Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), known simply as Elvis and also called "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" or simply "The King", was an American singer and actor.

Presley started as a singer of rockabilly, borrowing many songs from rhythm and blues numbers and country standards. He was the most commercially successful singer of rock and roll, but he also sang ballads, and then moved toward country music. Personally, gospel was the music he cherished above all. In a musical career of over two decades, Presley set records for concert attendance, television ratings and record sales. He became one of the biggest selling artists in music history.He had 104 singles in the US top 40, almost twice as many as the runner-up, with 17 of these reaching number one according to Billboard's 2005 revised methodology. Billboard, How They Got to 17 (December 22, 2005).

The young Presley became an icon of modern American pop culture, sometimes held to represent the American Dream of rising from rags to riches through talent and hard work, more often representing teen sexuality with a hint of delinquency. During the 1970s, Presley reemerged as a steady performer of old and new hit songs on tour and particularly as a nightclub performer in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was known for his jump-suits and capes. Until the last years of his life, he continued to perform before sell-out audiences around the U.S. He died, presumably from a heart attack combined with abuse of prescription drugs, in Memphis, Tennessee. His popularity as a singer survived his death at 42.

Birth and ancestry

Elvis Aron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 at around 4:13 a.m. in a two-room shotgun house in East Tupelo, Mississippi to Vernon Elvis Presley and Gladys Love Smith, a sewing machine operator and a truck driver. His twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, was stillborn, thus leaving him to grow up as an only child. The surname Presley was Anglicized from the German name "Pressler" during the Civil War. His ancestor Johann Valentin Pressler emigrated to America in 1710. Elvis was mostly of Scottish"Elvis roots 'lead to Scotland'"; a 23 March 2004 BBC story that cites Allan Morrison, the author of the then-unpublished book The Presley Prophecy. and English descent, although his family tree also includes Native American, Irish, //www.elvispresleynews.com/JewishElvis.html Jewish and German roots.

Parents, childhood and youth

Elvis' father Vernon Presley is described as a "taciturn to the point of sullenness," whereas his mother Gladys "was voluble, lively, full of spunk."Peter Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, p.12. What is more, she was "a surreptitious drinker and alcoholic." When she was angry, "she cussed like a sailor"Priscilla Presley, Elvis and Me, p.172. The family was active in church and community. However, in 1938, when Elvis was three years old, his father was convicted of forgery. Vernon, Gladys's brother Travis Smith, and Luther Gable went to prison for altering a check from Orville Bean, Vernon's boss, from $3 to $8 and then cashing it at a local bank. Vernon was sentenced to three years at Parchman Farms Penitentiary. Though after serving eight months Vernon was released, this event deeply influenced the life of the young family. During her husband's absence, Gladys lost the house and was forced to move in briefly with her in-laws next door. The Presley family lived just above the poverty line during their years in East Tupelo.

In 1941 Elvis 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 1943 Vernon moved to Memphis, where he found work and stayed throughout the war, coming home only on weekends. This certainly strengthened the relationship between mother and boy.

In 1946 Elvis started a new school, Milam, which went from grades 5 through 9, but in 1948 the Presley family left Tupelo, moving 110 miles northwest to Memphis, Tennessee. Here too, the thirteen-year-old Elvis lived in the city's poorer section of town and attended a Pentecostal church. At this time, he was very much influenced by the Memphis blues music and the gospel sung at his church.

Elvis entered Humes High School in Memphis taking up work at the school library and after school at Loew's State Theatre. In 1951 he enrolled in the school's ROTC unit, tried unsuccessfully to qualify for the high school football team (he's cut by the coach when he won't trim his sideburns and ducktail}, spending his spare time around the African-American section of Memphis, especially on Beale Street. In 1953 Elvis graduated from Humes, majoring in History, English, and Shop.

After graduation Elvis worked first at Parker Machinists Shop, and then for the Precision Tool Company with his father, finally working for the Crown Electric Company driving a truck, where he began wearing his hair the trademarked pompadoure style.

Shyness

Elvis's parents were very protective. He "grew up a loved and precious child. He was, everyone agreed, unusually close to his mother."Peter Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, p.13. His mother Gladys "worshiped him," said a neighbor, "from the day he was born." Elvis himself said, "My mama never let me out of her sight. I couldn't go down to the creek with the other kids."Guralnick, p.13.

In his teens, Elvis was still a very shy person, a "kid who had spent scarcely a night away from home in his nineteen years." Guralnick, p.149 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."Guralnick, p.36, referring to an account by singer Barbara Pittman and Patrick Humphries, Elvis The #1 Hits: The Secret History of the Classics, p.117. Gladys was so proud of her boy, that, years later, she "would get up early in the morning to run off the fans so Elvis could sleep".Guralnick, p.280. She was frightened of Elvis being hurt: "She knew her boy, and she knew he could take care of himself, but what if some crazy man came after him with a gun? she said...tears streaming down her face."Guralnick, p.346.

First steps towards being a musician

According to Peter Guralnick, the common story that the Presleys formed a popular gospel trio who sang in church and travelled about to various revival meetings is not true. However, 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.

On his birthday in January 1946 he received a guitar purchased from Tupelo Hardware Store. In his seventh-grade year at Milam he seems to have taken this guitar to school every day. Many of the other children denigrated him as a "trashy" kind of boy playing trashy "hillbilly" music. Over the next year, Vernon's brother Johnny Smith and Assembly of God pastor Frank Smith gave him basic guitar lessons.

Some years later, in Memphis, Tennessee, the young Elvis "spent much of his spare time hanging around the black section of town, especially on Beale Street, where bluesmen like Furry Lewis and B.B. King performed"Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock, p. 783. B.B. King says that he "knew Elvis before he was popular. He used to come around and be around us a lot. There was a place we used to go and hang out on Beale Street"B.B. King, quoted in David Szatmary, A Time to Rock (1996), p. 35. Beale Street in Memphis was a sink of iniquity and notorious for its pubs, prostitutes and gambling establishments. Music producer Jim Dickinson called it "the center of all evil in the known universe"James Dickerson, Goin’ Back to Memphis (1996), p. 27. But it was a place where young Elvis could hear black music.

Sam Phillips of Sun Records, was looking for "a white man with a Negro sound and the Negro feel," with whom he "could make a billion dollars", because he was of the opinion that the black blues and boogie-woogie music may become tremendously popular among white people if presented in the right way.See James Miller, Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947-1977 (1999), p. 71. He found his man in Elvis.

Sun recordings

On July 18, 1953 Elvis Presley paid $8.25 to record the first of two double-sided demos acetates at Sun Studios, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" which were popular ballads at the time. According to the official Presley website, Presley gave it to his mother as a much-belated birthday present. Presley returned to Sun Studios (706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee) on January 4, 1954. He again paid $8.25 to record a second demo, "I'll Never Stand in Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You" (master 0812).

Sun Records founder Sam Phillips and assistant //www.elvispresleynews.com/WhoDiscoveredElvis.html Marion Keisker heard the discs and called the young Elvis on June 26, 1954 to fill in for a missing ballad singer. Although that session was not productive, Sam Phillips put Elvis together with local musicians Scotty Moore and Bill Black to see what might develop. During a rehearsal break on July 5, 1954, Elvis began singing a blues song written by Arthur Crudup called "That's All Right". Phillips liked the resulting record and on July 19, 1954 he released it as a 78-rpm single backed with Elvis' hopped-up version of Bill Monroe's bluegrass song "Blue Moon of Kentucky". Memphis radio station WHBQ began airing it two days later, the record became a local hit and Elvis began a regular touring schedule which expanded his fame beyond Tennessee.

