Atestat la limba engleza

'The King of Rock 'n' Roll'

Chapter
Introduction

I. Early life

II Musical influences

pag.3
pag.4
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1. First recordings at Sun Studios

2. First public performances
3. Breakthrough year: 1956
4. Controversial king

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pag.9

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..

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III. Military service and mother's death ....

IV. Hollywood years

.. .

1. Sex symbol: The women in his life

3. 1968 comeback

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..

2. Influence of Colonel Parker and others

.

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pag..21
pag.22

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4. Return to live performances .

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V. Final year

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1. Elvis Presley's final resting place at Graceland pag.28

VI. Post mortem
1. Legacy

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pag.31

2. Elvis Presley statue in Memphis, Tennessee

3. Awards and recognition

VII. Elvis Presley's Graceland

1Visits to Graceland
2 Tourist destination

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pag.34

pag.36

.. pag 38
. pag 38

3 Elvis's grave at Graceland.. pag. 39

4 The Jungle Room, Graceland pag.39
5 The Living Room, Graceland .
6 Elvis's
Gracelandpag 40

Lockheed

7. National
Landmark .

Jetstar

on

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display

near
Historic

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8. Recent
developments .

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9. Graceland in pop culture ..

VIII.20 Years Later - Elvis Presley's Fans
pag.43
1. Wise men still have lots to say about him.
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2. Friendship lasts beyond a lifetime ..
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Final Conclusion
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pag.42

Introduction
The reason I chose Elvis Presley as a subject
for this paper is that Elvis Presley was a
spectacular singer, musician and actor. He is a
cultural icon, often known as 'The King of Rock 'n'
Roll', or simply 'The King'.
The paper has 8 chapters in which you can
find all about The Kings life and death, about
his influence on people through music and
movies..
Chapter l talks about Elvis Presleys early life,
his childhood and his passion for music.
Chapter 2 presents his musical influences
and his first shows, his first recordings at Sun
Studios,
his
first
public
performances, his breakthrough year(1956) .
In chapter 3 is envisaged his contribution to
the military service. Even if he was the most
famous soldier, he had never been privileged.
Chapter 4 is about his Hollywood years, the
most successful years in his life.
The last year of his life is presented in chapter
5, a year full of agony.
In chapters 6,7 and 8 I talk about the post
mortem years, about Graceland and the fact that
even if he died he still lives in the fansminds and
in our souls.
I. Early life

Elvis Aaron Presley, in the humblest of circumstances, was

born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in
Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie
Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child.
He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948, and
Elvis graduated from Humes High School
there in 1953.
Presley's father, Vernon April 10,
1916June 26, 1979, had several lowpaying jobs, including sharecropper and
truck driver. His mother, Gladys Love
Smith, April 25, 1912August 14, 1958
worked as a sewing machine operator. They met in Tupelo,
Mississippi, and eloped to Pontotoc County where they married
on June 17, 1933.
Presley was born in a two room house, built by his father, in
East Tupelo. He was the second of identical twinshis brother
was stillborn and given the name Jesse Garon. He grew up as an
only child and 'was, everyone agreed, unusually close to his
mother.' The family lived just above the poverty line and
attended the Assembly of God church. Vernon Presley has been
described as 'taciturn to the point of sullenness' and as 'a
weakling, a malingerer, always averse to work and
responsibility.' In 1938 he was jailed for an eight-dollar check
forgery. During his absence, his wife, who has been described
as 'voluble, lively, full of spunk,' lost the family home. Priscilla
Presley describes her as 'a surreptitious drinker and alcoholic.'
Presley was the subject of bullying at school; classmates
threw 'things at himrotten fruit and stuffbecause he was
different, because he was quiet and he stuttered and he was a
mama's boy.'
At age ten, he made his first public performance in a singing
contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. Dressed
as a cowboy, the young Presley had to stand on a chair to reach
the microphone and sang Red Foley's 'Old Shep.' He won
second prize.
In 1946, Presley got his first guitar. In November 1948 the
Presleys moved to Memphis, Tennessee, allegedly because

Vernonas well as needing workhad to escape the law for

transporting bootleg liquor. In 1949, they lived at Lauderdale
Courts, a public housing development in one of Memphis'
poorer sections. Presley practiced playing guitar in the
basement laundry room and also played in a five-piece band
with other tenants. Another resident, Johnny Burnette, recalled,
'Wherever Elvis went he'd have his guitar slung across his
back.He used to go down to the fire station and sing to the boys
there.He'd go in to one of the cafes or bars.Then some folks
would say: 'Let's hear you sing, boy.' Presley attended L. C.
Humes High School, but Peter Guralnick notes how fellow
students viewed the young singer's performing unfavorably.
Kenneth Holditch remembers that he was 'a sad, shy, not
especially attractive boy' whose guitar playing was not likely to
win any prizes. Many of the other children made fun of him as a
'trashy' kind of boy playing trashy 'hillbilly' music.
Presley occasionally worked evenings to boost the family
income. He began to grow his sideburns and dress in the wild,
flashy clothes of Lansky Brothers on Beale Street. Presley stood
out, especially in the conservative Deep South of the 1950s,
and he was mocked and bullied for it. Despite his unpopularity,
at Christmastime in 1952, he performed in the 'Annual Minstrel
Show' sponsored by the Humes High Band and won by receiving
the most applause and thus an encore he sang 'Cold Cold Icy
Fingers' and then 'Till I Waltz Again With You'.
After graduation, Presley was still a rather shy person, a 'kid
who had spent scarcely a night away from home.' His third job
was driving a truck for the Crown Electric Company. He began
wearing his hair longer with a 'ducktail'the style of truck
drivers at that time.
II. Musical influences

Initial
influences
came
through his family's attendance
at the Assembly of God, a
Pentecostal Holiness church.
Rolling Stone magazine wrote
that: 'Gospel pervaded Elvis'
character and was a defining
and enduring influence all of
his days.' During breaks at
recording sessions or after
concerts, Presley often joined in
private with others for informal
gospel music sessions.
The young Presley listened
a lot to local radio; his first
musical hero was family friend
Mississippi Slim, a hillbilly singer with a radio show on Tupelos
WELO. Presley performed occasionally on Slims Saturday
morning show, Singin and Pickin Hillbilly. 'He was crazy about
music.Thats all he talked about,' recalled his sixth grade friend,
James Ausborn, Slims younger brother. 'I think gospel sort of
[inspired] him to be in music, but then my brother helped carry
it on.' Before he was a teenager, music was already Presleys
'consuming passion.' J. R. Snow, son of 1940s country superstar
Hank Snow, later recalled that even as a young man Presley
knew all of Hank Snows songs, 'even the most obscure.'
The family's move to Memphis expanded Presley's musical
horizons. He became a regular at record stores that had
jukeboxes and listening booths, playing old records and new
releases for hours. He attended services at the East Trigg
Baptist Church, whose pastor, the Rev. Herbert W. Brewster,
was a composer of numerous gospel songs. Presley was an
audience member at the all-night black and white 'gospel sings'
downtown. Memphis Symphony Orchestra concerts at Overton
Park were another Presley favorite, along with the Metropolitan
Opera. His small record collection included Mario Lanza and
Dean Martin. Presley later said, 'I just loved music. Music
period.'
Memphis had a strong tradition of blues music and Presley
went to blues as well as hillbilly venues. Many of his future

recordings were inspired by local African American composers

and recording artists, including Arthur Crudup, Rufus Thomas
and B.B. King. King says that he 'knew Elvis before he was
popular. He used to come around and be around us a loton
Beale Street.'
According to Michael Bertrand, he 'was an untrained
musician who played entirely by ear. 'I don't read music,' he
confessed, 'but I know what I like.' Because he was not a
songwriter, Presley rarely had material prepared for recording
sessions' When he, as a young singer, 'ventured into the
recording studio he was heavily influenced by the songs he had
heard on the jukebox and radio.'
II. 1. First recordings at Sun Studios

Main article: Elvis Presley's Sun recordings

On July 18, 1953, Presley went to the Memphis Recording
Service at the Sun Record Company, now commonly known as
Sun Studios. He paid $3.98 to record the first of two doublesided demo acetates, 'My Happiness' and 'That's When Your
Heartaches Begin.' Presley reportedly gave the acetate to his
mother as a much-belated extra birthday present, though the
Presleys did not own a record player at the time. Returning to
Sun Studios on January 4, 1954, he recorded a second acetate,
'I'll Never Stand in Your Way'/'It Wouldn't Be the Same Without
You.'
Sun Records founder Sam Phillips had already cut the first
records by blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf and Junior Parker.
He thought a combination of black blues and boogie-woogie
music would be very popular among white people, if presented
in the right way. In the spring, Presley auditioned for an amateur
gospel quartet, The Songfellows, and a professional band. Both
groups turned him down.
When Phillips acquired a demo recording of 'Without Love
(There Is Nothing)' and was unable to identify the vocalist, his
assistant, Marion Keisker, reminded him about the young truck
driver. She called him on June 26, 1954. Presley was not able to
do justice to the song though he would record it years later, but
Phillips asked the young singer to perform some of the many

other songs he knew, and he invited local Western swing

musicians Winfield 'Scotty' Moore electric guitar and Bill Black
slap bass to audition Presley. They did so on Sunday, July 4,
1954, at Moore's house. Neither musician was overly impressed
with the young singer, but they agreed a studio session.On July
5-6 would be useful to explore his potential. During a recording
break, Presley began 'acting the fool' with Arthur Crudup's
'That's All Right (Mama),' a blues song. When the other two
musicians joined in, Phillips got them to restart and began
taping. This was the bright, upbeat sound he had been looking
out for. Black remarked, 'Damn. Get that on the radio and they'll
run us out of town.' The group recorded four songs during that
session, including Bill Monroe's Blue Moon of Kentucky, a
bluegrass waltz. After an early take, Phillips can be heard on
tape saying: 'Fine, man. Hell, that's different that's a pop
song now, just about.'
To gauge professional and public reaction, Phillips took
several acetates of the session to DJ Dewey Phillips no relation
of Memphis radio station WHBQ's Red, Hot And Blue show.
'That's All Right' subsequently received its first play on July 8,
1954. A week later, Sun had received some 6,000 advanced
orders for 'That's All Right'/'Blue Moon of Kentucky,' which was
released on July 19, 1954. From August 18 through December 8,
'Blue Moon of Kentucky' was consistently higher on the charts,
and then both sides began to chart across the South, from
Virginia to Texas.
II.2. First public performances
Moore and Black began playing regularly with Presley. They
gave a few performances in July 1954 to promote the Sun single
at the Bon Air, a rowdy music club where the band was not wellreceived. On July 30 the trio, billed as The Blue Moon Boys,
made their first appearance at the Overton Park Shell, with Slim
Whitman headlining. A nervous Presley is said to have shaken
his legs uncontrollably during this show: his wide-legged pants
emphasized his leg movements, apparently causing females in
the audience to go 'crazy.' Though uncertain about what caused
the fans to scream, Presley consciously incorporated similar
movements into future shows. DJ and promoter Bob Neal, who
had been approached by Sam Phillips to get Presley on the

