23, 1972, agreeing to share custody of their daughter. After his divorce in 1973, Presley became increasingly isolated and overweight, with addictive prescription drugs taking a heavy toll on his appearance, health, behavior and performances.

Despite this, Presley continued to play to sell-out crowds and release hit records. His live recording of "How Great Thou Art" from the album recorded at one of his Memphis concerts in 1974 won the Grammy for 'Best Inspirational Performance'. This was his third and final Grammy won out of fourteen nominations. Presley continued to tour to sold out audiences through 1975. The year ended with a massive concert in Michigan where he played to over 62,000 fans.

By now Presley was exceedingly heavy and found it very hard to lose weight. He would at times diet excessively but follow this with high-calorie binge eating. It was obvious to those around him "that he no longer had the motivation to loose his extra poundage. Likewise, as he became self-conscious of his appearance, his self-confidence before the audience declined. Headlines such as 'Elvis Battles Middle Age' and 'Time Makes Listless Machine of Elvis' were not uncommon. In the Syracuse Post-Standard, Dale Rice wrote that 'Elvis was fat, and musically his performances were mediocre." Almost throughout the 1970s, RCA had been increasingly concerned about making money from Elvis Presley material: they often had to rely on live recordings because of problems getting him to attend studio sessions. RCA's mobile studio was occasionally dispatched to Graceland in the hope of capturing an inspired vocal performance. Once in the studio, his interest in the proposed songs was sometimes lacking and he was easily distracted. Much of this behavior has been linked to the enduring problems of his health and pill taking

After taking a break from releasing records and touring, Presley returned on March 12, 1976 with his new single Hurt/ "For The Heart" He also went back on tour for March and April, again playing to sell-out crowds. In May the album From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee was released. The album went 'gold' in the U.S. From the end of May till November he toured extensively across the U.S. In December the single Moody Blue was released.

Last year and death

As 1977 dawned Presley's health and physical appearance began to show even more marked signs of decline. As American Heritage magazine wrote, "Elvis Presley had become a grotesque caricature of his sleek, energetic former self. Hugely overweight, his mind dulled by the pharmacopoeia he daily ingested, he was barely able to pull himself through his abbreviated concerts." When he was in Alexandria, Louisiana, a local journalist complained that the star was on stage for less than an hour and "was impossible to understand." In Baton Rouge, Presley didn’t go on stage at all. He was unable to get out of his hotel bed and his manager cancelled the rest of the tour.

On April 21 the year’s third tour began, of the Midwest. The reviews "ranged from concern for his health to perplexity over how little he seemed to care," writes Peter Guralnick. According to a Detroit journalist, Elvis "stunk the joint out" in that city. Fans, too, Guralnick relates, "were becoming increasingly voluble about their disappointment, but it all seemed to go right past Elvis, whose world was now confined almost entirely to his room and his [spiritualism] books." In Knoxville, Tennessee, on May 20, "there was no longer any pretense of keeping up appearances," Guralnick writes. "The idea was simply to get Elvis out onstage and keep him upright for the hour he was scheduled to perform." So it went for the rest of that spring, with Presley struggling and being helped through show after show.

Notwithstanding, shows on June 19 and 21 (in Omaha, Nebraska and Rapid City, South Dakota respectively) were recorded by RCA for an upcoming live album and videotaped for an upcoming CBS-TV special: “Elvis In Concert’’. The live album of the same name, which was recorded during the CBS special, eventually sold 3 million copies in the US alone, but was not released until after Presley's death (October 3, 1977). In June the single Way Down was released. It became a platinum seller in the US and went to #1 in the UK after his death. In July, the album Moody Blue was released. It was the last album Presley released whilst he was alive. It sold well, going 'gold' in his lifetime but after his untimely death the album sold another 1.5 million copies in the US and 14 million worldwide.

Rick Stanley recalls that Presley was almost totally bedridden during the days of his last year. "We'd fly into a city and he'd go right into bed as soon as we got there. We'd have to get him up to do the show." During his last tour in 1977, "he performed poorly". When he did his show in Rapid City, "he was so nervous on stage that he could hardly talk. ... He was undoubtedly painfully aware of how he looked, and he knew that in his condition, he could not perform any significant movement. He looked, moved, and gestured like an overweight old man with crippling arthritis. Perspiration poured from him, enough for a river." According to Albert Goldman, Elvis was 225 pounds over weight and during his performances "he had to wear a corset on stage. They didn't call it a corset, they called it a brace. It was a surgical looking garment that gathers the flesh in front and secures it from behind with a web of laces."

