Elvis

Elvis

 

Elvis, Elvis Presley was a legendary American singer, actor and musician. He is one of the best-selling and most influential artists in the history of popular music. Elvis is also known for his good look, and he is often recognized as a sex symbol of all time.

Famously known as ‘Elvis‘ and sometimes referred to as ‘The King of Rock n Roll’ or ‘The King’, he is an international cultural icon.

He had a versatile voice and had unusually wide success encompassing other genres, including gospel, blues, ballads and pop. To date, he has been inducted into four music halls of fame.

Born on January 8, 1935, at Tupelo, Mississippi, the United States, to Vernon Elvis Presley, a truck driver and mother Gladys Love Smith, a sewing machinist, he was influenced by gospel music. His favourite singer was legendary Southern Gospel singer Jake Hess.

Presley began his career as one of the first performers of rockabilly and recorded his first song “My Happiness” with “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin”, on July 18, 1953.

“All Shook Up”, “(Let me Be Your) Teddy Bear” and “Too Much” were his hits in 1950s and his record sales grew quickly during that period. In 1956, Presley launched his career as a film actor.

He was married in 1967 to Priscilla Presley and their only child, Lisa Marie, was born on February 1, 1968. Health problems, drug dependency and other factors led to his death at age 42 on August 16, 1977.

Elvis set records for television ratings, concert attendance, and recordings sales throughout his career. Even long after his death, he is still one of the most recognized face on the earth.

 

 

Elvis Elvis

Elvis is the #2 biggest selling music artist of all time (U.S.). He is second only to the Beatles, having sold over 118 million units (albums, singles, tapes, cds) and is now the biggest selling solo artist in U.S. history.

There is so much, TOO MUCH, that could be and has already been written about this American music icon, Elvis Presley. So I’m going to write about the cultural impact Elvis had on music and on society at large.

I was discussing the history of rock n’ roll with a guitartist friend of mine and the subject of Elvis came up. I mentioned that John Lennon had once purportedly remarked, “Before Elvis, there was nothing.”

My friend immediately bristled at the notion. “No way,” he replied, “he didn’t invent anything…Chuck Berry and Little Richard were playing rock n’ roll before Elvis…he got it from them. Chuck Berry kicks Elvis’ ass!”

I told my friend I thought he had missed the point. John Lennon and everybody else, including Elvis, knew where the roots of rock n’ roll lay — in African-American music.

Elvis Presley said it himself. “‘The colored folks been singing it and playing it just like I’m doing now, man, for more years than I know,’ Elvis told reporters in 1956. ‘I got it from them. Down in Tupelo, Mississippi, I used to hear old Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do now, and I said if I ever got to the place where I could feel all old Arthur felt, I’d be a music man like nobody ever saw.’” –Time Magazine

(Some have claimed that Elvis’ 1954 cover of bluesman Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s “That’s All Right” is the definitive first rock and roll recording. While this assertion may be widely accepted by Elvis fans – and Elvis WAS among the very first to make rock and roll records – most historians trace the “first” R&R record back to 1951 and a song entitled “Rocket 88,” recorded at Sam Phillips’ studio in Memphis, where Elvis also later recorded.

“March 1, 1951 – Sam Phillips records ‘Rocket 88′ with singer Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner’s band for Chess records. This recording is widely considered the first rock and roll record.” –Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Elvis did not invent rock and roll. But he was an innovator, nonetheless, transfusing the popular music of the fifties (then dominated by white “crooners” such as Frank Sinatra, Pat Boone, Eddie Fisher and others of that ilk) with black music, gospel music…SOUL music.

And that transfusion was an important component of the anti-segregation sentiment that was brewing at the time and that led ultimately to the Civil Rights Movement…and desegregation.

While Elvis‘ contribution to rock and roll was enormous, his contribution to his GENERATION was even greater.

DA Jack Hayford is the editor of the popular music reference website, Events-in-Music.com. Mr. Hayford is also the Program Director and co-founder of the online home of the ten-plus-year old Durango Songwriters Expo, a premier annual educational and inspirational event for aspiring songwriters.

Still after 34 years anf counting Elvis Prelsey is now more Popular than ever, long live the King of Rock and Roll.

Elvis Elvis Elvis

Incoming search terms:

• elvis
• www elvis com
• elvis umbrella
• percevalpress insanityrulestheday playlists
• 3:07elvis presley
• elvis prelsey facts
• elvis record sales
• elviselviselvis com
• elvis presley rock and roll
• how great you are-elvis presly