MAKING MEMORIES OF ELVIS PRESLEY (Jan 8, 1935 – Aug 16, 1977).
Elvis Aaron Presley
In the 1960s, Presley made the majority of his thirty-one movie, mainly poorly reviewed, but financially successful, musicals.
In 1968, he returned to live music in a television special, and performed across the U.S., notably in Las Vegas. Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales. He is one of the best-selling and most influential artists in the history of popular music.
Health problems, drug dependency and other factors led to his death at age 42.
PLANNING YOUR WEDDINGS
LITTLE SISTER
Graceland's Chapel in the Woods
ELVIS WEDDINGS
If you’re considering your options for Elvis weddings, you’re sure to love the Graceland wedding chapel – a romantic, secluded Elvis wedding chapel adjacent to the grounds of Graceland. This beautiful Graceland chapel and its facilities offer everything you need for the perfect Elvis wedding for just the two of you or up to 50 friends and family. Our professional facilitators, experts at long distance planning, will help you create the Elvis wedding of your dreams in Memphis, Tennessee. Also find out about Elvis parties and Graceland group tours.
ELVIS PRESLEY BIOGRAPHY AND CAREER
Aaron Presley born in January 8, 1935 and died in August 16 th , 1977; middle name sometimes written Aron was an American singer, actor and musician. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as “Elvis”, and is also sometimes referred to as “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” or “The King”.
In 1954, Presley began his career as one of the first performers of rockabilly, an uptempo fusion of country and rhythm and blues with a strong back beat . His novel versions of existing songs, mixing “black” and “white” sounds, made him popular and controversial as did his uninhibited stage and television performances. He recorded songs in the rock and roll genre, with tracks like “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock” later embodying the style. Presley 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.
Military service and mother’s death
On December 20, 1957, Presley received his draft notice. Hal Wallis and Paramount Pictures had already spent $350,000 on the film King Creole, and did not want to suspend or cancel the project.
The Memphis Draft Board granted Presley a deferment to finish it.
On March 24, 1958, he was inducted as US Army private #53310761 and completed basic training at Fort Hood, Texas on September 17, 1958, before being posted to Friedberg, Germany with the 3rd Armored Division, where his service took place from October 1, 1958 until March 2, 1960.
Fellow soldiers have attested to Presley’s wish to be seen as an able an ordinary soldier, despite his fame, and to his generosity while in service. To supplement meager under-clothing supplies, Presley bought an extra set of fatigues for everyone in his outfit. He also donated his Army pay to charity, and purchased all the TV sets for personnel on the base at that time.
Presley had chosen not to join ‘Special Services’, which would have allowed him to avoid certain duties and maintain his public profile.He continued to receive massive media coverage, with much speculation echoing Presley’s own concerns about his enforced absence damaging his career.
However, early in 1958, RCA Victor producer Steve Sholes and Freddy Bienstock of Hill and Range (Presley’s main music publishers) had both pushed for recording sessions and strong song material, the aim being to release regular hit recordings during Presley’s two-year hiatus.
Hit singles and six albums duly followed during that period.
As Presley’s fame grew, his mother continued to drink excessively and began to gain weight. She had wanted her son to succeed, “but… the hysteria of the crowd frightened her.”
In early August 1958, doctors had diagnosed hepatitis and her condition worsened. Presley was granted emergency leave to visit her, arriving in Memphis on August 12.
Two days later, Gladys Presley died of heart failure, aged forty-six. Presley was distraught, “grieving almost constantly” for days.
Some months later, in Germany, ” sergeant had introduced Presley to amphetamines when they were on maneuvers at Grafenwöhr… it seemed like half the guys in the company were taking them.” Friends around Presley, like Joe Esposito, also began taking them, “
If only to keep up with Elvis, who was practically evangelical about their benefits.
The Army also introduced Presley to karate—something which he studied seriously, even including it in his later live performances.