Presley made his last live concert appearance in Indianapolis at the Market Square Arena on June 26, 1977. The Indianapolis Star wrote: "The big question was ..., had he lost weight? His last concert here, nearly 2 years ago, found Elvis overweight, sick and prone to give a lethargic performance. As the lights in the Arena was turned down after intermission, you could feel a silent plea rippling through the audience: Please, Elvis, don't be fat. And then he appeared, in a gold and white jumpsuit and white boots, bounding onstage with energy that was a relief to everyone. At 42, Elvis is still carrying around some excess baggage on his mid-section, but it didn't stop him from giving a performance in true Presley style."

Presley returned to Graceland for a two month vacation. There he rarely left his bedroom. On August 17, 1977 he was scheduled to begin another tour in Portland, Maine.

On August 16, 1977, at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, Presley was found lying on the floor of his bedroom's bathroom by his fiancee, Ginger Alden, who had been asleep. According to the medical investigator, a stain on the bathroom carpeting indicated Presley had thrown up and had 'stumbled or crawled several feet before he died'." He was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where at 3:30 P.M. doctors pronounced him dead. Presley was 42 years old, and when he died, "he weighed 159 kilograms" (350 pounds).

File:Elvisfuneralprocession.jpg

Elvis Presley funeral procession.

At a press conference following his death, one of the medical examiners declared that he had died of a cardiac arrhythmia. Heart disease was very prevalent in his family, especially on his father's side. Presley's father Vernon also died of heart failure in 1979. Presley's autopsy results will not be in the public domain until 2027, 50 years after his death.

Rolling Stone magazine devoted an entire issue to Presley (RS 248) and his funeral was a national media event. Hundreds of thousands of Presley fans, the press, and celebrities lined the street to witness Presley's funeral and Jackie Cahane gave the eulogy.

Presley was originally buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis next to his mother. After an attempted theft of the body, his remains and those of his mother were moved to Graceland to the "meditation gardens."

Following Presley's death in 1977, US President Jimmy Carter said, "Elvis Presley's death deprives our country of a part of itself. He was unique and irreplaceable. More than 20 years ago, he burst upon the scene with an impact that was unprecedented and will probably never be equaled. His music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture. His following was immense, and he was a symbol to people the world over of the vitality, rebelliousness, and good humor of his country."

Health issues and cause of death

Presley had many health problems, some of them chronic. There has been much debate about the matter, particularly concerning his long-term drug use and whether drugs were causing or simply treating medical conditions. Michael M. Baden and Judith Adler Hennessee wrote in Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner: "Elvis had had an enlarged heart for a long time. That, together with his drug habit, caused his death. But he was difficult to diagnose; it was a judgment call."

Drug misuse

In her 1985 book, Elvis and Me, his wife Priscilla wrote that the star suffered from severe insomnia. By 1962, when she moved to Graceland, he was taking placidyls to get to sleep and did so in ever increasing doses. Peter Guralnick claims that Presley started his drug habits during military service by taking amphetamines which kept soldiers awake and alert on late shifts (Author Albert Goldman, in his 1990 book Elvis: The Last 24 Hours, claims that pills of some descrption were first given to him by Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips). Priscilla recounted how Presley would wake up from drug-induced sleep at his normal time (around 4:00pm), but would remain groggy and irritable for a few hours. He later started taking Dexedrine to counter this drowsiness. She stated that over time, she saw "problems in Elvis's life, all magnified by taking prescribed drugs."

Priscilla also wrote the two of them tried marijuana but did not like it because it made them ravenously hungry, with extra weight the unwanted result. Although she said her husband abhorred street drugs, she tells in her book how they tried LSD. While they both thought it had been an "extraordinary experience" they were afraid of it and experimented that one time only. During the time when Presley was searching for peace in his life and consulting an Indian guru (as The Beatles and others were doing at the time), he read numerous books including Aldous Huxley's "The Doors of Perception" and Timothy Leary's "Psychedelic Experience". In his book, Careless Love, biographer Peter Guralnick discusses in detail the singer's rampant prescription drug misuse. Cliff Gleaves, one of Elvis' friends and a reliable eyewitness, said about the singer's misuse of drugs, in this case speed (amphetamine):

"Elvis didn't care if anyone else took them or not. He was getting off on them. He loved to sit there high and wiggle in the chair, ... just sit there and watch TV. He didn't give a damn whether you did anything. He was going to do what he wanted anyway."

