Presley, Elvis 1935-1977

PRESLEY, ELVIS 1935-1977

Rock 'n' roll singer

A Revolutionized Industry

In 1956 the Record Industry Association of America reported a 43 percent increase in sales—$100 million—to $331 million per year. The average annual growth in sales over the previous year had been about 4 percent a year. The reason was that teenagers, stimulated by new stars, had begun buying records, the most exciting of which was Elvis Presley.

Birth

Elvis Aron Presley was born at home in a two-room shack on North Saltillo road in Tupelo, Mississippi, on 8 January 1935. His twin brother was stillborn. Not since Union general A. J. Smith defeated Nathan Forest there on 14 July 1864 had Tupelo witnessed such a portentous event. By the time he was twenty-one the boy, so famous that like kings and queens he was known by his first name only, would have an impact on American culture without parallel among entertainers in the history of America.

Old Shep

When Elvis was thirteen his family moved to Memphis, where the boy entered L. C. Humes High School. He was an indifferent student who demonstrated little potential and almost no talent, most teachers agreed, until his senior year. That was when Elvis sang "Old Shep" onstage and discovered the effect he could have on an audience.

Early Career

While he was still in school Elvis began hanging around the only professional recording studio in town, Sam Phillips's Sun Records. In 1954 he recorded a birthday song for his mother, and he helped out around the studio as much as he was allowed. That summer Phillips, who had been trying to find a white singer for black music, asked the boy to record a cover (a white version) of a song by black blues singer Arthur Crudup. The result was "That's All Right Mama," a rocking song for hip-hop dancers. For marketing reasons, Phillips suggested a country song for the flip side, so Elvis sang bluegrass originator Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon over Kentucky." Sun released the record and sent nineteen-year-old Elvis on the road to promote the country song. By September, Elvis had earned a spot on the Grand Ole Opry, the top live show in the South for country musicians. The manager was incensed by his performance of "Good Rockin' Tonight": "We don't do that nigger music around here. If I were you, I'd go back to driving a truck," he told Elvis.

Gabriel Parker

But there was no stopping Elvis Presley: he had audience appeal. Within a year he was on tour with country star Hank Snow playing for as many as fourteen thousand people a night at $250 a show. Then Elvis attracted the attention of Colonel Tom Parker, a flamboyant promoter in search of a client, and his life took a new direction. By November 1955 Parker had formally become Elvis's agent and had negotiated a deal with RCA to purchase Presley's recording and publishing contract from Sun Records. Within months RCA was selling seventy-five thousand copies of Elvis's records a day.

Spoils of Stardom

In 1956, RCA sold 10 million singles (forty-five RPM records) by Elvis, the largest annual sale ever of records by a single performer, and he earned $1 million in royalties alone. That same year Parker negotiated a three-movie film contract that brought Elvis $100,000 for the first movie, $150,000 for the second, and $200,000 for the third. In addition, he negotiated eighteen separate licenses for Elvis merchandise—including fan magazines, books, stuffed teddy bears and hound dogs—which grossed $55 million in 1956. Of that $55 million, Elvis got between 4 and 11 percent, depending on the product, and Colonel Parker got 50 percent. There had never been a star of Elvis's magnitude, and he was only twenty-one.

Ed Sullivan Show

In September 1956 Elvis played the "Ed Sullivan Show." His contract was for three performances at $50,000 each. Before the first performance people had heard of Elvis Presley, but they knew him only by reputation. That reputation was so strong that 82.6 percent of the viewing audience tuned in to see what the fuss was about, a record audience for Sullivan that stood until he presented the Beatles in 1964. By the third show Elvis was too popular to deny, but older viewers had begun to complain about the suggestiveness of his hip-shaking performance. When television cameras were for-bidden to show Elvis's pelvic gyrations, the Sullivan show demonstrated the principle that what is not seen is often sexier than full exposure. By that time he was the undisputed king of rock 'n' roll.

Acting

As an actor, Elvis ranged from bad to barely mediocre; as a screen idol, he was hard to match. During the 1950s he starred in four movies: Love Me Tender (1956), Jailhouse Rock (1957), Loving You (1957), and King Creole (1958). He played singing roles in all of these movies, of course, and the theaters were filled with his fans.

Memorable Tour

It was estimated that Elvis's income topped $10 million in 1957, and his stock seemed to be on the rise. Late in August 1957 Elvis began a twenty-performance tour of the West. Onstage he wore a ten thousand dollar outfit in gold and rhinestone, and he played before audiences of as many as 10,000 fans. It was a successful tour. Earnings were $375,000, a pittance by Elvis's standards, but the fans counted themselves fortunate for the rest of the decade. They saw Elvis on his last live concert tour until the 1970s.

Drafted

On 24 March 1958 Elvis was drafted. Army barbers cut his long hair, and he turned in his flashy clothes for uniforms of olive drab. He was in the army, and he followed army rules: no performances, no publicity", no exceptions. Within seven months he was in Germany, where he quietly served his two-year obligation. When he returned, the decade was over, and while he continued to achieve unmatched heights of celebrity and earned more money than any performer of his time, he was changed—more mature, more cautious, more cynical, less spontaneous, and flabbier. He had changed with the times.

Sources:

Marc Eliot, Rockonomics: The Money Behind the Music (New York: Watts, 1989);

Philip Ennis, The Seventh Stream: The Emergence of Rocknroll in American Popular Music (Hanover & London: Wesieyan University Press, 1992);

Albert Goldman, Elvis (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981).