Country music star Hank Snow arranged to have Elvis perform at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry and his performance was well received. Nonetheless, one of the show's executives was not impressed and hinted that Elvis should give up his music. Since that time many singers have commented that one of the greatest thrills of playing the Opry is that they played on the same stage as Elvis Presley.

Elvis' second single, "Good Rockin' Tonight", with "I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine" on the B-side, was released on September 25, 1954. He then continued to tour the South. On October 16, 1954, he made his first appearance on Louisiana Hayride, a radio broadcast of live country music in Shreveport, Louisiana, and was a hit with the large audience. His releases began to reach the top of the country charts. Following this, Elvis was signed to a one-year contract for a weekly performance, during which time he was introduced to Colonel Tom Parker.

However, there can be no doubt that, apart from these country songs, many of Elvis's first hits were blues numbers by black bluesmen.

At the start of his fame, guitarist Scotty Moore attested that the singer was a "typical coddled son" and still "very shy": "His mama would corner me and say, 'Take care of my boy. Make sure he eats. Make sure he -' You know, whatever. Typical mother stuff." But Elvis "didn't seem to mind; there was nothing phony about it, he truly loved his mother." Moore adds that Elvis "was more comfortable just sitting there with a guitar than trying to talk to you." Quoted in Guralnick, p. 149.

National exposure began on January 28, 1956, when Elvis, guitarist Scotty Moore, Bill Black (according to Sam Phillips "one of the worst bass players in the world") and drummer D.J. Fontana made their first National Television appearance on the Dorsey brother's "Stage Show". It was the first of six appearances on the show and the first of eight performances recorded and broadcast from CBS TV Studio 50 at 1697 Broadway in New York City. After the success of their first appearance they were signed to five more in early 1956 (February 4, 11, 18 and March 17 and 24).

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.Henry Pleasants, The Great American Popular Singers. 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. Elvis' best octave was in the middle, D-flat to D-flat. In ballads and country songs he was able to belt out full-voiced high Gs and As, showing a remarkable ability to naturally assimilate styles.

Elvis' 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, Elvis Presley was at once a bass, a baritone, and a tenor, most unusual among singers in either classical or popular music.

(Comments on Presley's vocal range by music analysts and other entertainers, citing song examples, can be found in Wikiquote.)

Elvis and his manager "Colonel" Tom Parker

On August 15, 1955 Elvis Presley was signed by "Hank Snow Attractions", a management company jointly owned by singer Hank Snow and "Colonel" Tom Parker. Shortly thereafter, "Colonel" Parker took full control and recognizing the limitations of Sun Studios, negotiated a deal with RCA Victor Records who acquired Elvis' Sun contract for $35,000 on November 21, 1955. 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 Elvis booked in six of the Dorsey Shows (CBS). Elvis 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 on April 3, 1956. The second appearance was controversial pertaining to Elvis' performance of "Hound Dog" on the June 5, 1956. It sparked a storm over his "gyrations" while singing. The controversy lasted through the rest of the 50's. However, that show drew such huge ratings that Steve Allen (ABC) booked him for one appearance, which took place early on July 1, 1956. That night, Allen had for the first time beaten the Ed Sullivan Show in the Sunday night ratings, prompting Sullivan (CBS) to book Elvis 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, Elvis drew an estimated 82.5% percent of the television audience, calculated at between 55-60 million viewers.

Parker, leaving no stone unturned, eventually negotiated a multi-picture seven-year contract with MGM Studios, that shifted Presley's focus from music to films. 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.

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

Parker's success led to Elvis expanding the "Colonel's" management contract to an even 50/50 split. Over the years, much has been written about "Colonel" Parker, most of it critical. Marty Lacker, a lifelong friend and a member of the Memphis Mafia, says he thought of Parker as a "hustler and scam artist" who abused Elvis' reliance on him. Priscilla Presley admits that "Elvis detested the business side of his career. He would sign a contract without even reading it."Priscilla Presley, Elvis and Me, p. 188. This would explain the strong influence the Colonel had on Elvis. Nonetheless, Lacker acknowledged that Parker was a master promoter.Marty Lacker, Lamar Fike, and Billy Smith, Elvis Aron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia (1995). A detailed biography of Parker was written by Alanna Nash and published in 2003.

American idol

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 singlehandedly changed the course of music and culture in the mid-1950s.""Elvis Presley": a page at pbs.org with a single paragraph, attributed to palmpictures.com. 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.

Elvis 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 and Chuck Berry came to national prominence after Elvis' acceptance among mass audiences of white teenagers. Singers like Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and others immediately followed in his wake. The Beatles superstar John Lennon later observed, "Before Elvis, there was nothing."

During the post-WWII economic boom of the 1950s, many parents were able to give their teenaged children much higher weekly allowances, signalling a shift in the buying power and purchasing habits of American teens. During the 1940s bobby soxers had idolized Frank Sinatra, but the buyers of his records were mostly between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two. Presley triggered a juggernaut of demand for his records by near-teens and early teens aged ten and up. Along with Presley's "ducktail" haircut, the demand for black slacks and loose, open-necked shirts resulted in new lines of clothing for teenaged boys whereas a girl might get a pink portable 45 rpm record player for her bedroom. Meanwhile American teenagers began buying newly available portable transistor radios Rich Gordon, "How Transistor Radios and Web (and Newspapers and Hi-Fi radio) are Alike", "Reprinted, with permission, from The Cole Papers, June 22, 2005." and listened to rock 'n' roll on them (helping to propel that fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units sold in 1955 to 5,000,000 units by the end of 1958). Teens were asserting more independence and Elvis Presley became a national symbol of their parents' consternation.

A danger to American culture

Teenagers came to Elvis' concerts in unprecedented numbers. 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. Robert Kaiser says he was the first who gave the people "a music that hit them where they lived, deep in their emotions, yes, even below their belts. Other singers had been doing this for generations, but they were black."Quoted in Michael T. Bertrand, Race, Rock, and Elvis (University of Illinois Press, 2000), p.223. Therefore, his performance style was frequently criticized. Social guardians blasted anyone responsible for exposing impressionable teenagers to his "gyrating figure and suggestive gestures." The Louisville chief of police, for instance, called for a no-wiggle ban to halt "any lewd, lascivious contortions that would excite the crowd."Bertrand, p.223. Even Priscilla Presley confirms that "his performances were labeled obscene. My mother stated emphatically that he was 'a bad influence for teenage girls. He arouses things in them that shouldn't be aroused.' "Priscilla Presley, Elvis and Me, p.8. According to rhythm and blues artist Hank Ballard, "In white society, the movement of the butt, the shaking of the leg, all that was considered obscene. Now here's this white boy that grinding and rolling his belly and shaking that notorious leg. I hadn't even seen the black dudes doing that."Quoted in Bertrand, p.223 Elvis complained bitterly in a June 27, 1956, interview about being singled out as “obscene”. Roger Beebe, Denise Fulbrook, Ben Saunders, Rock Over the Edge (Duke University Press, 2002), p.100. Due to his controversial style of song and stage performances, municipal politicians began denying permits for Elvis Presley appearances. This caused teens to pile into cars and traveled elsewhere to see him perform. Adult programmers announced they would not play Elvis' music on their radio stations due to religious convictions that Elvis music was 'devil music' and to racist beliefs that it was "nigger music." Many of Elvis' records were condemned as wicked by Pentecostal preachers who thumped their pulpits with Bibles, 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 Elvis' 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 quick 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.

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 Elvis 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 seen only from the waist up.

