Elvis Presley Research Paper

Did you know Elvis Presley was named musical star of the year in 1977. He also won the three grammys over his life and had 40 gold records. When he was young growing up in mississippi he loved music, towards the middle of his life he was at the center of music, and even after his death he was still one of the greatest musicians of all time. To truly understand Elvis Presley, one must understand his early, middle, and later life.

To truly understand Elvis Presley one must first understand his early life. Elvis Presley was born on Jan. 8th, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi to his parents Vernon and Gladys Presley(Watson 12, 13). The Presley family grew up poor and his mom worked multiple jobs. One year when money was scarce his dad committed check

While working for the electric company in 1953 he went to a recording studio to record a song for his moms birthday, while recording the song the studio producer noticed him and said if he found a song that he wanted Elvis to sing he would make him a singer(Watson 24, 25). Not soon after he got his chance and recorded his first hit in 1954, the same day he got an on air interview because of how popular the song had became (Watson 26-29). Soon after he began performing in local bars around towns (Elvis, ULX ). In July he released his first hit single (Watson 28) and his song “that's alright momma” got #3 in Memphis (Elvis, ULX ). He started on tour going through little towns in july, then in Oct. he played at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville (Watson 29,30,31). The reviews from the show was not what Elvis expected, as his dance moves were criticized for not being age appropriate, but soon after he was contacted by a radio station to play a song for them (Watson 31, 32). While playing on the radio he caught the attention of RCA records who signed a contract with him in 1955 (Elvis, ULX ), in that contract an man named D.J. Bob Neal became his manager (Watson 34). In the time between 1955 and 1956 Elvis wrote and performed “Heartbreak Hotel” and the song “Hound Dog” (Elvis, ULX ). At the end of 1955 a man named Col. Parker became Elvises new manager and took 25% of all of Elvis's earnings (Watson 37, 38). 1956

As he was about to be deployed to Germany he got word that his mother was on her deathbed and was granted leave to go see her, despite the doctors efforts she died later that year (Watson 60-61). After the funeral in October he was sent to Germany to drive tanks in the !st Medium Tank Battalion (Watson 61-62). During Elvis's time in the military he lost his popularity in the U.S. due to his absence (Elvis, ULX ). He also met his girlfriend while in germany who he later proposed to in 1966 (Watson 72). After his time in the military ended he left Germany to go back home to Tennessee in 1960 (Watson