Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley
BORN: January 8, 1935, Tupelo, MS
DIED: August 16, 1977, Memphis, TN
Elvis Presley may be the single most important figure in American 20th-century
popular music. Not necessarily the best, and certainly not the most consistent.
But no one could argue that he was not the musician most responsible for
popularizing rock & roll on an international level. Viewed in cold sales
figures, his impact was phenomenal. Dozens upon dozens of international smashes
from the mid-'50s to the mid-'70s, as well as the steady sales of his catalog
and reissues since his death in 1977, may make him the single highest-selling
performer in history.
More important from a music lover's perspective, however, are his remarkable
artistic achievements. Presley was not the very first White man to sing rhythm
and blues; Bill Haley predated him in that regard, and there may have been
others as well. Elvis was certainly the first, however, to assertively fuse
country and blues music into the style known as rockabilly. While rockabilly
arrangements were the foundations of his first (and possibly best) recordings,
Presley could not have become a mainstream superstar without a much more
varied palette that also incorporated pop, gospel, and even some bits of
bluegrass and operatic schmaltz here and there. His 1950s recordings established
the basic language of rock and roll; his explosive and sexual stage presence
set standards for the music's visual image; his vocals were incredibly powerful
and versatile.
Unfortunately, to much of the public, Elvis is more icon than artist. Innumerable
bad Hollywood movies, increasingly caricatured records and mannerisms, and
a personal life that became steadily more sheltered from real-world concerns
(and steadily more bizarre) gave his story a somewhat mythic status. By the
time of his death, he'd become more a symbol of gross Americana than of cultural
innovation. The continued speculation about his incredible career has sustained
interest in his life, and supported a large tourist/entertainment industry,
that may last indefinitely, even if the fascination is fueled more by his
celebrity than his music.
Born to a poor Mississippi family in the heart of Depression, Elvis had moved
to Memphis by his teens, where he absorbed the vibrant melting pot of Southern
popular music in the form of blues, country, bluegrass, and gospel. After
graduating from high school, he became a truck driver, rarely if ever singing
in public. Some 1953 and 1954 demos, recorded at the emerging Sun label in
Memphis primarily for Elvis' own pleasure, helped stir interest on the part
of Sun owner Sam Phillips. In mid-1954, Phillips, looking for a White singer
with a Black feel, teamed Presley with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist
Bill Black. Almost by accident, apparently, the trio hit upon a version of
an Arthur Crudup blues tune, "That's All Right Mama," that became Elvis'
first single.
Elvis' five Sun singles pioneered the blend of R&B and C&W that would
characterize rockabilly music. For quite a few scholars, they remain not
only Elvis' best singles, but the best rock and roll ever recorded. Claiming
that Elvis made blues acceptable for the White market is not the whole picture;
the singles usually teamed blues covers with country and pop ones, all made
into rock and roll (at this point a term that barely existed) with the pulsing
beat, slap-back echo, and Elvis' soaring, frenetic vocals. "That's All Right
Mama," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Baby Let's Play
House," and "Mystery Train" remain core early rock classics.
The singles sold well in the Memphis area immediately, and by 1955 were starting
to sell well to country audiences throughout the South. Presley, Moore, and
Black hit the road with a stage show that grew ever wilder and more provocative,
Elvis' swiveling hips causing enormous controversy. The move to all-out rock
was hastened by the addition of drums. The last Sun single, "I Forgot to
Remember Forget"/"Mystery Train," hit #1 on the national country charts in
late 1955. Presley was obviously a performer with superstar potential, attracting
the interest of bigger labels and Colonel Tom Parker, who became Elvis' manager.
In need of capital to expand the Sun label, Sam Phillips sold Presley's contract
to RCA in late 1955 for $35,000 -- a bargain, when viewed in hindsight, but
an astronomical sum at the time.