Presley returned to the U.S. on March 2, 1960, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant on March 5, 1960.
Any doubts Elvis had about his popularity must have been dispelled as “The train which carried him from New Jerseyto Memphis was mobbed all the way, with Presley being called upon to appear … at whistle-stops” to placate his fans.
SUSPICIOUS MIND
TAKE A TIME TO NOTE SOMETHING ON ELVIS ULTIMATE BOOK
Author Samuel Roy has argued: “Elvis’ death did occur at a time when it could only help his reputation. Just before his death, Elvis had been forgotten by society.”
Biographer Ernst Jorgensen has observed that when Presley died, “it was as if all perspective on his musical career was somehow lost.”
His latter-day song choices had been seen as poor; many who disliked Presley had long been dismissive because he did not write his own songs. Others complained—incorrectly—that he could not play musical instruments.Such criticism of Presley continues. The tabloids had ridiculed his obesity and his kitschy, jump-suited performances.
Comedian George Carlin remarked, “America got what it deserved in Elvis Presley: a big fat, drug-addicted squealer.”
Sade Adu said about Presley: “when I see him in his fifties movies, Jailhouse Rock and King Creole, that’s an image I desire to look like. But when he’s in his jumpsuit I just think of him as a drag queen.” His sixties’ film career was mocked.
In 1980, John Lennon said: ” Presley died when he went into the army. That’s when they killed him, that’s when they castrated him.”
Acknowledgment of his vocal style had been reduced to mocking the hiccuping, vocalese tricks that he had used on some early recordings—and to the way he said “Thankyouverymuch” after songs during live shows. This was only countered by the uncritical adulation of die-hard fans, who had even denied that he looked “fat” before he died.
Any wish to understand Elvis Presley—his genuine abilities and his real influence—”seemed almost totally obscured.”
Presley has featured prominently in a variety of polls and surveys designed to measure popularity and influence.However, sociologist Philip Ennis writes: “Perhaps it is an error of enthusiasm to freight Elvis Presley with too heavy a historical load” because, according to a opinion poll of high school students in 1957.”‘
Pat Boonewas nearly the “two-to-one favorite over Elvis Presley among boys and preferred almost three-to-one by girls…”Despite this, and unlike Pat Boone, Presley’s early music and live performances are credited with helping to lay a commercial foundation which allowed established African American acts of the 1950s to receive due recognition. Performers like Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, came to national prominence after Presley’s mix of musical styles was accepted among White American teenagers. Rather than Presley being seen as a white man who ’stole black music’, Little Richard argued: “He was an integrator, Elvis was a blessing. They wouldn’t let black music through. He opened the door for black music.
Al Green agreed, saying; “He broke the ice for all of us.” It has also been claimed that Presley’s sound and persona helped to relax the rigid color line and thereby fed the fires of the civil rights movement.
In the late 1960s, composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein remarked: “Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it’s a whole new social revolution… the 60’s comes from it.”
Other celebrated pop and rock musicians have acknowledged that the young Presley inspired them. The Beatles were all big Presley fans.
John Lennon said: “Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn’t been an Elvis, there wouldn’t have been a Beatles.”
Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan said: “For a young singer he was an absolute inspiration. I soaked up what he did like blotting paper… you learn by copying the maestro.”
Rod Stewart declared: “Elvis was the King. No doubt about it. People like myself, Mick Jagger and all the others only followed in his footsteps.”
Cher recalls from seeing Presley live in 1956 that he made her “realize the tremendous effect a performer could have on an audience.”
Bob Dylan said: “When I first heard Elvis’ voice I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.”
By 1958, singers obviously adopting Presley’s style, like Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard (the so-called “British Elvis”), were rising to prominence in the UK. Elsewhere, France’s Johnny Hallyday and the Italians Adriano Celentano and Bobby Solo were also heavily influenced by Presley.
Presley’s recorded voice is seen by many as his enduring legacy.
