Title: ... were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel
1 Elvis Presley
- Due March 16, 2005
- By Tiffany Meade
2http//solosong.net/elvis/elvis.html
3Elvis Aaron Presley is Born
- Elvis Aaron Presley was born to Vernon and Gladys
Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo,
Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His twin brother,
Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to
grow up as an only child. He and his parents
moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948, and Elvis
graduated from Humes High School there in 1953.
4Vernon, Elvis Gladys Presley.
5Musical Influences
- Elvis Presleys musical influences were the pop
and country music of the time, the gospel music
he heard in church and at the all-night gospel
sings he frequently attended, and the black RB
he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis
teenager. In 1954, he began his singing career
with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis.
In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to
RCA Victor. By 1956, he was an international
sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely
combined his diverse musical influences and
blurred and challenged the social and racial
barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new
era of American music and popular culture.
6Elvis and Priscilla
November 1959Captain Joseph Beaulieu is
transferred from Texas to Weisbaden Air Force
Base near Friedberg, accompanied by his wife and
children, including his fourteen-and-a-half-
year-old stepdaughter, Priscilla Ann. (Priscilla
is the only child from Ann Beaulieus marriage
to her first husband, James Wagner, a Navy pilot
who was killed in a plane crash when Priscilla
was an infant.) Through a mutual friend,
Priscilla is invited to a party at Elvis home
soon after her arrival in Germany. They meet,
and the rest is history.
7Success
- Elvis Presley starred in 33 successful films,
made history with his television appearances and
specials, and knew great acclaim through his
many, often record-breaking, live concert
performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally,
he has sold over one billion records, more than
any other artist. His American sales have earned
him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards for
131 different albums and singles, far more than
any other artist. Among his many awards and
accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins)
from the National Academy of Recording Arts
Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award,
which he received at age 36, and his being named
One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the
Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees.
Without any of the special privileges his
celebrity status might have afforded him, he
honorably served his country in the U.S. Army.
8- Research is also underway to document his record
sales achievements in other countries. It is
estimated that 40 of Elvis' total record sales
have been outside the United States.
9International Acclaim
- Elvis Presleys trophy room at Graceland is
filled with gold and platinum records and awards
of all kinds from around the world. Some of the
countries represented are Norway, Yugoslavia,
Japan, Australia, South Africa, England, Sweden,
Germany, France, Canada, Belgium, and the
Netherlands. It is interesting to note that,
except for a handful of movie soundtrack songs,
Elvis did not record in other languages, and,
except for five shows in three Canadian cities in
1957, he did not perform in concert outside the
United States. Still, his recordings and films
enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, popularity all
over the globe, and he is known throughout the
world by his first name.
10Record Charts Statistics
- Elvis Presley has had no less than 149 songs to
appear on Billboards Hot 100 Pop Chart in
America. Of these, 114 were in the top forty, 40
were in the top ten, and 18 went to number one.
His number one singles spent a total of 80 weeks
at number one. He has also had over 90 charted
albums with ten of them reaching number one.
These figures are only for the pop charts, and
only in America. He was also a leading artist in
the American country, RB, and gospel fields, and
his chart success in other countries was
substantial.
11Historic Television Guest Appearances
- In 1956, Elvis made his network television debut
with the first of his six appearances on Stage
Show, a weekly variety program hosted by Tommy
and Jimmy Dorsey. He followed these with two
appearances on The Milton Berle Show, the second
of which included a performance of Hound Dog that
was so provocative (for that time, anyway) that
it caused a national scandal. Elvis next appeared
on The Steve Allen Show, with Allen mocking the
sensation of the Berle appearance by having Elvis
dress in a tuxedo, eliminate his usual physical
gyrations, and sing Hound Dog to a Basset Hound.
12The Milton Berle Show
13Ed Sullivan
- Ed Sullivan had once said he would never have the
controversial singer on his top-rated show, but
that was before the week that Elvis appearance
on Steve Allen had surpassed Sullivans ratings.
Sullivan paid Elvis 50,000 to make three
appearances on his show, which was, at the time,
more money than any performer had ever been paid
to appear on a network variety program. When
Elvis made his third Sullivan appearance in
January of 1957, Ed Sullivan surprised Elvis by
telling him on camera that his show had never had
a better experience with a name act, and said I
wanted to say to Elvis and the country that this
is a real decent, fine boy. It was on this very
same Sullivan appearance that Elvis was shown on
camera from the waist up only, one of early
television historys most memorable moments.
Elvis next network television appearance was in
1960, when Frank Sinatra gave his variety show a
Welcome Home, Elvis theme to herald Elvis
return from the army. Elvis was paid 125,000 to
appear - again, making history.