Phenomenal success

Elvis Presley's impact on the American youth consumer market was noted on the front page of The Wall Street Journal on December 31, 1956 when business journalist Louis M. Kohlmeier wrote, "Elvis Presley today is a business," and reported on the singer's record and merchandise sales. Half a century later, historian Ian Brailsford (University of Auckland, New Zealand) commented, "The phenomenal success of Elvis Presley in 1956 convinced many doubters of the financial opportunities existing in the youth market."Ian Brailsford, "History repeating itself: Were postwar American teenagers ripe for harvest?" (NB Microsoft Word format): transcript of a paper delivered at "Youth Marketing Reaches Forty", 17 May 2001.

American soldier

On December 20 1957, at the peak of his career, Elvis received his draft notice for a two-year service with the United States Army. On March 24, 1958, he was inducted into the Army at the Memphis Draft Board. In spite of thousands upon thousands of letters sent to the Army expressing his fans' wishes that he be spared, or that he be given special treatment, Elvis received none of it and was widely praised for neither avoiding the draft nor serving part time in domestic positions such as the Special Services. The media speculated on whether two years out of the limelight would damage his career.

Presley sailed to Europe on the USS General George M. Randall (AP-115) and served in Germany, attaining the rank of sergeant. During his service, he met many people in the US Army bases he was trained at and abroad, both in Germany and in France, where he travelled on leave on at least three different occasions. Years later, many still recall with much admiration and affection their time together with Elvis Presley, no matter how casual or short-lived the encounter may have been. Among those Elvis met were: his wife-to-be - the then 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, noted International Herald Tribune correspondent and humorist Art Buchwald, future US Secretary of State Colin Powell (then a lieutenant with the Third Army Division in Germany), and Walter Alden, the father of Presley's last girlfriend - Ginger Alden.

Presley's impact on people, even during his two-year stint in the Army was remarkable, even reaching beyond his career as an entertainer. When he first entered the Army, only 2% of the American population had been vaccinated against polio. Private Presley got his shot on TV, an event carried by all three major networks. By the time of his discharge, an estimated 85% of the population had been vaccinated.

Presley returned to the United States on March 2 1960 and was honorably discharged on March 5th.www.army.mil/CMH/faq/elvis.htm.

1960s Movie star

Elvis was an enthusiastic James Dean fan and returned from the military eager to make a career as a movie star. Although "he was definitely not the most talented actor around."Leo Verswijver, Movies Were Always Magical: Interviews with 19 Actors, Directors, and Producers from the Hollywood of the 1930s through the 1950s (2002), p.129., he "became a film genre of his own."Tom Lisanti, Fantasy Femmes of 60's Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach, and Elvis Movies (2000), p.18. Pop film staples of the early sixties, such as the Presley musicals and the AlP beach movies were mainly produced for a teenage audience and called by film critics a "pantheon of bad taste"Andrew Caine, Interpreting Rock Movies: The Pop Film and Its Critics in Britain, p. 21. In the sixties, at Colonel Parker's command, Elvis withdrew from concerts and television appearances, after his final appearance with Frank Sinatra on NBC entitled "Welcome Home Elvis" where he sang "Witchcraft/Love Me Tender" with Sinatra, in order to make these 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."Connie Kirchberg and Marc Hendrickx, Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon, and the American Dream (1999), p.67. The latter were "written on order by men who never really understood Elvis or rock and roll."Jerry Hopkins, Elvis in Hawaii (2002), p.32. For Blue Hawaii and its soundtrack LP, "fourteen songs were cut in just three days."Hopkins, p.31 Julie Parrish, starring in Paradise, Hawaiian Style, says that Elvis hated such songs and that he "couldn't stop laughing while he was recording" one of them.Tom Lisanti, Fantasy Femmes of 60's Cinema, p.19, 136.

Although film critics chastised these movies for their lack of depth, the fans turned out and they managed to be 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."Hopkins, Elvis in Hawaii, p. vii Altogether, Elvis had made 31 movies during the 1960's, "which had grossed about $130 million, and he had sold a hundred million records, which had made $150 million."Magdalena Alagna, Elvis Presley (2002)

1968 comeback

Elvis' star had faded slightly over the 1960s as he made his movies and America was struck by changing styles and tastes after the "British Invasion" spearheaded by the multi-talented "Beatles".

Until the late sixties, Elvis continued to make B-movies featuring dismal soundtracks. However, Elvis became deeply dissatisfied with the direction his career had taken over the ensuing 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. This special saw him return to his rock and roll roots.

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 concerts were noted for the constant stream of sold-out shows, with many setting attendance records in the venues where he performed.

There were also two concert films: Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970) and Elvis on Tour (1972).

The final years

After seven years off the top of the charts, Elvis' song "Suspicious Minds" hit number one on the Billboard music charts on November 1, 1969.This was the last time any song by Presley reached number one on the Hot 100, although "Burning Love" reached two in September 1972, and "A Little Less Conversation" topped the Hot Singles Sales chart in 2002. 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.

The " Aloha from Hawaii" concert in January 1973 was the first of its kind to be broadcast worldwide via satellite and was seen by at least one billion viewers worldwide. The soundtrack album to the show reached number-one in the charts.

Elvis recorded a number of country hits in his final years. Way Down was languishing in the American Country Music chart shortly before Presley's death in 1977, and reached number one the week after his death. It also topped the UK pop charts at the same time.

Between 1969 and 1977 Elvis gave over 1,000 sold-out performances in Las Vegas and on tour. He was the first artist to have four shows in a row sold to capacity crowds at New York's Madison Square Garden.

From 1971 to his death in 1977 Elvis 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 Presley's live stage performances almost always included a rendition of "How Great Thou Art," the 19th century gospel song made famous by George Beverly Shea. Although some critics say that the singer travestied, commercialized and soft-soaped gospel "to the point where it became nauseating."Albert Goldman, Elvis: The Last 24 Hours, p.187., twenty-four years after his death, the Gospel Music Association inducted him into its Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2001).

When "Elvis returned to Las Vegas, heavier, in pancake makeup, wearing a white jumpsuit with an elaborate jeweled belt and cape, crooning pop songs to a microphone ... he had become Liberace. Even his fans were now middle-aged matrons and blue-haired grandmothers, who praised him as a good son who loved his mother; Mother's Day became a special holiday for Elvis's fans."Marjorie Garber, Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing & Cultural Anxiety (1992), p.380 Indeed, in his final stages in Las Vegas, when he was excessively using eye shadow, gold lamé suits and jumpsuits, the singer had presented "variations of the drag queen figure".Patricia Juliana Smith, The Queer Sixties (1999). As a male sex symbol, Elvis was "insistently and paradoxically read by the culture as a boy, a eunuch, or a 'woman' – anything but a man," and in his Las Vegas white "Eagle" jumpsuit, designed by gay costumer Bill Belew, he appeared like "a transvestite successor to Marlene Dietrich."Garber, p.368. Elvis had been "feminized".Joel Foreman, The Other Fifties: Interrogating Midcentury American Icons (University of Illinois Press, 1997), p.127. No wonder that "white drag kings tend to pick on icons like Elvis Presley."Bonnie Zimmerman, Lesbian Histories and Cultures'' (1999), p. 248.

After his divorce in 1973 Elvis became increasingly isolated, overweight, and battling an addiction to prescription drugs which took a heavy toll on his appearance, health, and performances. He made his last live concert appearance in Indianapolis at the Market Square Arena on June 26, 1977.

Death and burial

On August 16, 1977, at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, Elvis Aron Presley was found lying on the floor of his bedroom's bathroom by his fiancee, Ginger Alden, who had been asleep. He was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead at 3:30 P.M. Presley was 42 years old.

At a press conference following his death, one of the medical examiners declared that he had died of a heart attack. Heart disease was very prevalent in his family. His mother, Gladys Presley, died of a heart attack brought on by acute hepatitis at age 46. Elvis' father Vernon died of heart failure in 1979 at age 63.

