s i v l E

h t & l e n o l o eC

Before Elvis, there was nothing.

John Lennon

Elvis Aaron Presley

died Aug u st 1 977 , age 42

Born in T upelo Mississippi, Jan 1935

Twin brother, Jesse Garon, was still-born

The Presleys moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1948

Elvis left school in 1953, worked as a truck driver. Paid $8.25 to make his first record at Sam Phillips Memphis Recording Service

Colonel Tom Parker - June 1909 Jan 1997

Not a real Colonel. Not called Tom. Born in the Netherlands as Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk.

Parker worked the carnival circuit & managed country music stars in the 1940s

Parker booked Elvis as a support act in 1954

Became his manager in 1955

Sun Owned by Sam Phillips Records in Memphis Phillips assistant had

heard Elvis record yourself discs, and called him in June 1954 to fill in for a missing session singer

Phillips put Presley together with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. During a break in rehearsals, Elvis improvised an old blues song, Thats All Right

First Radio appearance, 1954 (Louisiana Hayride)

Parker gets 25% of everything Elvis earns

1956

Parker negotiates the sale of Elvis contract at Sun to RCA for $35,000

1956
y ll i b ll i h r o s e lu b & m h t y h r t s o Unlike m g n u o y s k o lo & s d n u o s s i lv E , s singer

he dyes his blonde hair black

Between 1956 and 1958, Elvis had an unbroken string of eleven #1 singles, including Hound Dog

He never plays live outside of North America

1958

Elvis is

drafted into the army, March 1958

Stays in the
Army till 5 March 1960

1960s

Films
After the army, instead of starting to perform live again, Elvis went to Hollywood and made 27 (!) films from 1960-68

The hits keep coming, but Elvis loses his edge. Most of the music pales in comparison to the likes of The Beatles, The Who, and The Stones

Parker re-negotiates the management contract now he gets

50% of

everything Elvis earns

In 1968, Elvis makes his comeback television special

His 1969 album From Elvis in Memphis was a brief return to form.

Elvis sporadically returned to live performance in the 1970s

He was underpaid & frequently overweight

Parker sold the rights to his pre-1973 recordings to RCA for $5m

Isolated & increasingly out of touch with reality, his work suffered

Though Elvis did tour the US occasionally, Colonel Parker often went for the easy money of booking Elvis in a Las Vegas resort.

Las Vegas
Between 1970 and 1977 Presley gave over 800 sold-out performances in Las Vegas over $40 million worth of tickets

Death

August 16 1977 That year, his personal physician Dr. George Constantine Nichopoulos (usually referred to as "Dr Nick") had prescribed 10,000 hits of amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, laxatives, and hormones.

His last single, Way Down was in the charts, and went to #1 after he died.

Elvis died when he went into the army.

John Lennon

After his death, various interested parties fought over his image rights and name

Images of Elvis, older and younger models, circulate endlessly in our culture

Young Elvis is associated with youthful exuberance, teenage rebellion, energy, and excitement

Fat Elvis stands for bloated excess, overindulgence, bad management, and unhappy endings

Zombie Elvis is a commentary on image, exploitation, and being worth more dead than alive

(Un)Dead Elvis

Elvis Shrines

Dead Elvis impersonators

Elvis Jesus is a commentary on fan worship and pop idolatry

Elvis Jesus

In 2009, dead Elvis earned $55 million