Overton Park bill, became the trio's manager (replacing Scotty

Moore).
Moore and Black left their band, the Starlite Wranglers, and
from August through October 1954 appeared with Presley
regularly at The Eagle's Nest. Johnny Cash later recalled Presley
playing there during breaks.
Presley debuted at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on
October 2; Hank Snow introduced Presley on stage. He
performed 'Blue Moon of Kentucky' but received only a polite
response. Afterwards, the singer was allegedly told: 'Boy, youd
better keep driving that truck..'
Country music promoter and manager Tillman Franks
booked Presley for the Louisiana Hayride on October 16. Franks,
having never seen Presley before, referred to him as 'that new
black singer with the funny name'. During Presley's first set, the
reaction was muted; the second show had a younger audience,
and Franks advised Presley to 'Let it all go!' As house drummer
D.J. Fontana who had worked in strip clubs complemented
Presley's movements with accented beats and Bill Black
engaged in his usual stage antics, the crowd was more
responsive.
According to one source, 'Audiences had never before heard
music like Presley played, and they had never before seen
anyone who performed like Presley either. The shy, polite,
mumbling boy gained self-confidence with every appearance,
which soon led to a transformation on stage. People watching
the show were astounded and shocked, both by the ferocity of
his performance, and the crowds reaction to it.Roy Orbison saw
Presley for the first time in Odessa, Texas: 'His energy was
incredible, his instinct was just amazing.I just didnt know what
to make of it. There was just no reference point in the culture to
compare it.' 'Hes the new rage,' said a Louisiana radio
executive.'Sings hillbilly in R&B time. Can you figure that out.
He wears pink pants and a black coat.''Sam Phillips said Presley
'put every ounce of emotioninto every song, almost as if he was
incapable of holding back.' When he collapsed after a concert in
Florida, an emergency room doctor warned him to slow down
because he worked as hard in twenty minutes as the average
laborer did in eight hours.

Presley's sound was proving hard to categorize; he had

been billed or labeled in the media as 'The King of Western
Bop,' 'The Hillbilly Cat', and 'The Memphis Flash.'
On August 15, 1955, he was signed to a one-year contract
with 'Hank Snow Attractions,' a company owned by Hank Snow
and 'Colonel' Tom Parker. Parker became Presley's manager
thereafter. By August 1955, Sun Studios had released ten sides
credited to 'Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill,' all typical of the
developing Presley style.
II.3. Breakthrough year: 1956

The iconic cover of Elvis Presley's debut RCA album. Photo

taken on January 31, 1955
Several major record labels had
shown interest in signing Presley. On
November 21, 1955, Parker and
Phillips negotiated a deal with RCA
Victor Records to acquire Presley's
Sun contract for an unprecedented
$35,000.
To
increase
the
singer's
exposure, Parker finally brought
Presley to television (In March 1955, Presley had failed a TV
audition for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts). He booked six of
the Dorsey Brothers' Stage Show (CBS), beginning January 28,
1956, when Presley was introduced by Cleveland DJ Bill Randle.
Parker also obtained a lucrative two-show deal with Milton Berle
(NBC).
On January 27, Presley's first RCA single, 'Heartbreak Hotel,'
was released. By April it hit number one in the U.S., and sold a
million copies. On March 23, RCA released the first Presley
album: Elvis Presley. Like the Sun recordings, the majority of the
tracks were songs written and/or sung by country artists.
From April 23, he had two weeks at the Venus Room of the
New Frontier Hotel, Las Vegas billed this time as 'the Atomic
Powered Singer.' His shows were badly received, by critics and

guests it was an older, more conservative audience. However,

Presley, Moore and and Black saw Freddie Bell and the Bellboys
live in Vegas, and liked their version of Leiber and Stoller's
'Hound Dog.' By May 16, Presley had added the song to his own
act.
A few days after an April 3 appearance for The Milton Berle
Show in San Diego, a near-fatal flight taking Presley's band to
Nashville for a recording session left all three badly shaken.
After more hectic touring, Presley returned to The Milton Berle
Show on June 5 and performed 'Hound Dog' without his guitar.
Singing it uptempo, he then began a slower version. His
exaggerated, straight-legged shuffle around the microphone
stand stirred the audienceas did his vigorous leg shaking and
hip thrusts in time to the beat.
Presley's 'gyrations' created a storm of controversy even
eclipsing the 'communist threat' headlines prevalent at the
time. The press used such words as 'vulgar' and 'obscene'
because of the strong sexual content perceived in his act.
Presley was obliged to explain himself on the local New York
City TV show Hy Gardner Calling: 'Rock and roll music, if you like
it, and you feel it, you can't help but move to it. That's what
happens to me. I have to move around. I can't stand still. I've
tried it, and I can't do it.'
'The Milton Berle Show' appearances drew such huge
ratings that Steve Allen (NBC), not a fan of rock and roll, booked
him for one appearance in New York. Allen wanted 'to do a show
the whole family can watch' and introduced a 'new Elvis' in
white bow tie and black tails. Presley sang 'Hound Dog' for less
than a minute to a top hat and bow tie-wearing Basset Hound.
According to author Jake Austen, 'the way Steve Allen treated
Elvis Presley was his federal crime. Allen thought Presley was
talentless and absurd [he] set things up so that Presley would
show his contrition' The day after (July 2), the single 'Hound
Dog' was recorded and Scotty Moore said they were 'all angry
about their treatment the previous night.' Presley often referred
to the Allen show as the most ridiculous performance of his
career. A few days later, Presley made a 'triumphant' outdoor
appearance in Memphis at which he announced: 'You know,
those people in New York are not gone change me none. I'm
gonna show you what the real Elvis is like tonight.'

Country vocalists The Jordanaires accompanied Presley on

The Steve Allen Show and their first recording session together
produced 'Any Way You Want Me', 'Don't Be Cruel' and 'Hound
Dog.' The Jordanaires would work with the singer through the
1960s.
Though Presley had been unhappy with the show, Allen's
had, for the first time, beaten The Ed Sullivan Show in the
Sunday night ratings, causing a critical Sullivan (CBS) to book
Presley for three appearances for an unprecedented $50,000.
Presley's first Ed Sullivan appearance (September 9, 1956)
was seen by some 55 - 60 million viewers. On the third show
Presley sang only slow paced ballads and a gospel song. The
fact that Presley was only shown from the waist up during this
last broadcast has led to claims that Sullivan had censored
the singer, or that Colonel Parker had orchestrated censorship
claims to generate publicity. In spite of any misgivings about
the controversial nature of his performing style, Sullivan
declared at the end of the third appearance that Presley was 'a
real decent, fine boy' and that they had never had 'a pleasanter
experience' on the show.
II.4. Controversial king

Main article: Elvis Presley's cultural impact

Sam Phillips had anticipated problems promoting Presley's
Sun singles. He recalled: 'The white disc-jockeys wouldn't touch
Negroes' music and the Negro disc-jockeys didn't want anything
to do with a record made by a white man.' Ironically, hillbilly
singer Mississippi Slim, one of Presley's heroes, was one of the
singer's fiercest critics. Phillips felt Dewey Phillipsa white DJ
who did play 'black' musicwould promote the new material,
but many of the hundreds of listeners who contacted the station
when 'That's All Right' was played were sure Presley must be
black. The singer was interviewed several times on air by the DJ
and was pointedly asked which school he had attended, to
convince listeners that he was white.

Regarding
Presley's
hybrid style of music,
others
have
observed:
'Racists attacked rock and
roll
because
of
the
mingling of black and white
people it implied and
achieved, and because of
what they saw as black
music's power to corrupt
through
vulgar
and
animalistic rhythms The popularity of Elvis Presley was similarly
founded on his transgressive position with respect to racial and
sexual boundaries White cover versions of hits by black
musicians often outsold the originals; it seems that many
Americans wanted black music without the black people in it.'
To some, Presley had undoubtedly 'stolen' or at least 'derived
his style from the Negro rhythm-and-blues performers of the
late 1940s.'[79] But some black entertainers, notably Jackie
Wilson, claimed, 'A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing
the black mans music, when in fact, almost every black solo
entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis.'

Crowd frenzy at the Mississippi - Alabama Fair and Dairy

Show, 1956.
By the spring of 1956, Presley was becoming popular
nationwide and teenagers flocked to his concerts. Scotty Moore
recalled: 'Hed start out, 'You aint nothin but a Hound Dog,'
and theyd just go to pieces. Theyd always react the same way.
Thered be a riot every time.' Bob Neal wrote: 'It was almost
frightening, the reaction from teenage boys. So many of them,
through some sort of jealousy, would practically hate him.' In
Lubbock, Texas, a teenage gang fire-bombed Presley's car.
Some performers became resentful (or resigned to the fact) that
Presley going on stage before them would 'kill' their own act; he
thus rose quickly to top billing. At the two concerts he
performed at the 1956 Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy
Show, one hundred National Guardsmen were on hand to
prevent crowd trouble.

