Elvis Presley

His Effect on American Identity

Jaime Oertel

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Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi. He was supposed to be born a twin, but his brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn. He lived with his parents, Gladys and Vernon Presley, and many other relatives in Tupelo for most of his childhood. His first major exposure to music came from his family s attendance to the Assembly of God Church. The music and the sermons resonated with young Elvis, along with country music programs and black bluesmen in the local area. These would all influence his later work. He would first perform at a talent show at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show in 1945. He sang an old country song, Old Shep , and got 5th place. The next year his parents bought him a guitar for his birthday, after not being able to afford the bicycle he wanted. Because the Presley family was not very wealthy, they ended up moving around Tupelo to different houses while Elvis was in school. The family, including the extended family, would move to Memphis, Tennessee, when Elvis was 13 in hopes of finding a better financial situation.1

The situation did not improve right away. The family continued to move from house to house while Elvis went to L.C. Humes High School. Elvis even had to take up jobs to help ends meet. He continued to become well known for playing guitar and singing and started to dress differently. He bought clothes from Beale Street and grew out his hair and sideburns. He picked up the blues and gospel on the street and he attended late night gospel performances in town. He won a talent show at his high school by playing guitar and singing.1 He graduated high school

"All About Elvis: Biography: 1935 - 1957." http://www.elvis.com/about-the-king/biography_/1935_1954.aspx (accessed March 10, 2011).

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on June 3, 1953. Elvis went on to get a job and record a demo. He recorded the songs My Happiness and That s When Your Heartache s Begin at the Memphis Recording Service, home of the Sun record label. He recorded the demo to see how his voice would sound recorded. He ended up giving the recording to his mother as a late birthday present. He recorded another demo in January of 1954 and the owner of the Memphis Recording Service, Sam Phillips, takes notice of him.2 Phillips would call Elvis in for an audition later in the year on July 5, 1954. He teamed Elvis up with two studio musicians, Scotty Moore on guitar and Bill Black on bass, and had them play together. Elvis, not knowing too many songs, stumbled through the Bing Crosby song Harbor Lights . Phillips called for a break after that shaky take. During the break Elvis picked up a guitar and started messing around with a song by Arthur Crudup, That s All Right . It was upbeat instead of bluesy. Black joined in to keep time and Moore tried to keep up. Phillips knew he had something special on his hands and had them start over so he could record it. It was broadcast on the radio in Memphis 2 days later.3 Over the summer the group played local clubs and radio shows. On July 30 of that year at a show called Hillbilly Hoedown, Elvis would find what would become one of his signature moves. The show took place in an outdoor amphitheater in Memphis Overton Park. While playing That s All Right , Elvis, out of nervousness, got up on the balls of his feet and began to shake his leg in

"All About Elvis: Biography: 1935 - 1957, page 2." http://www.elvis.com/about-theking/biography_/1935_1954/1935-1957_page_2.aspx (accessed March 10, 2011). 3 Tyrangiel, Josh. "The King Finds His Voice - 80 Days That Changed the World - TIME." March 31, 2003.http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1977881_1977887_1978217,00.html (accessed March 11, 2011).

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time with the music. This caused his baggy pants to gyrate along with the music and, in turn, caused the girls in the crowd to go wild. 4 The group would go on to perform at the Grand Ole Opry on October 6. Their fast paced, rockabilly style does not go over too well with the more traditional Opry audience. On October 16 they would perform on the Opry s chief competitor, Louisiana Hayride. Their performance goes over very well, leading to Elvis signing a contract for a year s worth of appearances on the show in November. Elvis would also get a new manager in Bob Neil, which went into effect on the first of the next year.

Elvis and the band continued to tour and play the Hayride in 1955, although the commitment to Hayride meant they couldn t tour far out of state. They would also add drummer D.J. Fontana to the band. His performances were starting to attract more and more young females, who went crazy over Elvis. It even got to the point when they would break down security barriers and claw and scratch him. 5 In August, Elvis would sign a contract with Hank Snow Attractions and Colonel Tom Parker, whom Elvis met on the Hayride. Parker would be Elvis new manager and Neil would remain on as an adviser. He would go on to sign to RCA Records in November. Elvis was already gaining popularity and signing to a major label would just increase that. He was already making a name for himself touring the south, but a major label will get his music all across the country. He would first record with them on January 10, 1955.
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"Elvis Presley 1953-1955 : The Hillbilly Cat." http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/elvis_presley_1953_1955.html (accessed March 7, 2011). 5 "Interview with Elvis Presley - Press Conference Canada 1957." June 24, 2006.http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/interview_elvis_presley.shtml (accessed March 7, 2011).

