Born: January 8, 1935
Died: August 16, 1977
Before he was the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis was known as the Bopping Hillbilly and the King of Western Bop, and he moved around the stage like the springs of a broken sofa. In other words: The world (and press) didn’t know what to make of this new phenomenon and the music he sang.
The first Elvis story I could find was in the May 4, 1953, edition of The Memphis Press-Scimitar.
Scimitar?
It’s a single-edged sword and, yes, it’s a strange name for a newspaper. Maybe their stories cut to the chase. The story was about a competition among 38 Memphis teenagers to determine the city’s best teenage driver. The photo at the top of the story featured Elvis, whose signature pompadour was already in place. He was also wearing a snazzy jacket. The caption of the photo read:
PARKING PROBLEM – The 20-foot parking stall brought more grief than any other obstacle. Here Bill Wolfe (right), president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, measures to see how close Elvis Presley, 18-year-old Humes High senior got his car to the ‘curb.’
Elvis didn’t win the competition, but he was destinated for greatness outside the world of parking. And it didn’t take long. In an article in the July 28, 1954, edition of the Press-Scimitar …
IN A SPIN – Elvis Presley can be forgiven for going round and round in more ways than one these days. A 19-year-old Humes High graduate, he has signed a recording contract with Sun Record Co. of Memphis, and already has a disk out that promises to be the biggest hit Sun has ever pressed.
It all started when Elvis dropped into Sun’s studios one day to cut a personal record at his own expense. Sam Phillips, president of the company, monitored the session and was so impressed with the unusual quality of the young man’s voice that he jotted down his name and address. Some time later, Phillips came across a ballad which he thought might be right for Presley’s voice. The recorded it; it didn’t click. But they tried again this time with “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” a folk standard backed by “That’s All Right, Mama.”
Just now reaching dealers’ shelves, the record is getting an amazing number of plays on Memphis radio stations. “The odd thing about it, says Marion Keisker of the Sun office, “is that both sides seem to be equally popular … This boy has something that seems to appeal to everybody.”
The article also wrote that Elvis worked as a truck driver for Crown Electric Company. “He has been singing and playing the guitar since he was about 13 – just picked it up himself …”
Elvis was off and running and began to appear in local concerts. On July 30, 1954, he was the opening act for Slim Whitman in a show billed as a “folk music frolic.” Advanced reserve tickets for the show at the Overton Park Shell were $1.00.
There was no stopping the Elvis train. On October 2, 1954, he performed at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. The Press-Scimitar wrote:
Young Presley’s second Sun record is just being released in Memphis and will be released in other cities in about six weeks. It’s “I Don’t Care If the Sun Don’t Shine,” backed by “Good Rockin’ Tonight.”
On October 14, 1954, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis reported Elvis would appear on the Louisiana Hayride, broadcast on KWKH radio in Shreveport.
Louisiana Hayride is about the second or third most popular hillbilly program on the air. The tops is Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, which never takes anyone but long-established stars in the country music field. But Presley has already appeared on Grand Ole Opry – on Oct. 2 – and neither customer or fellow performers wanted him to quit … His second record, released two weeks ago Monday in the Memphis market alone, has already logged an astonishing 4,000 copies … National distribution is expected to get the Presley name and fame really booming.
By the end of 1954, Presley was appearing weekly on the Louisiana Hayride. A December 29, 1954, story in the Press-Scimitar stated that “increasing demands for appearances made a manager necessary, and he preferred a Memphian [Bob Neal, a local disc jockey]. Two other Memphians are in his group and appear with him on the Louisiana Hayride. They are guitarist Scotty Moore and Bill Black on bass.”
The group (which later added D.J. Fontana) would become known as the Blue Moon Boys and played with Elvis (and on their own) for years to come.
The public and the press had a hard time categorizing Elvis. Was he country? Some sort of hybrid hillbilly bopper? What was this new-fangled rock and roll? The roots and origin of rock and roll are murky and controversial. So, let’s avoid getting into it and just say that by the end of 1954, rock and roll had emerged as a new musical genre, and Elvis was a big part of the revolution.
The Press-Scimitar described Elvis on February 5, 1995, as a “white man’s voice singing negro rhythms with a rural flavor …” The same article described his eating habits, which eventually become legendary: “When he has music on his mind, he forgets eating, then gets a terrific appetite which may demand eight cheeseburgers and three milk shakes at a sitting.”
Much of Presley’s popularity is credited to his ability to combine country music with rhythm and blues stylings … The Austin (Texas) American on March 17, 1955
The Waco (Texas) Times-Herald called him “The Bopping Hillbilly” on April 19, 1955.
Presley devotes what time he has to spare … to working on his car, and indulging in his hobby of collecting pink and black clothes … The Daily Herald, Biloxi, Mississippi on June 17, 1955.
The Daily Herald followed this up four days later: “Presley’s novelty presentation, which includes bouncing to the microphone, imitating the broken springs of an old sofa, and singing at the same time, has been well-received by audiences …”
The Austin American again wrote about Presley on October 6, 1955, when he returned for another show:
Labeled “the king of Western bop” by his fans, Presley has become widely popular for combining hillbilly music with modern “rock and roll” fare, a unique blend in evidence on such Presley hit records as “That’s All Right,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and “Good Rockin Tonight.”
On December 13, 1955, the Helena (Arkansas) World also called Presley the King of Western Bop and wrote that he is …
… a real fire-ball on stage and pleases young and old. His main interests are his two cars, a 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood sedan in striking pink and black color, and his 1954 Cadillac convertible. Presley usually relaxes when his busy schedule allows time, by water skiing on the Mississippi River. He also has acquired a large collection of unusual and colorful clothing. He prefers the ‘cool cat’ type of dress rather than traditional Western wear.
Presley continued his climb up the ladder, selling more and more records, playing to bigger and bigger audiences that included a large percentage of screaming young women. And then, he signed a deal for $50,000 to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show three times. The first was on September 9, 1956. A fact that seems to be forgotten is that Sullivan was absent for the first show, recuperating from a car accident. Veteran actor Charles Laughton (Mutiny on the Bounty) filled in and introduced Presley, who sang Don’t Be Cruel, Hound Dog and a new song, Love Me Tender.
The world was changed forever.
Not everyone was thrilled by the Elvis phenomenon.
NASHVILLE (AP) – A bearded Nashville disc jockey who said he was tired of rock and ‘n roll and Elvis Presley records has been fined $25 for burning some 600 records in a public park here. Morristown (Tennessee) Gazette, January 23, 1958.
The disc jockey was Leslie R. Scott whose on-air persona was Great Scott.
On the same page as this story, another article quoted a vice president of RCA-Victor records who predicted rock ‘n roll “will monopolize the record market for at least five more years.” The executive was W. W. Bullock and he believed Presley ‘is the largest single factor in the recording industry’s growth.”
If you found this story interesting, you might like to read my From Unknown to Famous stories about Ernest Hemingway, Marilyn Monroe, Amelia Earhart, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Alex Trebek. Please subscribe to this blog and get alerts every time I post a new one (lots more are coming).
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