Presley was considered by some to be a threat to the moral

wellbeing of young women, because 'Elvis Presley didnt just
represent a new type of music; he represented sexual
liberation.' 'Unlike Bill Haley, who was somewhat overweight
and looked like everyone's 'older brother,'' Presley generated an
'anti-parent outlook' and was the 'personification of evil.' To
many adults, the singer was 'the first rock symbol of teenage
rebellion. they did not like him, and condemned him as
depraved. Anti-Negro prejudice doubtless figured in adult
antagonism. Regardless of whether parents were aware of the
Negro sexual origins of the phrase 'rock 'n' roll', Presley
impressed them as the visual and aural embodiment of sex.' In
1956, a critic for the New York Daily News wrote that popular
music 'has reached its lowest depths in the 'grunt and groin'
antics of one Elvis Presley' and the Jesuits denounced him in its
weekly magazine, America. Time magazine of June 11, 1956,
mockingly referred to the singer as 'dreamboat Groaner Elvis
('Hi luh-huh-huh-huv-huv yew-hew') Presley.' Even Frank Sinatra
opined: 'His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling
aphrodisiac. It fosters almost totally negative and destructive
reactions in young people.'
Presley was even seen as a 'definite danger to the security
of the United States.' His actions and motions were called 'a
strip-tease with clothes on' or 'sexual self-gratification on
stage.' They were compared with 'masturbation or riding a
microphone.' Some saw the singer as a sexual pervert, and
psychologists feared that teenaged girls and boys could easily
be 'aroused to sexual indulgence and perversion by certain
types of motions and hysteria,the type that was exhibited at
the Presley show.' In August 1956, a Florida judge called Presley
a 'savage' and threatened to arrest him if he shook his body
while performing in Jacksonville. The judge declared that
Presley's music was undermining the youth of America.
Throughout the performance (which was filmed by police), he
kept still as ordered, except for wiggling a finger in mockery at
the ruling.
Presley seemed bemused by all the criticism. On another of
the many occasions he was challenged to justify the furor
surrounding him, he said: 'I don't see how they think [my act]
can contribute to juvenile delinquency. If there's anything I've

tried to do, I've tried to live a straight, clean life and not set any
kind of a bad example. You cannot please everyone.'
In 1957, Presley had to defend himself from claims of being
a racist: he was alleged to have said: 'The only thing Negro
people can do for me is to buy my records and shine my shoes.'
The singer always denied saying, or ever wanting to say, such a
racist remark. Jet magazine, run by and for African-Americans,
subsequently investigated the story and found no basis to the
claim. However, the Jet journalist did find plenty of testimony
that Presley judged people 'regardless of race, color or creed.'
His parents moved home in Memphis, but the singer lived
there briefly. With increased concerns over privacy and security,
Graceland was bought in 1957, a mansion with several acres of
land. This was Presley's primary residence until his death.

Presley in a promotional photo for Jailhouse Rock released

by MGM on November 8, 1957.
Presley's record sales grew quickly throughout the late
1950s, with hits like 'All Shook Up' and ')Let me Be Your) Teddy
Bear.' Jailhouse Rock, Loving You both in 1957 and King Creole
in 1958 were released and are regarded as the best of his early
films. However, critics were not impressedvery few
authoritative voices were complimentary. In response, it has
been claimed that while 'Elviss success as a singer and movie
star dramatically increased his economic capital, his cultural
capital never expanded enough for him to transcend the stigma
of his background as a truck driver from the rural South 'No
matter
how
successful
Elvis
became
he
remained
fundamentally disreputable in the minds of many Americans He
was the sharecroppers son in the big house, and it always
showed.'
III. Military service and mother's death
On December 20, 1957, Presley received his draft notice.
Hal Wallis and Paramount Pictures had already spent $350,000
on the film King Creole, and did not want to suspend or cancel
the project. The Memphis Draft Board granted Presley a

deferment to finish it. On March 24, 1958, he was inducted and

completed basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, before being
posted to Friedberg, Germany with the
3rdArmored Division .
Presley
joined
the
1st Battalion,
32nd Armor. He had chosen not to receive
special treatment and was respected for
not joining 'Special Services', which
would have allowed him to avoid certain
duties and maintain his public profile.
Presley continued to receive massive
media coverage, with much speculation
echoing Presley's own concerns about his
enforced absence doing irreparable
damage to his career. However, early in 1958, RCA producer
Steve Sholes and Hill and Range 'song searcher' Freddy
Bienstock had both pushed for recording sessions and strong
song material, the aim being to release regular hit singles
during Presley's two-year hiatus.The hit singlesand six albums
duly followed during that period.
In Germany, ' sergeant had introduced Presley to
amphetamines when they were on maneuvers at Grafenwhr it
seemed like half the guys in the company were taking them.'
Friends around Presley also began taking them, 'if only to keep
up with Elvis, who was practically evangelical about their
benefits.'
The army also introduced Presley to karatesomething
which he studied seriously, even including it in his later live
performances.
As Presley's fame grew, his mother continued to drink
excessively and began to gain weight. Doctors had diagnosed
hepatitis and her condition worsened. Presley was granted
emergency leave to visit her in August 1958, but shortly
afterwards she died, aged forty-six. Presley was distraught,
'crying hysterically' and 'grieving almost constantly' for days.
Her favorite gospel group, The Blackwood Brothers, performed
at her funeral.

Presley returned to the U.S. on March 2, 1960, and was

honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant on March 5 th.
Recording sessions in March and April yielded some of his bestselling songsincluding 'It's Now or Never.' Although some
tracks were uptempo, none could be described as 'rock and
roll'. Most found their way on to an albumElvis is Back!
described by one critic as 'a triumph on every level It was as if
Elvis had broken down the barriers of genre and prejudice to
express everything he heard in all the kinds of music he loved'.
The album was also notable because of Homer Boots
Randolph's acclaimed saxophone solo during the blues standard
'Reconsider Baby.'
IV. Hollywood years

Elvis Presley filmography

In 1956, Presley launched a parallel career as a film actor,
beginning with the musical western, Love Me Tender. It was
panned by the critics but did well at the box office. The original
titleThe Reno Brotherswas changed because of the
advanced sales of the song 'Love Me Tender'. The majority of
Presley's films were musical comedies made to 'sell records and
produce high revenues.' He also appeared in dramatic films with
musical interludes, like Jailhouse Rock and King Creole. To
maintain box office success, he even 'shifted into beefcake
formula comedy mode for a few years.' He also made one nonmusical western, Charro!

Elvis Presley starred in 33 successful

films,
made
history
with
his
television appearances and specials,
and knew great acclaim through his
many, often record-breaking, live
concert performances on tour and in
Las Vegas. Globally, he has sold over
one billion records, more than any
other artist. His American sales have
earned him gold, platinum or multiplatinum awards for 131 different
albums and singles, far more than
any other artist. Among his many
awards and accolades were 14
Grammy nominations (3 wins) from
the National Academy of Recording
Arts & Sciences, the Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award, which
he received at age 36, and his being
named One of the Ten Outstanding
Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees.
Without any of the special privileges his celebrity status might
have afforded him, he honorably served his country in the U.S.
Army.
Interviewed while in the Army, Presley said on many
occasions that 'more than anything, he wanted to be taken
seriously as a dramatic actor.' His manager, with an eye on
long-term earnings, negotiated a multi-picture seven-year
contract with Hal Wallis. The contract gave Presley a fee for
each role and a percentage of any profits.
The singer withdrew from performing, except for The Frank
Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis in 1960 and three
charity concerts, two in Memphis and one in Pearl Harbor in
1961. Although Presley was praised by directors, like Michael
Curtiz, as polite and hardworking and as having an exceptional
memory for both his and the other actors' lines, 'he was
definitely not the most talented actor around.' The Presley
vehicles, and the AIP beach movies mainly made for an early
sixties teenage audience were generally viewed by critics as a
'pantheon of bad taste.' The scripts of his movies 'were all the
same, the songs progressively worse.' Others noted that the

songs seemed to be 'written on order by men who never really

understood Elvis or rock and roll.' For Blue Hawaii and its
soundtrack LP, 'fourteen songs were cut in just three days.'
Critics would later claim that 'No major star suffered through
more bad movies than Elvis Presley.'

