Beginning in 1949, while Elvis Presley and Sun Records were still virtually unknown--and two full years before Alan Freed famously "discovered" rock 'n' roll--Dewey Phillips brought the budding new music to the Memphis airwaves by playing Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, and Muddy Waters on his nightly radio show Red, Hot and Blue. The mid-South's most popular white deejay, "Daddy-O-Dewey" soon became part of rock 'n' roll history for being the first major disc jockey to play Elvis Presley and, subsequently, to conduct the first live, on-air interview with the singer. Louis Cantor illuminates Phillips's role in turning a huge white audience on to previously forbidden race music. Phillips's zeal for rhythm and blues legitimized the sound and set the stage for both Elvis's subsequent success and the rock 'n' roll revolution of the 1950s. Using personal interviews, documentary sources, and oral history collections, Cantor presents a personal view of the disc jockey while restoring Phillips's place as an essential figure in rock 'n' roll history.
The touching story of thirty years of friendship between George Klein and the King that “offers an insider’s view of Presley the man as opposed to Presley the singer, actor, and icon” (Associated Press). “You capture the essence of Elvis not only in dialogue, but also in giving the reader a sense of his personality, humor, and his spirit of play.”—Priscilla Presley When George Klein was an eighth grader at Humes High, he couldn’t have known how important the new kid with the guitar—the boy named Elvis—would later become in his life. But from the first time GK (as he was nicknamed by Elvis) heard this kid sing, he knew that Elvis Presley was someone extraordinary. During Elvis’s rise to fame and throughout the wild swirl of his remarkable life, Klein was a steady presence and one of Elvis’s closest and most loyal friends until his untimely death in 1977. In Elvis: My Best Man, a heartfelt, entertaining, and long-awaited contribution to our understanding of Elvis Presley and the early days of rock ’n’ roll, George Klein writes with great affection for the friend he knew about who the King of Rock ’n’ Roll really was and how he acted when the stage lights were off. This fascinating chronicle of boundary-breaking and music-making through one of the most intriguing and dynamic stretches of American history overflows with insights and anecdotes from someone who was in the middle of it all. From the good times at Graceland to hanging out with Hollywood stars to butting heads with Elvis’s iron-handed manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to making sure that Elvis’s legacy is fittingly honored, GK was a true friend of the King and a trailblazer in the music industry in his own right.
This is the first of two volumes that make up what is arguably the definitive Elvis biography. Rich in documentary and interview material, this volume charts Elvis' early years and his rise to fame, taking us up to his departure for Germany in 1958. Of all the biographies of Elvis - this is the one you will keep coming back to.
In Race, Rock, and Elvis, Michael T. Bertrand contends that popular music, specifically Elvis Presley's brand of rock 'n' roll, helped revise racial attitudes after World War II. Observing that youthful fans of rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, and other black-inspired music seemed more inclined than their segregationist elders to ignore the color line, Bertrand links popular music with a more general relaxation, led by white youths, of the historical denigration of blacks in the South. The tradition of southern racism, successfully communicated to previous generations, failed for the first time when confronted with the demand for rock 'n' roll by a new, national, commercialized youth culture. In a narrative peppered with the colorful observations of ordinary southerners, Bertrand argues that appreciating black music made possible a new recognition of blacks as fellow human beings. Bertrand documents black enthusiasm for Elvis Presley and cites the racially mixed audiences that flocked to the new music at a time when adults expected separate performances for black audiences and white. He describes the critical role of radio and recordings in blurring the color line and notes that these media made black culture available to appreciative whites on an unprecedented scale. He also shows how music was used to define and express the values of a southern working-class youth culture in transition, as young whites, many of them trying to orient themselves in an unfamiliar urban setting, embraced black music and culture as a means of identifying themselves. By adding rock 'n' roll to the mix of factors that fed into civil rights advances in the South, Race, Rock, and Elvis shows how the music,with its rituals and vehicles, symbolized the vast potential for racial accord inherent in postwar society.
