​Biography
Early years (1935-1953)
Childhood in Tupelo
Presley's birthplace in 1935.

Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi. His parents were Vernon Elvis (at that time 18 years old) and Gladys Love Presley (22 years old) .13 In his two-room shotgun house built by his father before his birth. Jesse Garon Presley, his twin brother was stillborn 35 minutes before him. As an only child, established a strong relationship with her parents, especially her mother. The family used to attend the Assembly of God, a church of the Protestant movement, which found its first inspiration musical.14

Presley's ancestry is a mixture of Western Europe: the side of his mother was Scottish and Irish, with some French-Norman, in addition, one of Gladys's great-grandmothers was cheroqui.15 note 2 his father's ancestors had origin Scottish alemán.18 19 Gladys was regarded by relatives and friends as the dominant member of the small family. Vernon moved from one job to another eccentric displays her little ambición.20 21 The family usually depended on the help of neighbors and government. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon he were guilty of altering a check written by the landowner, made that cost him eight months in prison, so Elvis and Gladys had to move home to live with relatives .20

In September 1941, started first grade at East Tupelo Consolidated, where his teachers as a student 'average' .22 While in school, he was encouraged to enter a singing contest after impressing his teacher for morning prayers with an interpretation of country style song singer Red Foley "Old Shep". The competition, held at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on October 3, 1945, was his first public appearance: dressed as cowboy a ten year Presley stood on a chair to reach the microphone and sang " Old Shep ". The singer recalled having reached the fifth puesto.23 few months later, he received his first guitar as a birthday present, but expected nothing else-a bicycle or a rifle-.24 25 The following year, he received basic guitar lessons taught by their uncles and the new pastor of the family church. Presley recalled, "I took the guitar and I looked at people and learned a little. But never sung in public, was very shy about it '.26

In Milam, primary school which began attending sixth grade, was an outcast boy. The following year, he began to bring his guitar to school every day and dedicate themselves to touch and sing during lunch, however, the rest of high school boys used to tease him to consider a child 'grungy' who played hillbilly music. His family lived in a neighborhood then afroamericano.27 As big fan of Mississippi Slim's show on the Tupelo radio station WELO, Presley was usually described as "crazy about music" by Slim's younger brother, fellow Presley, who used to take him to the station and who taught him some chords and techniques in guitarra.28 When his protégé was 12 years old, Slim scheduled two presentations he radiated. In the first, he was overcome by stage fright, but a week following a presentation exitosa.29
Adolescents in Memphis

In November 1948 the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. After residing for nearly a year in rooming houses, they were granted a two-bedroom public housing complex known as The Courts.30 As a student at Humes High School, Presley note only got C grades in eighth grade. When his music teacher told him he had no aptitude for singing, the next day, took with his guitar and sang a recent hit "Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me", in an attempt to prove otherwise. A colleague later claim that the teacher "agreed that Elvis was right and she did not appreciate her singing" I used to be very tímidito .31 to openly and occasionally touching was harassed by colleagues who saw him as a "baby Mom '.32 In 1950 he began to practice guitar regularly under the tutelage of Jesse Lee Denson, a neighbor two and half years older than him. They and three other boys, among whom were two future rockabilly pioneers, brothers Dorsey and Johnny Burnette, formed a open musical collective that played frequently around The Courts.33 In September of that year, he began performing ads the Loew's State Theater.34

During his junior year in high school, began to stand out among their peers, in large part by his appearance: he grew sideburns and comb his hair with rose oil, vaseline and lubricant molding it into a hairstyle called toupee, style that began to be popular among young people that época.35 In his spare time, attending Bale Street, the heart of the Memphis blues scene and looked forward to the flamboyant and flashy clothes in the windows of Lansky Brothers. In his last year at school, the usaba.36 Finally overcame his reluctance to play in the annual spectacle Humes song in April 1953. Singing and playing guitar, he opened the latter with "Till I Waltz Again With You", a recent hit for Teresa Brewer. Presley said the presentation was much improved its reputation: "I was not popular in school. [...] I failed music - [the only subject] I failed in my life and then I do get into this talent. [...] When I got onstage I heard people making noises and muttering and even more, since no one knew that I sang. It was amazing how popular I became after that "37​