Presley and Ann Margret in a promotional shot for Viva Las

Vegas released by MGM on May 20, 1964.
Presley movies were nevertheless popular, and he 'became
a film genre of his own.' Elvis on celluloid was the only chance
to see him in the absence of live appearances, especially
outside of the U.S. (the only time he toured outside of the U.S.
was in Canada in 1957. His Blue Hawaii even 'boosted the new
state's tourism. Some of his most enduring and popular songs
came from those [kind of] movies,' like 'Can't Help Falling in
Love,' 'Return to Sender' and 'Viva Las Vegas.' His films during
the 1960s 'had grossed about $130 million, and he had sold a
hundred million records, which had made $150 million.'
In 1964, Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole had starred in Hal
Wallis' Becket. To Presley's anger and dismay, Wallis admitted to
the press that the financing of such quality productions was
only possible by making a series of profitable B-movies starring
Presley. He branded Wallis 'a double-dealing sonofabitch' (and
he thought little better of Tom Parker), realizing there had never
been any intention to let him develop into a serious actor.
Presley was one of the highest paid actors during the 1960s,
but times were changing. 'The Elvis Presley film was becoming
pass. Young people were tuning in, dropping out and doing
acid. Musical acts like Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, The
Doors, Janis Joplin and many others were dominating the
airwaves. Elvis Presley was not considered cool as he once was.'
Priscilla Presley recalled: 'He blamed his fading popularity on his
humdrum movies' and ' loathed their stock plots and short
shooting schedules.' She also noted: 'He could have demanded
better, more substantial scripts, but he didn't.'
Presley made his final acting appearance in the 1969
release Change of Habit. His last two films were concert

documentaries in the early 1970s, though Presley did continue

to consider dramatic movie roles.
In spite of the formulaic movie songs of the 1960s, Presley did
make noteworthy studio recordings, including 'Suspicion,'
'(You're The) Devil in Disguise' and 'It Hurts Me.' In 1966 he
recorded a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Tomorrow is a Long Time'
which RCA relegated to bonus track status on the soundtrack
album for Spinout. He also produced two gospel albums: His
Hand in Mine (1960) and How Great Thou Art (1966). In 1967,
he recorded some well-received singles in collaboration with
songwriter/guitar player Jerry Reed, including Reed's 'Guitar
Man.' Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock 1957.
IV. 1. Sex symbol: The women in his life

Main article: Relationships of Elvis Presley

Many fans and others have acknowledged Presley's sexual
attraction and photogenic looks. Steve Binder recalled from the
making of the '68 Comeback Special: 'I'm straight as an arrow
and I got to tell you, you stop, whether you're male or female,
to look at him. He was that good looking. And if you never knew
he was a superstar, it wouldn't make any difference; if he'd
walked in the room, you'd know somebody special was in your
presence.'
Reference has often been made to Presley's allegedly
numerous sexual conquests, but it is unclear whether Presley
had sex with the women he dated. His early girlfriends Judy
Spreckels and June Juanico say that they did not. Byron Raphael
and Alanna Nash have stated that the star 'would never put
himself inside one of these girls' Peggy Lipton claims that he
was 'virtually impotent' with her,She attributed this to his drug
misuse.Cassandra Peterson best known as 'Elvira' says she
knew Presley for only one night, but all they did was talk.
Other women, like Cybill Shepherd, have said they had full
sex with the singer. Ann-Margret Presley's co-star in Viva Las
Vegas refers to Presley as her 'soulmate' but has revealed little
about their long-rumored romance.Presley dated many female
co-stars, apparently for publicity purposes. Lori Williams dated
him for a while in 1964. She says their 'courtship was not some

bizarre story. It was very sweet and Elvis was the perfect
gentleman.' She also claims that Ann-Margret 'was the love of
his life. A publicity campaign about Presley and Margret's
romance is said to have been launched during the filming of
Viva Las Vegas, 133 which helped to increase Margret's
popularity.
Priscilla Presley ne Beaulieu had stayed with Presley during
the 1960s they had first met in Germany, when she was only
fourteen. They married on May 1, 1967, in Las Vegas. A
daughter, Lisa Marie, was born nine months later. Priscilla
Presley and biographer Suzanne Finstad also claim that the
singer was not overly active sexually.
IV.2. Influence of Colonel Parker and others

Main articles: Colonel Tom Parker, Memphis

Mafia
By 1967, Colonel Tom Parker had negotiated a contract that
gave him 50% of Presley's earnings. Over the years, much has
been written about the suspect nature of Parker's business
practices. His dubious origins and gambling addictions in
particular and the subsequent need to keep Presley
'commercial' may well have adversely affected the course of
Presley's career.t
Marty Lacker, one of a coterie of Presley's trusted friends
known as the 'Memphis Mafia', regarded Colonel Parker as a
'hustler and scam artist' who abused Presley's trust, but Lacker
acknowledged that Parker was a master promoter. Priscilla
Presley noted that 'Elvis detested the business side of his
career. He would sign a contract without even reading it.'
Presley primarily recorded songs that his manager and
music publishers thought would be commercially successful. He
apparently did not like all the songs he sang and seemed to
accept the Colonel's continual quashing of his musical
ambitions. It is also claimed that Presley's original band was
fired because Parker wanted to isolate the singer from anyone
who might offer him a better management deal.

Producer Chips Moman, who oversaw 1969 recording

sessions at American Studios in Memphis, was particularly
critical of the song choices and staff of Hill and Range, Presley's
main music publisher. Moman claims he could only get the best
out of Presley when he stood up to the 'aggravating' publishing
personnel and asked them to leave the studio. RCA executive
Joan Deary was later full of praise for the superior results of
Moman's work but despite this, no producer was to override Hill
and Range's influence again. Moman never again worked with
Presley.
Presley's father distrusted the members of the 'Memphis
Mafia'; he thought they collectively exercised an unhealthy
influence over his son. 'Surrounded by [their] parasitic presence
it was no wonder' that as the singer 'slid into addiction and
torpor, no one raised the alarm: to them, Elvis was the bank,
and it had to remain open.' Musician Tony Brown noted the
urgent need to reverse Presley's declining health as the singer
toured in the mid-1970s. 'But we all knew it was hopeless
because Elvis was surrounded by that little circle of people all
those so-called friends and bodyguards.'
Larry Geller became Presley's hairdresser in 1964. Unlike
Presley's generally down-to-earth buddies, Geller was interested
in 'spiritual studies'. From their first conversation, Geller recalls:
'Elvis looked as if he'd been slapped. As he shook his head from
side to side, he said, ' Larry, I don't believe it. I mean, what
you're talking about is what I secretly think about all the time
there has to be a purpose there's got to be a reason why I was
chosen to be Elvis Presley. He then poured out his heart in 'an
almost painful rush of words and emotions,' telling Geller about
his mother and the hollowness of his Hollywood life, things he
could not share with anyone around him. Thereafter, Presley
voraciously read books Geller supplied, on religion and
mysticism. Perhaps most tellingly, he revealed to Geller: 'I
swear to God, no one knows how lonely I get and how empty I
really feel.' Presley would be preoccupied by such matters for
much of his life, taking trunkloads of books with him on tour.
IV.3. 1968 comeback

Main article: Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback

Special

Elvis Presley in his '68 Comeback Special, airing on NBC,

December 3, 1968.
By mid-1968, Presley's recording career
was floundering only die-hard fans were
buying his soundtrack recordings. He had
become deeply unhappy with his career,
especially a movie schedule that all but
eliminated creative recording. In 1968, Presley
made a Christmas telecast on NBC. Later
dubbed the '68 Comeback Special, and airing on December 3,
1968, the show featured lavishly staged productions, but also
saw Elvis clad in black leather, performing live in an uninhibited
style reminiscent of his rock and roll days. Rolling Stone called it
'a performance of emotional grandeur and historical resonance.'
Its success was helped by director and co-producer, Steve
Binder, who worked hard to reassure the nervous singer and to
produce a show that was not just an hour of Christmas songs,
as Col. Parker had originally planned.
Buoyed by the experience, Presley engaged in a prolific
series of recording sessions at American Studios, which
provided material for two albums, including the acclaimed From
Elvis in Memphis, Chips Moman was its uncredited producer. It
was followed by From Memphis To Vegas/From Vegas To
Memphis a double-album featuring live recordings and
American Studios songs.
The 1969 Memphis sessions revitalized Presley's recording
career, leading to the hit singles 'In the Ghetto', 'Suspicious
Minds', 'Kentucky Rain' and 'Don't Cry Daddy'.
IV.4. Return to live performances

In 1969, Presley made record-breaking appearances in Las

Vegas. He then toured across the U.S. up to his death, with
many of the 1,145 concerts setting venue attendance records.
He also had hit singles in many countries. Presley's song
repertoire was criticized, indicating he was still distant from
trends within contemporary music.

Elvis Presley, in Aloha From Hawaii

television broadcast via satellite on January
14, 1973.
On December 21, 1970, Presley met
with President Richard Nixon at the White
House. Presley arrived with a gift a handgun. It was accepted
but not presented for security reasons. Guralnick details how
Presley engineered the encounter, a somewhat bizarre attempt
to express his patriotism, his contempt for the hippie drug
culture and his wish to be appointed a 'Federal Agent at Large'.
His priority was apparently to obtain a Bureau of Narcotics and
Dangerous Drugs badge, to add to similar items he had begun
collecting. He offered to 'infiltrate hippie groups' and claimed
that The Beatles had 'made their money, then gone back to
England where they fomented anti-American feeling.' Nixon was
uncertain and bemused by their encounter, and twice
expressed concern that Presley needed to 'retain his credibility.'
MGM filmed him in Las Vegas for a 1970 documentary: Elvis:
Thats The Way It Is. As he toured, more gold record awards
followed. MGM filmed other shows for Elvis On Tour, which won
a Golden Globe for Best Documentary, 1972. A fourteen-date
tour started with an unprecedented four consecutive sold-out
shows at Madison Square Garden, New York. After the tour,
Presley released the 1972 single 'Burning Love' his last top
ten hit in the U.S. charts.

In 1973, Presley had two January shows in Hawaii. The

second was broadcast live, globally. The 'Aloha from Hawaii'
concert was the first to be broadcast via satellite and reached
at least a billion viewers. The show's album went to number one
and spent a year in the charts.
Off stage, Presley had continuing problems. In spite of his
own infidelity, Presley was furious that Priscilla was having an
affair with a mutual acquaintanceMike Stone, a karate
instructor. He raged obsessively: 'There's too much pain in me
Mike Stone [must] die.' A bodyguard, Red West, felt compelled
to get a price for Stone's contract killing and was relieved when
Presley decided: 'Aw hell, let's just leave it for now. Maybe it's a
bit heavy' The Presleys separated on February 23, 1972,
agreeing to share custody of their
daughter.

