1. Elvis was born on 8 Jan 1935 and died on 16 Aug 1977 at the age of 42.
2. At school, Presley was teased by his fellow classmates; they threw “things at him — rotten fruit and stuff — because he was different, because he was quiet and he stuttered and he was a mama’s boy.
3. Aged ten, he made his first public performance in a singing contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. Dressed as a cowboy, the young Elvis had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone and sang Red Foley’s “Old Shep”. He won second prize.
4. In 1946, Presley’s mother took Elvis to Tupelo Hardware to get him a birthday present. Although he wanted a rifle, his mother wanted him to get a guitar. He had earned money from doing small errands, but did not have enough to buy the $7.90 guitar, so she paid the difference.
5. Elvis didn’t want to sing in the movies…More than anything else, Elvis wanted to be a movie actor.
6. Elvis made thirty movies…They all made money.
7. On July 18, 1953, Presley went to the Memphis Recording Service at the Sun Record Company (now commonly known as Sun Studios). He paid $3.98 to record the first of two double-sided ‘demo’ acetates — “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin”. Presley reportedly gave the acetate to his mother as a much-belated extra birthday present, though the Presleys didn’t own a record player at the time.
8. Presley appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville. Hank Snow introduced Presley on stage. He performed “Blue Moon of Kentucky” but received only a polite response. Afterwards, the singer was allegedly told: “Boy, you’d better keep driving that truck.”
9. Presley’s first Ed Sullivan appearance (September 9, 1956) was seen by an estimated 55-60 million viewers. During the second, Presley only had to shake his legs to get screams from the audience, which a bemused Sullivan didn’t notice him doing when stood next to the singer. On the third show, the family-minded Sullivan censored Presley’s “gyrations”: he was shown only above the waist. According to the show’s director, Marlo Lewis, Sullivan told him that Presley was “hangin’ some kind of device in the crotch of his pants” and that it was “waving back and forth” when the singer moved. Sullivan said: “We can’t have that on a Sunday night. That’s a church night”. Although Lewis ordered camera two to film only Presley’s chest and head, he never believed the “device” was there at all. Despite his misgivings, Sullivan still declared at the end of the show: “This is a real decent, fine boy. We’ve never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we’ve had with you… you’re thoroughly all right.”
10. On December 20, 1957, Presley received his army draft notice. Presley returned to the U.S. on March 2, 1960, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant (E-5) on March 5.
11. Many fans and others have acknowledged Presley’s sexual attraction and photogenic looks. Steve Binder recalled from 1968: “… when Elvis came back from vacation in Hawaii… he was awesome looking. I mean, I’m heterosexual. I’m straight as an arrow and I got to tell you, you stop, whether you’re male or female, to look at him. He was that good looking. And if you never knew he was a superstar, it wouldn’t make any difference; if he’d walked in the room, you’d know somebody special was in your presence.”
12. Towards the end of his life, Presley had many health problems, some of them chronic. “Elvis had had an enlarged heart for a long time. That, together with his drug habit, caused his death.
13.
There were loads of Elvis clips to choose at You tube. I chose this one because it’s the song that was played at our wedding.
Do you have a favorite Elvis song?
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August 16th, 2007 at 4:17 am · Link
errrmmm – sorry Shell… i’m the anti-Elvis fan.
Maybe in reaction to the fact the my Sis has the largest Elvis shrine in the south. I’ll have to send her over here to see this – she’ll enjoy it muchly. Me – i just kinda shudder.
August 16th, 2007 at 5:29 am · Link
I love “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.” I wanted it as my wedding march, but the fam quashed that in favor of the more traditional “Here Comes the Bride.” Poo.
August 16th, 2007 at 5:35 am · Link
#9 was interesting with the whole “device” thing.
Songs I like are Suspicious Minds and Viva Las Vegas.
August 16th, 2007 at 6:02 am · Link
I never got it, I never will. But I think I saw him through my telescope the other night…
August 16th, 2007 at 6:08 am · Link
Oh I love Suspicious Minds! I’m not a big Elvis fan, but he did a lot to move rock and roll forward. RIP Elvis.
August 16th, 2007 at 6:16 am · Link
Ah The King. You can’t beat him, can you?
August 16th, 2007 at 6:21 am · Link
My daddy was a preacher and my mother loved Elvis. I remember watching his movies with her when he was at work LOL It felt soooo sneaky at the time. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
Happy T13!
August 16th, 2007 at 6:24 am · Link
I have a BIL who’s an Elvis impressionist. Not an impersonator. LOL so know a bit about him.
