1948, Elvis moved to Memphis. Here, Elvis Presley began to get in touch with professional musicians, and occasionally he participated in the performance of the four-person gospel singing group "BlackwoodBrothers". It can be said that this move started the R&, Memphis Black Soul Music and R & ampb of Elvis Presley's music career, and combined with white country music, it became the root of Elvis Presley's unique music and singing style.
A very accidental opportunity began Elvis Presley's brilliant music career. /kloc-one day in 0/953, when he was recording songs for his mother in a recording studio in the name of SamPhillips, the owner of Sun Records, he met Marion Chesca, Phillips' assistant, and was deeply appreciated by Cesca. 1June, 954, Phillips invited Elvis Presley to SUN Company to record a song from Nashville, and invited local musicians ScottyMoore (guitar) and BillBlack (bass) to accompany Elvis Presley. The effect of this combination was not ideal at first, until Elvis Presley sang ArthurCrudupiz's rhythm and blues song "That'sAllRight", and they found the feeling. This song eventually became Elvis Presley's first single record on Sun Records, which conquered local fans. Since then, Elvis Presley has released several records and started touring. His combination of country music and rhythm and blues, as well as his wild and uninhibited attitude, set off an unprecedented storm in the rock music world. Elvis Presley embarked on the road to success, and a superstar began to rise.
Sam Phillips foresaw that Elvis Presley, a white singer with black style, would definitely cause a sensation, because he showed people the fusion of white music and black music styles, which was very individual and innovative. So when Phillips made records for Elvis Presley, he was also original. He used the company's original recording facilities and Phillips' continuous application of echo technology to create the so-called "Sun Company Sound", and combined with an instrumental music system based on country music with obvious black rhythm, formed Elvis Presley's unique style. In the works recorded by Sun Company, Elvis Presley showed a deep understanding of the style of black musicians. He never simply copied other people's songs. With the help of radio music hosts fontana, Bill Black and scottie Moore, he always treats these works in a new way, instead of diluting his original strength when dealing with songs like other white singers.
Sun's Elvis Presley single was released in Britain, always collecting a blues song and a country song. They all adopted a radical and different way in performance. These records include BillMonroe's That'sAllRight and bluemoon of Kentucky)/ Good Rocking night)/ I don't care if the sun comes out/ You're a heartbreaker/Honey, let's go to the theater, and I'm on the left, you're on the right, she's one (I'm I'mLeft, you're on the right, she is. Those works recorded by Sun Company but bought by RCA Company before release, including two versions of ILO Veyou Because (1July 1954), were not included in the album Elvis Presley until1June 1974. Legendary singers: Elvis Alegendaryeperformer: vol-1) and Blue Moon, I'll never let you go, darling, just because. Other unreleased songs in this period were included in an illegally released album "Shock Tonight".
In a poll in June, 1955, 1 1 were considered as the most promising singers of "Country and West". At this time, "Colonel" Parker became the manager of Elvis Presley, and Phillips transferred his contract with Elvis Presley to Victor, a subsidiary of RCA, which has the ability to promote and distribute records nationwide. Coupled with Parker's successful arrangement of Elvis Presley's selective appearance on TV, Elvis Presley immediately became a national star, and every record since then has been among the best in the charts. The first single "HeartbreakHotel/IWasTheOne" that joined RCA created the first champion song for ElvisPresley. In March of the same year, Elvis Presley, the first album that joined RCA, won the Billboard album list 10 week champion. Then, after the release of the second album Elvis Presley, the single LoveMeTender occupied four charts in the United States. At the same time, more than 20 kinds of Elvis Presley products, including shirts, scarves, jeans and lipsticks, came out one after another, earning 20 million dollars in the first year of Elvis Presley's entry into RCA.
Elvis Presley's original recording in RCA Company was made in Nashville in June 65438 +0956+10. His accompaniment lineup included ChetAtkins and Jordanaires. Almost all subsequent recordings were made in the company's main recording studio in new york. Critics believe that Elvis Presley's joining RCA shows that the quality of his works is rapidly declining, and this trend has been continuing. Although the records recorded during this period (before Elvis joined the army 1958) had considerable changes in the style and content of Elvis Presley's music, from a historical point of view, the genre formed by these works was actually the essence of mainstream rock music in the 1950s. Songs such as "Don't be too cruel" and "OneSidedLoveAffair" reflected Elvis Presley's transition from the frivolous style of Sun Company to the gloomy, dark and heavy in the future. The latter tends to be commercialized, but it still maintains the characteristics of excitement and sexiness. Moreover, it is this kind of songs that lead countless white teenagers to rock music through prime-time TV broadcast, especially through the melancholy image of Elvis Presley, such as Heartbroken Hotel and HoundDog. Some works recorded earlier, but not released until Elvis went to Germany for military service, also have this style: OneNight and IGotStung. "I am a fool" (AFoolSuchAsI) and "Too much love" (BigHunkO'Love).