Elvis meets U.S. President

Richard Nixon in the White House
Oval Office, December 21, 1970
After his divorce in 1973, Presley became increasingly
isolated and overweight, with prescription drugs affecting his
health, mood and his stage act. Despite this, his 'thundering'
live version of 'How Great Thou Art' won him a Grammy award
in 1974 and he continued to play to sell-out crowds. A 1975 tour
ended with a concert in Michigan, attended by over 62,000
fans.
By now Presley had 'no motivation to lose his extra
poundage he became self-conscious.. his self-confidence before
the audience declined. Headlines such as 'Elvis Battles Middle
Age' were not uncommon.' According to Marjorie Garber, when
Presley made his later appearances in Las Vegas, he appeared
'heavier, in pancake makeup with an elaborate jeweled belt and
cape, crooning pop songs to a microphone He had become

Liberace. Even his fans were now middle-aged matrons and

blue-haired grandmothers, who praised him as a good son who
loved his mother; Mother's Day became a special holiday for
Elvis' fans.'
Almost throughout the 1970s, RCA had been increasingly
concerned about making money from Presley material: they
often had to rely on live recordings because of problems getting
him to attend studio sessions. RCA's mobile studio was
occasionally dispatched to Graceland in the hope of capturing
an inspired vocal performance. Once in a studio, his interest
was sometimes lacking and he was easily distracted. Much of
this behavior has been linked to the problems of his health and
pill-taking.
V. Final year
Presley's decline continued. A journalist recalled: 'Elvis
Presley had become a grotesque caricature of his sleek,
energetic former self he was barely able to pull himself through
his abbreviated concerts.' In Alexandria, Louisiana, the singer
was on stage for less than an hour and 'was impossible to
understand.' In Baton Rouge, Presley failed to appear. He was
unable to get out of his hotel bed, and the rest of the tour was
cancelled.

According to Guralnick,
fans
'were
becoming
increasingly voluble about
their disappointment, but it all
seemed to go right past Elvis,
whose
world
was
now
confined almost entirely to his
room and his [spiritualism]
books.' [citation needed] In
Knoxville, Tennessee on May
20, 'there was no longer any
pretense
of
keeping
up
appearances The idea was
simply to get Elvis out on
stage and keep him upright
for the hour he was scheduled
to
perform.'
Thereafter,
Presley struggled through every show. Despite his obvious
problems, shows in Omaha, Nebraska and Rapid City, South
Dakota were recorded for an album and a CBS-TV special: Elvis
In Concert.
In Rapid City, 'he was so nervous on stage that he could
hardly talk He was undoubtedly painfully aware of how he
looked, and he knew that in his condition, he could not perform
any significant movement. He looked, moved, and gestured like
an overweight old man with crippling arthritis.' A cousin, Billy
Smith, recalled how Presley would sit in his room and chat,
recounting things like his favourite Monty Python sketches and
past japes, but 'mostly there was a grim obsessiveness a
paranoia about people, germs future events,' that reminded
Smith of Howard Hughes.

V.1. Elvis Presley's final resting place at Graceland

A book was publishedthe first expos to detail Presley's

years of drug misuse. Written with input from three of Presley's
'Memphis Mafia,' the book was the authors' revenge for them
being sacked and a plea to get Presley to face up to reality. The
singer 'was devastated by the book. Here were his close friends
who had written serious stuff that would affect his life. He felt
betrayed.'
Presley's final performance was in Indianapolis at the Market
Square Arena, on June 26, 1977.
Another tour was scheduled to begin August 17, 1977, but
at Graceland the day before, Presley was found on the floor of
his bathroom by fiance, Ginger Alden. According to the
medical investigator, Presley had 'stumbled or crawled several
feet before he died.' He was officially pronounced dead at 3:30
pm at the Baptist Memorial Hospital.
At his funeral, hundreds of thousands of fans, the press and
celebrities line the streets and many hoped to see the open
casket in Graceland. Among the mourners were Ann-Margret
(who had remained close to Presley) and his ex-wife.U.S.
President Jimmy Carter issued a statement.
Presley was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, Memphis, next
to his mother. After an attempt to steal the body, hisand his
mother'sremains were reburied at Graceland in the Meditation
Gardens.
VI. Post mortem
Presley had developed many health problems, some of
them chronic. 'Elvis had an enlarged heart for a long time. That,
together with his drug habit, caused his death. But he was
difficult to diagnose; it was a judgment call.'
Presley first took drugs in the army, taking amphetamines
to stay awake on late shifts, though there are claims that pills of
some form were first given to him by Memphis DJ Dewey

Phillips. In Elvis and Me, Priscilla Presley writes that by 1962, he

was taking placidyls to combat severe insomnia in everincreasing doses and later took Dexedrine to counter the
sleeping pills' after-effects. She later saw 'problems in Elvis' life,
all magnified by taking prescribed drugs.' Presley's physician,
Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, has said: 'Elvis' problem was that he
didn't see the wrong in it. He felt that by getting pills from a
doctor, he wasn't the common everyday junkie getting
something off the street. He thought that as far as medications
and drugs went, there was something for everything.'
According to Guralnick: 'drug use was heavily implicated in
this unanticipated death of a middle-aged man with no known
history of heart diseaseno one ruled out the possibility of
anaphylactic shock brought on by the codeine pillsto which he
was known to have had a mild allergy.' In two lab reports filed
two months later, each indicated ' a strong belief that the
primary cause of death was polypharmacy,' with one report
'indicating the detection of fourteen drugs in Elvis' system, ten
in significant quantity.'
The judgment of some in the medical profession has also
been seriously questioned. At a press conference, Medical
Examiner Dr. Jerry Francisco had offered a cause of death while
the autopsy was still being performed and before toxicology
laboratory results were known. Dr. Francisco dubiously stated
that cardiac arrhythmia was the cause of death, a condition that
can only be determined in a living personnot post mortem.
Many doctors had been flattered to be associated with Presley
(or were bribed with gifts) and supplied him with pills which
simply fed his addictions. It has been claimed that the singer
spent at least $1 million per year on drugs and doctors' fees or
inducements. Although Dr. Nichopoulos was exonerated with
regard to Presley's death, 'In the first eight months of 1977
alone, he had written 199 prescriptions totaling more than
10,000 doses of sedatives, amphetamines, and narcotics: all in
Elvis' name. On January 20, 1980, the board found him guilty of
overprescription but decided that he was not unethical, because

he claimed he'd been trying to wean the singer off the drugs.'
His license was suspended, and he was given three years'
probation. In July 1995, his license was permanently revoked
after the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners found that he
had improperly dispensed drugs to several of his patients.
In 1994, the autopsy into the death of Presley was reopened. Coroner Dr. Joseph Davis declared: 'There is nothing in
any of the data that supports a death from drugs. In fact,
everything points to a sudden, violent heart attack.' However,
there is little doubt that long-term drug misuse caused his
premature death.
VI.1. Legacy

Further information: Cultural

Elvis Presley

depictions of

Further information: Elvis Presley's cultural impact; Elvis

Presley phenomenon
Elvis Presley's death deprives our country of a part of itself.
He was unique and irreplaceable. More than 20 years ago, he
burst upon the scene with an impact that was unprecedented
and will probably never be equaled. His music and his
personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm
and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular
culture. His following was immense, and he was a symbol to
people the world over of the vitality, rebelliousness, and good
humor of his country.
President Jimmy Carter, 1977-08-17.
Author Samuel Roy has written: 'Elvis' death did occur at a
time when it could only help his reputation. Just before his
death, Elvis had been forgotten by society.'
Biographer Ernst Jorgensen has observed that when Presley
died, it was as if all perspective on his musical career had been

lost. His latter-day song choices had been seen as poor and
indulgent; many who disliked Presley had long been dismissive
because he did not write his own songs. Others complained
incorrectlythat he could not really play any musical
instrument. Such criticism of Presley continues. The tabloids
had ridiculed his obesity and the kitschy, jump-suited
performances of his final years. Re-runs of his worst movies
only highlighted the dubious career path he had taken in the
1960s. In 1980, John Lennon said: 'Elvis died when he went into
the army. That's when they killed him, that's when they
castrated him.' Acknowledgment of his vocal style had been
reduced to mocking the hiccuping, vocalese tricks that he had
used on some of his early recordsand the way he said
'Thankyouverymuch' after songs during live shows. This was
only countered by the almost religious and uncritical dedication
of his most ardent fans, who had even denied that he looked
'fat' before he died Any wish to understand Elvis Presleyhis
genuine abilities and his real influence'seemed almost totally
obscured.'

VI.2. Elvis Presley statue in Memphis, Tennessee

However, in the late 1960s, composer and conductor
Leonard Bernstein had remarked: 'Elvis is the greatest cultural
force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to
everything, music, language, clothes, it's a whole new social
revolution the 60's comes from it.'

It has been claimed that his early

music and live performances helped to
lay a commercial foundation which
allowed other established performers of
the 1950s to be recognised. AfricanAmerican acts, like Fats Domino, Chuck
Berry and Little Richard, came to national
prominence after Presley's acceptance
among the mass audience of White
American
teenagers.
Little
Richard
commented: 'He was an integrator, Elvis
was a blessing. They wouldn't let black
music through. He opened the door for
black music.' It has also been claimed
that the black-and-white character of
Presley's sound, as well as his persona, helped to relax the rigid
color line and thereby fed the fires of the civil rights movement.
Presley's recorded voice is seen by many as his enduring
legacy (his death triggered a huge boost in his record sales, as
well as other merchandisesome of it of dubious quality and
taste). In The Great American Popular Singers (1974), Henry
Pleasants wrote: 'Elvis Presley has been described variously as
a baritone and a tenor. An extraordinary compass and a very
wide range of vocal color have something to do with this
divergence of opinion. The voice covers two octaves and a third
Moreover, he has not been confined to one type of vocal
production. In ballads and country songs he belts out full-voiced
high G's and A's that an opera baritone might envy. He is a
naturally assimilative stylist with a multiplicity of voicesin
fact, Elvis' is an extraordinary voice, or many voices.'
Gospel tenor Shawn Nielsen, who sang backing vocals for
Presley, said: 'He could sing anything. I've never seen such
versatility He had such great soul. He had the ability to make
everyone in the audience think that he was singing directly to
them. He just had a way with communication that was totally
unique.'