14Silver Screen
- Elvis Presley starred in 31 feature films as an
actor and two theatrically released concert
documentary films, all of which enjoyed financial
success. For a number of years he was one of
Hollywoods top box office draws and one of its
highest-paid actors. His two most critically
acclaimed films, Jailhouse Rock (1957) and King
Creole (1958) have become classics of their era.
His movies and concert films enjoy a healthy life
today in television syndication and home video
sales and rentals. Some of his top-selling music
came from his movies. Eleven of his movie
soundtrack albums went to the top ten, and of
those, four went to number one. The soundtrack
for G.I. Blues (1960), was number one on the
Billboard Top 100 album chart for 10 weeks and
remained on the chart for 111 weeks. The album
from Blue Hawaii was number one for 20 weeks and
was on the chart for 79 weeks.
15Love me tender
16Jailhouse Rock 1957
17Television Specials
- Elvis Presleys three network television specials
- Elvis (1968) , Elvis Aloha from Hawaii, via
Satellite (1973), and Elvis in Concert (1977) -
stand among the most highly rated specials of
their time. His 1968 special, Elvis , is one of
the most critically acclaimed music specials of
all time. His 1973 special, Elvis - Aloha from
Hawaii, via Satellite , was seen in 40 countries
by 1 billion to 1.5 billion people and made
television history. It was seen on television in
more American homes than mans first walk on the
moon.
18Aloha from Hawaii, via Satellite
19The Concert Stage
- When Elvis returned to the live stage after the
success of his 1968 television special and the
wrap-up of his Hollywood movie contract
obligations, he opened at the International Hotel
in Las Vegas in the summer of 1969 for a 4-week,
57-show engagement that broke all existing Las
Vegas attendance records. He returned to the
International a few months later in early 1970,
during the slow winter season in Vegas, and broke
his own attendance record. Right after that came
a record-breaking six-show engagement at the
Astrodome in Houston, where Elvis played to a
total of 207,494 people. - Elvis took his elaborate live show on the road in
the latter part of 1970 for his first concert
tour since 1957. Throughout the 1970s Elvis
toured America, breaking box office records right
and left, and continued to play an engagement or
two per year in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. Among
the outstanding highlights of this period was in
1972, when Elvis performed four sold-out shows at
Madison Square Garden. During his concert years
from 1969 to 1977, Elvis gave nearly 1,100
concert performances.
20Grammy Awards
- Elvis received 14 Grammy nominations from the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
(NARAS). His three wins were for gospel
recordings - the album How Great Thou Art (1967),
the album He Touched Me (1972) and his live
Memphis concert recording of the song How Great
Thou Art (1974). In 1971, NARAS also recognized
him with their Lifetime Achievement Award (known
then as the Bing Crosby Award ...in honor of its
first recipient). Elvis was 36 years old at the
time. Five of Elvis' recordings have been
inducted into the NARAS Hall of Fame - his
original 1956 recordings of Hound Dog (inducted
1988) and Heartbreak Hotel (inducted 1995), his
original 1954 recording of That's All Right
(inducted 1998), his original 1969 recording of
Suspicious Minds (inducted 1999), and his
original 1956 recording of Don't Be Cruel
(inducted 2002). The Hall of Fame recognizes
"early recordings of lasting, qualitative or
historical significance," with many inductees
being recordings that were created and released
before the 1958 inception of NARAS and the Grammy
Awards.
21One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in the
Nation.
- The United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (the
Jaycees) named Elvis Presley One of the Ten
Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 in a
ceremony on January 16, 1971, one of Elvis
proudest moments. This award has been given since
1938 and has honored men of achievement in all
areas of endeavor - sports, government, science,
medicine, entertainment, etc. It recognizes
outstanding personal achievement and the
exemplification of the opportunities available in
the free enterprise system, along with
patriotism, humanitarianism, and community
service. (In the 1980's, eligibility was opened
to women as well as men, and the award has since
been presented to the year's Ten Outstanding
Young Americans.)
22One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the
Nation
23Charitable Endeavors
- Elvis Presley was famous for giving away
Cadillacs, cash and jewelry, often on the spur of
the moment. But, the true depth and breadth of
his generosity and community involvement is not
so widely known. - In 1961, Elvis gave a benefit concert at Bloch
Arena in Hawaii that raised over 65,000 toward
the building of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at
Pearl Harbor. The resulting publicity gave new
life to the fund-raising effort, which had, by
then, lost its momentum. The memorial opened a
year later. - Audience tickets for his 1973 Aloha from Hawaii
television special and its pre-broadcast
rehearsal show carried no price, as each audience
member was asked to pay whatever he or she could.
