Elvis Presley

"'I remember reading in the papers about Elvis Presley. And the language at the time, I can’t really recapture, but it was presented as, you know, a man of such extraordinary wildness and lack of control and so forth – that obviously excited me enormously....The HMV advertisement in the music press a week or so later said...it was like a fusion of Johnnie Ray and Billy Daniels. But of course he was much, much more than that. You became aware that this was something utterly different to anything you’d ever heard before.' (Peeling Back The Years Part 1)."

"'I remember getting the (début) LP when it first came out. The effect on me was quite remarkable. I can't describe it to you really because I couldn't describe it to myself. But it was remarkable nevertheless. Quite transformed my life in a way.' (22 January 1985"

Elvis Aaron Presley (1935-1977) was arguably the most important stylistic and musical icon of the 20th Century. He broke the boundaries of prejudice that existed between black and white music at the time by incorporating elements of blues, country and R&B into his early recordings, and added a measure of sex appeal and showmanship into his act that continues to influence popular music to this day. His recordings were initially issued on the Sun label, which also had Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, but when he signed to RCA and released Heartbreak Hotel, it heralded the onset of rock'n'roll's highest profile act. Before Presley, teenagers had no voice: but he articulated their wants and desires and represented the challenge to authority that was lacking from more sanitised and older acts such as Bill Haley. He made several films which tied profitable soundtrack LPs to their release, with Jailhouse Rock containing a stunning example of choreography to underpin its musical brio.

Presley spent much of his career under the iron control of Colonel Tom Parker, who ensured that Elvis presented the right mixture of rebellion and Southern courtesy. Elvis addressed interviewers as 'sir,' and projected an all-American God-fearing persona to the press, but unleashed a physical aura on stage that led to TV programmes refusing to show any of his movements below the waist.Parker shrewdly ensured that when his protege entered the army in 1958, he had a stack of material which was steadily issued over the next two years in order to keep him in the public eye. However, it was a different Elvis that came back to civilian life. Gone were the sideburns and hip-wiggling, and his music concentrated on ballads and medium-paced material (Marie's The Name Of His Latest Flame, for example). The older fans clamoured for rock material, but all Presley offered was a diet of increasingly appalling Hollywood teen movies.

Ironically, this only served to increase his popularity: It's Now Or Never (1960), based on an old Italian ballad, became his biggest-selling single ever, and his 1968 comeback show remains one of the most watched TV specials in history. Aloha From Hawaii (1973) was the first TV special globally transmitted via satellite, being seen by over a billion viewers. He put on a considerable amount of weight, became addicted to junk food and in the 1970s was content to play the cabaret circuit, releasing one single after another that contained little of his ground-breaking musical template. He died in 1977 at his palatial Memphis home Gracelands and since then has sold more records than when he was alive (Way Down making the top of the charts in that year). Eilert Pilarm constructed an entire act from marketing himself as the 'Swedish Elvis Presley' and recording old Elvis songs in a tuneless and rambling style.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * None

Peelenium

 * Peelenium 1955: 'Baby Let's Play House'
 * Peelenium 1962: 'Return To Sender'

Sessions

 * None

Other Shows Played

 * 17 July 1967: 'One-Sided Love Affair (LP-Elvis Presley)' (RCA)
 * 28 January 1972 'Money Honey (LP-Rock'N'Roll (Elvis Presley)' (HMV)
 * 12 June 1978: 'Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog' (JP rates this as one of the best double A-sided singles of all time)
 * 17 August 1978: 'Party / Mean Woman Blues / Got A Lot Of Livin' To Do (LP-Loving You OST)' (HMV) (JP: 'A year and a day after Elvis Presley died, this is the way the party should sound.')
 * 26 June 1979: 'When My Blue Moon Turns Gold'
 * 19 March 1980: 'Mystery Train (LP-Elvis Presley Sun Collection)'
 * 22 January 1985: 'I'm Counting On You (LP-Elvis Presley)' (RCA)
 * 23 January 1985: 'I've Got A Woman'
 * 25 February 1986: 'That's All Right Mama'
 * 27 July 1987: 'My Baby Left Me'
 * 23 February 2000: 'Money Honey (LP-Elvis Presley)' (RCA)
 * 21 December 2000: 'Santa Claus Is Back In Town / O Little Town Of Bethlehem'
 * 08 May 2002: 'Blue Moon Of Kentucky'
 * 25 June 2002: 'Money Honey'(RCA) Pig's Big 78 2002
 * 07 August 2002: 'Too Much' (RCA) Pig's Big 78 2002
 * 26 August 2003: 'Teddy Bear (LP-Elvis' Golden Records Vol. 2)' (RCA)
 * Ten Of The Best: 'Don't Be Cruel'