Bernard J. Gallagher writes about the use of drugs: "Social or recreational use is usually harmless, but intensified or compulsive use can prove fatal. This was true in the case of Elvis Presley,"

In his book, Elvis: The Last 24 Hours, Albert Goldman even went as far as to suggest that Presley committed suicide by overdosing on a stash of drugs that he stockpiled. David Stanley, Presley's stepbrother, who was at Graceland the day Presley died, is alleged to have removed the needles and drug packets near Presley's body before the paramedics arrived, suggesting that he didn't want to see Presley's name tarred with the brush of suicide. These rumours have been strongly rejected by some of Elvis's family and friends such as Joe Esposito during past appearances on the Larry King Show.

Though the singer misused prescription drugs, Priscilla wrote that he never considered it wrong because it was a medical doctor prescribing them and he in fact publicly denounced the use of (illegal) hard drugs. At a meeting with U.S. President Richard Nixon, Presley even asked the President to appoint him "Federal Agent at Large" for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

According to Peter Guralnick's book, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (1999), "drug use was heavily implicated in this unanticipated death of a middle-aged man with no known history of heart disease...no one ruled out the possibility of anaphylactic shock brought on by the codeine pills he had gotten from his dentist, to which he was known to have had a mild allergy of long standing...There was little disagreement in fact between the two principal laboratory reports and analyses filed two months later, with each stating a strong belief that the primary cause of death was polypharmacy, and the BioScience Laboratories report...indicating the detection of fourteen drugs in Elvis's system, ten in significant quantity."

Priscilla Presley pointed out in her book that even if Elvis had admitted he needed help, in those days there was no Betty Ford Clinic where someone like him could get treatment. The singer's misuse of prescription drugs increased during the last years of his life, particularly after the breakup of his marriage in 1972.

Although his personal physician, Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, was exonerated in Presley's death, in 1977 alone, "Dr Nick" prescribed 10,000 doses of amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, laxatives, and hormones. In July 1995 his license was suspended after the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners found that he had improperly dispensed potentially addictive drugs to a number of his patients.

Ancestry

Elvis Presley's ancestors emigrated to the United States over 250 years ago and can be traced back seven generations to Scotland. The first Presley in America was their son, Andrew Presley II, born in 1720, from Lonmay, Aberdeenshire in the North-east of Scotland, who arrived in North Carolina in 1745.

Presley was mostly of Scottish, Irish, Native American, Jewish, and German roots.

Voice characteristics

Elvis Presley was a baritone whose voice had an extraordinary compass — the so-called register — and a very wide range of vocal color. It covered two octaves and a third, from the baritone low-G to the tenor high B, with an upward extension in falsetto to at least a D flat. Presley's best octave was in the middle, D-flat to D-flat. "He has always been able to duplicate the open, hoarse, ecstatic, screaming, shouting, wailing, reckless sound of the black rhythm-and-blues and gospel singers. But he has not been confined to that one type of vocal production." In ballads and country songs he was able to belt out "full-voiced high Gs and As that an opera baritone might envy," showing a remarkable ability to naturally assimilate styles. His "voice has always been weak at the bottom, variable and unpredictable. At the top it is often brilliant. His upward passage would seem to lie in the area of E flat, E and F."

Presley's range, though impressive in its own right, did not in itself make his voice that remarkable, at least in terms of how it measured against musical notation. What made it extraordinary, was where its center of gravity lay. By that measure, and according to Gregory Sandows, Music Professor at Columbia University, Presley was at once a bass, a baritone, and a tenor, most unusual among singers in either classical or popular music.

Legacy

Further information: [[:Elvis Presley's cultural impact]]

File:Elvis statue.jpg

Elvis Presley statue in Memphis, TN.

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, "it was Elvis who made rock 'n' roll the international language of pop." A PBS documentary described 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, attitude and clothing came to be seen as embodiments of rock and roll. His music was heavily influenced by African-American blues, Christian gospel, and Southern country.

Presley sang both hard driving rockabilly, rock and roll dance songs and ballads, laying a commercial foundation upon which other rock musicians would build their careers. African-American performers like Little Richard, Fats Domino, and Chuck Berry came to national prominence after Presley's acceptance among mass audiences of White American teenagers. Singers like Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and others immediately followed in his wake. John Lennon later observed, "Before Elvis, there was nothing."

