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Elvis' #1 Pop Singles on Cashbox, USA: Heartbreak Hotel (1956) Don't Be Cruel (1956) Hound Dog (1956) Love Me Tender (1956) Too Much (1957) All Shook Up (1957) Teddy Bear (1957) Jailhouse Rock (1957) Don't (1958) Stuck On You (1960) It's Now Or Never (1960) Are You Lonesome Tonight? (1960) Surrender (1961) Good Luck Charm (1962) Return To Sender (1962) In The Ghetto (1969) Suspicious Minds (1969) Burning Love (1972) (The Cashbox chart is now defunct) Elvis Facts: Elvis was 5' 11" tall
Elvis' natural hair color was dark blond
Elvis' blood type was O Positive
Elvis' shoe size was 11D
One of Elvis'( maternal) ancestors, Morning White Dove (born 1800, died 1835), was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian
Elvis' uncle, Noah Presley, became Mayor of East Tupelo on January 7, 1936
The Presley family moved to Memphis on November 6, 1948
Elvis was issued a Social Security card in September 1950 with the # 409-52-2002
In 1954 some of the shows played by Elvis & The Blue Moon Boys were at the Overton Park Shell; the Bel-Air Club; Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club and the Louisiana Hayride
Elvis' first manager was Scotty Moore, then Bob Neal, before signing with Colonel Tom Parker
The first DJ to play an Elvis record was Fred Cook (WREC), not Dewey Phillips (WHBQ). However, Dewey had the distinction of being the first DJ to play an Elvis record in its entirety
Elvis once dated famous stripper, Tempest Storm
Elvis was filmed from the waist up only during his 3rd and final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
In the 50s Elvis was friendly with rising stars, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner and Ty (Bronco Lane) Hardin
Gladys Presley was 46 years old when she died, not 42, as many books suggest
The Roustabout album sold 450,000 copies on its initial release, 150,000 copies more than any of the preceding three soundtrack LPs. It was Elvis' last "soundtrack" album to reach #1 on the major album charts in the US
Elvis received $1m for filming Harum Scarum (aka Harum Holiday). The film grossed around $2m in the US
Elvis and Priscilla married on May 1, 1967
They were officially divorced on October 9, 1973
Elvis earns nearly $3.5m in 1968 and pays just over $1.4m in income tax
Elvis' return to live performing in Las Vegas on July 31, 1969 was in front of an "by invitation only" audience. Stars in attendance included Wayne Newton, Petula Clark, Shirley Bassey, Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson
On January 9, 1971, the national Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) announced Elvis as one of "The Top Ten Young Men of the Year". Elvis spoke at the official awards ceremony on January 16
"Elvis: Aloha From Hawai" made entertainment history on January 14, 1973, when it was beamed around the world by satellite. In the Philippines it drew 91% of the audience, in Hong Kong 70%. The viewing audience was estimated at more than 1 billion
For his 4 week Hilton Vegas season in August 1973 Elvis received $610,000 Sales of Elvis' 1973 album, Raised On Rock, were less than 200,000 units on its initial release
Elvis paid $2,959,000 in income tax in 1973
In December 1976 Elvis was sworn in as a special deputy sheriff of Shelby County (Memphis) by Sheriff Gene Barksdale
Elvis' final live concert was in Indianapolis on June 26, 1977 When Elvis died, he and his father Vernon, were embroiled in an FBI investigation called Operation Fountain Pen More than 1,500 books have been published about The King in more than 30 languages
At Dec 2005 Elvis' biggest selling album in the US is the budget priced, Elvis' Christmas Album, with accredited sales of 9 million units (fingers crossed it reaches 10 million to give Elvis his first "Diamond" award)
By early2006, Sony BMG's "collectors label", Follow That Dream, had released more than 50 Elvis CDs
During the 1980s, tour guides at Graceland stated that Elvis' biggest selling album (globally) was Moody Blue, with sales exceeding 14 million
While Sony BMG estimates Elvis' global sales exceed 1 billion, the company is unable to substantiate this figure. Accredited sales worldwide are estimated to be less than 400 million
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At the heart of the story are Moore and Black, whose innovative guitar and upright bass play helped Elvis forge the unique Sun Records sound that changed music history, and drummer Fontana, whose strip-club-friendly beats prompted a then-shy Elvis to shake, rattle and roll onstage, ensuring his ascendancy as King of Rock and Roll. Along the way, the authors dispel Elvis-related myths and provide detailed information on the specific musical contributions of Elvis and each of the band members to the revolutionary Sun sound. They offer marvelous moments, such as the impromptu Coca-Cola drinking session that converted wasted weeks of work under Sun Records' owner Sam Phillips' watchful eye into the first Elvis hit, "That's All Right (Mama)." About half the material will satisfy hardcore fans' desire to known more about Elvis, although a significant portion of that, such as the part about the Tupelo-born star's occasional lack of concern over personal hygiene, is less than complimentary. That Elvis was so generous with the Memphis Mafia, depicted here largely as oafish hangers-on, and substantially less so with