Other celebrated pop and rock musicians have

acknowledged that the young Presley inspired them. The
Beatles were all big Presley fans. John Lennon said: 'Nothing
really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an
Elvis, there wouldn't have been a Beatles.' Deep Purple's Ian
Gillan said: 'For a young singer he was an absolute inspiration. I
soaked up what he did like blotting paper you learn by copying
the maestro.' Rod Stewart declared: 'People like myself, Mick
Jagger and all the others only followed in his footsteps.' Cher
recalls from seeing Presley live in 1956 that he made her
'realize the tremendous effect a performer could have on an
audience.'
By 1958, singers obviously adopting Presley's style, like Billy
Fury, Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard the so-called 'British Elvis',
were rising to prominence in the UK. Elsewhere in Europe,
Johnny Hallyday became the French equivalent and the Italians
Adriano Celentano and Bobby Solo were also heavily influenced
by Presley.
The singer continues to be imitatedand parodiedoutside
the main music industry. Presley songs remain very popular on
the karaoke circuit, and many from a diversity of cultures and
backgrounds work as Elvis impersonators ('the raw 1950s Elvis
and the kitschy 1970s Elvis are the favorites.'
Presley's informal jamming in front of a small audience in
the '68 Comeback Special is regarded as a forerunner of the socalled 'Unplugged' concept, later popularized by MTV.
In 2002, The New York Times observed: 'For those too young
to have experienced Elvis Presley in his prime, todays
celebration of the 25th anniversary of his death must seem
peculiar. All the talentless impersonators and appalling black
velvet paintings on display can make him seem little more than
a perverse and distant memory. But before Elvis was camp, he
was its opposite: a genuine cultural force Elviss breakthroughs
are underappreciated because in this rock-and-roll age, his

hard-rocking
completely.'

music

and

sultry

style

have

triumphed

so

VI.3. Awards and recognition

In 1971, Presley was named 'One of the Ten Outstanding
Young Men of the Nation' by the U.S. Junior Chamber of
Commerce The Jaycees. That summer, the City of Memphis
named part of Highway 51 South 'Elvis Presley Boulevard', and
he won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences the organization that
presents Grammy awards.
Elvis received 14 Grammy nominations from the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). His three
wins were for gospel recordings - the album How Great Thou Art
(1967), the album He Touched Me (1972) and his live Memphis
concert recording of the song How Great Thou Art (1974). In
1971, NARAS also recognized him with their Lifetime
Achievement Award (known then as the Bing Crosby Award in
honor of its first recipient). Elvis was 36 years old at the time.
Five of Elvis' recordings have been inducted into the NARAS Hall
of Fame - his original 1956 recordings of Hound Dog (inducted
1988) and Heartbreak Hotel (inducted 1995), his original 1954
recording of That's All Right (inducted 1998), his original 1969
recording of Suspicious Minds (inducted 1999), and his original
1956 recording of Don't Be Cruel (inducted 2002). The Hall of
Fame recognizes 'early recordings of lasting, qualitative or
historical significance', with many inductees being recordings
that were created and released before the 1958 inception of
NARAS and the Grammy Awards
He is the only performer to have been inducted into four
music 'Halls of Fame': the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1986, the
Rockabilly Hall of Fame 1997, the Country Music Hall of Fame
1998, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame 2001. In 1984, he
received the W. C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation and
the Academy of Country Musics first Golden Hat Award. In

1987, he received the American Music Awards first posthumous

presentation of the Award of Merit.
Presley has featured prominently in a variety of polls and
surveys designed to measure popularity and influence.
In 1994, the 40th anniversary of Presley's 'That's All Right'
was recognized with its re-release, which made the charts
worldwide, making top three in the UK.
During the 2002 World Cup a Junkie XL remix of his 'A Little
Less Conversation' credited as 'Elvis Vs JXL' topped the charts in
over twenty countries and was included in a compilation of
Presley's U.S. and UK number one hits, Elv1s: 30.
In the UK charts January 2005, three re-issued singles again
went to number one 'Jailhouse Rock', 'One Night'/'I Got Stung'
and 'It's Now or Never'. Throughout the year, twenty singles
were re-issuedall making top five.
In the same year, Forbes magazine named Presley, for the
fifth straight year, the top-earning deceased celebrity, grossing
US$45 million for the Presley estate during the preceding year.
In mid-2006, top place was taken by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain after
the sale of his song catalogue, but Presley reclaimed the top
spot in 2007.
VII. Elvis Presley's Graceland
Graceland, Elvis Presleys home and
refuge for twenty years, is one of the
most visited homes in America today,
now attracting over 600,000 visitors
annually. It is also the most famous home
in America after the White House. In 1991, Graceland Mansion
was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Graceland is the name of the 13.8 acre estate and large
white-columned mansion that once belonged to Elvis Presley,

located
at 3734
Elvis
Presley
Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee,USA. It is located south of
Downtown Memphis, less than four miles (6 km) north of
theMississippi border. It currently serves as a museum. It was
opened to the public in 1982, was listed in the National Register
of Historic Places on November 7, 1991 and declared a National
Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006.
Elvis purchased Graceland in early 1957 for approximately
$100,000 after vacating an East Memphis house located
at 1034 Audubon Drive. He moved because of privacy and
security concerns, and the opposition of neighbors to the
enthusiastic behavior of the many fans who slowly cruised by
his home. Elvis moved into Graceland together with his father
Vernon Presley and his mother Gladys. After Gladys died in
1958, and Vernon married Dee Stanley in 1960, the couple lived
there for a time. Wife-to-be Priscilla Beaulieu also lived
at Graceland for five years before she and Elvis married. After
their marriage in Las Vegas on May 1, 1967, Priscilla lived
in Graceland five more years until she separated from Elvis in
late 1972.
According to Mark Crispin
Miller, Graceland became for Elvis
'the home of the organization that
was himself, was tended by a large
vague clan of Presleys and deputy
Presleys, each squandering the vast gratuities which Elvis used
to keep his whole world smiling.' The author adds that Presley's
father Vernon 'had a swimming pool in his bedroom', that there
'was a jukebox next to the swimming pool, containing Elvis's
favorite records' and that the singer himself 'would spend hours
in his bedroom, watching his property on a closed-circuit
television.' Graceland was Lisa Marie Presley's first official
home, and residence after her birth on February the 1st 1968
and her childhood home, although her main state of residence
was California where she lived with her mother after she
divorced Elvis when Lisa was in elementary school. Every year

at Christmas time Lisa Marie Presley, and all her family go to

Graceland to celebrate Christmas together. Lisa Marie Presley
often goes back to Graceland for visits. When she turned 25,
Lisa Marie inherited the estate. In 2005 she sold 85 percent of
it.
According to Brad Olsen, 'Some of the rooms at Graceland
testify to the brilliance and quirkiness of Elvis Presley. The TV
room in the basement is where he often watched three
television sets at once, and was within close reach of a wet bar.'
Elvis absolutely felt at home in this place. When he would
tour, staying in hotels, 'the rooms would be remodelled in
advance of his arrival, so as to make the same configurations of
space as he had at home the Graceland mansion. His furniture
would arrive, and he could unwind after his performances in
surroundings which were completely familiar and comforting,'
the room in question, 'The Jungle Room' being 'an example of
particularly lurid kitsch.'
The Meditation Gardens, designed and built by architect
and designer Bernard Grenadier, has been noted as a preferred
place of Elvis in the property, where he often went to reflect on
any problems or situations that arose during his life.
According to the singer's cousin Billy Smith, Elvis spent the
night at Graceland with Smith and his wife Jo many times: 'we
were all three there talking for hours about everything in the
world! Sometimes he would have a bad dream and come
looking for me to talk to, and he would actually fall asleep in our
bed with us.'
There was some discord between Elvis and his stepmother
Dee at Graceland, however, and Elaine Dundy said 'that Vernon
had settled down with Dee where Gladys had once reigned,
while Dee herself - when Elvis was away - had taken over the
role of mistress of Graceland so thoroughly as to rearrange the
furniture and replace the very curtains that Gladys had

approved of.' This was too much for the singer who still loved
his deceased mother. One afternoon, 'a van arrived and all
Dee's household's goods, clothes, 'improvements,' and her own
menagerie of pets, were loaded on while Vernon, Dee and her
three children went by car to a nearby house on Hermitage until
they finally settled into a house on Dolan Drive which ran
alongside Elvis's estate.'
The book Elvis by the Presleys reveals several details
concerning the singer's life at Graceland including his
obsessions and passions when staying at home.
VII.1. Visits to Graceland
Japanese
Prime
Minister
Junichiro Koizumi in Graceland
In
1957,
Presley
invited
Richard Williams and Buzz Cason to
visit the Whitehaven neighborhood
of Memphis, whereGraceland is located. They went there in
Chester Power's '55 chevy 'to get a close look at this mansion
Elvis had told us about. We proceeded to clown around on the
front porch, striking our best rock 'n' roll poses and snapping
pictures with the little camera. We peeked in the not-yetcurtained windows and got a kick out of the pastel colored walls
in the front rooms with shades of bright reds and purples that
Elvis most certainly had picked out.'
'In the late 50s, Elvis was fond of claiming that
the US government had mooted a visit to Graceland by Nikita
Khrushchev, 'to see how in America a fellow can start out with
nothing and, you know, make good'. Had the old Cold Warrior
taken the trip and then lived to see the King's demise, he might
have allowed himself a very Soviet laugh at that.' (John Harris).
On August 16, 1977, on one of Lisa Marie Presley's visits
to Graceland, Elvis died. She was only 9 years old at the time.

