1. Elvis Presley
By Erik Mineer

2. The Beginning… born in Tupelo, Mississippi
Elvis placed fifth in singing contest
For his birthday he got a guitar
Elvis was born in the city of Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, Along with this historic singer was born a twin several minutes later was a stillborn so Elvis ended up being an only child.
Growing up he went to an Assembly of God church weekly and that’s where he grew his love for music. At school his teachers said he was just average. One day he impressed his school teacher during morning prayers with his voice and was encouraged to join a singing contest, Elvis placed fifth place.
His next birthday he got his very own guitar and over the next several years he was taught by his two uncles. While he was good at it, he had trouble singing in front of people.

3. Making an Appearance
Elvis Presley started to do a look of greased back hair and sideburns.
he competed in Humes’s Annual “Minstrel” “Till I Waltz Again with You.”
his reputation shot very high, he became very popular
During his junior year, Elvis Presley started to stand out even more among his classmates because of his famous appearance we recognize today where he would grow out his sideburns and style his hair with rose oil.
In April 1953 he competed in Humes’s Annual “Minstrel” where he opened with the song “Till I Waltz Again with You.” After that his reputation shot very high, he became very popular everywhere he went.

4. Rejection Songfellows said he would never make it
He began to make his money as a truck driver.
Making the record brought him connections to an audition for a local vocal quartet “The Songfellows” In which they told him that he couldn’t sing.
In April, Elvis worked for the Crown Electric Company as a truck driver. His friend referenced him to a leader of Smith’s professional band which had an opening for a vocalist. Bond rejected him saying he should stick to truck driving because he would never make it as a singer.

5. That’s all Right.
When he played a song “That’s All Right” on the radio, people began asking who this singer was.
His popularity shot up more
he made contact with a man named Phillips who asked Presley to sing as many songs that he knew on the radio trying to appeal to the negro population. All night the played and had no success until Elvis began to play a song called “That’s All Right” People began phoning in asking who the singer was. This began Elvis’ career as a singer.

6. Getting big Elvis never gave up
He got a band and a manager named Parker.
He made many appearances on TV talkshows.
In 1956 Presley produced his very first recordings in Nashville. He had a pianist named Floyd Cramer, a guitarist named Chet Atkins, and three other singers to back up his songs. A song called “Heartbreak Hotel” was released a single on January 27th. A man named Parker requested to bring Elvis to television where Elvis did a session of eight pieces which was a huge hit, in March 2nd Parker became Elvis’ manager.

7. Going Downhill After Elvis’ mother’s death, Elvis went downhill
He began to overdoes on drugs.
He insisted the show go on
In the early August of 1958 Elvis’ mother was diagnosed with hepatitis and it wasn’t getting any better. On August 14th, she died of heart failure at 46 years of age. Their relationship was extremely close even through his fame and fortune, Elvis was devastated and took a break from performances for a while.
Near the end of the year, he became hospitalized from a Demerol addiction. During tours he would fall out of the limo to his knees. He would hold onto the microphone for 30 minutes letting it bear his weight. Through all the warnings to take a year off Elvis would ignore them. Insisting to let the show go on.

8. The End of a legend
In August 16, 1977 at 3:30 he was pronounced to be dead
In August 16, 1977 Presley was scheduled to fly out to Memphis to begin another tour. That afternoon Alden discovered Elvis Presley unresponsive on his bathroom floor. After several attempts to revive him failed the death was pronounced at 3:30 pm. Elvis had left a huge mark on the United States and had since been put in four halls of fame.

9. RockaBilly
Elvis was one of the main developers in the music genre “Rockabilly”.
it’s a mixture of rock’n’roll and hillbilly or country music.
. While its popularity dimmed down in the 1960s the 70’s and 80’s still had a considerable amount of fans that has endured to the present.
Elvis was one of the main developers in the music genre “Rockabilly” which is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music going all the way back to As the name suggests, this is a mixture of rock’n’roll and hillbilly or country music.
Some of the songs in the genre include “Blue Suede Shoes” by Perkins, “Folsom Prison Blues” by Cash, and “Heartbreak Hotel” By Presley.

10. The history
Rockabilly was considered too easy and simple to be good music.
The term rockabilly was considered degrading since the music was very hillbilly
At first Rockabilly was considered too easy and simple to be good music. The term rockabilly was considered degrading since the music was very hillbilly and most people didn’t like the sound at the beginning of its lifetime.
Eventually the music had gained a little bit of dignity. Artist would eventually adopt the “greaser” look with jeans, leatherjackets, and t-shirts to go with their extremely slicked back haircuts.

11. A dying genre
Neil Young released his own rockabilly album called “Everybody’s Rockin’” which was a failure.
There are some later day rockabilly musicians like Marty Stuart and Hank Williams are noteworthy examples
Popularity of the genre is declining though; in 1983 the country rock singer Neil Young released his own rockabilly album called “Everybody’s Rockin’” which was a failure.
After that Neil Young had not released another rockabilly album. There are some later day rockabilly musicians like Marty Stuart and Hank Williams are noteworthy examples that have charted examples of the rockabilly sound.

