Elvis Presley -'King of Rock'n'Roll'

Today I want to talk about Elvis Presley. I am sure you all know him, but let me show you a
picture of him. First I want to teIl you something about himself. Then I will teIl you a mans
opinion of EI vis Presley.
Elvis Presley was born at the eighth of January 1935 in East Tupelo. He was a twin, but his
brother died after birth. Elvis' family was very poor. Elvis had a good education. He sang in a
choir. At the age often Elvis got his first guitar.
IN 1953 Elvis finished his school. Then he made money with driving trucks. Elvis produced a
record for his mother who this time had her birthday. This record was called 'My happiness'.
In the year 1954 Elvis made the first records in the Sunstudio. 5000 records of 'That's allright,
mama' were sold .after a TV -show. So EIvis went on tours.
In 1956 he sang the songs 'Heartbreak hotel', 'Don't be cruel', 'Jailhouse Rock' and 'Love me
tender'. And he started to act in films. In March Elvis bought a church which was very expensive.
The church was rebuilt to a residence with 24 rooms.
In 1961 Elvis gave his last concert for the following eight years in Honolulu.
InI 1967 Elvis married the twenty-one year old girl Priscilla Beaulieu.
So the dreanls of some women were destroyed. Therefore some women killed themselves.
In 1968 the daughter Lisa Mary was born. Today she is the wife of popstar Michael Jackson.
Then Elvis gave concerts again.
In 1969 Elvis was represented in the US-charts again with the song 'In the ghetto ' .
In 1973 Elvis was divorced frorn Priscilla. Frorn this time on Elvis' records weren't sold as
before.
In 1974 Elvis fell ill. He was very fat and nobody was allowed to take a picture of hirn.
In 1977 on the 26th of June, Elvis gave his last public concert in Indianapolis.
EIvis died on the 16th of August of a heart attack. 80.000 people came to his funeral.
After his death his records and souvenirs were very expensive. EIvis Ieft 800 Million Dollars
behind.
In 1988 a man wrote in the Rennbahnexpress that he was sure Elvis was still alive. He wrote
Elvis lived happiIy on an island. Elvis had known a man who died of cancer. This man looked
similar to him. Therefore they changed their existence.
This is only one opinion of a man. We don't know if it's the truth or not. I think that Elvis is dead.
I hope you now know more about ELVIS PRESLEY.
Now pIease listen to some songs:
Love me tender
J ailhouse Rock
In the ghetto
Return to sender
On January 8th in 1935, Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tubelo / Memphis.
His father Vernon Presley worked at a farm and his mother Gladys Smith was a seamstress in a
factory. With the age of eight he sang in a choir. With ten he got 2nd in a singing Contest. On his
12thbirthday he became a guitar from his mother. One year later, his father lost his job, so they

had to move to Memphis / Tennessee where Vernon Presley found a job in a factory. With 18
years Elvis recorded a song for his mothers birthday in Memphis. While Elvis sang his song a
girl which liked his voice recorded him on tape and showed it to her boss. Thats how his career
began. He made some movies and many records and earned millions of Dollars.
In 1958, Elvis had to go to the Army. During that time his mother died with the age of 42. In the
end of September he became the order to go to Germany.
On May 1st in 1967, Elvis married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas.
On February 1st 1968 his daughter Lisa Marie was born.
Five years after the birth of Lisa Marie Priscilla left Elvis and they got divorced.
Four years later Elvis died on 16th August 1977 with an age of 42. He was buried on Forest Hill
Graveyard next to his mother. Elvis had many fans and even today, 27 years after his dead he
isnt forgotten.

Welcome to PEOPLE IN AMERICA, a program in VOA Special English. Today Rich

Kleinfeldt and Steve Ember tell about one of America's most popular singers, Elvis Presley.
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.
Elvis Aaron Presley was born in the southern town of Tupelo, Mississippi on January eighth,
nineteen thirty-five. His family was extremely poor. 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":
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.

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 Mr. 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":
The record sold well in Memphis, and was 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":
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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":
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.
(MUSIC: "Good Rockin' Tonight")
This program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Rich Kleinfeldt and Steve Ember were the
narrators. The producer was Paul Thompson. I'm Faith Lapidus. Listen again next week for
another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program in VOA Special English

King
of Rock and Roll