Music critic Henry Pleasants writes: “Elvis Presley has been described variously as a baritone and a tenor. An extraordinary compass… and a very wide range of vocal color have something to do with this divergence of opinion. The voice covers two octaves and a third … Moreover, he has not been confined to one type of vocal production. In ballads and country songs he belts out full-voiced high G’s and A’s that an opera baritone might envy. He is a naturally assimilative stylist with a multiplicity of voices—in fact, Elvis’ is an extraordinary voice, or many voices.”
It has also been noted that “Presley’s comprehensive musical knowledge and talent also surprised and impressed songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller… They considered Presley to be an ‘idiot savant’ because he knew so many songs. His knowledge of the blues especially impressed them.
Leiber remembers that Presley “could imitate anything he heard. He had a perfect ear,”… Presley could sing and/or play a song on the piano after hearing it only once or twice. His natural ear for music, ability to play by ear, and to improvise were well known to his friends and musical associates.”
Gospel tenor Shawn Nielsen, who sang backing vocals for Presley on tour, said: “He could sing anything. I’ve never seen such versatility… He had such great soul. He had the ability to make everyone in the audience think that he was singing directly to them. He just had a way with communication that was totally unique.”
Presley’s informal jamming in front of a small audience in the ‘68 Comeback Special is regarded as a forerunner of the so-called ‘Unplugged’ concept, later popularized by MTV.
BECOME A GUEST
The singer has been inducted into four music ‘Halls of Fame’:
- the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame(1986),
- the Rockabilly Hall of Fame (1997),
- the Country Music Hall of Fame (1998), and
- the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2001)
In 1984, he received the W. C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation and the Academy of Country Music’s first Golden Hat Award. In 1987, he received the American Music Awards’ first posthumous presentation of the Award of Merit.
Presley has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard. He was also honored by the Mississippi Blues Commission with a Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker placed in Tupelo, his birth place, in recognition of his contribution to the development of the blues in Mississippi.
In 1994, the 40th anniversary of Presley’s “That’s All Right” was recognized with its re-release, which made the charts worldwide, making top three in the UK.
During the 2002 World Cup a Junkie XL remix of his “A Little Less Conversation” (credited as “Elvis Vs JXL”) topped the charts in over twenty countries and was included in a compilation of Presley’s U.S. and UK number one hits, Elv1s: 30
In the UK charts (January 2005), three re-issued singles again went to number one (“Jailhouse Rock”, “One Night”/”I Got Stung” and “It’s Now or Never”). Throughout the year, twenty singles were re-issued—all making top five.
In the same year, Forbes magazine named Presley, for the fifth straight year, the top-earning deceased celebrity, grossing US$45 million for the Presley estate during the preceding year. In mid-2006, top place was taken by Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain after the sale of his song catalogue, but Presley reclaimed the top spot in 2007.
Paul F. Campos has written:
“The Elvis cult touches on so many crucial nerves of American popular culture: the ascent of a workingclass boy from the most obscure backwater to international fame and fortune; the white man with the soul of black music in his voice; the performer whose music tied together the main strands of American folk music – country, rhythm and blues, and gospel; and, perhaps most compellingly for a weight-obsessed nation, the sexiest man in America’s gradual transformation into a fat, sweating parody of his former self, straining the bounds of a jewel-encrusted bodysuit on a Las Vegas stage. The images of fat Elvis and thin Elvis live together in the popular imagination.”
The singer continues to be imitated—and parodied—outside the main music industry and Presley songs remain very popular on the karaoke circuit. People from a diversity of cultures and backgrounds work as Elvis impersonators(“the raw 1950s Elvis and the kitschy 1970s Elvis are the favorites.”)
VIDEOS GALLERY
In 2002, it was observed by the NEW YORK TIMES:
For those too young to have experienced Elvis Presley in his prime, today’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of his death must seem peculiar. All the talentless impersonators and appalling black velvet paintings on display can make him seem little more than a perverse and distant memory. But before Elvis was camp, he was its opposite: a genuine cultural force… Elvis’s breakthroughs are underappreciated because in this rock-and-roll age, his hard-rocking music and sultry style have triumphed so completely.
