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Elvis Presley

May 15, 2014 by strictlyrock Leave a Comment

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On January 8th 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, rock and roll royalty was born, Elvis Aaron Presley. Due to the fact that his father Vernon needed work, in 1948 Elvis relocated to Memphis, Tennessee with his family. Elvis graduated from L. C. Humes High School in 1953, and soon after, needing a birthday present to give to his mother, went to Memphis Recording Service to record two songs. He recorded “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.” Later he returned to record “Casual Love Affair” and I’ll Never Stand In Your Way” and met Sam Philips who was the owner of Sun Records. Philips was impressed by Elvis’s voice, and after a few recording sessions that were less than stellar, paired him with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black with the hopes that playing with others would help Elvis “find his voice.” Philips was right, and in July of 1954, with the accompaniment of Morore and Black, “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and “That’s All Right” became Elvis’ first singles.

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The very next day Elvis performed for the first time publicly. Appropriately enough, seeing as he had been working as a truck driver previously, Elvis sang on the back of a flatbed truck. About a month later “Colonel” Tom Parker became Elvis’ manager, which was a relationship that would continue for the rest of Elvis’ life. Although Elvis’ was becoming more popular by the day, on November 20th 1955, Sam Phillips sold Presley’s recording contract, along with all his previously recorded material, to RCA for a mere $35,000. Despite the fact that his first 5 singles didn’t break into the charts, “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” becomes #1 on the country charts. Ironically, this is Presley’s first single for RCA, and his last for Sun. His next single, “Heartbreak Hotel,” becomes universally popular and holds down the #1 spot on the charts for 8 straight weeks. Four months later Presley releases a double-sided single, which includes the songs “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog.” It is immensely popular and sits in the #1 spot for 11 weeks. At this point it’s safe to say that Elvis is a superstar.

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Now about as famous as anyone can possibly hope to become in the world of music, Presley lands his first movie role in “Love Me Tender.” Earlier in the year Presley had performed the song “Love Me Tender” on the Ed Sullivan Show and attracted and estimated TV audience of a mind-blowing 54 million viewers. Given the fact that televisions weren’t nearly as common as they are today this is an almost unfathomable number. Not surprisingly over the next year Elvis releases some of his most famous songs including “Jailhouse Rock,” “Hound Dog,” and “All Shook Up,” and continues his acting career which will include 30 more movie roles. Presley’s success seems unstoppable, and virtually was, but on December 19th 1957 Presley is drafted into the US Army where he serves 2 years in Germany. During his tour Elvis meets his future wife Priscilla, whom he marries 8 and a half years later. The couple has a daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, who is born on February 1st 1968.

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After being out of the music scene for sometime, due to his service in the military and acting career, Presley needs a way to get back into the public’s eye. On December 8th 1968, NBC airs a hour-long special simply titled “Elvis.” It is a huge success and Presley reclaims his throne as the King of Rock and Roll. On July 31st 1969 with guitarist and bandleader James Burton, Elvis returns to performing. He performs in Las Vegas for capacity crowds and on the road. Unfortunately his personal life isn’t going as well as his professional one and in 1973 he and wife Priscilla divorce. The divorce takes a very big toll on Presley, and an unhealthy diet along with increasing drug problems cause his health and physical appearance to quickly deteriorate. On June 26th 1977 Presley’s performance at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana, would be his final one. On August 16th 1977 Presley dies of cardiac arrest.

Elvis Presley is the biggest thing to happen to music in modern history. He is the poster boy for Rock and Roll, and is the scale on which every other performer to proceed him can be measured. Between October 2005 and October 2006 Elvis’ estate earned 42 million dollars, which makes him second only to Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain on Forbes’ top earning dead celebrities list. His popularity as a musician and pop culture icon does not seem to fade with time and it’s hard to see a way that a performer in this day and age could rise to the level of his stardom. At this point the memory of Elvis has almost become larger and more fantastic than the man himself. He is an intricate part of music history and a part of Americana itself. He is the King of Rock.

 

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100 Greatest Rock & Roll Bands

  1. The Beatles
  2. The Rolling Stones
  3. Led Zeppelin
  4. Jimi Hendrix
  5. Elvis Presley
  6. The Who
  7. U2
  8. Pink Floyd
  9. The Doors
  10. The Police
  11. Elton John
  12. Metallica
  13. AC/DC
  14. Van Halen
  15. Nirvana
  16. Guns N' Roses
  17. Santana
  18. The Allman Brothers Band
  19. Bon Jovi
  20. David Bowie
  21. Grateful Dead
  22. Rush
  23. Yes
  24. Black Sabbath
  25. Bob Dylan
  26. James Brown
  27. The Beach Boys
  28. Eric Clapton
  29. Fleetwood Mac
  30. The Eagles
  31. Bob Marley
  32. Van Morrison
  33. Bruce Springsteen
  34. The Clash
  35. Queen
  36. Janis Joplin
  37. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  38. R.E.M.
  39. The Kinks
  40. Steely Dan
  41. Steve Miller Band
  42. Jethro Tull
  43. Tool
  44. The Scorpions
  45. Coldplay
  46. Stone Temple Pilots
  47. Rod Stewart
  48. Marilyn Manson
  49. Creedence Clearwater Revival
  50. KISS
  51. The Pretenders
  52. Green Day
  53. Aerosmith
  54. Tina Turner
  55. Pearl Jam
  56. Ted Nugent
  57. Pantera
  58. Motörhead
  59. Judas Priest
  60. ZZ Top
  61. Megadeth
  62. Motley Crue
  63. Alice Cooper
  64. Def Leppard
  65. Iron Maiden
  66. Billy Idol
  67. Journey
  68. Anthrax
  69. Rage Against the Machine
  70. Blue Oyster Cult
  71. Alice in Chains
  72. Genesis
  73. Red Hot Chili Peppers
  74. Chuck Berry
  75. Buddy Holly
  76. Little Richard
  77. Elvis Costello
  78. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  79. Sex Pistols
  80. Cream
  81. Frank Zappa
  82. Talking Heads
  83. Stevie Ray Vaughan
  84. Billy Joel
  85. The Band
  86. Ramones
  87. Lynyrd Skynyrd
  88. Jerry Lee Lewis
  89. Doobie Brothers
  90. Foo Fighters
  91. The Cure
  92. Soundgarden
  93. Iggy Pop
  94. Peter Gabriel
  95. The Byrds
  96. Traffic
  97. Deep Purple
  98. Blondie
  99. Velvet Underground
  100. Heart

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