The performances and concert merchandise sales
were a benefit raising 75,000 for the Kui Lee
Cancer Fund in Hawaii.
24Charitable Endeavors.
- Each year, for many years, Elvis gave 1,000 or
more to each of fifty Memphis-area charities, but
also continually made many other charitable
donations in Memphis and around the country. - Most of Elvis philanthropic endeavors received
no publicity at all. Throughout his adult life,
for friends, for family, and for total strangers,
he quietly paid hospital bills, bought homes,
supported families, paid off debts, and much
more. - Elvis' legacy of generosity continues through the
work of the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation,
which is the philanthropic branch of Elvis
Presley Enterprises, Inc. and the creator of the
Elvis Presley Endowed Scholarship Fund at the
University of Memphis. The tradition of giving
also continues through the work of the Elvis fan
clubs worldwide, most of which are heavily
involved in charitable endeavors in Elvis'
memory.
25Elvis Presleys Graceland
- Graceland, Elvis Presleys home and refuge for
twenty years, is one of the most visited homes in
America today, now attracting over 600,000
visitors annually. It is also the most famous
home in America after the White House. In 1991,
Graceland Mansion was placed on the National
Register of Historic Places.
26Elvis Postal Stamp
- In 1992, the U.S. Postal Service announced that
Elvis' image would be used for a commemorative
postage stamp. The Postal Service narrowed the
artwork choices down to two images - one of Elvis
in the 1950s as a sizzling young rocker, and one
of him as a still-svelte concert superstar in his
1973 Aloha from Hawaii special. In an
unprecedented move, the USPS put the decision to
the American people and distributed ballots coast
to coast. Over 1.2 million votes were cast, and
the image of the young rocker won. The stamp was
released on January 8, 1993, with extravagant
first day of issue ceremonies at Graceland. The
Elvis stamp is the most widely publicized stamp
issue in the history of the U.S. Postal Service,
and it is the top selling commemorative postage
stamp of all time. The USPS printed 500 million
of them, three times the usual print run for a
commemorative stamp. Several countries outside
the USA also have issued Elvis stamps over the
years.
27Special Posthumous Honors
- The 1984 W.C. Handy Award from the Blues
Foundation in Memphis recognized Elvis for
"keeping the blues alive in his music - rock and
roll." The Academy of Country Music's first
Golden Hat Award presented in 1984 recognized
Elvis' influence on country music. In 1986, Elvis
was among the first group of inductees into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1987, Elvis was
honored with the first posthumous presentation of
the Award of Merit by the American Music Awards,
1987. In 1998, Elvis received the Country Music
Association's highest honor, induction into the
Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2001, Elvis was
inducted into the Gospel Music Association's
Gospel Music Hall of Fame. With that honor, Elvis
is the only person, so far, to become a member of
all three of these halls of fame - Rock and Roll,
Country and Gospel.
28Generations of Fans
- Currently, there are over 625 active Elvis
Presley fan clubs worldwide. Elvis' popularity is
at an all-time high, and his legacy continues to
reach new audiences. Half of Graceland's
visitorship is age 35 and under.
29A New Concert Career
- On August 16, 1997, Elvis Presley, via video,
starred in an extravagant concert production
entitled Elvis in Concert '97 at the Mid-South
Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee, accompanied live
on stage by over thirty of his former band mates
and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. The show
played before a capacity crowd of fans who had
come to Memphis from around the world to
commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Elvis'
death. Elvis broke the Mid-South Coliseum's
all-time record dollar figure for box office
sales. This concert was the prototype for the
1998/99 touring production Elvis - The Concert.
By being the first performer ever to headline a
live concert tour while no longer living, Elvis
made history again. The March 1998 tour included
a three-show smash engagement at Radio City Music
Hall in New York. The August 1998 tour included
the excitement of Elvis' "return" to the Las
Vegas Hilton with an eight-show engagement. The
January/ February 1999 European tour opened with
a sell-out at London's Wembley Arena and, in
effect, marked Elvis Presley's first-ever
concerts outside of North America. The show
continues to tour periodically.
30The End.or is it?
31Quite a Man
- His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and
good humor endeared him to millions, as did the
humility and human kindness he demonstrated
throughout his life. Known the world over by his
first name, he is regarded as one of the most
important figures of twentieth century popular
culture. Elvis died at his Memphis home,
Graceland, on August 16, 1977.
32Works Cited
- http//www.elvis.com.au/presley/biography/elvis_pr
esley_biography.shtml - http//www.rollingstone.com/artist/bio/_/id/154/el
vispresley?pageidrs.ArtistcagepageregionartistH
eader - http//solosong.net/elvis/elvis.html