LOVE ME TENDER
Elvis Presley Funeral
American Anthem to footage of Elvis’s funeral.
Graceland's Chapel in the Woods
ELVIS WEDDINGS
If you’re considering your options for Elvis weddings, you’re sure to love the Graceland wedding chapel – a romantic, secluded Elvis wedding chapel adjacent to the grounds of Graceland. This beautiful Graceland chapel and its facilities offer everything you need for the perfect Elvis wedding for just the two of you or up to 50 friends and family. Our professional facilitators, experts at long distance planning, will help you create the Elvis wedding of your dreams in Memphis, Tennessee. Also find out about Elvis parties and Graceland group tours.
Aaron Presley born in January 8, 1935 and died in August 16 th , 1977; middle name sometimes written Aron was an American singer, actor and musician. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as “Elvis”, and is also sometimes referred to as “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” or “The King”.
In 1954, Presley began his career as one of the first performers of rockabilly, an uptempo fusion of country and rhythm and blues with a strong back beat . His novel versions of existing songs, mixing “black” and “white” sounds, made him popular and controversial as did his uninhibited stage and television performances. He recorded songs in the rock and roll genre, with tracks like “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock” later embodying the style. Presley 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.
On December 20, 1957, Presley received his draft notice. Hal Wallis and Paramount Pictures had already spent $350,000 on the film King Creole, and did not want to suspend or cancel the project.
The Memphis Draft Board granted Presley a deferment to finish it.
On March 24, 1958, he was inducted as US Army private #53310761 and completed basic training at Fort Hood, Texas on September 17, 1958, before being posted to Friedberg, Germany with the 3rd Armored Division, where his service took place from October 1, 1958 until March 2, 1960.
Fellow soldiers have attested to Presley’s wish to be seen as an able an ordinary soldier, despite his fame, and to his generosity while in service. To supplement meager under-clothing supplies, Presley bought an extra set of fatigues for everyone in his outfit. He also donated his Army pay to charity, and purchased all the TV sets for personnel on the base at that time.
Presley had chosen not to join ‘Special Services’, which would have allowed him to avoid certain duties and maintain his public profile.He continued to receive massive media coverage, with much speculation echoing Presley’s own concerns about his enforced absence damaging his career.
However, early in 1958, RCA Victor producer Steve Sholes and Freddy Bienstock of Hill and Range (Presley’s main music publishers) had both pushed for recording sessions and strong song material, the aim being to release regular hit recordings during Presley’s two-year hiatus.
Hit singles and six albums duly followed during that period.
As Presley’s fame grew, his mother continued to drink excessively and began to gain weight. She had wanted her son to succeed, “but… the hysteria of the crowd frightened her.”
In early August 1958, doctors had diagnosed hepatitis and her condition worsened. Presley was granted emergency leave to visit her, arriving in Memphis on August 12.
Two days later, Gladys Presley died of heart failure, aged forty-six. Presley was distraught, “grieving almost constantly” for days.
Some months later, in Germany, ” sergeant had introduced Presley to amphetamines when they were on maneuvers at Grafenwöhr… it seemed like half the guys in the company were taking them.” Friends around Presley, like Joe Esposito, also began taking them, “
If only to keep up with Elvis, who was practically evangelical about their benefits.
The Army also introduced Presley to karate—something which he studied seriously, even including it in his later live performances.
Presley returned to the U.S. on March 2, 1960, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant on March 5, 1960.
Any doubts Elvis had about his popularity must have been dispelled as “The train which carried him from New Jerseyto Memphis was mobbed all the way, with Presley being called upon to appear … at whistle-stops” to placate his fans.