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Presley, who never received formal music lessons, studied and played by ear. He frequented record stores with gramophones and knew all of Hank Snow's songs, but also loved the songs of other country singers such as Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Ted Daffan, Jimmie Rodgers, Jimmie Davis, and Bob Wills.38 39 singer gospel of the southern United States Jake Hess, one of his favorite performers, was a significant influence on his singing style was baladas.40 41 regular public monthly All-Night show Singings, where many groups of white gospel singers reflected the spiritual music influence afroamericana.42 also loved the music of black gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.39 Like some of his peers, had to frequent the places where blues was played only at night solely designated for public blanco.43 Indeed, listening to the regional radio stations that transmitted "race recordings' spiritual, blues and modern sound and rhythm and blues.44 recharged Many of his songs would be inspired by local African American musicians such as Arthur Crudup and Rufus Thomas.45 46 BB King recalled that he had met Presley before he became popular when used to frequent Beale Street.47 When he graduated from high school in June 1953, chose music as his future.

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First recordings (1953-1955)
Sam Phillips and Sun Records

In August 1953, first entered the offices of Sun Records with the intention of paying a few minutes spent in the studio to record an acetate disc double-sided: "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". Further asserted that the album would be a gift for his mother, or was merely interested in "how it would sound" him, although shop around there was a service professional recording discs. Biographer Peter Guralnick says that the company chose Sun in the hope of being discovered. When the receptionist Marion Keisker asked what kind of singer he was, Presley replied: "Singing all types [of music]." When asked as who sounded, replied: "I do not sound like nobody." After recording, the head of Sun, Sam Phillips, Keisker asked to write the name of the young, which he did with a personal commentary: "Good ballad singer. Retain '.50 Presley recorded a second acetate in January 1954 - "I'll Never Stand In Your Way" and "It Would not Be the Same Without You" - but nothing came from allí.51
Vinyl theme "Blue Moon of Kentucky", recorded by Elvis in 1954 under the label Sun Records.

Not long after, he failed an audition for entry into a place called The vocal quartet Songfellows. After the incident, he told his father that he had no luck and told him, "I could not sing" 52 Group member Jim Hamill later claimed that was not accepted because the hearing did not demonstrate heard for armonías.53 In April, he began working for the Crown Electric company as camionero.53 His friend Ronnie Smith, after playing a couple of gigs with him, suggested he contact Eddie Bond, leader of the professional band in which Smith played, and he needed a vocalist. Bond rejected him after a test, advising him to remain as a truck "because you will never have success as a singer '.54

Meanwhile, Phillips, always trying to find someone who could rescue the sound of the black musicians to make it reach a wider audience. As Keisker said: "I remember Sam saying over and over again: 'If I could find a white man who had a sound and a feeling black black could make billions of dollars'" 55 In June, he acquired a demo of the ballad "Without You", that he thought would fit well with the young singer. Presley went through the studio, but was unable to do it justice. Despite this, Phillips asked him to sing all the songs you could. Phillips felt sufficiently impressed by what I heard, it invited two local musicians, guitarist Winfield "Scotty" Moore and bassist Bill Black to fix something with Presley for a session grabación.56

The session, held in the afternoon of July 5, was entirely unsuccessful and lasted late into the night. When they were about to give up and go home, Presley took his guitar and played "That's All Right", a 1946 Blues Arthur Crudup. Moore recalled, "All of a sudden, Elvis just started playing the song, jumping and doing crazy things, but then Bill picked up his bass, and he also began to play and be silly, until I started playing with them. I think Sam had the door to the control booth open, [...] stuck his head out and said, "What are you doing?" and we answered "do not know". "Well, back to the beginning," he said, "try to find a place to start and do it again. '" Phillips then began to burn, and then realize that this was the sound he had been buscando.57 Three days later, the popular DJ Dewey Phillips aired "That's All Right" on his show Red, Hot, and Blue.58 The listeners began calling to find out who was the singer. The interest was such that Phillips played repeatedly the subject during the last two hours of their program. In an interview to air, Phillips asked him what high school he attended in order to define its color, as many listeners assumed it was negro.59 Over the next few days the trio recorded a bluegrass song, the theme Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky", again in a distinctive style and an unexpected echo effect that Sam Phillips had managed to fix. He pressed a single with "That's All Right" as side A and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" on the reverso.60
Early live performances and contract with RCA
Presley in a promotional for Sun Records in 1954.

