The King of Rock and Roll (1935-1977)
Grew up in poverty to be the most unique voice of his time. Everyone loved him, especially teenagers. His music, a combination of Rhythm & blues, county, pop and gospel and his stage appearance was what attracted the church people; and not in a positive way being nick named "Elvis the Pelvis."
In the mid 50's (1956) he starred in "Love Me Tender" which had been a lifelong dream for him. During this time, with the exception of his time in the army, he was recording songs, doing live concerts and making movies. When he returned from the army in 1961 he exclusively did movies
In 1969 the movie making became dissatisfying as they all seemed to be the "same" movie with a different title so he kicked off his sing career with a month long concert at the Las Vegas International Hotel in 1969. From this time, until the time of his death in 1977, he toured all over the United States making history with his shows, costumes and box office breaking records.
1960s saw Elvis acting in one movie after another (for example "Flaming Star", "Blue Hawaii", and "Viva Las Vegas"), until finally his films ended up being produced like from an assembly line with a set pattern. Elvis grew dissatisfied with his acting career and totally quit making movies in 1969. Instead he started giving live concerts again - encouraged by the good response of the TV special aired in 1968 and by the triumphant success of a month-long concert engagement at the Las Vegas International Hotel in 1969.
The time from 1970 till his death at 1977 Elvis spent touring in concerts all over the United States - around 1,000 concerts total. He also had long engagements in Las Vegas International Hotel each year. He made history with these elaborate shows, his costumes (most often various jumpsuits) breaking box office records.
Elvis and Priscilla (married in 1967) had one child, Lisa Marie, born in 1968.
Say what you want about how Elvis lived and how he died but he sold over one billion albums worldwide, has over 100 gold/platinum awards for his music and is, still today, the most popular artist ever. My personal favorite is Jailhouse Rock and you can enjoy it here.
Like Jimmy's Tavern on Facebook. More blogs on Jimmy's Tavern Facebook page
No comments:
Post a Comment
What do you think?