Thankyaverymuuhhch

I have several students attending the same high school, so I have by now seen some marching band music that they are learning for the upcoming marching season.  In one particular high school, the students are playing an Elvis show.  Presley, not Costello.  Anyway, I'm fairly well-acquainted with the music of "The King", but I figured it wouldn't hurt to brush up on my Elvis-knowledge.

Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935.  When he was 13 he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and in 1954 he was signed on the legendary Sun Records.  Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records at the time, wanted to introduce African-American music to a wider audience.  In Elvis he saw the perfect face and vehicle to introduce this music.  For his part, Elvis was a great listener, translating gospel and blues to the still less than civil-rights-minded audience of the 1950s.  Because gospel and the blues were essential to the development of rock music, it makes sense that Elvis is considering the founder and King of Rock and Roll.  He helped to promote African-American music the way that Ray Charles would promote gospel to wider audiences.  (And not without controversy, Charles was accused of exploiting and devaluing gospel tradition by giving it a rock beat and playing it for white audiences.)

Elvis created controversy in a different way, through his now iconic hip-shaking during performances that drove women wild.  This seems tame, but it was the 1950s.  Then there was the infamous Ed Sullivan Show performance that showed TV audiences Elvis from the waist up.

Elvis eventually succumbed to failing health and drug abuse.  He died August 16, 1977 (yes, Elvis did die)and his mansion in Memphis, his Graceland, is now a museum.  I plan to visit Memphis someday.  Not just for Elvis, but for all the other legends that have walked through and left their mark on our American music.