The trio played publicly for the first time on July 17, 1954 at Bon Air Club, where Presley was still wearing his guitar sized for niños.61 By the end of the month, they appeared at the Overton Park Shell, opening for Slim Whitman. As a result of his strong response to rhythm combined with nervousness when playing in front of such crowds began to shake his legs as he sang his wide-cut pants pronounced his movements, causing young women in the audience began to gritar.62 Moore recalled, "During the instrumental parts, bounced and moved the microphone while singing, the audience just went wild" 63 Black, a showman, rolling his bass, thereby whipping Presley sounded like "a sound really wild, like a jungle drum or something [like] '.63 Soon after, Moore and Black left their old band to play with Presley regularly, and DJ Bob Neal became his manager. From August through October, they played frequently at the Eagle's Nest Club, so he began to gain confidence in the escenarios.64 According to Moore, "His movement was a natural thing, but in turn was really aware of what caused that reaction. I would do something once and then expand really fast "65 Presley made what would be his only appearance on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry on October 2, after a respectful audience response, Opry manager Jim Denny told Phillips that singer "not bad" but did not fit with the programa.66 Two weeks later, he was hired at the Louisiana Hayride, the Opry opponent. The program, based in Shreveport was broadcast to 198 radio stations in 28 states. In the first segment, overcame another attack of nerves, prompting quedase briefly mute is, however, in the second part, which was more energetic, resulting in a more enthusiastic response público.67 Drummer Instead, DJ Fontana brought a new element, complementing Presley's movements with accented beats that he had perfected in clubs striptease.68 Shortly after the show, Hayride engaged Presley for a year to sing on Saturday night. After selling his old guitar for eight dollars (and after seeing it in the trash soon after), he bought a brand new Martin for $ 175 and began playing in new places like Houston (Texas) and Texarkana (Arkansas). 69

By early 1955, Presley's regular presentations on Hayride, constant touring and good reception of his publications made him a regional star, from Tennessee to West Texas. In January, Neal signed a formal management contract with him and introduced him to Colonel Tom Parker, whom he considered the best promoter in the music business. Parker, born in the Netherlands, although claimed to be from West Virginia, had obtained a commission of Jimmie Davis, former country singer and was governor of Louisiana. After being successfully manager country star Eddy Arnold, was at the time working with the new number one singer, Hank Snow. Parker Presley placed as the opening act on his tour of febrero.70 71 When they reached Odessa, Texas, a 19 year old Roy Orbison saw Presley for the first time: "His energy was incredible, his instinct simply amazing. [...] Just did not know what to do. There was no reference point in the culture to compare "38 Presley made his television debut on March 3 on the KSLA-TV broadcast of Louisana Hatride. Soon after, he failed an audition to join the Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts on the CBS television network. By August, Sun had released ten tracks credited to "Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill". In the past, the drummer joined the trio. Some of the songs, like "That's All Right" was included in what a journalist of Memphis described by saying that "it is expressed in language R & B used in the field of jazz black ', others, like" Blue Moon of Kentucky "were "more in the country field, but there was a curious combination of the two genres in both '.72 This blend of styles made it difficult for Presley's music was broadcast on the radio. According to Neal, many disc jockeys refused to do it because it sounded much like a black artist and broadcasters of R & B, because "it sounded much like a [music performer] hillbilly '.73 This merger became known as" rockabilly ". At the time, Presley was known as "The King of Western Bop", "The Hillbilly Cat" and "The Memphis Flash" 74

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Presley renewed Neal management contract in August 1955 and simultaneously told Parker as his adviser especial.75 The group maintained an intense touring schedule in the second half of año.76 Neal recalled, "It was almost frightening awakening reaction Elvis in adolescent males. Many of them, for a certain type of jealousy, almost hated him. There were occasions in some towns in Texas when we had to get a bodyguard because there was always someone trying to beat him. Would come together and try to go around, or something like that '.77 The trio became a quartet when Hayride drummer Fontana, joined as a full member. In mid-October, gave a few concerts, opening for Bill Haley, whose song "Rock Around the Clock" had been a number one hit the previous year. Haley observed that Presley had a natural instinct about the pace and advised him to sing fewer baladas.78