By the late 1950s, Elvis Presley's worth was already very high, and his songs were handled more and more exquisitely and skillfully. 1September, 956, RCA Company made an unprecedented attempt to release seven Elvis Presley singles at the same time. As a result, Elvis Presley topped the charts every week from August to February.
At the same time, "Colonel Parker" is busy further establishing the image of Elvis Presley-shooting Elvis Presley's first film "LoveMeTender" and making various Elvis Presley souvenirs from key rings to pillowcases with manufacturers. Similarly, recording records also reflects a kind of business acumen. Elvis'ChristmasAlbum, an album published by Elvis Presley 1957, skillfully combines folk songs and rock songs, including some religious, chorus and pop songs. Before Christmas 10 day, 1957, the American armed forces tried their best to recruit Elvis Presley as a singer, but Elvis Presley refused his kindness and accepted the recruitment as a civilian. After singing for his hometown elders twice,1On March 24th, 958, he wore a British military uniform and reported to the 2nd Armored Division camp in the suburb of Keeling, Texas, and officially started his military career. 1959165438+10. In October, Priscilla, the 14-year-old daughter of Air Force Captain JosephBeaulieu, opened Elvis Presley's love heart. 1960, Elvis Presley began to shoot his first film, G.I.Blues from Military Music. After its soundtrack was released in June of 10, it quickly topped the championship again and stayed on the list for11week, ranking among the first albums of Elvis Presley's life. At this time, Priscilla moved into Gresland and lived with Elvis Presley.
1960 In March, Elvis Presley returned from military service in Germany. The wild and rude style and "going its own way" in 1958 remained unchanged. But the album ElvisisBack seems to be hesitant to try rhythm and blues and country music again and start a new gentle singing method. This gentle voice and singing feel nothing new, but it has lost its previous enthusiasm and boldness. In most of Elvis Presley's later works, this style continued.
1961February 25th, the governor of Tennessee declared this day "Elvis Presley Day", and every Christmas thereafter, Elvis Presley will perform charity singing in his hometown. During the release of "Stick to You" album and the rise of Beatles mania in the United States, Elvis Presley still maintained his most prominent position as a singer who mainly released singles. Although there were only a few records, such as AMessOfBlues and Tisslatestflame》/ Little Sister, from this time on, Elvis Presley shifted his career focus to Hollywood and took over Blue Hawaii. Although Elvis Presley is at the peak of his career in terms of sales volume, in fact, his image is far less radiant than that in the 1950s. Most of the songs that are highly praised are gentle and soothing works, such as It's snownever, AreYouLonesomeTonight, submitten, or episodes selected from movies, such as WoodenHeart and Wilderness. In addition, he also released some albums, a large part of which were selected from a series of Hollywood musicals in which he began to star.
In the early 1960s, Elvis Presley began to make three movies a year, although each of these typical Hollywood movies was disappointing. Then Elvis Presley sang all the songs, which were just used to fill the empty movie plot. They are often third-rate. It is far from the standard of the songwriters used in his early films: Love Me Tender (1956), Love You (1957) and Jailhouse Rock (1958+0958). Since then, films specially made for Elvis Presley, such as The Red Star (1960) and Country Music (196 1), have attracted little attention, with more than 20 films before and after. During this period, the records included a series of singles, She's Snow for You, Return to Sender and Onebroken Heart for Sale, starting from GoodLuckCharm.
Because of the relationship between Elvis Presley and Priscilla, he formally proposed to Priscilla, and the next year they got married at Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. 1968, LisaMariePresley, the crystallization daughter of their love, was born, which made Elvis Presley enjoy a relaxed and happy life at home. However, the good times did not last long. 1972, Elvis Presley broke up with Priscilla, who left with her daughter Lisa Marie and chose to file for divorce on Elvis Presley's birthday the next year. The court ruled that Priscilla had custody of his daughter. Although Elvis Presley is passionate and romantic, there are constant scandals, but Priscilla is the only love of Elvis Presley and the only legally married wife in his life.