This is the point where musical historians start to diverge in opinion. For
many, the whole of his subsequent work for RCA -- encompassing over 20 years
-- was a steady letdown, never recapturing the pure, primal energy that was
harnessed so effectively on the handful of Sun singles. Elvis, however, was
not a purist. What he wanted, more than anything, was to be successful. To
do that, his material needed more of a pop feel; in any case, he'd never
exactly been one to disparage the mainstream, naming Dean Martin as one of
his chief heroes from the get-go. At RCA, his rockabilly was leavened with
enough pop flavor to make all of the charts, not just the country ones.
At the beginning, at least, the results were hardly any tamer than the Sun
sessions. "Heartbreak Hotel," his first single, rose to #1 and, aided by
some national television appearances, helped make Elvis an instant superstar.
"I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" was a #1 follow-up; the double-sided
monster "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" was one of the bigest-selling singles
the industry had ever experienced up to that point. Albums and EPs were also
chart-toppers, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world. The 1956 RCA
recordings, while a bit more sophisticated in production and a bit less rootsy
in orientation than his previous work, were still often magnificent, rating
among the best and most influential recordings of early rock and roll.
Elvis' (and Colonel Parker's) aspirations were too big to be limited to records
and live appearances. By late 1956, his first Hollywood movie, Love Me Tender,
had been released; other screen vehicles would follow in the next few years,
Jailhouse Rock being the best. The hits continued unabated, several of them
("Jailhouse Rock," "All Shook Up," "Too Much") excellent, and often benefiting
from the efforts of top early rock songwriter Otis Blackwell, as well as
the emerging team of Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller. The Jordanaires added both
pop and gospel elements with their smooth backup vocals.
Yet worrisome signs were creeping in. The Dean Martin influence began rearing
his head in smoky, sentimental ballads such as "Loving You"; the vocal swoops
became more exaggerated and stereotypical, although the overall quality of
his output remained high. And although Moore and Black continued to back
Elvis on his early RCA recordings, within a few years the musicians had gone
their own ways.
Presley's recording and movie careers were interrupted by his induction into
the Army in early 1958. There was enough material in the can to flood the
charts throughout his two-year absence (during which he largely served in
Germany). When he re-entered civilian life in 1960, his popularity, remarkably,
was at just as high a level as when he left.
One couldn't, unforunately, say the same for the quality of his music, which
was not just becoming more sedate, but was starting to either repeat itself,
or opt for operatic ballads that didn't have a whole lot to do with rock.
Elvis' rebellious, wild image had been tamed to a large degree as well, as
he and Parker began designing a career built around Hollywood films. Shortly
after leaving the Army, in fact, Presley gave up live performing altogether
for nearly a decade to concentrate on movie-making. The films, in turn, would
serve as vehicles to both promote his records and to generate maximum revenue
with minimal effort. For the rest of the '60s, Presley ground out two or
three movies a year that, while mostly profitable, had little going for them
in the way of story, acting, or social value.
While there were some quality efforts on Presley's early '60s albums, his
discography was soon dominated by forgettable soundtracks, mostly featuring
material that was dispensable or downright ridiculous. In time he became
largely disinterested in devoting much time to his craft in the studio. The
soundtrack LPs themselves were sometimes filled out with outtakes that had
been in the can for years (and these, sadly, were often the highlights of
the albums). There were some good singles in the early '60s, like "Return
to Sender"; once in a while there was even a flash of superb, tough rock,
like "Little Sister," or "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame." But by 1963
or so there was little to get excited about, although he continued to sell
in large quantities.
The era spanning, roughly, 1962-67 has generated a school of Elvis apologists,
eager to wrestle any kernel of quality that emerged from his recordings during
this period. They also point out that Presley was assigned poor material,
and assert that Colonel Parker was largely responsible for Presley's emasculation.
True to a point, but on the other hand it could be claimed, with some validity,
that Presley himself was doing little to rouse himself from his artistic
stupor, letting Parker destroy his artistic credibility without much apparent
protest, and holing up in his large mansion with a retinue of yes-men that
protected their benefactor from much day-to-day contact with a fast-changing
world.
