The Early Years
Elvis Aron Presley was born in a two-room house on January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi to Vernon Elvis Presley and Gladys Love Smith. His twin brother, Jesse Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child. Vernon and Gladys decided to give Elvis the middle name Aron with one A so he will always have a part of Jesse Garon. The first step toward a musical career occurred when young Elvis at the age of nine recieved second place at a local singing contest singing the Red Foley ballad, "Old Shep". Many of his early musical influences came from attending the Pentecostal Church and listening to the psalms and gospel songs.
When Elvis was 13 years old in 1948, he and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. In 1949 the family moved to Lauderdale Courts public housing development which was near musical and cultural influences like Beale Street, Ellis Auditorium and the Popular Tunes record store, along with the Sun Studio about a mile away. While in high school, Elvis took up the guitar and practiced in the basement laundry room at Lauderdale Courts. He played gigs in the malls and courtyards of the Courts with other musicians who lived there. After high school he worked at Precision Tool Company, then drove a truck for the Crown Electric Company.
The Years of Stardom
In the summer of 1953, Presley paid $4 to record the first of two double-sided demo acetates at Sam Phillips' Sun Studios, which was a birthday gift for his mother. On the demo was the two popular ballads of the time, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". In June of 1954, after hearing Elvis' demo, Sun Records founder Sam Phillips and assistant Marion Keisker asked Elvis to fill in for a missing ballad singer. Sam Phillips then put Elvis together with local musicians Scotty Moore and Bill Black to see what might develop. On July 5, 1954, during a rehearsal break, Elvis began singing "That's All Right", a song written by Arthur Crudup. Presley saw something in Presley that he has always dreamed finding; "a white boy with a negro sound". Elvis recorded "That's All Right" and Phillips released it as a 78RPM single backed with Elvis' hopped-up version of bill Monroe's bluegrass song "Blue Moon Of Kentucky". Memphis radio station 'WHBQ' began airing it two days later, and the record became a local hit. It was then that Elvis began touring and expanding his popularity far beyond the state of Tennesee.
For his second single, Presley recorded Roy Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight" backed by the "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine". The more roots-influenced "Milkcow Blues Boogie" followed, backed with, "You're A Heartbreaker". "Baby Let's Play House"/"I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" continued the momentum and led to country music star Hank Snow arranging to have Elvis perform at Nashville's Grand Ol' Opry. His performance was received well by the audience. He continued to tour the southern States. On October 16, 1954, he made his first appearance on Louisiana Hayride , which was a radio broadcast of live country music in Shreveport, Louisiana, and was a hit with the large audience. Presley was signed to a one-year contract for a weekly performance, during which time he was introduced to Colonel Tom Parker. This helped sales of his records as his releases began to reach the top of the country charts.
On August 15, 1955, Elvis Presley was signed by a management company jointly owned by singer Hank Snow and Colonel Tom Parker called "Hank Snow Attractions". Colonel Parker took full control shortly after and, recognizing the limitations of Sun Studios, negotiated a deal with RCA Records on November 21, 1955. Then two New York City recording companies for Presley's music were immediately established.
Understanding the commercial value for any composer having their song recorded by Presley, Parker was able to demand they share their royalties with the singer. Parker, being a master promoter who wasted no time in marketing Presley's image, licensed everything from guitars to cookware. After being approached by the Hollywood Studios, Parker eventually negotiated a multi-picture seven-year contract that shifted Presley's focus from music to movies. Under the terms of his contract, Presley earned a fee for performing plus a percentage of the profits on the films, most of which were huge moneymakers. In March of 1957 Elvis bought his famous Graceland Mansion for himslef, his parents, and his paternal grandmother to live in.
On December 20, 1957, Elvis Aron Presley received his draft notice for a 2-year service with the U.S. Army. On March 24, 1958, he was inducted into the Army at the Memphis Draft Board. Elvis received no special treatment and was widely praised for not avoiding service or serving part time in easy domestic positions such as the Special Services. The media speculated on whether or not two years out of the limelight would damage to his career. During his service, Elvis met Walter Alden, who was a sergeant and in charge of public relations. Years later Elvis would date Alden's daughter, Ginger.
Presley sailed to Europe on the USS General George M. Randall and served in Germany as sergeant. He was stationed in Friedberg for 18 months, maintaining an off-base residence in Bad Nauheim, shared with his father and grandmother, and some friends from Memphis. He found the fans in Europe to be as enthusiastic as those in America. Elvis had many interviews off-camera via trans-Atlantic telephone by Dick Clark on his American Bandstand show on ABC-TV. The show commemorated the star’s twenty-fourth birthday. Meanwhile, Colonel Parker continued to keep Elvis’ career alive with promotions and hit record releases.
In November of 1959, Captain Joseph Beaulieu was transferred from Texas to Weisbaden Air Force Base near Friedberg and was accompanied by his wife and children, including his fourteen-and-a-half- year-old stepdaughter, Priscilla Ann. Through a mutual friend, Priscilla was invited to a party at Elvis’ home soon after her arrival in Germany. Elvis returned to the United States on March 2, 1960 and was honorably discharged on March 5th.
Elvis had his first post-army recording session in late March of 1960. Some of the recording work was for the album Elvis is Back!, which hit number two on the Billboard pop chart. On March 21 he received his first degree black belt in karate, an interest he developed while in the army. On March 26 he taped a special "Welcome Home, Elvis" edition of Frank Sinatra’s ABC-TV variety show, for which he was paid $125,000, a record sum for a variety show appearance at the time, and by late April he began filming and recording his first post-army movie "GI Blues" for Paramount, and filmed many more all throughout the 1960's and with them recorded soundtracks. In December of 1966 Elvis Presley proposed to his long time girlfriend Priscilla Beaulieu. The couple got married May 1, 1967 in front of a small group of family and friends at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. They honeymooned in Palm Springs for a few days. On February 1, 1968 Elvis and Priscilla's first and only child is born; Lisa Marie. Then in December of 1971 the couple separate and Priscilla and Lisa Marie move out.
The Last Years
After seven years off the top of the charts, Elvis' song "Suspicious Minds " hit No. 1 on the Billboard music charts on November 1, 1969. This was the last time any song by Presley hit #1 on the Hot 100, although "Burning Love" got as high as #2 in September 1972, and "A Little Less Conversation" topped the Hot Singles Sales chart in 2002. He still reached #1 on charts around the world. For example, "In The Ghetto" hit #1 in West Germany in 1969, and "The Wonder Of You" reached #1 in the UK in 1970. The "Aloha From Hawaii " concert in January 1973 was the first of its kind to be broadcast worldwide via satellite and his biggest audience ever. The soundtrack album was another #1 disc.
"Way Down" was racing up the American Country charts in 1977, and hit #1 on that very chart the week he died (Presley recorded a number of country hits in his final years). It also topped the UK pop charts at the same time. Between 1969 and 1977 he gave over 1,000 sold-out performances in Las Vegas and on tour. He was the first artist to have four shows in a row sold to capacity at New York's Madison Square Garden. During the mid-1970s Elvis became increasingly isolated, battling an addiction to his perscribed sleeping pills and its resulting toll on his appearance, health and performances. Elvis Presley made his last live concert appearance in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Market Square Arena on June 26, 1977. Elvis died in his Graceland Mansion on August 16, 1977. The cause of death is said to be heart failure.