Hundreds of thousands of Elvis fans, the press, and celebrities lined the street to witness Elvis funeral and Jackie Kahane gave the eulogy.

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

Following Presley's death in 1977 US President Jimmy Carter stated in respect to Elvis Presley:

Elvis Presley's death deprives our country of a part of itself. He was unique and irreplaceable. 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.

Controversy surrounding death

In her 1987 book Elvis and Kathy, friend and backup vocalist Kathy Westmoreland wrote "Everyone knew he was sick, that each public appearance brought him to the point of exhaustion."

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' system, ten in significant quantity."

In his book, Elvis: The Last 24 Hours, Albert Goldman even went as far as to suggest that Elvis committed suicide by overdosing on a stash of drugs that he stockpiled. David Stanley, Elvis Presley's stepbrother, who was at Graceland the day Presley died, is said to have removed the needles and drug packets near Presley's body before the paramedics arrived, suggesting that he did not want to see Presley's name tarred with the brush of suicide.

On the other hand, some of his closest family members, friends, band members, and background singers have long disputed stories concerning Presley's alleged drug abuse and "self-destructive" lifestyle. At the same time, they have not denied that he did take prescription medications for bona fide or suspected health problems. For instance, Vernon Presley, Kathy Westmoreland, Charlie Hodge, and J.D. Sumner pointed out that Presley also suffered from severe health problems unrelated to drug abuse. These health problems included glaucoma, chronic insomnia, and bone cancer. The illness may have increased his dependency on prescription medication. In 1977 alone, his personal physician Dr George Constantine Nichopoulos (usually referred to as "Dr Nick") had prescribed 10,000 hits of amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, laxatives, and hormones.

Allegations of racism

As Elvis's star rose controversy seemed to follow. Sam Phillips' idea of the "white negro" was born of racism.Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton, Last Night a Dj Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey (2000), chapter on "The White Negroes", p.33. "Racists attacked rock and roll because of the mingling of black and white people it implied and achieved, and because of what they saw as black music's power to corrupt through vulgar and animalistic rhythms. ... The popularity of Elvis Presley was similarly founded on his transgressive position with respect to racial and sexual boundaries. ... White cover versions of hits by black musicians ... often outsold the originals; it seems that many Americans wanted black music without the black people in it," Robert Walser, "The rock and roll era", in The Cambridge History of American Music (Cambridge University Press, 1998), p.358. and Elvis had undoubtedly "derived his style from the Negro rhythm-and-blues performers of the late 1940's."Martha Bayles (ed.), Hole in Our Soul: The Loss of Beauty and Meaning in American Popular Music (University of Chicago Press, 1996), p.22. "Many White people would be surprised to learn that Elvis Presley's hit 'Hound Dog' was first popularized by a Black woman, Big Mama Thornton. Elvis and his music live on the collective memory of Whites, yet Little Richard, some of whose work Elvis borrowed, has been forgotten." Carol Tator, Winston Matthis, Frances Henry, Challenging Racism in the Arts (University of Toronto Press, 1998), p.134. A southern background combined with a performing style largely associated with African Americans had led to "bitter criticism by those who feel he stole a good thing," as Tan magazine surmised. Michael T. Bertrand, Race, Rock, and Elvis (University of Illinois Press, 2000), p.222. No wonder that Elvis became "a symbol of all that was oppressive to the black experience in the Western Hemisphere".Bertrand, p.27. What is more, Presley was widely believed to have said, "The only thing black people can do for me is shine my shoes and buy my records."A variant: "I've only two uses for niggers – they can buy my records and they can shine my shoes." Quoted in Alexander Cockburn, The Golden Age Is in Us: Journeys and Encounters, 1987-1994, p.17. It was claimed that the alleged comment was been made either in Boston or on Edward R. Murrow's Person to Person.Bertrand, p.221. A black southerner in the late 1980s even captured that sentiment: "To talk to Presley about blacks was like talking to Adolph Hitler about the Jews."Bertrand, p.200. The author adds, "One journalist wrote upon the singer's death that African Americans refused to participate in the numerous eulogies dedicated to him."

In 1957, the African-American magazine Jet looked into the allegations that Elvis was a racist who was stealing black music. The magazine found no proof that Elvis Presley was a racist or had made any statements indicating racism repudiating the charges. Elvis himself claimed that quotes attributed to him that were racist were fabricated and that he was not a racist.Snopes.com. The fact that Presley was "a white performer whose financial success rested upon the songs and styles of black artists historically excluded from the popular music marketplace"Bertrand, Race, Rock, and Elvis, p.26., together with other factors that would have made him highly suspect in the eyes of blacks, namely his poor, white origins in the then deeply racist Mississippi, his purchase of an old Memphis mansion, or his association with racially conservative politicians such as George Wallace and Richard Nixon has often been used to chastise him.Bertrand, Race, Rock, and Elvis, p.27. Whether or not it was justified, the fact remains that distrust of Presley was common amongst the general African-American population after the allegations were made public.Bertrand, Race, Rock, and Elvis, p.200. According to George Plasketes, several songs came out after the singer's death which are a part of a "démystification process as they portray Elvis as a racist."George Plasketes, Images of Elvis Presley in American Culture, 1977-1997: The Mystery Terrain, p.53. In his book, Colored White: Transcending the Racial Past, David Roediger considers contemporary "wiggers" (white kids "acting Black") in light of the tensions in racial impersonation embodied by Elvis Presley. David Roediger, Colored White: Transcending the Racial Past (University of California Press, 2003), p.26.

Controversy remains as to Presley's political beliefs, if any. In the early 1960s he described himself as an admirer of the Democratic President John F. Kennedy. In 1970 however he wrote to J. Edgar Hoover requesting to join the FBI at the height of its campaign against political activism. In December of that year he met with President Richard Nixon in what was widely seen as a show of support at a time when most artists in the music industry were highly critical of the Nixon administration. Presley told the President he was a huge admirer of everything he was doing, and asked to be made a "Federal Agent at Large" in order to help get the country off drugs. Presley also denounced The Beatles to Nixon, describing their left-wing political beliefs as "very anti-American" and urged the President to have them deported from the United States. Many fans maintain Presley was non-partisan as he never attended fundraisers or donated money to any candidates, and that his infamous conversation with Nixon was caused by jealousy of The Beatles' success and concern for his own future in the recording industry.

Relationships

Apart from his only wife, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (whom he married on May 1, 1967), Elvis seems to have had several other relationships with women including June Juanico, who is said to have been the only girl Elvis's mother ever approved of, but according to her own words, she "never had sex with Presley." However, since his death many claims to relationships have been made by women who were no more than acquaintances or had short affairs which were exaggerated for personal gain. Juanico even blames Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, for encouraging Presley to go out with beautiful women only "for the publicity".Ruthe Stein, "Girls! Girls! Girls! From small-town women to movie stars, Elvis loved often but never true," San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 1997..

Devotion to his mother

The first woman in Elvis's life was his mother Gladys. In a newspaper interview with The Memphis Press Scimitar, Elvis himself was open about the close relationship to his mother. "She was the number-one girl in his life, and he was dedicating his career to her."The writer called Elvis "a hillbilly cat", poked fun at Elvis's closeness to his mama and insinuated Elvis was "talented but simple." Summarized by Earl Greenwood, The Boy Who Would Be King, p.155. Throughout her life, "the son would call her by pet names", and they communicated by baby talk.Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis", p.13. When Elvis was sharing his mother's bed as a boy, "Gladys told him he was her little man. Not only was Elvis Gladys's son, she also made it clear he was her mate."Greenwood, p.116. According to Elaine Dundy, "it was agony for her to leave her child even for a moment with anyone else, to let anyone else touch Elvis."Elaine Dundy, Elvis and Gladys'', p.71. "Gladys wanted to be everything to Elvis and wanted more from him than what was right or healthy to expect."Greenwood, p.116. His father still openly talked about Elvis' close relationship to his mother after his son had become famous.See Guralnick, p.13. When his mother died, Elvis was "sobbing and crying hysterically"Guralnick, p.478., and eye-witnesses relate that he was "grieving almost constantly" for days.Guralnick, p.480. Some have alleged that their relationship was incestuous though there is absolutely no proof or evidence to support these claims.

