Elvis Presley . Famed American rock and roll singer and actor. He recorded 75 studio albums from 1956 until the year of his death in 1977 , including 22 soundtracks for his films, several compilations and 8 live albums. He shot more than thirty films including several documentaries of his tours and / or concerts.
Biographical synthesis
Childhood and youth
Born into a modest family, young Elvis Presley was forced to work from an early age. At the age of eleven, and at his insistence, his parents gave him his first guitar. In 1948 , his family moved to Memphis , one of the centers of musical activity in the country. After graduating from high school, Elvis worked as a tractor driver for an electricity company, until one Saturday in July 1953 he decided to go to the modest Sun record company to make a private recording of the song “My Happiness.” , which he would give to his mother on their anniversary.
His first recordings
When Elvis was just nineteen years old, producer Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records, decided to release a single for him that contained the songs “That’s all right” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” This first attempt opened the doors to a country music radio show, Louisiana Hayride.
Precisely in the Sun Records studio he recorded a second private album, which included the songs “Amor de occasion” and “I’ll never stay in your way.” It was precisely these performances that led the way to fame and success by drawing the attention of promoter Sam Phillips. In 1955 with his popularity on the rise, Elvis Presley signed with the RCA label.
Rise to fame
The year 1956 was key to Elvis’s career, thanks to the song “Heartbreak Hotel”, of which he sold three hundred thousand copies in three weeks and ended up being the first of his gold records, he was engaged for seven years with Paramount film studios , eager to hire an emerging youth idol who was already causing bouts of hysteria among those attending his concerts.
This year he recorded for the first time in the New York studios of the RCA his version of the Carl Perkins song “Blue Suede Shoes”, as well as 7 more selections for his first LP with the prestigious American company, in the same way, his success ” The hotel of broken hearts “made him a millionaire record seller.
It was precisely as a result of his charisma and talent as a performer that one of the major film companies decided that it was worth capitalizing on his success at the box office with his first feature film, originally titled “The Reno Brothers”, but renamed ” Love Me Tender “in honor of one of his most heartfelt songs.
His television appearances began to be common and the amounts paid by them reached record figures in the history of the medium. Parallel to his unstoppable rise to world fame, some conservative sectors of American society fiercely opposed both the character and his music, which they called perverted and immoral, particularly as a result of his famous hip movement, whose impact was so immediately that the singer received the nickname Elvis Pelvis.
As the culmination of the meteoric year of 1956, on November 16, “Love me tender”, the first film starring Elvis Presley, was premiered in New York with great success, and the Wall Street Journal dedicated an article to it that highlighted the 22 million dollars that the merchandising associated with his image had collected up to that moment.
In March 1957, he acquired the Graceland mansion in the city of Memphis, which would eventually become a pilgrimage site for his countless admirers.
Military service
The 24 of March of 1958 , Elvis Presley joined the army of the United States of America and destined for Berlin West, where he met Priscilla Ann Beaulieu, with whom he married nine years later, burying with it what would be his most interesting time as singer and innovator.
Unfortunately, the image of security that he proposed to project to the world began to collapse on August 14 , 1958 , when at the age of 42, his mother ceased to exist. “I have lost the best I had,” he told reporters the day reporters confronted him with their microphones.
From a distance, it is difficult to affirm that the army was the one that transformed the young man with the restless hips and the canned pompadour into a man, the truth is that Elvis returned to his country transformed, with the girl he loved, with a stepmother and his habit for sleeping pills. But none of this, not even his lack of concerts, affected the affection his fans felt for him.
Return to the stage
Elvis Presley graduated in March 1960 and immediately resumed his artistic activity, to chain a long series of number one on the American charts with titles such as It’s now or never or Are you lonesome tonight? and star in no less than ten films, including Girls, Girls, Girls (Girls, girls, girls, 1962) and Viva Las Vegas ( 1964 ).
In the second half of the decade, the “British invasion” began, led by groups such as The Beatles and which led to a certain erosion in the singer’s popularity, aggravated by an apparent artistic crisis that lasted until 1968, when he was offered to star in a television special , which became one of the biggest hits in the history of the small screen.
With the birth of his daughter Lisa Marie, Elvis’s popularity received a new rise. From that moment, the lyrics of the songs he sang became poems full of love, experiences, substance and reality. In this third stage his biggest hits were songs like “Suspicious Minds”, “In the Ghetto” or “Burning Love”.
Death
The 70s would be the years in which Elvis would go from great idol to musical legend. In July 1972 he separated from Priscilla, to carry out the final divorce in October 1973 , leaving him in a deep state of depression from which he would never recover. The few personal introductions Elvis made at the time went from bad to worse.
On stage, he gave the impression that he did not care about anything, not the music, not his image, not his long monologues that each day became more incomprehensible. There was no doubt that the King was seriously ill physically, spiritually and emotionally.
A few days before his death, Elvis no longer coordinated his ideas; he lost his memory and fell into incoherencies. So was Tuesday 16 of August of 1977 , at 2:20 pm, Joe Esposito, Elvis ‘ manager and manager decided to appear in her room to finish fixing with him regarding some concerts being organized. Not finding him on her bed, she went to the bathroom, where he lay on the floor.
Upon learning of the king’s death at age 42, the world changed its pace. In England there were those who spontaneously dressed in mourning. In Paris , “Le Monde” paid him posthumous tribute and in Japan the announcers wept openly into the microphone. Fans flocked to Graceland to be part of the funeral procession that would accompany Elvis to his final resting place. “The King is dead, rest in peace”, was the chorus that was heard in the hearts of his followers.
Discography and filmography
He recorded 75 studio albums from 1956 until the year of his death in 1977 , including 22 soundtracks for his films, several compilations and 8 live albums. He shot more than thirty films including several documentaries of his tours and / or concerts.