his band members who greatly contributed to his success, is the worst of the revelations. Even so, Presley is mostly remembered as a musical and performing genius with a good heart and kind soul, despite a few memorable eccentricities. The real bad guy is, as has often been maintained by other sources, Presley's brilliant but cutthroat manager, Colonel Tom Parker. While Parker cut the band members out of the fruits of Elvis' success, he artfully managed his singer's career, until he sold Elvis, an aspiring actor, down the river in lousy B movies with even lousier career-threatening soundtracks. The authors pull no punches in slamming some and praising others, but they always strive to give both sides of every story. We're also treated to inside stories of other celebrities, such as singer George Jones, who scoffed at Elvis and the band early on and lived to regret it, and actor Milton Berle, who shunned conventional wisdom and allowed Elvis to strut his stuff on a national TV program, thereby helping the young singer reach a nationwide audience. But for better or worse, the real story is about the three band members, the talented but reclusive Moore, the jocular, womanizing Fontana, and Bill Black, who found the greatest post-Elvis success with his best-selling Bill Black Combo, but who met an early death from cancer. Burke, with many helpful contributions and insights from Griffin, tells his story in a workmanlike, journalistic manner, giving all sides to every controversy, and using eye-witness accounts to set all stories as straight as he can. Neither his straightforward style, nor much of the material about industry infighting in the latter half of the book (some of which contains to-be-expected siding with his co-author Griffin on the latter's disputes with Fontana), will place him in a league with America's top non-fiction authors. But what is important here are the band members' stories, and Burke and Griffin tell them convincingly, giving us a rare bird's eye view of four musicians coming together by extraordinary strokes of luck, and converting their largely unimpressive early performances in sleazy Memphis joints into some of the greatest rock and roll performances of all time on the national stage. "The Blue Moon Boys" offers priceless glimpses of its human, all too human, subjects, making the reader feel he or she actually knows these men, in both their personal and professional lives. And their story from rags to riches to rags again and finally to lasting fame, is one that was surely worth the telling, and one that Elvis, rockabilly and music fans everywhere will cherish for years to come. Jim Fraiser is an administrative law judge in Tupelo, and the author of three novels and eight non-fiction books. |
Quote: "Elvis Presley is the supreme socio-cultural icon in the history of pop culture" (Dr. Gary Enders) Quote: "Elvis is the 'glue' which holds our society together....which subconciously gives our world meaning" (Anonymous) Quote: "Eventually everybody has to die, except Elvis" (humorist Dave Barry) Quote: "He is the "Big Bang", and the universe he detonated is still expanding, the pieces are still flying" (Greil Marcus, "Dead Elvis") Quote: "I think Elvis Presley will never be solved" (Nick Tosches) Quote: "He was the most popular man that ever walked on this planet since Christ himself was here" (Carl Perkins) Quote: "When I first heard Elvis' voice I just knew I wasn't going to work for anybody...hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail" (Bob Dylan) Quote: "When we were kids growing up in Liverpool, all we ever wanted was to be Elvis Presley" (Sir Paul McCartney) Quote: "You can't say enough good things about Elvis. He was one of a kind" (Johnny Cash) Quote: "And don't think for one moment he's just a passing fancy....he's got enough of it to keep him on top for a long time" (R. Fred Arnold, Fury magazine, Aug 1957) Quote: "It isn't enough to say that Elvis is kind to his parents, sends money home, and is the same unspoiled kid he was before all the commotion began. That still isn't a free ticket to behave like a sex maniac in public" (Eddie Condon, Cosmopolitan) Elvis records reaching #2 & #3 on the Cashbox Pop Singles chart: #2: A Fool Such As I (1959) #2: A Big Hunk Of Love (1959) #3: Hard Headed Woman (1958) #3: One Night (1958) #3: (You're The Devil) In Disguise (1963) Elvis Facts: Tickets for Elvis' show on March 29, 1957 in St. Louis cost $2.00 to $2.50 While in Germany Elvis was hospitalised with tonsillitis in October 1959 Despite being an illegal immigrant, photographic evidence shows Colonel Tom Parker traveled to Canada with Elvis in 1957 Elvis strongly believed there weren't enough good songs in King Creole to justify releasing a soundtrack album. RCA initially agreed, releasing two very successful EPs from the movie. A soundtrack LP eventually followed During the 1960s Elvis had his own football team, Elvis Presley Enterprises, which played in the Memphis touch football league. In the 1962 final, EPE narrowly lost to Delta Automatic Transmission, 6-13 In Clambake, (Elvis) Scott Hayward's driving licence shows February 23, 1940...taking 5 years off Elvis' real age In the 1970s Elvis was offered $5m to stage a concert in front of the Pyramids in Egypt. When the Colonel declined the offer, Saudi billionaires raised the offer to $10m
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