During Elvis's breakthrough in 1956, critics savaged the young singer, particularly after his performance on
Ed Sullivan. Jack Gould, The New York Times music critic at the time, acidly wrote the morning after the show:
"Mr. Presley has no discernible singing ability. His one specialty is
an accentuated movement of the body that heretofore has been previously identified with the repertoire of the
blond bombshells of the burlesque runway."
Other performers were just as puzzled at first at Presley's fanatical following, and some, like Jerry Lee Lewis,
did their best to poke fun at the young Elvis and even upstage him on variety shows and joint acts. But nothing
could slow Presley down in the late 1950s, as hit records and movies -- his first flick, Love Me Tender, took just
18 days to shoot in late 1956 -- came one after the other. Presley made 33 films in all. Nothing, that is, except
the U.S. Army, which he was drafted into in 1959. Elvis exploiting none of his fame or advantages, spent 18
low-profile months in West Germany.
When he was discharged in 1960, he emerged with a new girlfriend, Priscilla Beaulieu, a toned-down act singing
ballads, and a desire to concentrate on movies. Though his new records did just as well as his pure rock albums,
the emergence of the Beatles in a few years would soon make Presley seem old-fashioned.
legitimate comebacks and his ubiquitous presence in Hollywood films, Presley's best work was finished.
In his later years, divorced from Priscilla Presley and obese, Presley barricaded himself from the public
gaze in Citizen Kane-like isolation at Graceland, his Memphis mansion and present-day shrine for millions of Presley fans.
Even a few weeks before he died of apparent heart failure on Aug. 16 1977 aged 42 at Graceland, Elvis
was capable of singing at his very best. At an appearance on a CBS TV special, satiated with appetite suppressors,
Elvis alternated between mumbling the words to songs and belting out old classics. In the days following Presley's death,
John Lennon, who always credited Presley with giving everyone else -- including the Beatles -- the chance to succeed, summed
it up best:
"The King is dead. Long live the King."
on Sunday the 8th of January 2012 Elvis Presley would of celebrated his 77th birthday, hundreds of fans came from
around the world to make the annual pilgrimage
to his home
Graceland's,
It was early in January 1973, Elvis was due to be in Hawaii.and on the 14Th, just past
midnight,Elvis was to appear at the Honolulu International Centre, in a concert that would
be beamed live by satellite all around the world
We are having our Annual Elvis Presley Continentals Charity Festival and Car Show. Held at the Ramada Orlando Celebration Resort, 6375 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, Kissimmee Fl. 34747