TAKE A TIME TO NOTE SOMETHING ON ELVIS ULTIMATE BOOK
Author Samuel Roy has argued: “Elvis’ death did occur at a time when it could only help his reputation. Just before his death, Elvis had been forgotten by society.”
Biographer Ernst Jorgensen has observed that when Presley died, “it was as if all perspective on his musical career was somehow lost.”
His latter-day song choices had been seen as poor; many who disliked Presley had long been dismissive because he did not write his own songs. Others complained—incorrectly—that he could not play musical instruments.Such criticism of Presley continues. The tabloids had ridiculed his obesity and his kitschy, jump-suited performances.
Comedian George Carlin remarked, “America got what it deserved in Elvis Presley: a big fat, drug-addicted squealer.”
Sade Adu said about Presley: “when I see him in his fifties movies, Jailhouse Rock and King Creole, that’s an image I desire to look like. But when he’s in his jumpsuit I just think of him as a drag queen.” His sixties’ film career was mocked.
In 1980, John Lennon said: ” Presley died when he went into the army. That’s when they killed him, that’s when they castrated him.”
Acknowledgment of his vocal style had been reduced to mocking the hiccuping, vocalese tricks that he had used on some early recordings—and to the way he said “Thankyouverymuch” after songs during live shows. This was only countered by the uncritical adulation of die-hard fans, who had even denied that he looked “fat” before he died.
Any wish to understand Elvis Presley—his genuine abilities and his real influence—”seemed almost totally obscured.”
Presley has featured prominently in a variety of polls and surveys designed to measure popularity and influence.However, sociologist Philip Ennis writes: “Perhaps it is an error of enthusiasm to freight Elvis Presley with too heavy a historical load” because, according to a opinion poll of high school students in 1957.”‘
Pat Boonewas nearly the “two-to-one favorite over Elvis Presley among boys and preferred almost three-to-one by girls…”Despite this, and unlike Pat Boone, Presley’s early music and live performances are credited with helping to lay a commercial foundation which allowed established African American acts of the 1950s to receive due recognition. Performers like Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, came to national prominence after Presley’s mix of musical styles was accepted among White American teenagers. Rather than Presley being seen as a white man who ’stole black music’, Little Richard argued: “He was an integrator, Elvis was a blessing. They wouldn’t let black music through. He opened the door for black music.
Al Green agreed, saying; “He broke the ice for all of us.” It has also been claimed that Presley’s sound and persona helped to relax the rigid color line and thereby fed the fires of the civil rights movement.
In the late 1960s, composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein remarked: “Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it’s a whole new social revolution… the 60’s comes from it.”
Other celebrated pop and rock musicians have acknowledged that the young Presley inspired them. The Beatles were all big Presley fans.
John Lennon said: “Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn’t been an Elvis, there wouldn’t have been a Beatles.”
Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan said: “For a young singer he was an absolute inspiration. I soaked up what he did like blotting paper… you learn by copying the maestro.”
Rod Stewart declared: “Elvis was the King. No doubt about it. People like myself, Mick Jagger and all the others only followed in his footsteps.”
Cher recalls from seeing Presley live in 1956 that he made her “realize the tremendous effect a performer could have on an audience.”
Bob Dylan said: “When I first heard Elvis’ voice I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.”
By 1958, singers obviously adopting Presley’s style, like Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard (the so-called “British Elvis”), were rising to prominence in the UK. Elsewhere, France’s Johnny Hallyday and the Italians Adriano Celentano and Bobby Solo were also heavily influenced by Presley.
Presley’s recorded voice is seen by many as his enduring legacy.
Music critic Henry Pleasants writes: “Elvis Presley has been described variously as a baritone and a tenor. An extraordinary compass… and a very wide range of vocal color have something to do with this divergence of opinion. The voice covers two octaves and a third … Moreover, he has not been confined to one type of vocal production. In ballads and country songs he belts out full-voiced high G’s and A’s that an opera baritone might envy. He is a naturally assimilative stylist with a multiplicity of voices—in fact, Elvis’ is an extraordinary voice, or many voices.”
