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songs at Sun Records for his mother for her birthday. It was at Sun Records where
his career began, because Sam Phillips asked him to record more songs, in hopes of
finding a star.
So now that you know about Elvis’s beginnings, we can discuss his rise to fame
and early successes. Elvis’s career began at Sun Records and grew as his fans wanted
to see him on stage, on TV, and on the silver screen. According to Rolling Stone, one
of the recordings requested by Sam Phillips, “That’s Alright Mama,” became Elvis’s
first single in 1954. This single, and many of Elvis’s other singles, showed the influence
of blues music, which he discovered in Memphis. By 1955, Elvis was signed to RCA,
a premier record label. In 1956, his first album was released, titled Elvis Presley.
According to Elvis.com, this record was #1 on the Billboard Pop Charts for 10 weeks
and was also Elvis’s first gold album, selling over a million copies.
Throughout the rest of the ’50s, Elvis appeared on many variety shows such as
the Ed Sullivan Show and starred in his first movie, Love Me Tender. In 1960, after two
years in the army, Elvis taped a special Welcome Home Elvis edition of Frank Sinatra’s
TV show. He received $125,000 for appearing on the show—which, according to
Elvis.com, was a record sum of money for an appearance at that time. According
to IMDb, Elvis released 27 films throughout the ’60s. This was obviously his career
focus at that time. He also put out many soundtracks for these movies; some of them
include GI Blues, Blue Hawaii, and Viva Las Vegas.
After covering Elvis’s early life and career, we can now discuss his career change.
The obvious shift from movies to music came with Elvis’s 1968 Comeback Tour
Special, initially entitled Elvis. Elvis used the 1968 Comeback Special to be taken
more seriously, and he ended the special on a personal note, by closing with the
song If I Can Dream. This song was in response to the tragedies that had occurred
in the 1960s, such as the assassination of JFK, Martin Luther King Jr., and Bobby
Kennedy, all men whom Elvis respected. This was a sign he was ready to be taken
more seriously. His movies changed as well; he finished up his acting career with a few
movies that were less cheesy and had more serious plots.
In 1973, Elvis made history. His Aloha from Hawaii Special was broadcast via
satellite to 40 countries and viewed by 1 to 1.5 billion people, according to Elvis.com.
Also according to Elvis.com, 51 percent of Americans viewed the Aloha from Hawaii
Special. That means it was seen in more American households than the walk on the
moon was! Elvis continued to sell out shows and venues such as Madison Square
Garden and Las Vegas until his career ended in 1977 with his death.
You can see that Elvis’s life is something for the history books. He came from
humble beginnings and catapulted himself into a thriving career to become the King
of Rock-n-Roll. Now you know about his life before fame, his early fame and rise to
stardom, and a career shift that he focused on. Now—as Elvis would say—”Thank
you, thank you very much.”Z02_BEEB3981_05_SE_APPB_445-454.indd 454 11/13/14 5:31 PM