Gillian G. Gaar - 100 Things Elvis Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by Gillian G. Gaar (100 Things...Fans Should Know)

To Patricia Doheny

(and Gracie, Indy, and Tidbit)

Thanks for all you do.

Contents

Introduction

I grew up a committed Beatles fan. I knew little about Elvis Presley other than his name. His movies were occasionally shown in the 3:00 pm slot on afternoon television, but they always seemed to be the mid-1960s ones that co-starred Bill Bixby (the same way that Star Trek re-runs always seemed to show that episode about Apollo). The women waiting in line to buy tickets to his shows all seemed so, well, old (they mustve been at least 30). What did Elvis have to do with rock n roll?

One day I found out. In the fall of 1973, I saw a TV commercial for a box set of Elvis recordings that opened with the vibrant blast of Hound Dog. Wow. What was that ? Id never heard anything like that before. I immediately rushed out to buy the single; a big deal for me, as I usually only bought albums (since a single was inevitably on the album, buying the album was better value). I was mesmerized by everything about the song: Elvis raucous vocal, the machine-gun attack of the drums, that stinging guitar. If Id known then that I would later speak with that guitarist (Scotty Moore) and drummer (D.J. Fontana) on numerous occasions, I would have been flabbergasted. Not to mention that Id also get the chance to interview producer Sam Phillips, Steve Binder (director of the Elvis Comeback Special), Elvis costume designer Bill Belew, Egil Bud Krogh (who facilitated Elvis meeting with President Richard Nixon), the Jordanaires Gordon Stoker, and a wide range of musicians who had the good fortune to work with Elvis (Reggie Young, Jerry Carrigan, Ronnie Tutt, Jerry Scheff), among others, over the years.

Because Elvis had such a long career, there are many different facets you can explore: the 50s rock n roll years, the 60s movies, the 70s live shows, the gospel recordings, the Memphis 69 sessionsan Elvis for every taste. So although innumerable Elvis books have already been published (and more are surely on the way), in some ways it feels as if the surface has hardly been scratched. This is my third book on Elvis (after Return of the King: Elvis Presleys Great Comeback and Elvis Remembered 193577 ), and I sure dont feel Ive run out of things to say about him and his music.

But this book was an interesting challenge. How to distill everything about Elvis into 100 key items, and then rank them in order? Some choices were pretty obvious: the Ed Sullivan appearances, Comeback Special, and Aloha From Hawaii concerts were all historic performances; Hound Dog/Dont Be Cruel was a hugely popular single; and surely every Elvis fan needs to visit Graceland at least once. But I also wanted to bring to light other aspects of his career, such as some of the excellent non-soundtrack, non-religious recordings he did in the 60s (his cover of Bob Dylans Tomorrow is a Long Time is one of my very favorite Elvis songs). Or reexamining all of his 60s films in defiance of the common perception that Elvis 50s films were good and his 60s films were not. And I of course wanted to convince people they needed to read Peter Guralnicks masterful two-volume biography of Elvis, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love .

As for the order of the 100 Things, thats always going to be seen as somewhat subjective; you could probably do another book listing a completely different set of 100 Things. My hope is that you find this listing fun and entertaining, and that it gives you a few new things to think about. Elvis rocks on!

Gillian G. Gaar

Seattle, Washington, November 2013

1. Lets Meet Elvis

Elvis Presley was the worlds first rock star, whose fame and influence was such that it led to his being proclaimed the King of Rock n Roll. He became so famous that even today, more than 35 years after his death, you only have to say his first nameElvisand everyone knows exactly who youre talking about. No last name is necessary.

One reason why Elvis rise was so remarkable is because his roots were so humble. Elvis was born on January 8, 1935, at the home of his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley, in East Tupelo, Mississippi (the town was later incorporated into the town of Tupelo itself in 1946). The two-room house was the kind of small structure dubbed a shotgun shack because you could shoot your gun from the front door straight through the house and right out the back door without hitting anything else. There was no electricity, no running water, and an outhouse in the backyard.

It was a difficult pregnancy for Gladys, and she eventually had to quit her job. She could tell she would probably give birth to twins, as she grew bigger and bigger, not to mention her being able to feel two babies moving around inside her. She went into labor on the night of January 7, and Dr. William Robert Hunt arrived at the Presley home in the early hours of January 8. Around 4:00 am , Gladys first son was delivered, a stillborn birth; the arrival of a second baby about half an hour later helped alleviate some of the pain. The twins were named Jessie Garon and Elvis Aaron. Elvis was Vernons middle name, and Aaron was in honor of his friend, Aaron Kennedy; Jessie was Vernons fathers name, and Garon was to rhyme with Aaron. It had been a hard delivery, and Gladys and her newborn son were sent to the hospital; afterward, she was unable to have another child. Jessie was buried in an unmarked grave in the nearby Priceville Cemetery.

The loss of one baby made Vernon and Gladys treasure Elvis all the more, and Gladys in particular fussed over him. Though Elvis sometimes resisted his mothers attentions (Mama never let me out of her sight, he later recalled), there was nonetheless a strong bond between the two, and it was undoubtedly the most important relationship of his life.

Elvis between takes at his first RCA Victor recording session in Nashville, Tennessee, in January 1956. (AP Photo)

The Presleys were poor and moved throughout Elvis childhood. The family unit was broken up for a time in 1938 when Vernon was sent to prison for nine months for forging a check. But Elvis parents were always devoted to their son and encouraged his growing interest in music. Elvis first began singing at church, and avidly listened to country music on the radio. He made his public debut at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show in 1945, and soon after received a guitar for his 11 th birthday. He became a regular visitor at Tupelo radio station WELO, where hed watch local musician Mississippi Slim perform, then shyly ask him for tips on playing the guitar after the broadcast. He could soon play well enough that he could be coaxed into performing for his schoolmates during lunch breaks.

In November 1948, the Presleys moved to Memphis in search of better job opportunities. It was an exciting city to be in for someone as interested in music as Elvis was. He could find everything from country to pop to R&B on the radio; listen to the gospel music he loved so much at one of the citys many churches or at all-night Gospel Singings; or hang out on Beale Street, the main thoroughfare in Memphis African American neighborhood, and hear the exciting music emanating from its many nightclubs.

By the time he graduated from Humes High School in 1953, Elvis was determined to become involved in music somehow. He wasnt sure how to make it happen. But in just a years time, he would finally get the break he was longing for.