After 1968, Elvis Presley was regarded as the epitome of cynicism, weakness and retrogression in pop music. In addition, the profits of his films have been declining again and again, and the quality is getting worse and worse. Even Elvis himself made it clear that he hated and was as angry as the audience.
Later, I tried to expand my career on TV for the first time from 1960. This time, he had his own TV special, dressed in black leather and performed on a small stage surrounded by the audience. He gives people the feeling that Elvis Presley is reborn: he is charming, relaxed and ominous, which excites fans all over the world.
The success of this program pushed Elvis Presley to a fork in the road that made him have a headache: either start a brand-new but very risky music attempt from this point, or go back to his old production program, just changing the details slightly. At first, his records seemed to keep a balance between the two. The single "IfICanDream" selected from his TV program is very powerful, as if trying to get rid of his weakness in the 1960s. Then he returned to Memphis in early 1969 to record the album ElvisinMemphis. He used Chipsman's American Studio.
Elvis Presley then gave his first live performance in Las Vegas since 196 1. Although his band has a strong lineup and excellent works, people have not seen the expected Elvis Presley, who was born from Elvis Presley's TV special program. Soon, Elvis Presley restored his music to its former style, as safe as his movies, which can be proved by his series of "live recordings" in new york, Hawaii and Las Vegas. These works only include random covers of some old songs, and no song can compare with its original. Nevertheless, when the Hawaiian live recording album topped the American charts in 1973, it-and other popular songs in the 1970s-proved a fact that was about to be doubted: Elvis Presley was still the best-selling musician, and his artistic career was not over. Although it is not what it used to be, his influence and supporters can still make him proud.
Ironically, from the downward trend since Elvis Presley 1960, we can see that he prefers less commercialized music than previous songs. His early practice of recording black music continued until the 1970s. He recorded IvoryJoeHunter's songs at 1958 and 1973 respectively. After his service, his records include works by musicians selected from ChuckJackson, LittleWalter, O-C- Smith, Coasters, JerryButler, KettyLester, ChuckBerry, Clovers, Drifters, RufusThomas and WillieDixon. In addition, Elvis Presley also sang the works of a new generation of southern writers. For example, JerryReed's Guitarist, MacDavis's IntheGhetto, TonyJoeWhite's PolkSaladAnnie, and DennisLinde's Fiery.
This series of efforts and adventures in choosing songs makes the phenomenon that Elvis Presley's records have been poor even more inexplicable. In fact, since 1960, his excellent works like those in the 1950s are rare. 1960' s religious album "HisHandinMine" is very exquisite and pure in sound processing, while the B side of the record "Kissin'Cousins" is "Ithurtsme" (1965), which makes people suddenly see Elvis Presley in the 1950s. It is worth mentioning the live recordings of the albums FromElvisinMemphis and Elvis Presley's Country (197 1) and the album "Elvis Presley: Alohafromhawaiivesatelite" of the American trilogy (1973).
By the mid-1970s, Elvis Presley seemed to give up any efforts to win respect as an artist in despair again, and lived in his final stereotype. His voice is more lazy and careless than ever before. When the volume is high, it looks rough and harsh; when the volume is low, it vacillates, completely losing its original vitality and delicacy. His spirit seems to have blurred. To make matters worse, a lot of drug abuse, overeating and dissolute private life also destroyed his health.
1973 10 Elvis Presley was hospitalized with pneumonia and pleurisy, colon dilatation and hepatitis. Parker, the agent, pushed Elvis Presley, who was in poor health, into financial crisis with his own squeezing brokerage strategy. It is pointed out that Parker deliberately failed to pay royalties to Elvis Presley before 1973. Elvis Presley had to get tired of touring in order to ease the economic situation. He is physically and mentally exhausted, dependent on sedatives and other drugs, and his health problems are getting worse.
Even so, 1976 is a compact tour all year round. 165438+1At the end of October, Elvis Presley met his new girlfriend GingerAlden, who became Elvis Presley's last girlfriend. 1977 In early April, Elvis Presley was hospitalized again. After leaving the hospital, he insisted on continuing his singing journey until June. The concert in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 26th proved to be Elvis Presley's last performance.