Legends of Rock & Roll: Elvis Presley

By James Hoag

I have resisted writing about Elvis Presley ever since I started this project. This is the 27th book in what is so-far, three different series of books. How can you write about the legends of rock and roll or any genre of music for that matter and not include Elvis.

I know a lot has been written about him, but I felt I could add something new, something that has not been written about before. That is, my viewpoint on the man and his music. After all, that is what the series is about.

I grew up in the Fifties. I watched Elvis come from nowhere and turn into a superstar. Looking back, I admit, he was pretty cool. But at the time, neither I nor my friends could understand what all the fuss was about. The thing I remember most is that the girls all loved him and the boys, well, didn’t.

I remember thinking when he was drafted and sent off to Europe to be in the Army that maybe we had seen the last of Elvis. But, of course, he came back and when he did, he was hotter and bigger than ever. Oh, how the girls loved a man in a uniform.

Today, I look back and while I can think of a few acts that might be called the King of Rock and Roll, there was never anyone like Elvis. I was driving to work one morning in 1977 and they announced on the radio that Elvis had been found dead. Most of us knew that he was having problems, but we never dreamed it would lead to this. I felt sad for several days after that and wondered how the world would be without Elvis.

Of course, the world went on and others took his place, but I still look back on the Fifties as a great time for music and a great time to be alive.

This is my tribute to the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Hoag
• Release date: Jun 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301717071

James Hoag

James Hoag has always been a big fan of Rock & Roll. Most people graduate from high school and then proceed to "grow up" and go on to more adult types of music. James got stuck at about age 18 and has been an avid fan of popular music ever since. His favorite music is from the Fifties, the origin of Rock & Roll and which was the era in which James grew up. But he likes almost all types of popular music including country music.After working his entire life as a computer programmer, he is now retired and he decided to share his love of the music and of the performers by writing books that discuss the life and music of the various people who have meant so much to him over the years.He calls each book a "love letter" to the stars that have enriched our lives so much. These people are truly Legends.

Book preview

Introduction

I have resisted writing about Elvis Presley ever since I started this project. This is the 27th book in what is so-far, three different series of books. How can you write about the legends of rock and roll or any genre of music for that matter and not include Elvis.

I know a lot has been written about him, but I felt I could add something new, something that has not been written about before. That is, my viewpoint on the man and his music. After all, that is what the series is about.

I grew up in the Fifties. I watched Elvis come from nowhere and turn into a superstar. Looking back, I admit, he was pretty cool. But at the time, neither I nor my friends could understand what all the fuss was about. The thing I remember most is that the girls all loved him and the boys, well, didn’t.

I remember thinking when he was drafted and sent off to Europe to be in the Army that maybe we had seen the last of Elvis. But, of course, he came back and when he did, he was hotter and bigger than ever. Oh, how the girls loved a man in a uniform.

Today, I look back and while I can think of a few acts that might be called the King of Rock and Roll, there was never anyone like Elvis. I was driving to work one morning in 1977 and they announced on the radio that Elvis had been found dead. Most of us knew that he was having problems, but we never dreamed it would lead to this. I felt sad for several days after that and wondered how the world would be without Elvis.

Of course, the world went on and others took his place, but I still look back on the Fifties as a great time for music and a great time to be alive.

This is my tribute to the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.

Growing Up Dirt Poor

Elvis was born Elvis Aaron Presley on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi. The name Elvis is Norse for all wise. Not everyone knows that he was a twin. His brother, Jesse Garon Presley was stillborn about 35 minutes before Elvis was born. His mother was Gladys Love Presley, who was 22 at the time and his father Vernon Elvis Presley, was only 18. It was reported that Jesse was buried in an unmarked grave in the Priceville Cemetary in Tupelo. No one really knows where the grave is, but there is a marker in the cemetery to mark the spot they believe it was. The birth cost Vernon $15 which welfare paid. The Presley’s were so poor that the neighbors and friends had to help supply them with diapers and other baby needs.

Twins have a special connection and Elvis grew up missing Jesse. He always had a lonely feeling that something was missing in his life. I think that is hard for us who are not twins to understand.

What is certainly true is that the Presley family was too poor to hold a funeral or to buy a casket, so they buried their son the best they could. There is a lot of speculation as to what the world would have looked like with two Elvis’. Can you imagine the Presley Brothers on tour? If Jesse was an identical twin, who knows what he would have grown up to be. It’s something to think about.

The family was poor, living on Government assistance much of the time. Father Vernon was not very responsible and drifted from job to job, never really settling with any one thing. As a result the family suffered.

In late 1937, when Elvis was about three, Vernon sold a pig to a man named Orville Bean. Bean paid Vernon $4 for the pig, but Vernon felt the pig was worth far more than that, more like $14. Along with two friends (one who was Gladys’ brother), he decided to alter the check to an amount that reflected what he thought the pig was worth. Well, banks are not easily fooled and Vernon and his buddies were arrested for forgery. Vernon was sentenced to three years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Parchman has been the subject of several songs and is called Parchman Farm. It has been sung about by the Kingston Trio, among others. To hear some real Mississippi blues, check out Parchman Farm Blues by Bukka White. You can find it on YouTube. This is real blues.

Vernon ended up only serving eight months of his sentence, but it was enough to decimate the savings of the Presley’s and they lost their home due to foreclosure and had to depend on the kindness of their family and friends to get by. Since it was just the two of them; that was usually not a problem.

So Elvis grew up an only child. He was particularly close to his mother. Like so many performers who grew up during the depression and came on the scene in the Forties and the Fifties, Elvis grew up listening to gospel music. The family was active in the Assembly of God Church in Tupelo and singing was part of the services. However, Elvis was a shy child and was very reluctant to perform in public. There is a story that when Elvis was two years old, he and his mother were attending church and he wiggled out of her grasp and toddled up to join the choir in the song they were singing.

The first time he actually sang in public was when he was ten years old in 1945. His teacher happened to hear him sing and was impressed. In a weird twist of fate, the fifth grade teacher that liked him was Oleta Grimes who was the daughter of Orville Bean, the man who bought the pig that ended up sending Vernon to jail. Mrs. Grimes took Elvis to the principal who also liked what he heard. Elvis was protesting the whole way, but they convinced him to sing in the talent show at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. He stood there before the world and his teachers, dressed like a cowboy and sang the old