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One of the songs recorded during that session was Heartbreak Hotel . It was released as a single on January 26, 1956. In its first 3 weeks, it sold 300,000 copies. Elvis was already gaining a larger national presence. Elvis and the band made their first nation televised appearance on the CBS show Stage Show on January 28. His first album, titled Elvis Presley, was released on March 23 and featured one of his most well known songs Blue Suede Shoes . It would rapidly hit #1 on the Billboard pop charts and stay there for 10 weeks. He would continue to play national television shows and tour around the country bringing progressively larger and crazier crowds. He would also sign a one movie deal with Paramount Pictures in April. One of Elvis most controversial, and would become one of his most well known, performance took place on June 5 on the Milton Burle Show. During a performance of Hound Dog he started to get into the music, shaking his hips around in a manor found unsuitable by certain groups. He was already criticized for his black influenced sound and this performance added to the fire. Elvis would go on to parody the situation on the Steve Allen Show on July 1 by singing Hound Dog to an actual basset hound. He also struck up a deal to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. Sullivan was originally hesitant to have him on the show due to criticisms above, but after seeing the ratings for the shows Elvis appeared on he changed his tune. Elvis would be paid $50,000 for 3 appearances on the show, an unprecedented amount for the time.6

"All About Elvis: Biography: 1935 - 1957, page 4." http://www.elvis.com/about-theking/biography_/1935_1954/1935-1957_page_4.aspx (accessed May 10, 2011).

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The band added The Jordanaires, a gospel quartet, as backup singers. They would tour with the band and record with them until the late 60 s. Elvis would make his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on September 9. The broadcast attracts an unprecedented 80% of the prime time viewing audience, showing how huge Elvis was. This was the first time eleven year old Priscilla Beaulieu would see him perform. She would marry him in 1967.7 Also showing how huge he was, Elvis had a day named after him. September 26 is declared Elvis Presley Day in Tupelo, Mississippi. He would play 2 shows at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, returning to the site of one of his first performance. He made his second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on October 28. His first film Love Me Tender premieres on November 15. It receives good reviews and becomes a hit. 1956 was a huge year for Elvis.8

Elvis began 1957 by making his final contracted appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on January 6. This would become the most well known of his appearances because the camera operators were instructed to only shoot him from the waist up. This is of course due to the controversy of his suggestive performances. Sullivan would help the situation by saying that Elvis was a decent, fine boy . Sullivan s show is one of the biggest at the time, so Sullivan

saying that really helped Elvis image. He would continue to tour, record, and work on a new movie called Loving You . His popularity is not limited to the US. Recordings are bootlegged in the Soviet Union and being sold for modest amounts because his albums aren t available there.
7

Elvis by the Presleys. First ed. David Ritz. New York: Crown Publishers, 2005. "All About Elvis: Biography: 1935 - 1957, page 5." http://www.elvis.com/about-theking/biography_/1935_1954/1935-1957_page_5.aspx (accessed March 10, 2011).

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In March he would purchase the Graceland Mansion for him and his family to live in. It cost him $102,500. He would play his first Canadian shows in early April. In May he began work on his 3rd movie, Jailhouse Rock . Loving You premiered on July 9 in Memphis. It opens wide on July 30 and gets up to #7 on Variety s National Box Office Survey. Elvis would return to Tupelo on September 27, the day after his official day, to perform at a benefit for the purposed Elvis Presley Youth Recreation Center. Jailhouse Rock premieres in Memphis on October 17 and opened wide on November 18. It gets up to #3 on the Variety charts and gets #14 on the overall year, which is quite good for such a late release. That s the power of Elvis fan base at the time. The movie was hailed as one of his best acting performances. He would perform in Hawaii for the first time in early November, which would end up being his last public performance before enlisting in the army. He would get his draft card in December.9

He would enlist in the Army early in 1958 and would continue to record and produce movies after that. Movies became the focus for him for most of the Sixties, but they weren t highly regarded in the eyes of fans. He also would move away from the rock and roll style that he pioneered to focus on ballads, which weren t highly regarded either.10 He would continue down that path when he went on to perform in Vegas. While he kept the same style as his younger self, he would play the ballads of his later year that only seemed to attract middle age women. He was bloated due to the many prescription drugs but he still tried to wear the
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"All About Elvis: Biography: 1935 - 1957, page 6." http://www.elvis.com/about-theking/biography_/1935_1954/1935-1957_page_6.aspx (accessed March 10, 2011). 10 Corliss, Richard. "Elvis: The Last Romantic." Aug. 15, 2007.http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1653366,00.html (accessed March 7, 2011)

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glittery jumpsuits of his youth, almost making a mockery of his younger self. He would die in an undignified manor as well, when he was found lying on the floor of his bathroom on August 16, 1977. But none of this really applies to the impact Elvis had on the United States; that all took place in his early years.

