Rock’n Roll ’n Race

Offstage, Elvis Presley was the opposite of the type conventionally associated with the music of which he is universally considered the supreme exponent. He was not remotely rebellious, delinquent, or “animalistic” (a term used in denunciations of his performance style). He was shy and deferential and devoted to his parents. “Nice” is a word often used to describe him.

Presley had had no intention of becoming a rock ’n’ roll singer and he never really considered himself one. He sang rock ’n’ roll songs, but he sang all kinds of songs. He understood that pop music was a business in which a lot of money could be made; if rock ’n’ roll could make him more, he was happy to sing rock ’n’ roll. “I have to do what I can do best,” as he said. But he didn’t sing only for the money. He sang because he was a singer, and his enormous popularity exposed people to genres of popular music they otherwise might not have paid attention to.

Mississippi, in 1935. His father, Vernon, was a laborer who moved from job to job. The Presleys lived for a time in a Black neighborhood in Tupelo (though in a “White” house). They did not consider themselves, and there is no evidence that they were, racially intolerant. Elvis was an only child—a twin brother was stillborn—and he was especially close to his mother, Gladys. Gladys was dynamic; people liked her. But the family was somewhat insular. In school, Elvis was a bit of an outsider and sometimes got picked on. He stood out not because of any special talent, but because, as a teenager, he dressed up: bolero jackets, a scarf worn as an ascot, dress pants with stripes down the sides. His demeanor remained reserved and respectful. In 1948, the family moved to Memphis, where Presley attended Humes High. (Schools were segregated by