The Beatles, all big Elvis fans, displaced Presley as the biggest rock act
in the world in 1964. What's more, they did so by writing their own material
and playing their own instruments -- something Elvis had never been capable
of, or particularly aspired to. They, and the British and American groups
the Beatles influenced, were not shy about expressing their opinions, experimenting
musically, and taking the reins of their artistic direction into their own
hands. The net effect was to make Elvis Presley, still churning out movies
in Hollywood as psychedelia and soul music became the rage, seem irrelevant,
even as he managed to squeeze out an obscure Dylan cover ("Tomorrow is a
Long Time") on a 1966 soundtrack album.
By 1967 and 1968, there were slight stirrings of an artistic reawakening
by Elvis. Singles like "Guitar Man," "Big Boss Man," and "U.S. Male," though
hardly classics, were at least genuine rock and roll that sounded better
than much of what he'd been turning out for years. A 1968 television special
gave Presley the opportunity he needed to reinvent himself as an all-out
leather-coated rocker, still capable of magnetizing an audience, and eager
to revisit his blues and country roots.
The 1968 album Elvis in Memphis was the first LP in nearly a decade in which
Presley seemed cognizant of current trends, as he updated his sounds with
contemporary compositions and touches of soul to create some reasonably gutsy
late '60s pop-rock. This material, and 1969 hits like "Suspicious Minds"
and "In the Ghetto," returned him to the top of the charts. Arguably, it's
been overrated by critics, who were so glad to have him singing rock again
that they weren't about to carp about the slickness of some of the production,
or the mediocrity of some of the songwriting.
But Elvis' voice did sound good, and he returned to live performing in 1969,
breaking in with weeks of shows in Las Vegas. This was followed by national
tours that proved him to still be an excellent live entertainer, even if
the exercises often reeked of show-biz extravaganza. (Elvis never did play
outside of North America and Hawaii, possibly because Colonel Parker, it
was later revealed, was an illegal alien who could have faced serious problems
if he traveled abroad.) Hollywood was history, but studio and live albums
were generated at a rapid pace, usually selling reasonably well, although
Presley never had a Top Ten hit after 1972's "Burning Love."
Presley's 1970s recordings, like most of his '60s work, are the focus of
divergent critical opinion. Some declare them to be, when Elvis was on, the
equal of anything he did, especially in terms of artistic diversity. It's
true that the material was pretty eclectic, running from country to blues
to all-out rock to gospel (Presley periodically recorded gospel-only releases,
going all the way back to 1957). At the same time, his vocal mannerisms were
often stilted, and the material -- though not nearly as awful as that '60s
soundtrack filler -- sometimes substandard. Those who are not serious Elvis
fans will usually find this late-period material to hold only a fraction
of the interest of his '50s classics.
Elvis' final years have been the subject of a cottage industry of celebrity
bios, tell-alls, and gossip screeds from those who knew him well, or (more
likely) purported to know him well. Those activities are really beyond the
scope of a mini-bio such as this, but it's enough to note that his behavior
was becoming increasingly instable. His weight fluctuated wildly; his marriage
broke up; he became dependent upon a variety of prescription drugs. Worst
of all, he became isolated from the outside world except for professional
purposes (he continued to tour until the end), rarely venturing outside of
his Graceland mansion in Memphis. Colonel Parker's financial decisions on
behalf of his client have also come in for much criticism.
On August 16, 1977, Presley was found dead in Graceland. The cause of death
remains a subject of widespread speculation, although it seems likely that
drugs played a part. An immediate cult (if cult is the way to describe millions
of people) sprang up around his legacy, kept alive by the hundreds of thousands
of visitors that make the pilgrimage to Graceland annually. Elvis memorabilia,
much of it kitsch, is another industry in his own right. Dozens if not hundreds
make a comfortable living by impersonating the King in live performance.
