PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Elvis Presley

Now, PEOPLE IN AMERICA, a program in Special English on the Voice of America. Today Rich Kleinfeldt and Steve Ember tell about singer Elvis Presley who died twenty-five years ago this week.

((MUSIC: "HOUND DOG"))

VOICE ONE:

That song, “Hound Dog,” was one of Elvis Presley’s most popular records. It sold five-million copies in Nineteen-Fifty-Six. Music industry experts say more than one-thousand-million of Elvis’s recordings have sold throughout the world. He was a success in many different kinds of music -- popular, country, religious, and rhythm and blues.

Elvis Presley won many awards from nations all over the world, yet he did not record in any language other than English. He never performed outside the United States, except for three shows in Canada. Yet, his recordings and films have been, and are still, enjoyed by people all over the world.

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in the southern town of Tupelo, Mississippi, on January eighth, Nineteen-Thirty-Five. His family was extremely poor.

Tupelo home

During his childhood, he sang in church with his parents. He also listened to music that influenced his later singing, including country, rhythm and blues, and religious music. Elvis and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when he was thirteen.

After high school, he had several jobs, including driving a truck. In Nineteen-Fifty-Three, he made his first recording, of this song, “My Happiness”:

((MUSIC: MY HAPPINESS))

VOICE ONE:

Elvis Presley recorded the song at the Memphis Recording Service. The story is that he paid four dollars to make a recording for his mother.

A woman who worked at the public recording studio had another job with a local independent record company called Sun Records. She made a second recording of Elvis’s songs because she thought the owner of Sun Records should hear him sing.

VOICE TWO:

The owner of Sun Records, Sam Phillips, had been looking for a white performer who could sing black rhythm and blues. He suggested Elvis work with a guitar player and a bass player. Several months later Mister Phillips agreed to have the group make a record. It was released on July nineteenth, Nineteen-Fifty-Four. One of the songs was “That’s All Right”:

((MUSIC: "THAT’S ALL RIGHT"))

The record sold well in Memphis, and was a played a lot on local radio stations. To let others hear Elvis, Sam Phillips organized a series of performances at country fairs in the area. One of the people who heard Elvis perform at these shows was Colonel Tom Parker. Elvis signed an agreement that Colonel Parker would organize his appearances.

One of Elvis’ first new recordings became a huge hit, and led to his many appearances on television. It was “Heartbreak Hotel”:

((MUSIC: "HEARTBREAK HOTEL"))

VOICE ONE:

By the middle of the Nineteen-Fifties, Elvis Presley was known around the world as the young man who moved his hips in a sexual way as he sang rock and roll music. Many adults said he and his music were bad influences on young people. Young women loved him. Huge crowds attended his performances.

He made his first movie in Nineteen-Fifty-Six. It was “Love Me Tender.” The title song was a big hit.

((MUSIC: "LOVE ME TENDER"))

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Presley was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood for a number of years in the Nineteen-Fifties. He acted in thirty-one movies. In Nineteen-Fifty-Eight, just as he finished making the movie “King Creole,” Elvis received notice that he had to serve in the United States Army. He was stationed in Germany where he lived in a large house and dated a lot of beautiful women. One young girl he met in Germany was Priscilla Beaulieu, the daughter of an Army officer. She was fourteen years old.

Later, after Elvis had finished his army service, she came to live with him in Memphis. They married in Nineteen-Sixty-Seven, when she was twenty-one years old. He was thirty-two. They became parents nine months later of a baby girl, Lisa Marie.

VOICE ONE:

Colonel Parker made sure that songs Elvis had recorded earlier were released during the years he was in the army. So Elvis was just as popular after his military service as he was before it.

Elvis Presley won the three of the music industry’s highest award, the Grammy. He received the first one in Nineteen-Sixty-Seven. It was for “How Great Thou Art,” an album of religious music.

((MUSIC: "HOW GREAT THOU ART"))

VOICE TWO:

Elvis returned to performing live shows in Nineteen-Sixty-Nine, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He then traveled around the country performing before huge crowds. He began to take drugs to help him sleep. He gained a lot of weight so he took drugs to help control his weight. And he took extremely strong drugs to reduce pain

Not the real Elvis, but one of many copies

Elvis also suffered from the emotional sickness, depression. It became worse after his marriage ended. Elvis never permitted Priscilla to stay with him in Las Vegas or travel with him around the country. He also did not want Priscilla to see other people when he was away from home. And he spent time with other women. Priscilla finally left him in Nineteen-Seventy-Two for another man.

VOICE ONE:

Elvis Presley released many recordings of his performances during the Nineteen-Seventies. He also enjoyed great success on television. His Nineteen-Seventy-Three television show from Hawaii was seen in forty countries by more than one-thousand-million people. His last record album was called “Moody Blue.” He recorded it in Nineteen-Seventy-Six. One of its hit songs was called “Way Down”:

((MUSIC: "WAY DOWN"))

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Presley died on August sixteenth, Nineteen-Seventy-Seven. First reports said he had a heart attack, but later tests showed many drugs in his body. Experts agree that these drugs probably caused his death. Hundreds of thousands of people still visit his home, Graceland, in Memphis every year. Fans continue to buy his music, making him the most popular recording artist ever. Elvis Presley remains the undisputed King of Rock and Roll.

Graceland

((MUSIC: "GOOD ROCKIN’ TONIGHT"))

ANNCR:

This Special English program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Rich Kleinfeldt and Steve Ember were the narrators. The producer was Paul Thompson. I’m Mary Tillotson. Listen again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.