Elvis Presley Research Paper

What’s better about Rock ‘n’ Roll than the king himself, Elvis Presley? Elvis Presley became “the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” very quickly in his career once he released his first song “That’s All Right (Mama)” on July 5, 1954 (Nix). In a two-room house in East Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935 Elvis Presley and his stillborn brother Jesse were born. Elvis grew up an only child in a poor but very loving family (Nix). On January 8, 1936 Elvis’s mother gave him his first guitar for his 11th birthday (Biography.com). In a search for better jobs and opportunities the Presley family moved to Memphis, Mississippi in 1948 (Nix). In Memphis Elvis attended Humes High School (rollingstone.com). While Elvis attended Humes High he failed his music class

Elvis Began to wear his hair long because he planned and being a truck driver and that was the current style.The summer of 1953 he recorded “Thats Where Your Heartaches Begin” and “My Happiness”. Evis was very disappointed in how he sounded. January 4th, 1954 Elvis recorded “I’ll Never Stand in Your Way” and “Casual Love Affair”. A man named Phillips had Elvis do a demo “Without You” and after numerous takes Elvis was horrible at it. So Evis just began singing songs in the studio and that’s when Phillips realized what he was looking for “ a white man with the Negro sound and the Negro feel.” July 5, 1954 lead guitarist Scotty Moore, bassist Bill Black and Elvis recorded “I Love You Because,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” and “Big Boy.” After playing local shows Elvis performed his first and last time at the Grand Ole Opry on September 25th, 1954. According to legend, after the show he was advised by the Opry's talent coordinator to go back to driving trucks

March 1957 Elvis purchased Graceland, which once was a church and was turned into a 23 room mansion for $102,500. Graceland became Elvis’s home base for two decades. Elvis was the first rock star to crossover and act in films with consistently commercial, if not critical success. Elvis released his second Loving You in July 1957 (rollingstone.com). In December of 1957 Elvis received his draft notice for military. 60 days later he joined the army. After a few months he took leave to see his ill mother and the day after he arrived home she died August 14, 1958. After that he was shipped to Bremerhaven, West Germany and promoted to sergeant (rollingstone.com). While he was in Germany, he met 14 year old Priscilla Beaulieu and later married in 1967 (Nix). March 1960 Elvis was discharged (rollingstone.com). In July of 1960 Elvis’s father remarried and his wife had three sons, which end of writing his song “We Love You Tender”(rollingstone.com). In 1964 Elvis bought the Potomac for $55,000. A 165 foot long vessel that served as the “floating white house” for FDR. Later he donated the Potomac to St. Jude’s Children Hospital, which later sold it to raise money(nix). After performing on March 25, 1961 at a benefit for the USS Arizona, Elvis left the concert stage. During the next eight years he made tons of B movies. By the mid sixties Elvis was making $1 million per movie and a large percentage