In the Convention of Country Music Disc Jockeys in early November, Presley was voted as the male artist prometedor.79 At that time there were many record companies that showed interest in signing him. After three major labels made him offers of up to 25 000, Parker and Phillips signed a deal with RCA Victor on November 21 to acquire Presley's Sun contract for an unprecedented amount of 40 000 dólares.80 note 3 Presley , who was 20, was still a minor, so his father signed the contrato.81 Parker agreed with the owners of Hill and Range Publishing, Jean and Julian Aberbach create two entities, Elvis Presley Music and Gladys Music, to collect all new material recorded by the singer. Composers were forced to give up a third of their copyrights in exchange for Presley interpret his temas.82 note 4 By December, RCA began to widely promote its new singer, and before the end of that month relaunched many of the songs he recorded with Sun.85
Commercial Explosion and controversies (1956-1958)
First presentation on national television debut

The January 10, 1956, Presley made his first recordings for RCA in Nashville.86 In order to extend the group of supporting musicians Presley (Moore, Black, and Fontana), RCA hired the pianist Floyd Cramer, guitarist Chet Atkins, and three background singers, including Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires quartet, to fill the sonido.87 This session produced the moody, unusual "Heartbreak Hotel", released as a single on 27 enero.86 Parker finally made Presley appear in the national television and for this six performances scheduled in two months on the CBS program Stage Show. On the show, filmed in New York, big band leaders and brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey were the presenters. After his first appearance, on January 28, Presley stayed in town to record at RCA's New York studio. The sessions yielded eight songs, including a rockabilly anthem version of Carl Perkins 'Blue Suede Shoes'. In February, Presley theme "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", a Sun recording released the previous August, reached the top of the list of country music Billboard.88 Neal's contract expired and March 2, Parker became the manager of cantante.89

RCA Victor released his album, Elvis Presley on March 23. Composed of five previously unreleased tracks passing through Sun, its seven other tracks were of great variety. There were among them two topics of country and a happy pop song. The other would define centrally emerging sound of rock and roll: "Blue Suede Shoes" - "A progress regarding Perkins in almost every aspect" according to critic Robert Hilburn-and three issues of R & B who were subjects of the repertoire in Presley live for some time, covers of songs by Little Richard, Ray Charles, and The Drifters. As described Hilburn, these "were the most revealing of all. Unlike many white artists [...] that slipped on the sandy edges of the original versions of R & B songs from the 1950s, Presley gave them another way. Not only contributed to the tunes his own personality [in the] voice but made guitar, not piano, is the main instrument in all three cases' .90 It became the first rock and roll album to reach the top of the Billboard chart, a position in which he stayed for ten semanas.86 While Presley was not an innovative instrumentalist like Moore or contemporary African American performers Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, cultural historian Gilbert B. Rodman argues that the album's cover, "of Elvis having a good time on stage with a guitar in his hands played a crucial role in transforming the guitar [...] in the instrument that best captured the style and spirit of this new music '.91
Milton Berle Show and "Hound Dog"

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Presley made the first of two presentations on the Milton Berle Show on NBC on April 3, 1956. His performance, on the deck of the USS Hancock in San Diego, received applause from an audience of crew and pasajeros.92 days later, a flight that would take Presley and his band to Nashville for a recording session left them extremely impressed, because an engine had an accident and the plane almost falls on Arkansas.93 Twelve weeks after its original release, "Heartbreak Hotel" became the first number one pop hit Presley. In late April, he began a series of presentations from two weeks at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The shows had a pretty poor reception by guests conservatives and middle-aged and Newsweek critic described it as "a jug of corn liquor at a champagne party" .94 During this cycle, Presley, who had serious ambitions acting, signed a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures.95 began a tour of the Midwest in mid-May and visited 15 ciudades.96 had attended many concerts of Freddie Bell and the Bellboys in Vegas, and his version of "Hound Dog ", a hit in 1952 for blues singer Big Mama Thornton, impressed him deeply, to the point that the song was used for the closure of its presentaciones.97 After a concert in La Crosse, Wisconsin, an urgent message was published in The Journal of the local Catholic diocese directed to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover warned that "Presley is a definite danger to the security of the United States. [...] His actions and movements seek to fan the teenage sexual passions. [...] After the concert, over a thousand teenagers tried to enter her dressing room. [...] Indications of the harm Presley did in La Crosse were the two high school girls [...] in whose abdomen and thighs was [his] autograph '.98