Elvis Presley rocketed from oblivion and became one of the greatest influences of the 20th Century. It is the story of what happened.Without a doubt, in early 1954, Elvis Presley was the least likely to achieve stardom. A poor teenage truck driver for a local electric company, coming from a Memphis housing project. In 1954, Rock and Roll music was just in its embryo stage, not yet defined as a musical genre. Evolving from black music emanating from the black-owned nightclubs in the southern United States. It was Called Rhythm and Blues (R&B,) and had a very limited following. 1950s teenagers yearning for a different sound of their own were obliged by local Memphis DJ - Dewey Phillips. Playing R&B through his successful local WHBQ radio show called Red Hot and Blue, emanating from Memphis, Tennessee, it could be heard in many neighboring states. Dewey's influence was legendary; he became the "Midwife of Rock and Roll Music(tm)."Dewey's influence on Elvis and other contemporaries such as Buddy Holly and others has, to date, been overlooked in contemporary history.On July 5th, 1954, Elvis Presley arrived at the Memphis Recording Studios to perform a demo for owner and record producer Sam Phillips (no relation to Dewey). At that moment, Elvis had not sung a single note professionally. He auditioned for hours without any success or glimmer of hope. On the brink of ending his first recording session without success, a nervous, scared teenager paced the floor during a late break. Nervously, he just started to play chords to an old blues song called "That's All Right Mama," with a slight alteration of tempo and style.That was when Lightning Struck!Nervous young Elvis Presley playing to pass time, thought no one was listening. Playing the song in a slightly different way caught Sam Phillips. by surprise. Another person in the control room that night than Sam Phillips, it is questionable if young Elvis Presley's career would have even started! The book describes the early career of Elvis Presley. The lightning storm started on July 5th, 1954. and its terminal velocity on September 9th, 1956. During the Ed Sullivan Show, over 60 million people watched the coronation of Elvis Presley as the definitive King of Rock and Roll. First coined by High school friend and local DJ Memphis Disc Jockey George Klein (GK) as "The King of Rock and Roll." It was an innocent but truthful description of what transpired the first two years of his career (1954-1956). But the road to the title had pitfalls. Elvis: The King of Rock and Roll describes why Elvis Presley earned and deserved this title. Altering a trajectory of history in a single moment. On July 5th, 1954. Elvis Presley started a firestorm that transformed popular music while forever changing the landscape of the music industry. A firestorm, which would transform the world. Elvis Presley: The King of Rock and Roll puts the reader in the midst of it. Within three years, Elvis Presley went from the brink of a failed audition to the largest-selling recording artist in the world! The musical genre pioneered by Elvis and his contemporaries presented Rock & Roll to a new audience. Arguably helping bridge a cultural divide and would be a catalyst of change for generations.You will feel the emotions of the young teenager and understand what caused the world's transformation. Focusing primarily on the music, events, and people around him. all catalysts to his success. The unassuming public persona and demeanor of young Elvis Presley, giving him the capacity to usher in the music of Rock & Roll, and changing the world forever! Elvis Presley achieved fame with raw talent alone, without any musical or financial pedigree.In 2017 George Klein -GK Reading my book excerpts in the Sirius XM Elvis Radio Studio said: "Frank, no one has written this book the way you are writing it! It has to be written!" This the story, that has yet to be shared!
Gordon's critically acclaimed and richly entertaining exploration of the birthplace of rock and roll is peopled with Delta bluesmen, manic deejays, matinee cowboys and Elvis.
Elvis Presley was unique. "I don't sound like nobody," he said before he was anybody, and John Lennon, whose Beatles would later create their own mania in the world, would offer the tribute: "Before Elvis, there was nothing." Elvis, writes New York Times bestselling author Rees Quinn, was the world's first superstar, but that couldn't erase the scars of a childhood filled with poverty, humiliation, loneliness, and shame. He tried to buy happiness but failed. With his leather, gold, and ivory jumpsuits, Cadillacs, private planes, and Memphis mansion, Graceland, Elvis came to epitomize rock-star excess. This book goes beyond the music to explore Elvis's background, family, ambition, and the relationships that made him an icon. It is not just for Elvis fans - it's a fascinating story of a talented man who has touched all of our lives.
This boxed set includes a CD of interviews and other recordings of Elvis's thoughts. Also included are facsimiles of some of his most personal documents, including his high school diploma, his contract with Sun Records, and a hand-written letter sent to his girlfriend.
Weaving the story of the King's personal and public life with detailed descriptions of the locations in Memphis that served as the setting for his musical education and evolution, this pop culture guide offers a refreshingly even-handed account of Elvis Presley's life. Elvis came to Memphis as a 13-year-old boy, and within a few years, he was shocking and seducing the world with a mixture of moves and sounds he had first seen and heard in the city's streets, churches, and bars. This comprehensive tour of places on which Elvis left his mark includes the Peabody Hotel, where he had his senior prom; Ellis Auditorium, where he played his first show; the Sun Studio, where he recorded his first singles; Lansky Brothers Clothiers, where he bought his suits; and Graceland, where he lived with his wife Priscilla and died in 1977. Anecdotes about each of the locations and how they shaped Elvis's personal and musical identity enhance the travel information, while street maps and a handy size make this book an invaluable companion to Memphis visitors and lovers of rock and roll.
