2.2 WORKSHEET 2

Due No Due Date
Points None

In this assignment, we will focus on Elvis Presley.

ELVIS PRESLEY

Elvis Presley was not only the 1st big R&R star, he was a social phenomenon, influencing culture as well as music. People still talk about him today, you can still see magazines in the grocery stores, and hundreds of books have been written about him.

ELVIS PRESLEY

Elvis was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, to very poor surroundings: TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI - USA MAP

ELVIS' FIRST HOUSE

ELVIS AS A BABY

One indication of the family's circumstances was, if Elvis wanted to listen to the radio, he had to go outside and listen to the radio in the car! When Elvis was 13, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, a very propitious move. It was there he attended high school, and was exposed to many styles of music: country and western, gospel, and R&R (Memphis was long considered a "blues" city). After high school, he entered Sam Phillips' Sun Studio, to make an amateur record for his mother, as a gift.

SAM PHILLIPS IN RECORDING STUDIO

Here is a copy of the actual receipt of that recording:

RECEIPT OF ELVIS 1ST RECORDING

Eventually, Sam Phillips recorded Elvis with musicians, and soon Elvis was a local star. As he traveled throughout the South, his fame grew, and Col. Tom Parker became his manager.

Parker signed Elvis to RCA Records, and from then on, his fame was worldwide.

"Before Elvis, there was nothing" - John Lennon

Watch this short biography of Elvis:

ELVIS BIOGRAPHY Links to an external site.

Elvis was controversial when he came on the scene, and critics piled on him, Remember in the documentary where Elvis told Sam Phillips he didn't "sing like nobody?" He was right. The critics were not used to his style of singing, a blending of standard pop and R&B. A few quotes of the day:

• "He can't last, I tell you, he can't last."

• "He can't sing a lick."

• "Mr. Presley has no discernible singing ability."

Elvis Presley holds several records; the most certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on Billboard, and the most number-one albums and number-one singles.

In 1973, Elvis became the first performer to give a performance in a world-wide satellite event: Aloha From Hawaii, with 1.5 billion people watching. Here is an excerpt from that concert, with Elvis singing a medley called "American Trilogy."

ELVIS PERFORMING "AMERICAN TRILOGY" Links to an external site.

Did you catch what he said at the end: "Thank you, thank you very much?" That was a phrase he said so much, impersonators would use it in their acts.

Speaking of impersonators, here's a joke. A year after Elvis died, there were over 1,500 Elvis impersonators. Ten years later, there were over 20,000 impersonators. By the end of next year, it is projected that 1/3 of the earth will be Elvis impersonators! [you're supposed to laugh now]

Our next music journal entry is also the answer to question 14.

"Heartbreak Hotel" was Elvis' first number one record for RCA. People were quite confused about where Elvis belonged stylistically, in that the record landed on the top of the pop charts, the R&B charts, and the country and western charts!

The record is notable for it's starkness, just a voice and guitar at the beginning. The standup bass and drummer (playing brushes) enters in. Later, the pianist sneaks in. A very unusual recording for the time, when listeners were used to background vocals and various instruments in the arrangement.

Here's what Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, said about hearing "Heartbreak Hotel" for the first time:

I think the first record I bought was Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally”. Fantastic record, even to this day. Good records just get better with age. But the one that really turned me on, like an explosion one night, listening to Radio Luxembourg [In England, kids had to tune into stations from other countries to hear R&R] on my little radio when I was supposed to be in bed and asleep, was “Heartbreak Hotel”. That was the stunner. I’d never heard it before, or anything like it. I’d never heard of Elvis before. It was almost as if I’d been waiting for it to happen. When I woke up the next day I was a different guy. Suddenly I was getting overwhelmed: Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard, Fats. Radio Luxembourg was notoriously difficult to keep on station. I had a little aerial and walked round the room, holding the radio up to my ear and twisting the aerial. Trying to keep it down because I’d wake Mum and Dad up. If I could get the signal right, I could take the radio under the blankets on the bed and keep the aerial outside and twist it there. I’m supposed to be asleep; I’m supposed to be going to school in the morning.

Then, “Since my baby left me” – it was just the sound. It was the last trigger. That was the first rock and roll I heard. It was a totally different way of delivering a song, a totally different sound, stripped down, burnt, no bullshit, no violins and ladies’ choruses and schmaltz, totally different. It was bare, right to the roots that you had a feeling were there but hadn’t yet heard. I’ve got to take my hat off to Elvis for that. The silence is your canvas, that’s your frame, that’s what you work on; don’t try and deafen it out. That’s what “Heartbreak Hotel” did to me. It was the first time I’d heard something so stark. Then I had to go back to what this cat had done before. Luckily I caught his name. The Radio Luxembourg signal came back in. “That was Elvis Presley, with ‘Heartbreak Hotel.'”

George Harrison of the Beatles, when asked about his musical roots, said it was when he heard "Heartbreak Hotel" through an open window.

JOURNAL #6

#6 HEARTBREAK HOTEL Links to an external site.

I've got something special to share with you. Here is a copy of the original handwritten lyrics to "Heartbreak Hotel." Mae Axton, one of the co-writers, had read a newspaper article about some poor soul who killed himself at a hotel. A good songwriter will take an idea and make it something new. Here it is:

HEARTBREAK HOTEL - ORIGINAL DRAFT

Our next music journal entry is also from those early days (Elvis' time on the charts encompassed 4 decades: from the '50s to the '70s, and later in 2003 with a remix of the song "A Little Less Conversation").

"All Shook Up," a favorite of mine, is quintessential Elvis, still with the basic instrumentation of "Heartbreak Hotel."

There's an interesting hollow tapping sound throughout the recording. After listening, try to guess what that sound was.

JOURNAL #7

# 7. ALL SHOOK UP Links to an external site.

Now, what was that sound you heard throughout the record? It was Elvis slapping the back of his guitar, while singing!

Our final Elvis entry is a ballad from one of his movies, Blue Hawaii. A favorite with fans, Elvis always included "Can't Help Falling In Love" in his concerts. Listen carefully, the recording has several new sounds in it! Do the best you can.

JOURNAL # 8.

# 8. CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE Links to an external site.

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One thing I love about this class is what I call "snapshots" - old photos, artifacts, and recollections of people who knew the artist. Those things give us a broader look of an artist, usually more than what a textbook could offer.

Here is what might be the first ever video of Elvis Presley:

FIRST EVER VIDEO OF ELVIS PRESLEY Links to an external site.

One of my favorite Elvis snapshots is this video. Bill Medley is an artist who we will actually study later in the course. By circumstance, he became good friends with Elvis, and thus had great stories to tell. Watch this:

BILL MEDLEY REMEMBERS ELVIS PRESLEY Links to an external site.

A few more:

ELVIS HAVING FUN ON STAGE Links to an external site.

ELVIS SINGING GOSPEL BACKSTAGE Links to an external site.ELVIS REHEARSING WITH THE BAND Links to an external site.ELVIS MEETING MUHAMMAD ALI Links to an external site.