Throughout his career, until he died, Presley's singing style, mannerisms and look continued to be imitated with surprising regularity. But it was only after his death that an industry built itself around him. Many people of every race, creed and nationality taking up a career as professional Elvis impersonators. Many impersonators (and karaoke singers) still perform his songs. "While some of the impersonators perform a whole range of Presley music, the raw 1950s Elvis and the kitschy 1970s Elvis are the favorites."

Commemoration

Further information: [[:Cultural depictions of Elvis Presley]]

Presley is only one of four artists (Roy Orbison, Guns N' Roses and Nelly being the others) to ever have two top five albums on the charts simultaneously.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1986), the Country Music Hall of Fame (1998), and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2001).

File:Elvisstamp.jpg

Young Elvis Presley featured on the official stamp

In 1993, Presley's image appeared on a United States postage stamp. According to a 2006 survey for the USPS, the Elvis Presley stamp is their most popular stamp.

Upon announcing that Presley's home, the Graceland Mansion, was being designated as a National Historic Landmark, U.S Interior Secretary Gale Norton noted on 27 March, 2006, that “It didn’t take Americans and the rest of the world long to discover Elvis Presley; and it is clear they will never forget him. His popularity continues to thrive nearly 29 years after his passing, with each new generation connecting with him in a significant way.”

In a list of the greatest English language singers of the 20th century, as compiled by BBC Radio, Presley was ranked second. The poll was topped by Frank Sinatra, with Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald also in the top ten.

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #3 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

In July of 2005, Presley edged out Oprah Winfrey to be named the Greatest Entertainer in American history in the Greatest American election conducted by the Discovery Channel and America Online.

In mid October of 2005, Variety named the top 100 entertainment icons of the 20th century, with Presley landing on the top ten, along with the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Chaplin, James Dean and Mickey Mouse.

A week later, Forbes magazine named Presley, for the fifth straight year, the top-earning dead celebrity, grossing US$45 million for the Presley estate during the period from October of 2004, to October 2005. Forbes pointed out that CKX spent $100 million in cash, and stock, for an 85% interest in Presley's income stream in February 2005.

In mid 2006, Forbes up-dated its list, with Presley ranking second, the top place being taken by Nirvana's frontman, Kurt Cobain, after the sale of 25% of his music publishing, which raked US$50 million for the singer's widow.

In November of 2006, Atlantic Magazine asked 10 prominent historians to name the 100 most influential Americans, with Presley (who ranked # 66), along with Louis Armstrong (79), being the only two musicians on the list.

On the site where Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, IN once stood (Elvis's last concert venue), a small monument with a sign affixed on top still stands. The sign states that enclosed in the small monument is one of Elvis's scarfs from the last performance that night.

Recent developments

Interest in Presley's recordings returned during the buildup to the 2002 World Cup, when Nike used a Junkie XL remixed version of his "A Little Less Conversation" (credited as "Elvis Vs JXL") as the background music to a series of TV commercials featuring international soccer stars. The remix hit number one in over 20 countries, including the United Kingdom and Australia.

Elvis 30 #1 Hits, 2003.

At about the same time, a compilation of Presley's US and UK Number 1 hits, Elv1s: 30, was being prepared for release. "A Little Less Conversation" (remix version) was quickly added as the album's 31st track just before release in October 2002. Further stimulating popularity for the remixed "new" Elvis song, was the inclusion of Conversation into the opening credits of the NBC series Las Vegas; due to the large expense of such a song, however, home DVD sets of the TV show feature Conversation in the Pilot episode only. Nearly 50 years after Presley made his first hit record and 25 years after his death, the compilation reached number one on the charts in the US, the UK, Australia and many other countries. A re-release from it, "Burning Love" (not a remix), also made the Australian top 40 later in the year.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary in mid-2004 of Presley's first professional recording, "That's All Right", it was re-released, and made the charts around the world, including top three in the UK and top 40 in Australia.

In 2005 CBS aired a TV miniseries, Elvis starring Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Presley.

Shortly after taking over the management of all things Elvis from the Elvis Presley Estate (EPE) (which retained a 15% stake in the new company, while keeping Graceland and the bulk of the possessions found therein), Robert Sillerman's CKX company produced a DVD and CD featuring Presley (titled "Elvis by the Presleys"), as well as an accompanying two-hour documentary broadcast on Viacom's CBS Network, which alone generated $5.5 million.

In December 2006, EPE announced a strategy to bring Elvis and his music to a younger demographic in 2007. In addition, in 2009 the world famous Cirque De Soleil organisation will open a show based around Elvis' music.

Elvis lives?

