Elvis+Presley

-His career peaked and waned over litter more than a decade. -Elvis did not adapt well to the changing times. -Elvis seemed destined to remain identified with and informed by a particular era, the result of both circumstance and personality. -He laid the foundation for generations of entertainers to follow. -Viewed as a musical pioneer and a tragic figure -he was a larger-than-life star without the social, instinctual, or business skills necessary to take command when his life began to spin out of control.

• By 1955 Elvis had recorded 5 songs for Sun Records and gained some popularity in the South. • July 30, 1954 Elvis makes his appearance at the Overton Park Shell in Memphis. • October 16, 1954. Elvis' first appearance on the Louisiana Hayride, a popular country radio show out of Shreveport LA. • January 27, 1956. Heartbreak Hotel is released. (I Was the One on the flip). It sells 300,000 copies in the first week and will ultimately be Elvis' first Gold Record by selling over a million. • Between January 28 and March 24 of 1956 Elvis will make 6 appearances on the Jackie Gleason-produced Stage Show, starring Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey on CBS. • April 1956, he signs a seven-year movie contract with Hal Wallis and Paramount Pictures. • June 5, 1956. This is the highly controversial and very sexy performance of Hound Dog on Milton Berle. Also, I Want You, I Need You, I Love You. • November 16, 1956. Elvis' first movie, Love Me Tender premieres. • August 10 and 11 1956. Elvis appears at the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville, FL. Juvenile Court Judge Marion Gooding attended the first concert to see if all the fuss was warranted. After watching Elvis' jiggle, he asked that the show be toned down. So Elvis only wiggled his little finger as a mild protest. • January 6, 1957. The "waist up only" Sullivan show. He does a medley, plus Don't Be Cruel, Too Much, When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold and then closes with Peace in the Valley. • January 1957.Elvis begins filming his second movie, Loving You. Actress Jana Lund will give Elvis his first screen kiss in this movie which will produce the hit, Teddy Bear. • Graceland is purchased in March of 1957. • Jailhouse Rock begins filming in May of 1957. • Elvis' draft notice arrives December of 1957. • March 1958. Elvis Presley is inducted into the U.S. Army at the Memphis Draft Board and is assigned serial number 53310761. Pvt. Presley goes to Fort Hood, Texas for basic training and is stationed there for six months. • Gladys Presley dies on August 14 of 1958 of acute hepatitis. Elvis is able to get back to see her before she dies. • In September of 1958, Elvis boards the USS. Randall and sails to Germany, arriving on October 1. He will be stationed in Friedberg for 18 months, maintaining an off-base residence in Bad Nauheim. • Elvis first meets Priscilla Beaulieu (05/24/45) in November of 1959. She is the only child of a Navy pilot, Jack Wagner, who was killed in a plane crash when Priscilla was an infant. Her mother Ann had remarried to Captain Joseph Beaulieu.