His second presentation was the Milton Berle Show on June 5 at the Hollywood studio NBC during another hectic tour. Berle persuaded him to leave his guitar between racks and also said, "Let me see, son" .99 During the performance, Presley stopped its fast performance of "Hound Dog" with a wave of his hand and made a slow version accentuating it with the same energetic and exaggerated movements corporales.99 This controversias.100 represented a wave of TV critics were outraged: Jack Gould of The New York Times said: "Mr. Presley has no discernible skill for singing. [...] His phrasing, if it can llamárselo thus is similar to a stereotypical variations aria sung in the shower for a beginner. [...] One of his specialties is a marked movement of the body [...] that mimics primary as the repertoire of the Blonde Bombshells Cabaret gateways "101 Ben Gross of the newspaper New York Daily News opined that popular music "has bottomed in the [movement] of Elvis Presley. [...] Elvis, who moves his pelvis [...] held an exhibition suggestive and vulgar, tinged with the levels of savagery that should be exclusive to [...] brothels "102 Ed Sullivan, whose variety show was the most popular nationwide, as judged "inconsistent with the public familiar" 103 To his regret, he soon found himself being called "Elvis the Pelvis", which considered "one of the most childish expressions I heard ever , coming from an adult '.104
Steve Allen Show and first Sullivan presentation

The programs were so many spectators that Presley got a presentation scheduled for July 1 on NBC's Steve Allen Show in New York. Allen, who was no fan of rock and roll, introduced a "new Elvis" dress with black bow and coat. Presley sang "Hound Dog" in less than a minute, using a tall hat. As described by television historian Jake Austen, "Allen pansaba that Presley had no talent and was absurd, [...] arranged for show his contrition" 105 Allen, for his part, later said that he found Presley's "strange , lanky, with the provincial charisma, hard to define that beauty and charming and seductive extravagance "and just showed the singer the" Comedy Factory "your programa.106 usual Presley would refer then to the interpretation made there as the most its ridiculous carrera.107 Later that night, he appeared on Hy Gardner Calling also another popular program. When reporters asked if he had learned anything from the criticism, Presley responded, "No, I did not feel like I'm doing anything wrong. [...] I do not see how any type of music would have a bad influence on people when it's just music. [...] I mean, how can rock and roll music make anyone rebel against their parents? "102
The rivalry between the programs of Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan (pictured) Presley catapulted to stardom.

The next day, Presley recorded "Hound Dog" along with "Any Way You Want Me" and "Do not Be Cruel". The Jordanaires recorded vocal harmonies, as they had on The Steve Allen Show; addition, the group would work with Presley in the 1960s. A few days later, the singer made an outdoor concert in Memphis, on which he announced, "You know? All those people in New York is not going to change anything. I'll show you what the real Elvis tonight '.108 In August, a judge in Jacksonville, Florida, ordered Presley moderate their actions. In his next performance was more modest, except when performed a suggestive motion with his little finger to mock the orden.109's single "Hound Dog" and "Do not Be Cruel" reigned at the top of the charts for 11 weeks-a record that would not be surpassed for 36 años.110 Recording sessions for Presley's second album took place in Hollywood during the first week of September. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the writers of "Hound Dog" in turn created 'Love Me' .110

Allen program Presley in his first appearance, he defeated Ed Sullivan on CBS. The presenter, despite his June trial, hired the singer for three presentations by an unprecedented amount of 50 000 dólares.111 The first, on September 9, 1956, was seen by approximately 60 million viewers-a record of 82 , 6% of the public televisivo.112 Actor Charles Laughton hosted the show and replaced Sullivan while recovering from an accident automovilístico.103 Presley appeared in two segments that night from CBS Television City in Hollywood. According to Elvis legend, I filmed from the waist up. Noting fragments Allen and Berle programs with his producer, Sullivan opined that Presley "had some object hanging below the groin of his pants, so when he moves his legs back and forth, you can see the relief on his cock. [...] I think it's a bottle of Coca-Cola. [...] Just can not happen on a Sunday night, this is a family show! "111 Sullivan publicly told TV Guide" As to their swings, the whole thing can be controlled with [certain types of ] take '.111 In fact, it showed from head to toe in the first two blocks. Since the camera work was relatively discreet during his debut, with planes where his legs were cut when he danced, the studio audience reacted in the usual way: 114 gritando.113 singer's interpretation of what would be the next single, the ballad "Love Me Tender" caused it to request almost a million copies of pre-release form oficial.115 More than any other event, his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was what made him famous nationwide in an unprecedented .103