It has also been noted that “Presley’s comprehensive musical knowledge and talent also surprised and impressed songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller… They considered Presley to be an ‘idiot savant’ because he knew so many songs. His knowledge of the blues especially impressed them.
Leiber remembers that Presley “could imitate anything he heard. He had a perfect ear,”… Presley could sing and/or play a song on the piano after hearing it only once or twice. His natural ear for music, ability to play by ear, and to improvise were well known to his friends and musical associates.”
Gospel tenor Shawn Nielsen, who sang backing vocals for Presley on tour, said: “He could sing anything. I’ve never seen such versatility… He had such great soul. He had the ability to make everyone in the audience think that he was singing directly to them. He just had a way with communication that was totally unique.”
Presley’s informal jamming in front of a small audience in the ‘68 Comeback Special is regarded as a forerunner of the so-called ‘Unplugged’ concept, later popularized by MTV.
BECOME A GUEST
In 1984, he received the W. C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation and the Academy of Country Music’s first Golden Hat Award. In 1987, he received the American Music Awards’ first posthumous presentation of the Award of Merit.
Presley has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard. He was also honored by the Mississippi Blues Commission with a Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker placed in Tupelo, his birth place, in recognition of his contribution to the development of the blues in Mississippi.
In 1994, the 40th anniversary of Presley’s “That’s All Right” was recognized with its re-release, which made the charts worldwide, making top three in the UK.
During the 2002 World Cup a Junkie XL remix of his “A Little Less Conversation” (credited as “Elvis Vs JXL”) topped the charts in over twenty countries and was included in a compilation of Presley’s U.S. and UK number one hits, Elv1s: 30
In the UK charts (January 2005), three re-issued singles again went to number one (“Jailhouse Rock”, “One Night”/”I Got Stung” and “It’s Now or Never”). Throughout the year, twenty singles were re-issued—all making top five.
In the same year, Forbes magazine named Presley, for the fifth straight year, the top-earning deceased celebrity, grossing US$45 million for the Presley estate during the preceding year. In mid-2006, top place was taken by Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain after the sale of his song catalogue, but Presley reclaimed the top spot in 2007.
Paul F. Campos has written:
“The Elvis cult touches on so many crucial nerves of American popular culture: the ascent of a workingclass boy from the most obscure backwater to international fame and fortune; the white man with the soul of black music in his voice; the performer whose music tied together the main strands of American folk music – country, rhythm and blues, and gospel; and, perhaps most compellingly for a weight-obsessed nation, the sexiest man in America’s gradual transformation into a fat, sweating parody of his former self, straining the bounds of a jewel-encrusted bodysuit on a Las Vegas stage. The images of fat Elvis and thin Elvis live together in the popular imagination.”
The singer continues to be imitated—and parodied—outside the main music industry and Presley songs remain very popular on the karaoke circuit. People from a diversity of cultures and backgrounds work as Elvis impersonators(“the raw 1950s Elvis and the kitschy 1970s Elvis are the favorites.”)
VIDEOS GALLERY
In 2002, it was observed by the NEW YORK TIMES:
For those too young to have experienced Elvis Presley in his prime, today’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of his death must seem peculiar. All the talentless impersonators and appalling black velvet paintings on display can make him seem little more than a perverse and distant memory. But before Elvis was camp, he was its opposite: a genuine cultural force… Elvis’s breakthroughs are underappreciated because in this rock-and-roll age, his hard-rocking music and sultry style have triumphed so completely.
January 08TH , 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELVIS
Elvis Aron Presley
(1935 -2009)
THE KING SHOULD HAVE 74 YEARS OLD
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Memories of Nadiejda Parmionova Michaelovna
20 march 1947 – 04 September 2001
She was a mother, a volunteer,a reporter and an aid worker in Mission in Africa.