Elvis
ElvisOn January 8, 1935 at 4:35 a.m., a little boy by the name of Elvis Aaron Presley was born to parents Vernon Elvis Presley and Gladys Love Presley in a two-room house located in Tupelo, Mississippi. Little did anyone know that this little boy would forever change the world of music and entertainment. Although this was a happy occasion for both of them, it was also a very sad one, too. Elvis had a twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, who was stillborn just a couple of hours before Elvis himself was born. Elvis was named after his father, Vernon, and Vernon�s best friend, Aaron Kennedy.
Elvis�s parents, Vernon and Gladys, married on June 17, 1933. Gladys was 21 and Vernon was only 17. His mother worked as a sewing machine operator while his father was farm hand. When Elvis was 3 years old, his father was convicted of forgery, along with two other men, for a hog they had sold. Vernon was sent to Parchman Prison where he served 9 months. Due to family hardships, Elvis and his family had to move to Memphis, Tennessee.
Elvis was raised in a religious home. He grew up surrounded by gospel music. As a boy he sang with his local Assembly of God church choir, which emulated the style of African-American psalm singing. At age ten Elvis placed first in a school singing contest. He then began to teach himself the rudiments of the guitar.
In 1949, Elvis was enrolled in the L.C. Humes High School in Memphis. The total combined salary of both his parents was a mere $35 dollars a week, but they managed. In 1953, Elvis graduated from high school and began working as a truck driver while he studied evenings to become an electrician. One day, while driving a truck for his company, Elvis noticed a sign that read, "Memphis Recording Service-Make Your Own Records. Four Dollars for Two Songs." This sign would change his life forever.
II. Career
Elvis decided he was going to record some songs for his mother as a birthday gift. Upon doing this, he impressed the studio manager with his unique vocal style. He demonstrated outstanding range and influences of African American music. This experience led Elvis to recordings with the studio�s owner, Sam Phillips through his record label, Sun Records. At the age of 21, he recorded his first songs for a major record label, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). Included in these recordings, was the very popular "Heartbreak Hotel" (1956). He soon followed with the hugely successful double-sided single record "Hound Dog"/ "Don�t Be Cruel" (1956) and "All Shook Up" (1957).
Elvis�s musical influences were the pop and country music of the day, the gospel music he had heard in church, and the black R&B he had absorbed on Beale Street as a Memphis teenager. By...
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