On June 30, 2006, when US President George W. Bush hosted

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for a tour of the
mansion, it became the only residence on American soil other
than an Embassy, the White House, or any of the other
Presidential retreats to have hosted a joint-visit by a sitting US
president and a head of a foreign government. (Koizumi, who
served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006, is an avid
Elvis Presley fan and even shares Presley's January 8 birthday.)
On August 14, 2007 (2 days before the 30th anniversary of
Elvis' death) Dale Earnhardt Jr and his grandmother Martha
Earnhardt unveiled his #8 Budweiser/Elvis Chevrolet that he
raced at the 2007 Chevy Rock and Roll 400 in Richmond the
following September 8.
VII.2. Tourist destination
After Elvis Presley's death in 1977, Priscilla Presley served
as executor of his estate.Graceland itself cost $500,000 a year
in upkeep, and expenses had dwindled Elvis's and Priscilla's
daughter Lisa Marie's inheritance to $5 million. Priscilla
examined other famous house/museums, and hired a CEO to
turn Graceland into a moneymaker. She became the
chairwoman and president of Elvis Presley Enterprises. After
Graceland opened to the public in 1982, the enterprise's
fortunes soared and eventually the trust grew to be worth over
$100 million. Graceland is now statistically the second most
visited private residence in the United States, behind the White
House.
VII..3. Elvis's grave at Graceland.
An annual procession through the estate and
past Elvis's grave is held on the anniversary of his
death. The largest gathering assembled on the
twenty-fifth anniversary in 2002. One estimate
was of 40,000 people in attendance, despite the heavy rain.

The biggest crowd in Memphis for an Elvis Week is

generally regarded as the 20th Anniversary in 1997. At this time
several hundred media groups from around the world were
present and the event gained its greatest media publicity as an
estimated 50,000 fans visited the city.
The Graceland grounds include a museum containing
many Elvis artifacts, like some of his famous Vegas jumpsuits,
awards, gold records, the Lisa Marie jetliner, and Elvis's
extensive auto collection. Recently Sirius Satellite Radio
installed an all-Elvis Presley channel on the grounds. The
service's subscribers all over North America can hear Presley's
music from Graceland around the clock. Two new attractions
have been added, Elvis Presley After Dark and Elvis 56; these
can be found on the plaza.
VII.4. The Jungle Room, Graceland
Tours of the museums at Graceland are available, though
no flash photography or video cameras are allowed inside. The
tour of the Graceland mansion is an audio tour, and the upper
floor is not open to visitors, partially to avoid any improper
focus on the bathroom which was the site of his death. The
upper floor, which also contains Elvis's bedroom, has been
untouched since the day Elvis died. The tour enters through the
front door, the living room with adjoining music room are first to
be presented. These rooms are then followed with a walk past
the grand stair case to Elvis' parents room. Next the tour takes
you into the dining room and the kitchen. The tour continues
through the basement, where Elvis's media room with its three
televisions can be viewed. A bar and billiards room can also be
found. The tour continues back upstairs, through the famous
Jungle Room. After the Jungle room, you are taken to a small
room that has displays of some of Elvis' personal belongings.
These items are all carefully selected from Elvis' private
sanctuary upstairs, which again is not part of the tour. Items
include jewelry to Elvis' personal desk, some random items of
clothing and a scale model of the home he grew up in in

Mississippi. Then outside you are rounded through Elvis'

shooting range. Then into his 'Trophy Room'. Originally this
space was just a sidewalk behind the house that Elvis had
enclosed to store his many items of appreciation. At the
doorway is Elvis' famous gold lame suit
from his early years.
VII.5. The Living Room, Graceland
You then proceed down a hallway lined
with gold records. The tour then winds you through a display of
his 68 Comeback, featuring his leather suit and some gowns
worn by Priscilla. You are then taken back outside to view his
still fully functioning stable of horses. Then into Elvis' racketball
court. The court now houses a display of Elvis' trademark
sequined 'jumpsuits'. All are presented facing forward except for
the last suit in the
room.
VII.6.

Elvis's

Lockheed Jetstar on
display
near
Graceland

The last jumpsuit worn by Elvis is

turned backwards as if walking away from
you. Also in this room are all the awards
and distinctions posthumously presented to Elvis. Then you are
taken into the Meditation Garden. Buried here are Elvis, mother
Gladys, father Vernon and grandmother. A separate building
houses a car collection and not far away his two planes Lisa
Marie (a Convair 880) and Hound Dog II (a Lockheed JetStar) are
on display.
One of the most impressive displays is the trophy room off
the main house, displaying Elvis's huge collection of gold and
platinum records and other awards, stage costumes,
photographs and more.
VII.7. National Historic Landmark

Graceland was listed in the National Register of Historic

Places on November 7, 1991. On March 27, 2006, Gale Norton,
United States Secretary of the Interior, designated Graceland a
National Historic Landmarkjoining the White House, the
Alamo, Pearl Harbor Naval Base, DealeyPlaza, and Mount
Vernon. However, as there are almost 2,500 sites in the United
States sharing this designation, the elevation, according to John
Harris, 'falls slightly short', as such legendary sites also include
'the
Frederick
Bagg
Bonanza
Farm
in North
Dakota and Kentucky's Louisville Water Company Pumping
Station.'[13]
VII.8. Recent developments
In early August 2005, Lisa Marie Presley sold 85% of the
business side of her father's estate. She kept the Graceland
property itself, as well as the bulk of the possessions found
therein, and she turned over the management of Graceland to
CKX, Inc., an entertainment company that also owns 19
Entertainment, creator of the American Idol TV show.
In February 2006, CKX Chairman Bob Sillerman announced
plans to turn Graceland into an international tourist destination
on a par with the Disney or Universal theme parks, sprucing up
the area mansion and doubling the 600,000 annual visitors.
Sillermans goal is to enhance the 'total fan experience' at
Graceland to compel visitors to spend more time and money.
The company is working with the Bob Weis Design Island
Associates, based in Orlando, Florida, to improve the tourist
area around Graceland, which is located in an economicallydepressed area ofMemphis, while keeping intact the historic
home.
Sillerman, who has been speaking with investors and
developers, said he will ask local governments to help improve
some of the public spaces around Graceland. He wants to
expand the visitor center and exhibit space to showcase
thousands of pieces of Elvis memorabilia that have never been

seen. A new hotel is a possibility, or an expansion to the nearby

Heartbreak Hotel.
While visitor numbers grew to around 700,000, by 2005,
and partly due to the negative impact on US tourism of 9/11,
visitor numbers at Graceland had reportedly declined to around
600,000.
VII.9. Graceland in pop culture
Paul Simon's 1986 song 'Graceland' presents Graceland as
a holy place. Movies such as 'Finding Graceland' have Presley as
the central character and bear spiritual messages.
The
song
'Walking
in Memphis'
features Graceland prominently.

by

Marc

Cohn

There are even film titles ironically alluding to Presley's

estate and the Elvis cult practiced there nowadays. For
example, the movie 3000 Miles to Graceland is about a group of
criminals who plan to rob a casino during an international Elvis
week, and to make it easier, they are all disguised as Elvis
impersonators.
In the TV show Full House, Elvis fan Jesse Katsopolis talked
about going to Graceland for his honeymoon.
VIII. 20 Years Later - Elvis Presley's Fans

Mourning Becomes Eclectic

They spill into Memphis from around the world, some for
the first time, many more for return visits to the shrine of their
rock and roll god, Elvis Presley. They show a devotion and
knowledge of Elvis theology that is the envy of conventional
churches. They speak with a passion unknown and perhaps a
little frightening to many of us.
They are Elvis fans, here to commemorate the 20th
anniversary of his death, and they are proud of it. They

personify the root of the word fan, which comes from the word
'fanatic.'
Yet they do not appear to be freaks, which is unsettling to
those of us who don't understand their passion. To them, Elvis
personified many things, some of them contradictory: Rebellion
and respect; dangerous music and conventional charity.
They are unself-conscious as they walk the hallowed
ground. Festooned with Elvis buttons, 'TCB' pins, Elvis jackets,
20th anniversary T-shirts (and T-shirts from previous death
anniversaries), Elvis fans create a breeze in the close, hot,
humid air. And there is no concept of enough: They are happy to
buy more souvenirs.
They talk to old friends and meet new ones. They share
their knowledge of Elvis and their memories of previous visits to
Graceland. They critique the impersonators.
VIII.1. Wise men still have lots to say about him
John Bakke remembers all too well the first Elvis Presley
seminar he organized. It was 1979, and the dust had yet to
settle on Presley's sensational death just two years prior. No
one seemed willing to take either the musician or Bakke
seriously.
'I was interviewed by some skeptical reporters,' says
Bakke, now professor emeritus at the University of Memphis. 'I
said Elvis may be an object of serious historical study, and The
Associated Press picked that up right under `Man Bites Dog'
stories.'
How things have changed in two decades. For this year's
conference - titled 'Is Elvis History? 2002 and Beyond' and
scheduled 9 a.m.-4 p.m. today at U of M's Fogelman Executive
Center - Bakke says he has been interviewed by a swarm of
international media from The New York Times and The