The biggest influence Elvis had on the United States was on music in general. Rock and roll and the blues was the domain of black musicians from the 30 s to the early 50 s, but a good looking kid from Tennessee took those and combined them with country, gospel, and pop music to make a sound like no one had heard before. Pretty much every band out today owes something to Elvis in some way for changing the landscape of music. His influence spans over many different kinds of bands. For example, Michael Poulsen, the singer and guitarist from the Scandinavian metal band Volbeat, has 5 different Elvis tattoos on his body and his singing style is heavily influenced by him. 11 Elvis also influenced merchandising. In 1956, Elvis merchandise was first introduced and it ranged from t-shirts and hats to necklaces, wallets, and lipstick. In that same year, Elvis merchandise sold over $22 million dollars.12 This was unheard of. This ties in to the idea of consumerism. People, especially now, associate with each other through brands and musicians. By buying an Elvis shirt or button, you can identify with other fans. This continues on to this day. You can buy just about anything you can think of with Justin Bieber s face on it now. Crap with popular things on it is a guaranteed money maker. And Elvis
Bienstock, Richard. "It's Now Or Never - Volbeat." Revolver, March 2010, 80-83. "All About Elvis: Biography: 1935 - 1957, page 5." http://www.elvis.com/about-theking/biography_/1935_1954/1935-1957_page_5.aspx (accessed March 10, 2011).
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merchandise is still being made now. For the 30 year anniversary of his death, there were banana and peanut flavored Reese s Cups, Harley-Davidson replica motorcycles of Elvis , and a DVD set of his movies.9 Lastly, Elvis also pioneered controversy over popular figures. His suggestive dancing was a main target of scrutiny, but Elvis said in an interview No, I've never thought of it as being suggestive. That's just my way of expressing a song, that's all.
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didn t stop PTAs from condemning him as a dangerous role model and having mass burnings of his records.14 All this really did was give him a bigger fan base among young people. Kids want what they re not supposed to have. So when their parents forbid them from watching or listening to Elvis, that just makes them want to do it more. It s very counterproductive. Looking outside just groups of kids, controversy is captivating to the US people. The more controversial someone is, the more attention people will pay to them.

Elvis had a lasting effect on the United States that even continues to this day. His contributions to music, merchandising, and controversy have all influenced many facets of the world at large. All those fields would be very different if Elvis didn t break down barriers.

"Interview with Elvis Presley - Press Conference Canada 1957." June 24, 2006.http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/interview_elvis_presley.shtml 14 Wertheimer,Alfred. Elvis 1956. John Styron. New York: Welcome Books, 2009.

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Works Cited

"All About Elvis: Biography: 1935 - 1957. Pages 1-6" http://www.elvis.com/about-theking/biography_/1935_1954.aspx (accessed March 10, 2011).

Bienstock, Richard. "It's Now Or Never - Volbeat." Revolver, March 2010, 80-83.

Corliss, Richard. "Elvis: The Last Romantic." Aug. 15, 2007.http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1653366,00.html (accessed March 7, 2011)

Elvis by the Presleys. First ed. David Ritz. New York: Crown Publishers, 2005.

"Elvis Presley 1953-1955 : The Hillbilly Cat." http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/elvis_presley_1953_1955.html (accessed March 7, 2011).

Guralnick, Peter. "How Did Elvis Get Turned Into a Racist?." August 11, 2007.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/opinion/11guralnick.html?_r=4&pagewant ed=1 (accessed March 11, 2011).

"Interview with Elvis Presley - Press Conference Canada 1957." June 24, 2006.http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/interview_elvis_presley.shtml (accessed March 7, 2011).

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Tyrangiel, Josh. "The King Finds His Voice - 80 Days That Changed the World - TIME." March 31,2003.http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1977881_19778 87_1978217,00.html (accessed March 11, 2011).

Wertheimer,Alfred. Elvis 1956. John Styron. New York: Welcome Books, 2009.