ELVIS PRESLEY

Decades Project:1950's

Most people believe that talented singers and movie stars are people who have trained all there lives and taken expensive voice lessons. This however, was not the case with the biggest music representative in the nineteen fifties Elvis Presley. He was born in an extremely poor home in Tupelo, Mississippi and taught himself to play the guitar without reading music and he also sung in the local church choir. It wasn't until he decided to record "My Happiness" and "That's When the Heartaches Began" for his mothers birthday that the owner of Sun Records Sam Philips recognized his talent and helped him expand his fame and become "the King" of rock and roll.
Throughout Elvis' career his accomplishments have far surpassed any other rock and roll singer and actor thus far in our history. Elvis' first record "That's All Right," a huge local hit, was able to spread his fame beyond Tennessee. Many hit records followed and as Elvis' popularity grew he became part of Sun Records "Million Dollar Quartet" which included Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Love. He began to appear on many television shows including the Ed Sullivan Show on September 9, 1956 where over 52 million people turned in. As Elvis's popularity grew throughout the 1950's so did the thoughts of Presleys music and dancing.
After Elvis sang "Hound Dog" on the Steve Allen Show people began to notice his shaking of the hips with the swiveling of the knees and began to receive the nickname "Elvis the Pelvis." This new nickname led parents to believe that, this new style of music would have a terrible influence on their children. While teenagers thought his moves were "conservative" and were a way to go against their parents believes. No longer would Elvis' moves be hidden from the television screen.
Elvis' music brought people of the 1950's together, making a positive impact on the nation. His rock'n'roll music was favorable to all races; it was a combination of rhythm and blues, country music and gospel.
After 1955, Elvis would never reach his peak again. After enrolling into the Army his fame was still great but his music would never be the same. In 1977 Elvis would die of an accidental drug overdose. Although Elvis was no longer alive his music lived on and some of his greatest hits are still on the top of the charts.

Works Cited For Representative American, Elvis Presley
Wikipedia Encyclopedia."Elvis Presley." On-line. Internet. 21 March. 2003. Available HTTP://www.wikipedia.org/wikiElvis_Presley

Jon Weiner"Presley, Elvis" On-line. Internet. 21 March. 2003. Available HTTP://www.historychannel.com/perl/print_bool.pl?ID=35578

Rich, Candace "Elvis Presly the Early Years" Fifties Web Jan 2, 2003. On-line. Internet.
Available HTTP://www.fiftiesweb.com/elvis.htmUnknown "Presley, Elvis" On-line. Internet. 21 March. 2003 Available HTTP://search.biography.com/print-record.pl?id=18571