Washington Post to Polish, Australian and German television

reporters.
'And nobody is presuming that there isn't going to be
something important said,' says Bakke, who seems a little
surprised himself. 'It's an indication of an awareness that Elvis is
not just passing through.'
Underwritten in part by a grant from the Elvis Presley
Charitable Foundation, the sold-out seminar - which benefits U
of M's Elvis Presley Endowed Scholarship Fund - gleans all sides
of the melodious debate, examining Presley's place within the
context of music and social history as well as asking whether
that legacy has run its course.
Among the esteemed speakers Bakke has lined up: Peter
Guralnick, whose detailed portraits Last Train to Memphis and
Careless Love have made him Presley's foremost biographer;
hailed writer Greil Marcus, whose books include Mystery Train,
Dead Elvis and Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a
Land of No Alternatives; Michael Bertrand, the author of Race,
Rock, and Elvis; and Allison Graham, who wrote Framing the
South: Hollywood, Television, and Race During the Civil Rights
Struggle.
Sun Records founder/producer Sam Phillips and Presley pal
Jerry Schilling, head of the Memphis and Shelby County Music
Commission, will talk about the real Elvis.
Others scheduled to speak include veteran record
executive Eddie Ray; U of M history professor Dr. Charles
Crawford; former Shelby County sheriff and mayor Bill Morris;
local columnist Jackson Baker, and WKNO-TV Channel 10
personality `Mr. Chuck' Scruggs.
After holding back-to-back seminars, first in 1997 for the
20th anniversary of Elvis's death, then in 1998, Bakke feels less
concerned with staging an annual event than with giving the

seminar enough time out so something new can be brought to

the table.
Among those with a fresh perspective this go-round is
University of Mississippi visiting professor Michael Bertrand,
who will address Elvis in relation to the civil rights era.
'You have Emmett Till being lynched for crossing a line for
violating etiquette, you have at the same time Clyde McPhatter
or the Dominos or the Ravens coming into the South,' says
Bertrand. 'Young white kids are flocking to these concerts,
falling in love with these artists. They're basically violating the
same type of etiquette. And then in Memphis you have this
young man recording at Sun Records. He's doing the same
thing. He's crossing these same boundaries of class and race,
and yet he becomes an extremely popular figure. It's very
interesting for me, that you would have two men, Emmett Till
and Elvis Presley, occupying the same space at the same time.'
With such critical focus being applied to a rock singer, one
would think a seminar titled 'Is Elvis History?' answers itself.
Yet the shifting sands of social opinion are just as
important to Bakke as are the certainties of Presley's musical
past. And the crux of this seminar is to examine how Elvis as a
social phenomenon will be seen in coming years: revolutionary
or reactionary.
'Elvis is getting a lot of credit for the impact he's had on
music itself,' says Bakke. 'Culturally, I think he's seen more as a
regressive force, as someone who exploited black music rather
than brought it into the mainstream. When he was first popular,
people like (Black Panther) Eldridge Cleaver and Abbie Hoffman
were proclaiming him as being a real force of liberation. I think
that's changed a little bit to where he's (now) seen as, at best,
more of a transitional figure and, at worst, a kind of low-class,
low-brow imitation.'

No doubt there will be those ready to defend and

denounce such a statement at the seminar.
VIII.2. Friendship lasts beyond a lifetime
Elvis pal produces his final tributes
Jerry Schilling first left the auspices of employer and friend
Elvis Presley in the late 1960s. Safe to say, he has never really
left.
A former Memphian and, more to the point, member of
Presley's Memphis Mafia, Schilling - now a Los Angeles producer
- has been involved in so many Presley movies and
presentations, the King continues to write the check.
Schilling produced the first two volumes of the Disney
home videos, Elvis: The Great Performances and its subsequent
two-hour special, with host Priscilla Presley; he also produced
the 1989 radio show, From Graceland, the Turner video The Lost
Performances and the RCA/BMG docudrama Elvis in Hollywood;
he co-produced the ABC series Elvis and has been a consultant
for several projects, including Elvis and Me, Heartbreak Hotel
and This is Elvis.
The latest in the Schilling oeuvre is the third and final
installment of The Great Performances, called Elvis from the
Waist Up (airs 9 p.m. Monday on VH1). And he is getting close
to completing his pet project of two years, a feature-film version
of Peter Guralnick's definitive Elvis biography, Last Train to
Memphis.
It all fits for a man whose job description for many years
was assistant to Elvis.
Memphis-born Schilling, 55, first met Elvis in a game of
touch football at the Dave Wells Community Center. The year
was 1954, literally days after Dewey Phillips had spun That's All
Right on WHBQ, altering forever the course of popular music.

Schilling was about eight years younger than Elvis, who had
been trying to get a game together with a few friends.
'This will tell you how popular Elvis was (at the time); he
couldn't get six people to play football,' says Schilling, who was
asked to join in the extemporaneous fun. 'Those football games,
after that, became weekly rituals.'
The rituals grew. Football progressed to all-night movies,
which progressed to Graceland parties. In 1964, the call came.
Schilling, then a college senior, was asked to see Presley.
'He said, 'I need you to go to work for me.' He didn't say
what as because Elvis basically hired his inner circle of people
out of trust, whether it was security, running errands (or)
maybe even doing something important.'
Schilling did not refuse the offer and remembers his first
night on the job as tossing a football at a truck stop on the way
to L.A. and - now that he was among the inner circle - some
rather deep conversation with the King.
'He was the first human being that ever talked about real
things (to me),' says Schilling. 'I learned a lot from him by just
being around him.'
Schilling also learned a lot being around Elvis's movies. He
became a stand-in for Elvis on the set and began studying
camera work and film editing. Movie interest was so strong that
Schilling stopped working for Elvis in 1967 and took a position
at ABC as apprentice film editor.
'My job was to scrape the labels off of syndicated shows in
a basement by myself,' he laughs.
If Elvis had many comebacks, so did Schilling, who found
himself back in the King's favor shortly after resigning.

'I was doing this (ABC job) for a few weeks, and I get a call
from Elvis in my little apartment,' Schilling says. 'And he said,
'Do you do this editing on the weekends?' - He did not like to be
said 'no' to - I said, 'No.' He said, 'I'm on my way by. We're going
to Palm Springs.''
For the next few years, Schilling led the most erratic of
lifestyles, scraping labels off cans during the week and then on
weekends taking a Lear jet to Las Vegas, where he handled
sundry arrangements for Presley. He even ended up at the
White House in 1970 when Elvis met Richard Nixon.
Schilling quit once again in the early 1970s, this time to
work as a tour manager for an unknown artist called Billy Joel.
Since then, he also has been personal manager for the Beach
Boys and Lisa Marie Presley and has served as a creative-affairs
consultant for the Graceland estate.
But it is the movies to which Schilling and his self-named
management company, begun in 1975, keep returning.
Elvis from the Waist Up, produced by Schilling and directed
by Andrew Solt, the team behind the other Great Performances,
is a collection of Elvis's earliest live appearances, including
television spots on the Milton Berle, Steve Allen and, of course,
Ed Sullivan shows. It is common knowledge that, because of his
uninhibited gyrations, Presley was filmed from the waist up on
Sullivan's family variety show. What people may have forgotten
is that Presley's third appearance was censored, not his first.
Another interesting clip from the video is the earliest
extant footage of Elvis at an outdoor Texas show from 1955.
There is no audio to the home movie, which was fortuitously
found in a trunk, but it shows a short-sleeved, charismatic Elvis
already in command of an audience (and the camera).
'It's the story about how Elvis became a household name
how his confidence builds,' says Solt, who met Schilling when
both were involved in postproduction of the 1972 documentary

Elvis On Tour. 'It's interesting in looking at an artist's career to

see how it happened, how they load the rocket fuel in the early
days.'
The hourlong video, budgeted around $800,000, was
meant for the Disney Channel but was sold to VH1 instead,
Schilling says, when Disney reverted to mostly children's
programming.
Guralnick wrote the script that U2 singer Bono narrated. In
fact, Bono recorded his narration at House of Blues Memphis
after U2's May performance in town.
'I just knew he was going to choose Memphis,' says
Schilling, who held the release date back six months to get
Bono on board. 'And he wouldn't take a penny for it. He said,
'No, I'm not doing this for money.''
Do not expect more Great Performances after this one. Not
only have all the Elvis shots been shot, but also licensing
footage has become too pricey.
'Stuff has become so rare,' says Schilling, who worked four
years getting Elvis from the Waist Up off the ground. 'That's why
I'm glad this is the last of the series.' Schilling adds that an Elvis
documentary cannot be made today without losing money.
'There are so many artists, publishers and people that got
ripped off for years, and I think there's a new consciousness.
These people are wanting to rightfully get paid for what they
own - and probably a little bit for what they've lost over the
years.'
Schilling's next Elvis project forgoes archival film for filmed
re-enactment. One ofHollywood's hottest properties is a screen
treatment of the Guralnick biography on Elvis, Last Train To
Memphis, on which Schilling is a producer. The project has been
in development for several years by 20th Century Fox and
executive producer Steve Tisch (Forrest Gump), and it is
awaiting screenplay approval. The theatrical release, budgeted

between $20 million and $30 million, will be directed by Mike

Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and should be out
sometime next year through Fox 2000, Schilling says.
Newell was chosen not for his British comedic films but for
the way he got inside the characters' minds in his gangster
movie, Donnie Brasco.
'I said if you can do that with the characters in these early
days of Elvis, we can have a really special film,' Schilling says.
A cinema newcomer, Jim Uhls, is writing the script and took
in a recent Schilling-guided tour of the Birthplace of Rock and
Roll that including the opening night of Elvis Presley's Memphis
club. Uhls also visited Sun Records owner and producer Sam
Phillips, the man responsible for Presley's first hits.
Phillips's son, Knox, said it was a productive meeting that
should result in an accurate portrait of Presley.
'Everybody feels good about the project again,' he said.
According to Knox, the Phillips family was disappointed in the
last screenplay by Coal Miner's Daughter writer Tom Rickman.
Last Train is, however, the last Elvis film Schilling says he
will produce. He has had plenty of movie opportunities because
of his association with Presley and is proud of the relationship,
but he feels it's time to move on.
'Nothing is more important to me whatever else I ever do.
(But) I want to produce films, not just Elvis films. I don't think
it's good for Elvis, and I don't think it's good for me.'

Final Conclusion
As we all can see, Elvis had a major influence on a
lot of people and it would be inspiring to find out what
fans as well as people who used to know Elvis think
about him. Their memories are vivid and many of them

refuse to believe that he is dead. For them he is very

much alive and still the King.