High school and early stardom

The early experiences that he was teased by his fellow classmates for being a "mama's boy" had a deep influence on his clumsy advances to girls. He didn't have any friends as a teen. Beginning in his early teens, Presley embarked upon the "indefatigable pursuit of girls", but was totally rebuffed. At school, anyone "wishing to provoke a little girl to tears of rage had only to chalk "Elvis loves -" and then the girl's name on the blackboard when the teacher was out of the room." Elaine Dundy, Elvis and Gladys, p.125. For interviews with teachers and former fellow students at Milam Junior High school in Tupelo, Mississippi, see Dundy, p.124. According to Guralnick, he loved playing with the girls and teasing them, but it "didn't go too far. ... In between shows at the auditorium he would peek out from behind the curtain, then, when he spotted someone that he liked, swagger over to the concession stand, place his arm over her shoulder, and drape his other arm around someone else, acting almost like he was drunk."Guralnick, p.149. Elvis' first sweetheart was the fifteen-year-old Dixie Locke, whom the singer dated steadily since graduating from Humes and during his Sun Records time.

Between 1954 and 1956, when his stardom began to rise, Elvis also became the subject of adulation and adoration of young Hollywood starlets such as Natalie Wood and Connie Stevens. Elvis' mother believed that Wood was a schemer who hoped to "snare" Elvis only "for publicity purposes."Gavin Lambert, Natalie Wood: A Life, p.205. When a columnist wanted to know if the romance with Elvis was "serious," Natalie's cool answer was, "Not right now." "But who knows what will happen?"Lambert, p.206. The author adds, "By this time, Natalie had learned an important lesson in handling the press. Titillating curiosity without satisfying it was always more effective than the standard denial of 'We're just good friends.' " One of her judgements of Elvis was, "He can sing but he can't do much else."Lana Wood, Natalie – A Memoir by Her Sister (1984).

Anita Wood, another girl whom Gladys Presley hoped he would eventually marry, was with Presley as he rose to superstardom, served in the US military and returned home in 1960. Anita lived at Graceland for a time, though Elvis didn't make love to her, but moved out after confronting him over Priscilla Beaulieu. After a short-lived affair with the twenty-four-year-old Anne Helm, the then seventeen-year-old Priscilla moved to Graceland in 1962.

However, according to some authors, there were also other sides of Presley's relationships with women. Albert Goldman goes as far as to call him a "pervert" dating fourteen-year-old girls.Albert Goldman, Elvis (McGraw-Hill, 1981). Indeed, Priscilla was only 14 years old when Elvis began dating her during the time of his military service in Germany. At that time, he even had a younger girl living in his house.See Scotty Moore, That’s Alright, Elvis: The Untold Story of Elvis’s First Guitarist and Manager, Scotty Moore, p.162. The singer seems to have had a predilection for underaged girls, as "with teenage girls, he felt more secure he wouldn't be pleasuring himself with a mother."Earl Greenwood, The Boy who would be King, p.239. Home movies were made with these girls. Greenwood, p.254. One of Elvis's "favorite things was to watch the girls have sex with each other. The faces changed and each group got younger, until on the final evening there were four fourteen-year-olds ... The movies were Elvis's latest pride and joy. He and his boys watched parts of them every day..." Goldman says that Elvis had a sickly Oedipal relationship with his mother.Albert Goldman, Elvis: The Last 24 Hours. See also Greenwood, who even suggests that "Long-buried Oedipal desires scratched at the surface of his consciousness and threatened to come forth," when Elvis "put Priscilla on a pedestal alongside the gilded image of his deceased mother." (p.245) Indeed, there were accusations based on claims by the singer's stepmother, Dee Presley, that Elvis may have had an incestuous relationship with his mother.See Greil Marcus, Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a Land of No Alternatives (2000), p.3 and 6, who cites some reactions to the "shocking truth" that Gladys may have had "years of bliss with Elvis in her bed, or she in his": " 'It makes sense,' said Adrian Sibley of the BBC's The Late Show. 'America has brought Elvis up to date: now he needs therapy just like everybody else. Don't they have twelve-step programs for incest survivors?' 'It makes sense,' said Jip Golsteijn, pop critic for the Amsterdam Telegraaf. 'It's what I heard again and again in Tupelo, years ago. Nobody meant it as a condemnation. Given the way Elvis and Gladys were about each other, it was simply the conclusion everyone drew.' "

Priscilla Presley and other relationships

Accounts differ on whether Presley had sex with Priscilla Beaulieu before they married. Priscilla recounted how Presley suffered from insomnia and would stay up all night and sleep most of the day. She described him as a very passionate man who was not overtly sexual toward her and condemned pre-marital sex as a sin.Priscilla Presley, Elvis and Me (1985). This insistence on being a virgin allegedly hallmarked each relationship Presley had with any woman he thought of as a potential wife or someone he was willing to live with. Suzanne Finstad wrote that Priscilla and Presley slept together on their second date and that she wasn't a virgin on her wedding night.Suzanne Finstad, Child Bride: The Untold Story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley. The book also claims that Priscilla had lied and her marriage was part of a master plan for fame hatched by Priscilla and her mother and that she never loved Elvis.

Whether Elvis had sex with most of his girlfriends is unclear. Some authors say that Presley's "list of one-night stands would fill volumes."Jim Curtin, Elvis: Unknown Stories behind the Legend, p.119. Alanna Nash in an article for Playboy alleges that "he (Elvis) would never put himself inside one of these girls."Byron Raphael with Alanna Nash, "In Bed with Elvis," Playboy, November 2005, Vol. 52, Iss. 11, p.64-68, 76, 140. The article claims that "the so-called dangerous rock-and-roll idol was anything but a despotic ruler in the bedroom ... He was far more interested in heavy petting and panting and groaning" and "he would never put himself inside one of these girls ... within minutes he’d be asleep." Priscilla Presley relates that Elvis told her that he didn't make love to Anita Wood the whole four years he went with her."Just to a point," he said. "Then I stopped. It was difficult for her too, but that's just how I feel." See Priscilla Presley, Elvis and Me, p. 98. Model and actress Peggy Lipton, who had a fling with Presley, says that the singer didn't feel like a man next to her and was "virtually impotent" with her.In her memoir, Breathing Out (St. Martin's Press, 2005), p.172, Peggy Lipton attributes his impotence to his heavy drug abuse. She relates that Presley was like a "teenage boy". "He didn't feel like a man next to me - more like a boy who'd never matured." When he tried to make love with Peggy, "he just wasn't up to sex. Not that he wasn't built, but with me, at least, he was virtually impotent." Showgirl Cassandra Peterson says she knew Elvis for only one night and all they did was talk.Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 1997. Suzanne Finstad also claims that Presley wasn't overtly sexually active.Suzanne Finstad, Child Bride.

