THE KING OF
ROCK AND ROLL ELVIS PRESLEY
Elvis Presley came from a very poor
family. He was born on 8 January 1935 in Mississippi.
Elvis loved music. He went to church
every Sunday and sang in a choir. When he was 13, his mother bought him a
guitar (Elvis wanted a bicycle, but it was too expensive). In the same year
Elvis and his family left Mississippi. They moved to Memphis, Tennessee.
One day in 1954 he went to a recording
studio called Sun Records. He wanted to make a record for his mother’s
birthday. The secretary at the studio, Marion Keisker, heard Elvis and she told
her boss, Sam Phillips.
Elvis was Sam Phillip’s dream – a
"white boy with a black voice”.
Phillips become Elvis’s manager and
Elvis made his first single – "That’s All Right, Mama”. When disc jockeys
played in on their radio stations, American teenagers become wild. Many
American parents didn’t like Elvis. He was too sexy.
In 1955 Elvis appeared on TV in New
York. The following year he made his first film "Love me tender. In the next
two years he made many hit records – "Blue Suede Shoes”, "Heartbreak Hotel”,
"All Shook Up”, "Jailhouse Rock”, "Teddy Bear”.
In 1958, Elvis joined the American army
and went to Germany. When he returned to the USA in the early 60’s, pop was not
the same. British groups like the "Beatles” and the "Rolling Stones” were the
new stars.
Elvis was a millionaire, but he was a
very lonely man. In his last years he became fat and depressed. He died of a
heart attack on 16 August 1977 in his mansion at Graceland, Memphis.
But for his millions of fans Elvis is
still the king. They think that Elvis could really sing. Not like these kids
today with all their electronic machines. He was the
King,
man, the King of Rock and Roll.
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