Accompanying his rise to fame, was taking place a cultural change that he helped inspire and symbolizing ended. The historian said Marty Jezer, embodying the "biggest pop craze since Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra [...] Presley joined the rock and roll into the mainstream of popular culture. [...] Because Presley set the artistic standard, other artists followed. [...] [He], more than anyone else, gave the young a confidence in themselves as individuals and in a unified way [that] generation-the first in America to feel the power of a unified teen culture » .116
Audience reaction and film debut

Public response in live concerts Presley began to become increasingly fevered. Moore recalled, "He would start with You is not nothin 'but a Hound Dog (" you're just a hound ") and they just have a nervous breakdown. Always react in the same way, it was always a scandal '.117 At the two concerts he gave in September at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, fifty bodyguards were added to the police force to prevent disturbances between Elvis público.118 , Presley's second album, was released in October and quickly hit top spot. On the impact cultural and musical work Presley, from "That's All Right" through Elvis, rock critic Dave Marsh argued that "these records, more than any others, contain the seeds of what rock and roll was, has been and most likely it will be "119

Presley returned to the Sullivan program, presented this time by himself, on October 28. After his performance, a group of people in Nashville and St. Louis burned a doll with her forma.103 His first film, Love Me Tender, was released on November 21. Although there was a huge amount of sales, the original title of the film, The Reno Brothers, was changed to emphasize his latest number one single, "Love Me Tender" had reached the top of the sales charts in early that month. To take advantage of Presley's popularity, four musical numbers were added to what was originally a role in which only acted. Although it received good reviews, did well in taquilla.95

On December 4, Presley went to Sun Records studios where Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis were recording and was dedicated to improvise with them. Though Phillips no longer had the right to release any material recorded by Presley, made sure the session quedase recorded on the tapes. The results became the legend of the recordings of the "Million Dollar Quartet"-was assumed for a long time that Johnny Cash had also played, but only appeared there once because of an invitation from Phillips.120 The year ended with a cover story in the Wall Street Journal reporting that Presley merchandise had contributed $ 22 million and the declaration of Billboard had placed more songs in the top 100 than any other artist since the inception of the 122 listas.121 its first full year on RCA, one of the largest companies in the music industry, Presley had produced about 50% of singles sales of discográfica.115
Collaboration with Leiber and Stoller and recruiting ad
Presley with Judy Tyler in a scene from Jailhouse Rock, 1957.

Presley made his third and final performance at the Ed Sullivan show on January 6, 1957-on this occasion, also filmed him from the waist up. Some commentators have claimed that Parker tried to give an appearance of censorship to generate more controversy in the prensa.114 123 In any presentation, as critic Greil Marcus describes, Presley "was not restricted. Forgetting the dull black clothes he had worn on the first two shows, he opted for the extravagant costume Pasha. From the make-up of his eyes, the hair falling over his face until the sexual overwhelmingly texture of his mouth, he was playing the role of Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik, without all your brakes' .103 At the end, to show their vocal and defying Sullivan's wishes, Presley sang a gentle black spiritual called "Peace in the Valley". Towards the end of the show, Sullivan declared him "a good boy, really decent '.124 Two days later, the Memphis draft board announced that Presley would be classified as A1, that is, in good condition for military service and would likely be recruited at that año.125

Each of the simple Presley launched in the first half of 1957 was number one: "Too Much", "All Shook Up" and "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear". Back then it was an international star and began to attract fans even where his music was not officially launched. Under the headline "Presley recordings madness unleashed Soviet", The New York Times reported that the editions of his music made on discarded X-ray plates-pirate-copies were reaching very high prices Leningrado.126 Between filming movies and sessions recording, the singer also found time to purchase an 18-room mansion eight miles south of Memphis for himself and his parents: Graceland.127 Loving You, the soundtrack to his second film released in July was the third number one album followed by the singer. Title The title track was written by Leiber and Stoller, who were hired to compose the six songs recorded at the sessions for Jailhouse Rock, Presley's next movie. The songwriting team produjó tracks and created strong working ties with the singer, so that, even called them "his good luck charm" .128 The title track was also a number one hit, as well the Jailhouse Rock EP .