It’s Elvis Week

This week is the annual celebration of the life and legacy of the king of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.  We’ll examine the life and the music of this famous musician.

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi. In 1948, the Presley family moved to Memphis Tennessee. Here in Memphis, Elvis got inspiration from gospel, r&b and country music. A few years later, Elvis began his career with Sun Records. By 1956, Elvis was an international sensation.

Sam Phillips introduces Elvis to Scotty Moore and Bill Black after a demo recording session. The trio had no real success until July 5, 1954 when they sang a spell up version of “That’s All Right” with back up tracks of “Blue Moon of Kentucky”. This became one of Elvis’s first singles at Sun Records. In the fall go 1954, the trio performed on KWKH Radio station in Louisiana playing, “Louisiana Hayride” which broadcasted to 190 stations in the South. This led to the group being regulars. Elvis signs with his first Manager Bob Neal around this time. In mid January of 1955, Elvis meets the “Colonel” Tom Parker who quickly begins managing Elvis, Scotty and Bill. Parker negotiated the deal between RCA Records and Sun to include the early demo tapes and singles. In 1955, the deal was thirty five thousand dollars with a five thousand bonus for Elvis. After the deal, Elvis made Parker his exclusive manager. Elvis also signed a contract with Hill & Range to share the profits of the songs.  His first single, Heartbreak hotel sold over 300,000 copies in the first three weeks and went to the top of the billboard charts where it stayed for eight weeks. It was the first Elvis song to sell over one million copies which gave Elvis his gold record award. 

In March of 1956, the first Elvis Presley album was released with RCA records and went to number 1 on the charts. This album is where the hit song “Blue Suede Shoes” first appeared. Around this time, Elvis was screen testing throughout Hollywood and signed a contract with Paramount. The spring of 1956 saw crowds for Elvis grew expediently and became more wilder. Due to the audience, some of the Elvis performances had to end early as some women would storm the stage. 

After the performance of “Hound Dog” members of moral groups started condemning Elvis’s concert style as too sexy. By the end of 1956, Elvis merchandise, and records made $22 million dollars in sales.  In the winter of 1957, Elvis buys Graceland mansion for himself, his parents and his grandmother to live in. 

Elvis was drafted into the United States Army and began his service in 1958. He makes his last group of songs after basic training. This is the last time Elvis records until 1960. On a short leave, Elvis is invited to a party at Captain Joseph Beaulieu’s home and meets his stepdaughter, 14 year old Priscilla Ann. In 1967, Priscilla and Elvis were married in Las Vegas at the Aladdin Hotel. The later part of the 1960s, Elvis’s career led him to do television specials, and his most famous one was the 68 Comeback. Their marriage lasted for six years before separating in 1972 when Priscilla and Lisa Marie left Graceland. The divorce was finalized on October 9, 1973. The couple remained friends and Lisa Marie could spend as much time as she wanted with her dad. 

On August 16, 1977 Elvis returned to Graceland to await his flight to Maine. In the late morning, Elvis passes away from heart failure. Elvis’s funeral is held on August 18th and his body returns to Graceland on October 2. Elvis died at age 42. In his New York Times obituary, Molly Ivens wrote “at his death, Mr. Presley had been an indelible part of the nation’s musical consciousness for 20 years.” 

Elvis’s legacy has only grown since his death in 1977. He helped bring rock and roll into the spotlight and became the face of America’s rebellion among the youth. With his music catalog spurring countless hits and his successful films, he has an ever changing mark on our cultural landscape. In 2022, Baz Luhrmann turned Elvis’s life story into an Academy Award Nominated Film and highlighted actor Austin Butler for capturing the complexity of Elvis. Last year, Sophia Coppola wrote and directed the film Priscilla, which examined the marriage between Elvis and Priscila. Graceland serves as the pilgrimage for Elvis fans around the world to look at both the man and legend. 

Best Elvis Movies

The Trouble With Girls

Kid Galahad

Love Me Tender

Wild in the Country

Flaming Star

Blue Hawaii

Jailhouse Rock

Viva Las Vegas

King Creole

Learn More about the King of Rock and Roll

https://www.graceland.com/about-elvis

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/01/03/specials/presley-obit.html?_r=1

Photograph of Elvis with the Hawaiian lei is taken from Entertainment Weekly: https://ew.com/article/2015/08/05/elvis-presley-orchestra-new-album/

Photograph of Elvis and Priscilla on their wedding day is taken from People Magazine: https://people.com/music/elvis-presley-priscilla-presley-relationship-timeline/

Photograph of Elvis when he was a young performer is taken from Esquire Magazine: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/g32668583/elvis-presley-life-in-photos/

 Elvis: A celebration: images of Elvis Presley from the Elvis Presley Archive at Graceland by Mike Evans

Elvis: The Legend by Gillian G. Gaar

Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love by Peter Guralnick

Elvis: a Lonely Life by Ray Connolly

Elvis and Colonel Parker by Greg McDonald

Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley

Me and a Guy named Elvis by Jerry Schilling