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Elvis Presley

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Elvis Presley
In the United States, during the 1950s the rise of rock and roll and popular black Rhythm-and-Blues were converged together. Elvis Presley also referred to the King of Rock was one of the most successful and popular artists of the mid-1950’s who explored the musical genre of rock and roll and the Blues. He was an influential American singer, actor, and guitarist who had an immeasurable impact of world culture. Elvis Presley was and still is the most significant figure or idol in rock and roll history, who revolutionized the way American music sounded, looked, and was preformed through his sexually and seductive performance and dress styles till this day on. When Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on Tuesday, January 8, 1935 to Vernon Elvis Presley and Gladys Love Smith Presley, no one would imagine that he had a chance to be famous (Gentry 11-16). His young parents were in poverty and have been raised as farmers in northern Mississippi. Elvis had a twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, who died shortly after birth (Isaacs 1). During his youth in Tupelo, Elvis had a lot of passion towards music and was exposed to music, which shaped and influenced his music style such as, gospel, country music, and rhythm and blues (Rubel 1). The Presleys joined the new Assembly of God church, where Elvis’s musical abilities were shared in the services. The young Elvis took up guitar at the age of eleven. In 1953, after Elvis graduated from L.C. Humes High School in Memphis, he worked at Precision Tool Company and then drove a truck for the Crown Electric Company paying his own way into the Memphis Recording Services studio to produce his own records (Isaacs 1). Less than a year later, Elvis had recorded “That’s All Right Mama” for Sun Records, which was his first commercial release, selling twenty thousand copies. This was the first step towards Elvis Presley’s moving career. Elvis finally felt confident enough about his singing career to quit his job as a truck


Citations: David Brackett. "Presley, Elvis." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 22 Mar. 2012 <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/22307>. Elvis Presley (1935-1977) Music Educators Journal, Vol Gentry, Tony. Elvis Presley . Chelsea House Publishers, 1994. 11-16. Print. Hardinge, Melissa. They Died Too Young Elvis. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1998. 5-11. Print. "Presley, Elvis Aron (1935-1977)." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. Rubel, David. "Presley, Elvis." World Book Student. World Book, 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.

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