Priscilla Beaulieu wrote that his philandering made her "crazed with worry," particularly his highly-publicized relationship with Ann-Margret, which he tried to hide from her. Shortly after he and Priscilla married and she got pregnant, Elvis was rumored to be seeing Nancy Sinatra. When questioned by his wife, Presley denied any affair but then out of the blue, Nancy Sinatra, who barely knew Priscilla, called her and offered to organize her baby shower. Shortly after this, Presley left his expecting wife in shock by asking for a trial separation. On 1 February 1968 (nine months to the day after her wedding), Priscilla gave birth to their daughter Lisa Marie Presley, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Later romances

After five years of marriage Elvis and Priscilla separated on 23 February 1972. Twenty-four at the time, Priscilla took custody of Lisa, four. Following the separation, the thirty-seven-year-old Presley immediately became involved with a twenty-one-year-old beauty queen, Linda Thompson, who may or may not have moved in.In an interview with Larry King, she claims she moved into Graceland and lived with him for nearly four and a half years, but others close to the family said she did not. Presley dated a host of others besides Thompson, notably his backup singer Kathy Westmoreland and actress Cybill Shepherd, who spoke about her relationship with Presley while he was performing in Las Vegas: "years later, I would read and find out that he had like two other women there at the same time."To Larry King, in a candid 2002 television interview on CNN's Larry King Live marking the 25th anniversary of Presley's death. Thompson knew Presley had been cheating on her but stayed with him anyway until he ended it in late 1976 when he began a relationship with 21 year-old Ginger Alden.As Thompson told Larry King in the same show.

Alden, unlike Thompson and Priscilla, did not move in with Presley, but they had plans for a Christmas wedding in 1977. Vernon Presley, Elvis's father, stated in an interview that his son told him that he had "finally" found the love that he had been searching for all his life and that he wanted more children, a son, and wanted Alden to be the mother. However, Presley died before he could fulfill that lifelong search.

Male friendships

Apart from his relationships with women, Elvis reportedly spent day and night with friends and employees whom the news media affectionately dubbed the Memphis Mafia. Among them were Sonny West, Red West, Billy Smith, Marty Lacker and Lamar Fike. Gerald Marzorati says that Elvis "couldn't go anywhere else without a phalanx of boyhood friends."Gerald Marzorati, "Heartbreak Hotel", The New York Times, January 3, 1999. According to Peter Guralnick, for Elvis and the guys "Hollywood was just an open invitation to party all night long. Sometimes they would hang out with Sammy Davis, Jr., or check out Bobby Darin at the Cloister. Nick Adams and his gang came by the suite all the time, not to mention the eccentric actor Billy Murphy ..."Peter Guralnick, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, p.72.

According to Elaine Dundy, "Of all Elvis' new friends, Nick Adams, by background and temperament the most insecure, was also his closest."Elaine Dundy, Elvis and Gladys, p.250. Guralnick writes that the singer "was hanging out more and more with Nick and his friends" and that Elvis was glad Colonel Tom Parker "liked Nick."Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, p.336, 339. Greenwood says that Presley and Adams "shared a mutual enjoyment of prescription drugs," and "Nick became a regular at whatever house Elvis was renting." The singer "grew close enough to Nick to ask him to stay over on nights he was feeling particularly blue but not up to a sexual confrontation with a woman."Greenwood, p.284. Such male friendships seem to have been more important to Elvis than many of his relationships with women. According to Guralnick, June Juanico didn't doubt that Elvis loved her, but "she didn't know if she could ever get him back. Elvis told her he had just heard from Nick and that Nick was coming to town tomorrow or the next day. He started telling her all about Nick and Nick's friends and Jimmy Dean, but she didn't want to hear."Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis, p.347-348 In Hollywood, it "was good running around with Nick ... – there was always something happening, and the hotel suite was like a private clubhouse."Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis, p.410

Byron Raphael and Elvis biographer Alanna Nash even relate that Natalie Wood, after Presley refused to have sexual intercourse with her, "was not the only one to think Elvis and the guys might be homosexual, especially since Elvis often wore pancake makeup and mascara offstage to accentuate his brooding intensity, à la Tony Curtis and Rudolph Valentino, his favorite movie actors. There were also rumors that Nick Adams swung both ways, just as there had been about Adams’s good pal (and Elvis’s idol) James Dean. Tongues wagged that Elvis and Adams were getting it on."Playboy, November 2005, Vol. 52, Iss. 11. In 1968, when Elvis heard that his best friend had died, he "suffered through it for days" and "could be heard crying through the closed door." The singer himself confirmed "how close they had been, particularly after a couple of foursomes, and admitted he had 'spurned' Nick's friendship later, saying he had needed 'room to breathe,' because Nick had wanted 'too much, ya know?'..."Greenwood, p.285

Lasting legacy

By 1957 Elvis Presley was the most famous entertainer in the world. After pioneer band leader Bill Haley spawned interest in rock and roll in Western Europe, Presley's records triggered a wide shift in tastes with effects lasting many decades. Once his records were heard, across the globe, singers in dozens of countries made Presley-influenced recordings in many languages and his own records were sold around the globe, even behind the former Iron Curtain. By 1958 Cliff Richard, the so-called "British Elvis", was rising to prominence in the UK, and in France Johnny Hallyday, known as the "Elvis of France", became a rock and roll idol singing in French, soon to be followed by others like Claude François and, in Italy, by Adriano Celentano and Bobby Solo, all of whom were heavily influenced by Elvis Presley's early style. Later, as his first movies were shown throughout the world, Presley-mannered stage performers and singers appeared everywhere, from Latin America to Asia, the Middle East, and even in some parts of Africa. Airplay and sales of Elvis recordings across Europe were followed by those of other American rockers who began touring there. Teenagers around the world copied his "ducktail" hair style.

For the next 21 years, until he died, Presley's singing style, mannerisms and look continued to be imitated with surprising regularity, wherever his image, songs, or movies happened to be shown, regardless of major shifts in popular culture, music, and manner of dress, all of which he had helped influence in the first place. But it was only after his death that an industry built itself around him, with hundreds, then thousands upon thousands of men (and a few women also) of every race, creed and nationality taking up a career for life, as professional Elvis impersonators — or Elvis Tribute Artists (ETAs) — as they now prefer to be called.

Conversely, a parallel industry, mostly kitsch, continues to grow around his memory, chronicling his dietary and chemical predilections along with the trappings of his wide celebrity. Many impersonators still sing 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."Harry Stecopoulos and Michael Uebel, Race and the Subject of Masculinities (Duke University Press, 1997), p.198. Some impersonators, such as the San Francisco lesbian Elvis Herselvis, are even ridiculing the King. Critics said all this, along with the obvious shortcomings that most Elvis impersonators face when attempting to portray Presley both vocally and visually, tends to obscure the vibrant and vital music he once made as a young man, the vocally-influential recordings of his later career, and his lasting mark on popular culture.

Since 2004, the United Kingdom's most popular daytime radio show, BBC Radio 2's Steve Wright In The Afternoon, has been running a regular feature entitled Ask Elvis, in which listeners' questions on any conceivable topic are answered by a bewilderingly well-informed "Elvis". The identity of the actor portraying Elvis has never been revealed but is widely believed to be the musical parodist and comedian Mitch Benn.