Further information: [[:Elvis Presley phenomenon]]

There is a belief in some quarters that Presley did not die in 1977. Many fans persist in claiming he is still alive, that he went into hiding for various reasons. This claim is allegedly backed up by thousands of so-called Elvis sightings that have occurred in the years since his death. Critics of the notion state that a number of Presley impersonators can easily be mistaken for Presley and that the urban legend is merely the result of fans not wanting to accept his death.

Two main reasons are given in support of the belief that Presley faked his death:

• On his grave, his middle name Aron is misspelled as Aaron. Presley's parents went to great lengths to remove the double 'A' on his official birth certificate after his twin brother Jesse Garon was stillborn.

• "Hours after Presley's death was announced, a man by the name of Jon Burrows (Presley's traveling alias) purchased a one way ticket with cash to Buenos Aires."

Discography

• For a detailed discography, see Elvis Presley discography.
• For a list of Presley's singles, see Elvis Presley hit singles.
• For a list of all of his songs, see Alphabetical list of all of Elvis Presley's songs.

See also

• Elvis Presley's relationships
• Elvis Presley's political beliefs
• Elvis Presley's cultural impact
• Elvis Presley phenomenon
• Cultural depictions of Elvis Presley
• Elvis impersonator
• Elvis sightings
• Memphis Mafia
• Elvis Presley Enterprises
• Priscilla Presley
• Lisa Marie Presley
• Elvis and Me
• Alphabetical list of all of Elvis Presley's songs
• List of songs about or referencing Elvis Presley
• Sun Records
• List of Elvis Presley films
• List of actors who have played Elvis Presley
• Best-selling artist of all-time
• List of artists by total number of USA number one singles
• List of best-selling music artists
• 24 Hour Church of Elvis
• Elvis-A-Rama Museum
• "Tagish" Elvis Presley
• Elvis Herselvis
• Look alike contest

Bibliography

• List of more than 1500 books relating to Elvis Presley
• Authors of important works on Presley include
  • Peter Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley (Little, Brown, 1994); Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (Little, Brown, 1999). — Guralnick's books are considered by many to be the definitive works on Presley.
  • Alanna Nash, Elvis Aron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia (Harpercollins, 1995); The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley (Simon and Schuster, 2003). — Named the Society of Professional Journalists' National Member of the Year in 1994, a year before her book on Presley was published.
  • Albert Goldman, Elvis (McGraw-Hill, 1981); Elvis: The Last 24 Hours (Pan Books, 1991). — Reviled by many fans and some critics for his harsh criticisms of Presley.
  • Elaine Dundy, Elvis and Gladys (Futura, 1986). — Called "Nothing less than the best Elvis book yet" by the Boston Globe and Kirkus Reviews, "The most fine-grained Elvis bio ever."
  • Michael T. Bertrand, Race, Rock, and Elvis (University of Illinois Press, 2000) ISBN 0-252-02586-5. - Written by a Tennessee State University assistant professor of history (see University of Illinois Press), the book examines the emergence of rock 'n' roll in a social and regional context.
  • Louis Cantor - Dewey and Elvis - The Life and Times of a Rock 'n' Roll Deejay by a professor emeritus of history at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and attended high school with Presley. - University of Illinois Press (2005) ISBN 0-252-02981-X
  • Vernon Chadwick, ed., In Search of Elvis: Music, Race, Art, Religion. Proceedings of the first annual International Conference on Elvis Presley (Westview, 1997).
  • Erika Doss, Elvis Culture (University of Kansas Press, 1999).
  • Greil Marcus, Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a Land of No Alternative (Faber, 2000).
  • Thomas Fensch - The FBI Files on Elvis Presley (New Century Books, 2001). ISBN 0-930751-03-5. This book reproduces actual texts from numerous FBI reports dating from 1959 to 1981,which represent a "microcosm [of Presley's] behind-the-scenes life."

The bibliographic reference Elvis In Print: The Definitive Reference & Price Guide: contains references to more than 1,500 books about Elvis and a further 2,000 listings for popular culture and periodical releases substantially about the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

Links to major online reference sources, including the First Online Symposium on Elvis Aaron Presley, can be found on the the Elvis Information Network website.

External links

• Elvis Presley Enterprises - Official site of Elvis Presley.
• Elvis Presley at IMDb
• ElvisPedia - Encyclopedia of Elvis Presley.
• Rockhall - Rock Hall of Fame.
• Elvis at Music.com - Complete biography - discography.
• Elvis Gospel Service
• Celluloid Elvis