And then there are all those Elvis sightings, reported in tabloids on a seemingly
weekly basis.
Although Presley had recorded a mammoth quantity of both released and unreleased
material for RCA, the label didn't show much interest in repackaging it with
the respect due such a pioneer. Haphazard collections of outtakes and live
performances were far rarer than budget reissues and countless repackagings
of the big hits. In the CD age, RCA finally began to treat the catalog with
some of the reverence it deserved, at long last assembling a box set containing
nearly all of the 1950s recordings. Similar, although less exciting, box
sets were documenting the 1960s, the 1970s, and his soundtrack recordings.
And exploitative reissues of Elvis material continue to appear constantly,
often baited with one or two rare outtakes or alternates to entice the completists
(of which there are many). In death, as in life, Presley continues to be
one of RCA's most consistent earners. Fortunately, with a little discretion,
a good Elvis library can be built with little duplication, sticking largely
to the most highly recommended selections below. ~ Richie Unterberger, All
Music Guide
The only rock star ever to enjoy prolonged success on the silver screen,
Elvis Presley was a phenomenon the likes of whom will never be seen again.
His impact remains incalculable, and it could easily be argued that no figure
of the postwar era exerted a greater or more far-reaching influence on popular
culture. It is fashionable to bash his 31 feature films, and indeed they
pale in comparison to Richard Lester's features with the Beatles, to name
just one example. However, the continuing importance of rock & roll in
film -- not only as a subject matter but also as an essential component of
soundtracks and scores -- seems inconceivable had Presley not first made
the music both commercially viable and culturally palatable. His movies were
made and marketed solely for his fans, and they responded in droves. By extension,
he created a youth market which, despite myriad generational changes, remains
essentially the same decades later, and all other pop musicians turned movie
stars, from Prince to Madonna to the Spice Girls, have followed in his footsteps.
The details of Presley's early years have passed into mythology: Born January
8, 1935, in Tupelo, MS, he grew up in abject poverty, later working as a
truck driver for the Memphis-based Crown Electric company. As a gift for
his mother, he recorded an acetate demo which brought him to the attention
of Sun Records owner Sam Phillips, who soon brought him back to the studio
to record with area musicians Scotty Moore and Bill Black. From the release
of his first single, "That's All Right, Mama," Presley was a juggernaut;
he later moved to the RCA label and there became a national phenomenon, widely
credited with popularizing the burgeoning rock & roll movement. Hollywood
was immediately interested, and his manager, the notorious Colonel Tom Parker,
signed contracts with the likes of 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and MGM without
Presley even appearing before the camera. His pictures were tailored exclusively
to his needs, with bare-bones plots, exotic locales, beautiful co-stars,
and numerous musical numbers. The first, 1956's Love Me Tender, was a Civil
War-era Western that became one of the year's biggest hits and launched a
Number One single with its title track.
Presley's next film, 1957's Jailhouse Rock, was one of his best, thanks to
its imaginative production numbers. It was followed by Loving You and then
1958's King Creole, a rare attempt at a more substantial offering -- in this
case, an adaptation of the Harold Robbins novel A Stone for Danny Fisher.
When it was announced that Presley had been inducted into the Army, many
predicted career disaster, but he resurfaced in 1960 bigger than ever with
G.I. Blues. By now, he had stopped performing live to concentrate almost
solely on films; even the majority of his albums were soundtrack recordings.
Throughout the decade, Presley made two or three films annually, all essentially
variations on the same formula; in no less than three different films --
1964's Viva Las Vegas, 1966's Spinout, and 1968's Speedway -- he even played
a race car driver. In 1969, he attempted to change his image by playing a
dramatic role in Charro!, but in the wake of the Summer of Love his popularity
as both a singer and an actor were on the wane. He then played a doctor in
A Change of Habit, but it was his last film role. In the 1970s, Presley returned
to live performance, and his popularity surged; however, years of drug abuse
took their toll, and he died August 16, 1977. He remains more popular today
than ever before. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide