It was an ordinary day. Reading a story in The Saturday Evening Post titled "The King." Now...if you have to ask about whom the story is about, you best forget this story and find another story to read, since no one has ever been referred to as "The King" except the guy who shakes his hips when he sings. By the age of 30, Elvis Presley was the highest paid performer in the history of show business. When he was 30 he made four movies and a handful of records which netted him over $3 million. That's in one year! By the age of 30 he had also acted in 18 movies and made more than 100 million records for RCA. All this led him to gross $175 million.
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| Elvis Presley |
Add to that the Elvis T-shirts, teddy bears and other novelties which brought in another 3 million annually. The guy was a walking bank! But, he wasn't one who liked all the fame that came with his image. He lived behind an electrically operated gate in a villa in Bel Air, didn't drink liquor, dieted on yogurt and coffee, but did smoke an occasional cigar. His idea of a fun time was to take his Rolls for a drive and watch TV. He also enjoyed messing round with the group of guys who were his so-called body guards. Instead of calling them bodyguards, one was a highly trained CP, another was a travel agent who handled his reservations, one was his wardrobe aide and another was his security guard. Elvis also had some affection for Anne and Connie and Tuesday and Jocelyn and Joan and Jackie and Anita and Mary Ann, many of whom were co-stars in his movies. Many of them were in love scenes in his movies, but he could never find quite enough time to get serious with any one of them. And if he weren't so doggone tied up with cutting records and making movies, he just might take one of the girls out to get a hamburger. Elvis insists that Memphis will always be his real home yet he was born dirt-pour in a two-room shack in Tupelo, Mississippi. He was the surviving member of twin boys whom his mother named Jessie Garon and Elvis Aron.  |
| Elvis...The King of Rock 'N Roll |
As a young boy Elvis had a cheap radio he listened to for hours at a time. He loved the Grand Ol' Opry as well as cowboy singers Roy Acuff, Hank Snow and Gene Austin. All his singing was kept for Sunday Church. Getting a guitar was his mother's idea and he never really learned how to play it that well. When he was 13 his family moved to Memphis where he graduated from high school in 1953. After working in a furniture factory until he was inspired to head to a record company and play a few tunes on his guitar. It wasn't until 1955 that Sam Phillips at Sun Records called him. After making a few changes to Sam's recording, Elvis recorded "That's All Right, Mama." That week 7,000 copies of the record were sold in Memphis. Elvis was on his way! In January of 1956 RCA released their first Presley record, "Heartbreak Hotel." It sold 2 million copies. Soon Mr. Hal Wallis brought Elvis to Hollywood for a screen test and signed him to a 7 yr. contract. But, not everyone liked him. He was said to be "lewd and obscene" and ministers gave entire sermons about him. Then in 1958 Elvis became Private Elvis. For the next 2 years he was a jeep driver. During his 2 year service time he earned $1.3 million in record royalties. Upon his discharge RCA announced a whopping order of 1,275,000 "Stuck on You" records. He did return to Hollywood but began to live a more quiet life. He collected books of medicine saying he always wanted to be a doctor. Gradually the glittering people began to stop inviting him to their places and the glitter died down. He said he could always be a truck driver once again. He could not have been happier. The "King of Rock 'n Roll" died on August 16, 1977. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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