As Elvis is a well-known celebrity, there are also several theatrical plays and songs relating to him. The play Cooking With Elvis by Lee Hall is a dark comedy in which every scene is filled with both pathos and humor. One exception is the change in Elvis's monologues when Singing Elvis becomes Reverend Elvis and makes bizarre speeches about sodomites. According to reviewer Rich See, this is probably a reference to the "gay rumors that continue to swirl around the King of Rock and Roll," for instance, his "obsession with James Dean" and his "alleged affair with actor Nick Adams." The musical All Shook Up, which is based on the plot of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, opened at Broadway's legendary Palace Theater on March 24, 2005. It uses Elvis Presley songs to tell the story of a black-jacketed, rock and roll loving motorcyclist named Chad who comes to a small town in 1955 and proceeds to challenge its conservative culture. He stops at the town's garage because his bike needs repair. There the mechanic, a young girl called Natalie (presumably an allusion to Natalie Wood), immediately falls for Chad but overhears him saying that he's had "a lot" of women but only goes on travels with men. So Natalie covers her hair with a hat and puts motor oil on her face to approximate a beard, instantly becoming "Ed", Chad's sidekick. Eventually Chad falls in love with Ed. The 1989 album The King & Eye by the avant garde band The Residents provides 16 vintage Elvis songs. Through the perspective of a father telling his children fables about a long dead king and his songs, and a poignant string of narrative interludes - "The Baby King" - the work hints at a darker side of the Elvis mystique and questions the spiritual nature of his reign. The album "incisively portrays Elvis's life and work as a misguided abandonment of innocence in favor of a sad yet comedic Oedipal journey," writes Jim Green.See George Plasketes, ''Images of Elvis Presley in American Culture, 1977-1997: The Mystery Terrain", p.37 Another example is Jason Morphew's song, "Elvis Was a Mama's Boy" from his 2001 album, Not for the Faint of Heart!.

Among his many accomplishments, Elvis 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 has been 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).

In 1984 Elvis was given the W.C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation in Memphis for "keeping the blues alive in his music - rock and roll." In 1993, Elvis Presley's image appeared on a United States postage stamp as young Elvis.

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.”

Elvis in the 21st century

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.It was also his first top 10 hit in the UK for nearly 22 years, and his first number one there for nearly 25 years. It topped Billboard's Hot Singles Sales chart (physical singles - legal downloads were not around at the time) but only reached #50 on the Hot 100. At about the same time, a compilation of Presley's US and UK Number 1 hits, 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.

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.

Presley's renewed fame continued with another remix in 2003 (this time by Paul Oakenfold) of "Rubberneckin'", which made the top three in Australia and top five in the UK. This was followed by another album called 2nd to None, a collection of his hits, including the "Rubberneckin'" remix, that just failed to reach number one.

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 December 2004 Wade Jones from Belmont, NC sold 3 tablespoons of water from a cup that Elvis Presley drank out of on eBay. The water fetched $455. One week later (January 2005), he sold an appearance of the Elvis Cup on eBay for $3,000 and currently tours with the Elvis Cup, which even has its own song "The Elvis Cup" written and recorded by a Filipino Elvis impersonator, "Renelvis". Jones saysneeded he scored the styrofoam cup at a 1977 concert the King played. Hoping for a better souvenir, he ended up getting a cup out of which he saw Presley drink.

In early 2005 in the United Kingdom, RCA began to re-issue Presley's 18 UK number-one singles as CD-singles in the order they were originally released, one of them a week. The first of these re-issues, "All Shook Up", was ineligible to chart due to its being sold together with a collector's box which holds all 18 singles in it (it actually sold enough to be number two). The second, "Jailhouse Rock", was the number one in the first chart of 2005, and "One Night"/"I Got Stung", the third in the series, replaced it on the January 16 chart (and thus becoming the 1000th UK number one entry).

All of these have reached top five in the official charts.Three number ones, eight number twos, four number threes, one number four, and one number five. These re-releases have made Elvis the only artist so far to spend at least 1000 weeks in the British top 40.On December 9, 2005, the Book of British Hit Singles & Albums unveiled its annual list of the Top 100 Most Successful Acts of all time, based on the total number of weeks each recording artist has spent on the official UK Singles and Albums charts. Elvis Presley ranked first, with Cliff Richard, Queen, The Beatles and Madonna rounding out the top five.

In the UK singles charts, Elvis went to #1 the most times (21, three of them hitting #1 twice), spent the most weeks there (80), as well as had the most top tens and top forty hits. In the UK album charts, he is second to the Beatles (21), with 16 chart toppers, as well as earning the most top ten, and top forty albums. Still in the album category, his longevity record boasts an almost fifty year gap between his first, and last hit album.

In total, he has spent 2,574 weeks in both the UK singles and album charts, way ahead of his closest competitors, namely Cliff Richard (1,982), Queen (1,755), the Beatles (1,749), and Madonna (1,660).

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

Shortly after taking over the management of all things Elvis from the Elvis Presley Estate (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.

A channel on the Sirius Satellite Radio subscriber service is devoted to the life and music of Elvis Presley, with all broadcasts originating from Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.

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

In July of 2005, Elvis 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 Elvis Presley, for the fifth straight year, the top-earning dead celebrity, grossing US$45 million for the Elvis 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.

Elvis lives?

There is a widespread belief in some quarters that Elvis 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.The Elvis Presley Online Store, "Is Elvis alive or dead?" Critics of the notion state that a number of Elvis impersonators can easily be mistaken for Elvis 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 Elvis Presley faked his death:

On his grave, his middle name Aron is misspelled. The double 'A' was removed after his twin brother Jesse Garon was stillborn, Elvis' parents went to great lengths to have it changed on the official birth certificate.

"Hours after Elvis' death was announced, a man by the name of Jon Burrows (Elvis' traveling alias) purchased a one way ticket with cash to Buenos Aires.""Is Elvis Alive?", which does not elaborate or give any source for this claim.

Two national "tabloid" newspapers, the Weekly World News and The Sun, ran articles covering the continuing "life" of Elvis Presley after his death, in great detail, including a broken leg from a motorcycle accident, all they way up to his purported "real death" in the mid 1990s. However, since his ":real Death", The Weekly World News has continued to claim he is still alive, thus proving their stories (at least since then) are untrue.

FBI files on Elvis

As Elvis was a very popular star, the FBI had files on him of more than 600 pages.See Thomas Fensch, The FBI Files on Elvis Presley (New Century Books, 2001). According to Thomas Fensch, the texts from the FBI reports dating from 1959 to 1981 represent a "microcosm Presley's behind-the-scenes life." For instance, the FBI was interested in death threats made against the singer, the likelihood of Elvis being the victim of blackmail and particularly a major extortion attempt while he was in the Army in Germany, complaints about his public performances, a paternity suit, the theft by larceny of an executive jet which he owned and the alleged fraud surrounding a 1955 Corvette which he owned, and similar things.

According to one of these accounts, Elvis was the victim of Laurens Johannes Griessel-Landau of Johannesburg who was hired by the singer as an alleged specialist in the field of dermatology in Bad Nauheim, Germany, but had made homosexual passes at the singer and his friends. On 24 December 1959 Presley decided to discontinue the skin treatments and Griessel-Landau endeavored to extort sums of money from the singer. Elvis "was interviewed on 28 December 1959 concerning his complaint that he was the victim of blackmail..." According to the FBI files, Griessel-Landau "threatened to expose Presley by photographs and tape recordings which are alleged to present Presley in compromising situations." An investigation determined that Griessel Landau was not a medical doctor. Finally, "By negotiation, Presley agreed to pay Griessel-Landau $200.00 for treatments received and also to furnish him with a $315.00 plane fare to London, England." After having "demanded an additional $250.00, which Presley paid", the blackmailer departed to England.

Discography

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

Elvis Trivia

Music

Following an unsuccessful 1954 appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, Elvis was allegedly told by one of the program's producers, "You ain't going nowhere, son. You may as well stick to driving a truck."
Estimated to have sold over one billion records worldwide and is one of the best selling recording artists in history.
Has won three Grammy awards, all for his gospel recordings. These were for the 1967 "How Great Thou Art" LP, for the 1972 LP, "He Touched Me" and, in 1974, for the song "How Great Thou Art" (live).
Billboard historian Joel Whitburn declared Presley the "#1 act of the Rock era", beating out The Beatles, based upon his dominance of Billboard's list of top 100 singles artists since 1955.
Elvis gave a concert and, at its conclusion, a woman came forward with a crown resting on a plush pillow. She lifted the crown to Elvis and shouted, "You're the King!" "No, honey," he said, "I'm not the King. Christ is the King. I'm just a singer".Steve Brown, Scandalous Freedom: The Radical Nature of the Gospel. Also, in September of 1974, during one of his two sellout shows at the University of Notre Dame, he stopped singing, as well as motioned for the band to quit playing, in order to tell those holding a huge banner which read ¨You are the King¨, that he was not going to resume singing until it was taken out from view, adding that "there was only one King, and that was the Lord, Jesus Christ".

