The King of Rock 'n' Roll

By: Anna Williams

Growing up I’ve heard my grandma talk about when she was growing up how much of an impact “The King” had on her life, but I never really understood why he was called “The King.” So I researched why and how Elvis Presley became known as “The King of Rock 'n’ Roll” and I’m going to share what I found with you. Elvis Presley was the man who brought Rock n’ Roll to the world in the 1950’s. Before Elvis, this genre of radical music primarily consisted of African American musicians championing for it, however with minimal success. Martin Sheen expressed in an interview on Elvis, “There were two icons in the fifties that made all the difference in our lives; it was Elvis Presley and James Dean… [Elvis] was revolutionary. He changed the way we listened. He had a profound effect on all of us, culturally, musically, emotionally, spiritually… everything,” (Sheen). Elvis had his own unique style and sound which made all the difference.  Since Elvis was a little kid to making it big, he listened to many different genres of music from gospel to the blues. Elvis had taken all the different sounds and genres he had heard and combined them all to form a new unique sound.  Compared to musicians of the 40’s and 50’s, not only did Elvis bring his own singing style, but he brought a sense of showmanship that people had never seen before. A major aspect of Elvis’ performances, that caused frenzy, was bringing sex to the stage. He fell to the floor on his knees, gyrated his hips and even shook his legs, which was very different compared to white musicians of the time. His unique dance moves horrified parents, but shocked and intoxicated teenagers. According to Sheen, “Elvis was the first male singer that was equally loved by boys and girls… very often boys would prefer a girl singer...and the girls would always go for Perry Como and Frank Sinatra until Elvis came. Elvis kind of brought us together…there was no hesitation with playing Elvis’ stuff on either side, boys and girls…” (Sheen). There had been many famous musicians before Elvis; however none of them had brought together the sexes like he did. In 1954, “…Sam Phillips…teamed Presley up with guitarist Scotty Moore and bass player Bill Black. Shortly thereafter, the trio released a record including the songs ‘That's All Right’ and ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky.’ The songs were popular locally and sold 6,000 copies in one week. As a result of live appearances and radio performances…the group had acquired a local following” (Petersen). There was a period that Elvis remained under the press’ radar and only stayed popular locally. He did not instantly become a worldwide phenomenon but it definitely did not take long. It wasn’t until 1955 that Elvis and the trio would “…release a nationwide hit with the song ‘Mystery Train’” (Petersen). In 1956 it was clear that Elvis would truly dominate the musical world in the fifties. Elvis had many accomplishments in his career that made it evident that he is “The King,” such as “In early 1956, Presley released 'Heartbreak Hotel' which sold 300,000 copies in the first week of release and eventually sold over one million copies, making it his first gold album. That year he would release five number one songs and Presley would spend thirty-six weeks at the top of the recording charts. In fact, he continued to dominate the charts for two years until being drafted into the US Army in 1958” (Petersen). There are few people in this world today that you could talk about “The King” and they not know who you are talking about. Elvis had a major impact in the fifties and still does in our culture today.


 You can check out the full Interview of Martin Sheen on Elvis below:

 See Elvis' famous dance moves and the teenage and parental reaction at a live concert in 1957 for yourself:

 
Through many of Elvis Presley's performances you can hear how crazy the teenagers went for his outrageous dance moves. See an example in the video below:

 See more of The King's dance moves and his unique sound in his music video for Jailhouse Rock shown below:

Sources used in my blog: 

Leiber, J., & Stoller, M. (2011). Jailhouse rock elvis presley (music video in hd) [Web]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbre48NgBOg

Petersen, J. B. (2005). Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley, 1.

Reneee1975 (2007). Elvis presley - hound dog - tupelo goldsuit 1957 [Web]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geVeTQT3UiY

Sheen, M. (n.d.). Interview by T Sideburns [Video Tape Recording]. Martin sheen on elvis presley. Loving You: Elvis Presley PAL DVD, Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqqoK3AT8As&list=UU4RYqLsrHtib9KjdOOuGuTA&index=21&feature=plcp 

 Technohater. (2011). Elvis presley - live 1956, tupelo's own (complete - 6 tracks - 13 minutes) [Web]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt7Akjzkc54