ELVIS PRESLEY - Jim Colyer

"Before Elvis, there was nothing," said John Lennon. He was referring to music. We all know the cosmos, world and humankind existed before Elvis Presley. Lennon was right, though. Modern music began with Elvis Presley. Before Elvis, music was meaningless and worthless. Elvis was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His parents were Vernon and Gladys Presley. There was a twin brother who died at birth. Elvis grew up in the two-room house that Vernon built. He was close to his mother, a relationship that defined his personality. His family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when Elvis was 13. They moved into the projects. Elvis was a misfit in high school. He wore flashy clothes and hung out on Beale Street. He listened to black musicians play the blues. He had natural rhythm. After high school, he took a job driving a truck for an electric company. He decided to record a song as a gift to his mother. He went to Sun Records in Memphis. Sun Records was owned by Sam Phillips. Marion Keisker, who worked for Phillips, saw something in Elvis. She suggested to Phillips that he work with him. Sam Phillips put Elvis with guitar player Scotty Moore, bassist Bill Black and drummer D.J. Fontana. The result was That's Alright Mamma. Memphis radio stations picked it up. Other recordings for Sun followed, and Elvis quickly caught on across the south. Girls loved him. They screamed and swooned. Parents hated him. They thought he sounded black. They detested his gyrations and called him vulgar. The new music was called rock & roll. The older generation called it everything from "nigger music" to "devil's music." They said it caused juvenile delinquency. Sam Phillips launched a second act, Jerry Lee Lewis. Lewis pounded his piano and sang Great Balls Of Fire with the intensity of a wild man. Little Richard and Chuck Berry released records that defined the core of rock and roll. It was a musical revolution. RCA in New York purchased Elvis Presley's contract from Sam Phillips for $35,000. They got a bargain. Elvis had his first number one record in January, 1956, with Heartbreak Hotel. Other number ones followed: Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel, All Shook Up, Jailhouse Rock, Too Much, Teddy Bear. Elvis appeared on television, the Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan shows. Sullivan insisted that he only be shown from the waist up. It added fuel to the fire. Hollywood beckoned. Elvis made his first movie, Love Me Tender. In two years, Elvis Presley laid the foundation for the music that would dominate the next half century and beyond. Elvis was drafted into the U.S. Army in March, 1958. He received a deferment to finish King Creole, considered by critics to be his best film. The draft was a reality in the 1950s. Young men were expected to serve their country and relished the opportunity. Elvis did his basic training at Fort Hood in Texas. While he was at Fort Hood, his mother died. He never fully recovered from her death. Elvis was in armor. He worked with tanks. He got orders for Germany. In Germany, he met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu. Priscilla would become his wife and the mother of his daughter. Elvis' two years in the Army were something he and his fans remained proud of. Despite his fame, he was not given special treatment. He was one of the guys. He pulled K.P. Elvis was discharged in March, 1960. Music had changed. It was calmer. Elvis' first record as a civilian was Stuck On You. It had a sexual edge and went number one. It's Now Or Never Came out that summer. It was operatic. It proved Elvis could sing. Having served in the Army and mellowed, the older generation began to accept him. He starred in G.I. Blues with Juliet Prowse. Part two of Elvis career blossomed. These were the movies years. He made Viva Las Vegas with Ann-Margret. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, controlled his career. Parker saw Elvis as a money-making machine. As long as the movies made money, they kept making them. Each one was worse than the one before it. Elvis' last number one record in this period was the somewhat bland Good Luck Charm. Elvis resembled a cardboard cut-out as The Beatles from England burned up the charts and redefined rock music. He married Priscilla in 1967. Their daughter, Lisa Marie, was born 9 months later. Renaissance came at the end of 1968. Elvis did a Comeback Special for television. He sat in the round with his buddies and went through the early hits. At the show's end, he appeared in a white suit and sang a song called If I Can Dream. It fit the times, the rough years of the late 1960s with their Civil Rights, Vietnam War and counter culture. Elvis came off as a preacher with a message in his third and final incarnation. Suspicious Minds was his first number one in 7 years. He played The International Hotel in Las Vegas. It was a success. He gave up the movies and went back on the road. He donned bell bottoms and white jump suits. Legendary guitarist James Burton joined his band. Burning Love went to number 2 in 1972. Then, things began to slide. Divorce may have been the chief cause. Elvis was playing around, and Priscilla went off with her karate instructor. It was a blow. Aloha from Hawaii in 1973 was his last big hurrah. Elvis always had a special relationship with Hawaii, and his passion was evident in this show. American Trilogy reeks with pathos. Elvis died suddenly on August 16, 1977. He was 42. It was hard to believe. For baby boomers, there had always been Elvis Presley. Everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news. I was sitting on a bed watching televison in a hotel in Springfield, Virgina close to Washington, D.C. Thousands gathered at the Graceland mansion in Memphis to show their grief and pay their respect. As time went on, a darker image of Elvis emerged. His former bodyguards wrote a tell-all book. The karate, prescription drugs, divorce, weight gain and sad songs took their toll. Elvis was apparently miserble in his last days. He had everything that a 21-year-old wanted, nothing that a 42-year-old wanted. Nonetheless, he was the man who changed the course of music. He was the man who caused The Beatles. The Elvis legacy survives in a hit Broadway musical, "All Shook Up." A light-hearted story was written around 25 Elvis tunes. A Roustabout rides into town on his motorcycle and teaches people to be hip. Genders bend, and races blend.
Contact: jim@jimcolyer.com