12. Suspicious Minds
0:00 Introduction: guitar is playing a rhythm of several notes then repeating, drum cymbals playing short quick four times and then repeating.
0:06 Verse 1 Begins: Vocalist begins, guitar plays one chord higher on the scale, drums remain the same beat and tempo.
0:22 Verse 2 begins: Vocals continue the same high and low pitch, guitar is playing same chords, drums start moving from the cymbals and playing beats on the drum.
0:40 Chorus begins: Tempo begins to pick up. Drums play heavily, vocals voice rises, piano joins in and plays several chords and then repeats, guitar doesn’t play as many notes rather just a chord here or there.
0:56 Verse 3 begins: tempo slows down slightly, guitar goes back to regular rhythm and drums go back to cymbals, piano stops. Vocals skip a break every once in a while. Trumpets come in a little bit. Background vocals come in, and occasionally repeat the main vocals.
1:31 Chorus 2 begins: This time background vocals repeat the chorus behind the main vocals. Tempo picks up again.
1:52 Bridge: Tempo slows down a lot. Guitar plays one or two chords occasionally, cymbals and beats with a little piano and background vocals.
2:15 Chorus 3 begins: Tempo picks up slightly and guitar continues it’s scales. Drums pick up beat.
4:23 Coda: Music volume begins to die down, tempo continues at regular rate.
4:32 Ends

13. Can’t Help Falling in Love
Introduction begins: Piano plays slow scale repeatedly, drums play soft beats keeping up tempo with the piano scales.
0:09 Chorus 1 begins: Vocals come in piano and drums keep at regular pace, soft bass guitar plays a couple notes here and there. Background singers sing prolonged notes going with the main vocals.
0:38 Verse 1 begins: vocals, piano, soft bass, and drums keep at regular volume, beat, and tempo as the chorus.
1:05 Bridge: Main vocals go out of regular tempo and pitch goes up, instruments remain the same.
1:22 Chorus 2 begins: background vocals increase in pitch with the main vocals; instruments keep the same slow tempo as before.
2:36 Coda begins: Words are beginning to be prolonged, piano slows down it’s notes, instruments end up stopping all together and vocals sing a long, high pitched note.
2:57 Ends

14. Hound Dog
0:00 Chorus 1: Vocals come in very strong by themselves, and then an electric guitar and drums come in very fast tempo. Guitar goes up and down the scale repeatedly with a piano. Three claps come in at each break. Very lively tempo. Ends with repeated swift beat from the drum.
0:22 Verse 1 begins: Instruments keep up the same beats and notes, Vocals continue to sing and then miss a break and then repeat where it gets high in pitch and then dies down slightly
0:33 Chorus 2 begins: Lyrics change slightly, instruments, claps, and vocals continue at the same tempo.
0:50 Bridge begins: Drums stay the same; vocals sing several prolonged notes in the background while guitar starts playing its own rift and volume increases.
1:05 Verse 2 begins: Vocals begin as they did in the chorus; guitar dies down and goes back to the background. The other instruments remain the same beat.
1:23 Bridge 2 begins: Guitar stands out once again as vocals sing long notes. Guitar isn’t following the regular beats and playing what sounds like random notes during its solo.
1:37 Verse 3 begins: Beats and tempo return to normal.
1:54 Chorus 3 begins: Vocals increase in volume and intensity.
2:09 Coda: Vocals and drums end while guitar plays a couple more notes that stand out.
2:13 Ends.

15. Burning Love
0:00 Intro begins: guitar plays same note fast and then piano, bass, and drums come in after in the same fashion.
0:07 verse begins: Singer comes in, instruments play the same tempo and beats. Vocals do the same that they usually do, sing and then pause in the breaks.
0:34 chorus begins: Vocals go up in pitch and pick up beat, drums and bass play more notes, background vocals start.
0:49 verse 2 begins: vocals go back to regular fashion, instruments play their regular notes and beats again. Background vocals die out.
1:14 chorus 2 begins: vocal pitch goes back up, instruments pick up beat. Background vocals come back in.
1:27 bridge begins: Guitar comes in and plays a three note scale, other instruments keep tempo as the chorus, main vocals stop but background vocals keep singing notes.
1:41 verse 3 begins: instruments go back to their regular beats, main vocals come back in, and background singers die out.
2:08 chorus 3 begins: vocals pick up, background vocals join in. instruments pick up tempo.
2:20 coda: instruments keep the same beat, main vocals come out of the regular breaks and background vocals copy his pitch and lyrics.
2:56 ends.

16. Hound Dog History -Originally by Mike stoller and Jerry Leiber
Heard in a number of movies
Sold over 4 million copies
The song “Hound Dog” was originally a Twelve-bar blues created by Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber. In 1956 Elvis Presley made the most known version of the song, and made it to Number 19 on the 500 greatest songs of all time by rolling stone. It’s heard in a number of movies like “A Few Good Men” and “Forrest Gump” When Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber submitted the song to blues singer Big Mama Thornton, they were quite young in age, and had the lyrics written on a brown paper bag. Elvis heard the song in a performance at Las Vegas, and asked if he could do an Elvis version of it. Presley performed this song on the Milton Berle Show, and the Steve Allen Show. His single sold over 4 million copies on its very first release.

17. Suspicious Minds By Mark James One of Elvis’ top hits
#91 on 500 greatest songs
“Suspicious Minds” was made by songwriter Mark James. The song didn’t do very well so it was handed over to Elvis and became the number one song in 1969 and is one of Elvis’ top hits of his career. It is considered the single that brought back Presley’s career success in the ’68 comeback special. It was also his last number-one single, and was ranked #91 on rolling stone’s 500 greatest songs of all time. It’s about a dysfunctional and mistrusting relationship and the need to overcome these obstacles. When Presley performed it first at Las Vegas International Hotel (Hilton), it reached number on in the United States for a week.

18. Can’t help Falling In Love
Based on romance “Plaisir d’Amour
Covered by Artist like UB40
Usually a finale song for Elvis
The song “Can’t Help Falling In Love” was a pop song that was originally recorded by Elvis Presley. “Can’t Help Falling In Love” was based on a popular romance by Johann Martini “Plaisir d’Amour” and was shown in Elvis Presley’s movie “Blue Hawaii” It was covered by many artist like UB40. The sales for it reached more than one million copies. During the 1970’s it was usually Elvis Presley’s song finale.

19. Bibliography http://www.elvis.com/
Bibliography