Acting

Presley made only one television commercial, an ad for Southern Maid Doughnuts that ran in 1954.
On his third and final appearance (January 6, 1957) on the The Ed Sullivan Show, Sullivan was so impressed by Elvis that he pointed to him and told the audience "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." Elvis remains the only one on Sullivan's show to have received such a warm and personal accolade. However, it has also been said that Presley's manager orchestrated the compliment in exchange for permitting Presley to appear, after Sullivan had earlier publicly stated his refusal to allow Presley on his program.
He was offered the lead role of Tony in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical West Side Story. Despite Presley's arguments that it would legitimize his acting career, "Colonel" Parker forced Presley to turn it down thinking that it was non-commercial. The film won ten Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Finances

When Presley was drafted into the US Army in March 1958, his monthly pay went from $100,000 to $78.
The estate of Elvis Presley earns over 40 million dollars every year which is a record for a deceased entertainer.
In 2006, and for the sixth year straight, Presley was named the richest deceased celebrity in www.Forbes.com. (see also reference above, under Elvis in the 21st Century)

Personal Life

Presley had a twin brother named Jesse who was stillborn.
Presley's height was officially measured in the army twice and was stated at 5'11.5 inches in bare foot and 6'0.5 inches with shoes.
In 1960, following his return from military service, the various employees hired by Elvis Presley to handle security and his concert tours were dubbed the "Memphis Mafia" by the news media.
Presley made a famous sandwich that he ate daily called a, "Fool's Gold" sandwhich. An entire loaf of french bread is warmed and then hollowed out. The sandwich is generously spread with peanut butter and an equally thick layer of jelly. Finally, lean bacon has to be cooked, at least a pound fried to crispness, to fill the reamining belly of the loaf. The massive loaf is then downed while the bacon is still hot. It is an idea among his fans that this was the actual cause of the heart attack that ended his life.
Elvis owned a vast collection of firearms and badges.
Presley was a practitioner of karate. He had an eighth degree black belt when he died.
Presley was also distantly related to both country singer June Carter Cash and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Presley was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon.

Hair

His hair was a natural sandy brown but he dyed it jet black after filming "Love Me Tender."
Cryolophosaurus was at one point nicknamed 'Elvisaurus' because of its head crest being similar to Elvis' hairstyle.

Name

His given middle name at birth was Aron;Elvis' middle name, is it Aron or Aaron?" (Technical problems with this page may make display impossible.) The page does not specify any source. however, Aaron was placed on his gravestone by his father because Presley preferred that biblical spelling and had legally changed it. Aaron is the official spelling used by his estate.
Thousands of people, the world over are named after Presley, many of them becoming quite well known themselves. Elvis Stojko, a Canadian who was the three-time World Figure Skating Champion, was named after Presley by his mother, who was a big fan. Elvis Crespo, the King of salsa and merengue, was also named after Presley by his mother, a native of Puerto Rico who was also a big Elvis fan. Elvis Dumervil, a former University of Louisville All American football player, was also named after Presley by his mother, an African American. Elvis Mitchell, the former movie critic for the New York Times, was named after Presley by his parents. Elvis Perkins, a musician who is the son of actor Anthony Perkins, was also named after him, as was Elvis Polansky, whose father, movie director Roman Polanski, was also a huge Elvis fan.
Musician Elvis Costello adopted Presley's first name a few months before his (Presley's) death in 1977.

Legacy

The 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie is a supposed satire about the effects of the compulsory U.S. military draft on a famous singer similar to Presley.
Freddie Mercury composed his 1979 song "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" as a memory of Elvis.
Presley had a short mention in the S.E Hinton classic, The Outsiders.
The Broadway musical "All Shook Up" features the songs of Elvis Presley, and is based on the plot of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
Wink Martindale, who was a close friend of Presley, aired a nationwide tribute in his memory following the news of his death. Martindale was an up-and-coming radio DJ in Memphis at the time Presley's career began to take off in high gear.
Richard Dawson also paid tribute to Presley on an episode of Family Feud.
The 2002 Disney animated feature Lilo and Stitch contains more Presley songs than there are in several movies in which Presley himself starred. The film's closing sequence also features a montage of photographs, one of which portrays the film's main characters posing before the gates of Graceland. The film also broke several rules related to Presley in films which included using his photo, shortening his songs for time and dressing up like him. However, the Graceland estate allowed the producers this degree of freedom.
In December 2004 Wade Jones from Belmont, NC sold 3 tablespoons of water from a cup that Elvis Presley drank out of on eBay. The water fetched $455. One week later (January 2005), he sold an appearance of the Elvis Cup on eBay for $3,000 and currently tours with the Elvis Cup, which even has its own song "The Elvis Cup" written and recorded by a Filipino Elvis impersonator, "Renelvis". Jones says he scored the styrofoam cup at a 1977 concert the King played. Hoping for a better souvenir, he ended up getting a cup out of which he saw Presley drink.
In April 3, 2005, the UK-based "Doctor Who Adventures" magazine published a list of the top ten historical figures people would most like to travel back in time to meet. As reported by the BBC, Presley ranked 2nd, behind Sir Winston Churchill. Others in the top ten included, in ranking order, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Isaac Newton and Queen Elizabeth I.
The Chinese tend to nickname him The King of Cats (Traditional: 貓王, Simplified: 猫王, Pinyin:Māo Wáng) after the "hillbilly cat" remark in The Memphis Press Scimitar interview. (See:Mama's Boy)

Likes and Dislikes

Elvis Presley was a big fan of Captain Marvel Jr, and styled his trademark haircut after that of the comic book character. In addition, Presley's stage outfits (with a half-cape similar to those worn by the Marvels) and his TCB logo (with a Marvel-esque lightning bolt insignia) also show inspiration from Captain Marvel, Jr.
He was proud of his role in King Creole because the part was originally offered to his idol James Dean. Although songs were later slipped into the movie, Presley considered it his best work.
His favorite rollercoaster was the Zippin Pippin at Libertyland. He would rent out the park to himself just so he could ride it non-stop.
Presley's favorite female singer was Anne Murray and he recorded a version of "Snowbird".

Miscellaneous

His death occurred only three days before that of Groucho Marx. As a result, the comedian's death did not receive as much media attention as many felt it deserved.
The Presley surname comes from the Preseli Hills in Pembrokshire, Wales, UK. The hills are the source of the famous bluestones that make Stonehenge.
Funk/rock group Living Colour recorded a song titled "Elvis Is Dead" for their Time's Up album. The song ridicules those who contend that Elvis is alive.
Presley had a pet rabbit called Dean, after his idol James Dean.
Is the object of affection by the fictional character Jesse from the hit sitcom Full House

External links

All About Elvis
Elvis.com - the site is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises, which is a subsidiary of CKX, Inc (NASDAQ: ).
Elvis - Elvis Aron Presley
For Elvis Fans Only - Elvis' Movies
Elvis Presley: The Word Made Flesh Essays on Elvis' music and hundreds of photos
FBI Freedom of Information Act files on Elvis: foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/presley.htm
Original Version of Elvis' Songs

Notes

Elvis Presley | Cultural icons of the 1950s | Mississippi musicians | 1935 births | 1977 deaths

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