Rock N Roll Part - 2

…Hey there readers .. glad to see u back

Here is a little more about Elvis “The King” Presley…. and like John Lennon once said “Before Elvis , There was nothing”.

..Over the next year (since getting his guitar) Vernon's brother Johnny Smith and Assembly of Good pastor Frank Smith gave 10 year old Elvis basic guitar lessons.

Sometime later in the year 1948, after losing another job Vernon moved the family to Memphis. Glady's brothers get him a job at the Precision Tool Company and the family moved into a small apartment at 370 Washington Street.

On September 13 Elvis enrolled at L.C. Humes High School. Starting his second year Elvis worked in the school library and after school at Loew's State Theatre. In 1951, his received his first driver's license, joins the ROTC unit at Humes High, tries out for the football team (he's cut by the coach when he won’t trim his sideburns and ducktail), and in his spare time hangs around the African American section of town, especially on Beale Street where absorbs the black blues and gospel he hears there. He was also a regular audience member at the all-night white, and black, gospel sing songs that were held downtown. He wore his hair long and slick, and let his sideburns grow. He was really different from the other kids, a good-natured misfit.

While at Humes High, Elvis sang with his guitar at a student talent show. Much to his own amazement, he gets more applause than anyone else and wins, then performs an encore!! The acceptance felt good.

Finally, at 18 years of age majoring in Shop, History, and English Elvis graduated from Humes High in 1953.

In the summer of 1953 Elvis recorded "My Happiness" and "That's When the Your Heartaches Begin" at Memphis Recording Studios, a sideline Sam Phillips had started at his Sun Records studios where anyone could record a ten inch acetate for four dollars. He took the acetate home, and reportedly gave it to his mother as a much-belated extra birthday present.

Then in January 1954, Elvis made one more demo acetate at Sun. Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records, is in this time and, is intrigued by an unusual looking and sounding Elvis Presley.

Later that year in June, At Marion Keisker’s (Sams Assistant) suggestion, Sam Phillips calls Elvis into the studio to try singing a song Sam hopes to put out on record. The song is "Without You" and Elvis does not sing it to Sam’s approval. Sam asks Elvis what he can sing, and Elvis runs through a number of popular tunes. Sam is impressed enough to team Elvis up with local musicians Scotty Moore (guitar) and Bill Black (bass) to see if they, together, can come up with something good.

Elvis meets Scotty and Bill, but nothing really clicks until July 5, when after a tiresome session, Elvis and the guys break into a sped-up version of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right." This song, backed with Blue Moon of Kentucky becomes the first of five singles Elvis will release on the Sun label.

Elvis, Scotty, and Bill start performing in concert, with Scotty acting as the group’s manager. Elvis continues his day job at Crown Electric as the group starts to play small clubs and other smalltime gigs locally and all through the South, enjoying moderate triumph with the records and personal appearances.

Elvis’ one appearance on the Grand Ole Opry (The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee that has presented the biggest stars of the genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio show) doesn’t go over particularly well, with one of the Opry officials reportedly suggesting that Elvis go back to driving a truck. The Opry is very important at this time. This is a painful disappointment in Elvis' early career.

Elvis, Scotty, and Bill continued to record and to travel, they quit their day jobs in mid-October 1954.

………………To Be Continued

Kamikaze