August 16th, 2007 at 6:31 am · Link
Jail House Rock is my favorite though it’s hard to choose.
August 16th, 2007 at 6:55 am · Link
I’m not a huge Elvis fan, but I do like his music. He might not have had a really long life, but he certainly had an interesting one.
August 16th, 2007 at 7:15 am · Link
So hard to believe it’s been 30 years! I wasn’t an Elvis fan when I was a kid, but then I grew up and my hormones kicked in. LOL The man was a definite hottie, and, whew, he could sing too!
August 16th, 2007 at 7:41 am · Link
Good heavens that man was just beautiful! And I don’t care what anybody says a mama’s boy is the way to go. :-D Any man who knows how to treat his mama is going to know how to treat all women. My aunt was terribly excited last time I talked to her. She’s in Memphis right now at Elvis week.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:03 am · Link
Nice TT!
Great facts.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:31 am · Link
Very nice…..I didn’t know a lot of this stuff…
August 16th, 2007 at 10:42 am · Link
I wouldn’t say I’m a fan (I passed on Graceland when I was in memphis), but I do like his music. I think “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” is one of my favorites. Love the “Honeymoon in Vegas” movie and soundtrack, too.
August 16th, 2007 at 11:14 am · Link
I lived in Memphis for 6 years. Drove by Graceland many, many times. It is a shame that the area has declined so much in the last 30 years. My favorite song would have to be “Are You Lonsome Tonight?” but I love “Love Me Tender,” too.
The trauma center in Memphis is The Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center. The Presley estate provides a large protion of the annual operating budget for this facility that serves west Tennessee, north Mississippi, eastern Arkansas, and the bootheel of Missouri.
August 16th, 2007 at 12:05 pm · Link
Cool list. This was very interesting, even though I’m not a big Elvis fan. Happy TT.
August 16th, 2007 at 12:21 pm · Link
Wow, 30 years. Hard to believe. Not a huge fan, but I always liked Suspicious Minds.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:35 pm · Link
I wasn’t an Elvis fan either, really. He died before I was born, but it still doesn’t seem like it’s been that long.
I guess he was just one of those artists that, even if you didn’t like him, you knew about him. Which is a sign of a good artist, in my opinion.
August 16th, 2007 at 2:21 pm · Link
There are just so many wonderful songs by Elvis. Its hard to pick a fave. I’d have to say though one of my very tops is Peace in the Valley.
The timing for this is great. You wouldn’t happen to know that today is Elvis Movie day on Turner Classic Movies. Elvis is the spotlight star for the day.
I’ve got the DVR set for the entire day!
Huggles,
Donica
August 16th, 2007 at 2:23 pm · Link
Wow, what a great list. I LOVED his movies as a kid.
And I know a woman who knew him from grammar school. She hated him. He used to dip her platinum blonde hair in the inkwells.
August 16th, 2007 at 3:31 pm · Link
Elvis, I like his fast stuff. Blue Seude Shoes, A little less conversation. Love the stuff from Walk the Line.
Love all his movies too.
August 16th, 2007 at 4:30 pm · Link
Great list! How many actors can say all their movies turned a profit?
August 16th, 2007 at 5:38 pm · Link
Awesome TT. And gave me a much needed laugh. Thanks Shelley!
August 16th, 2007 at 6:10 pm · Link
My mom is a huge Elvis fan, my dad was, too, and this apple didn’t fall far from the tree. I’ve always loved him. He’s so charismatic, he swept the world along with him. Such a gorgeous man with a velvety voice. How to pick a favorite Elvis tune? I absolutely love his version of “How Great Thou Art” – my sister and I chose it for the final hymn at my dad’s funeral, mostly because we knew dad loved Elvis and that version so much.
But I’ve always had a soft spot for “Wooden Heart”. And his onscreen performance of “Teddy Bear” is irresistable.
August 16th, 2007 at 7:08 pm · Link
I couldn’t possibly pick one song as a favourite. He was a hell of an entertainer!
August 16th, 2007 at 7:33 pm · Link
August 17th, 2007 at 7:09 pm · Link
30 Years??? Seems like yesterday.
I remember exactly the moment when I heard he’d died…
I was 10 and the neighborhood bully passed by my front walk where I was sitting on the steps (presumably trying to tan my white legs) and he mumbled “D’ya hear? Elvis croaked”, and kept walking.
August 17th, 2007 at 9:47 pm · Link
Wow, I thought everyone loved Elvis
Eva – I had to laugh about dipping the hair in inkwells. That doesn’t sound like a shy guy!