love me tender

ElvisPresley

30YearsAfterHisDeath,HisRecordsandFilmsare

StillEnjoyedbyPeopleAroundtheWorld.

ANNOUNCER:

WelcometoPEOPLEINAMERICA,aprograminVOA

ichKleinfeldtandSteve

EmbertellaboutoneofAmerica'smostpopular

singers,ElvisPresley.

(MUSIC)

VOICEONE:

Thatsong,"HoundDog,"was

oneofElvisPresley'smost

fivemillioncopiesinnineteen

ndustryexperts

saymorethanonethousand

millionofElvis'srecordingshave

ElvisPresley

wasasuccessinmanydifferentkindsofmusic--

popular,country,religious,andrhythmandblues.

ElvisPresleywonmanyawardsfromnationsallover

theworld,yethedidnotrecordinanylanguage

rperformedoutsidethe

UnitedStates,exceptforthreeshowsin

,hisrecordingsandfilmshavebeen,

andarestill,enjoyedbypeopleallovertheworld.

VOICETWO:

ElvisAaronPresleywasborninthesoutherntownof

Tupelo,MississippionJanuaryeighth,nineteen

hischildhood,hesanginchurchwithhis

listenedtomusicthatinfluenced

hislatersinging,includingcountry,rhythmandblues,

ndhisfamilymovedto

Memphis,Tennesewhenhewasthirteen.

Afterhighschool,hehadveraljobs,including

teenfifty-three,hemadehis

firstrecordingofthissong,"MyHappiness":

(MUSIC)

VOICEONE:

ElvisPresleyrecordedthesongattheMemphis

ryisthathepaidfour

dollarstomakearecordingforhismother.A

womanwhoworkedatthepublicrecordingstudio

hadanotherjobwithalocalindependentrecord

eacond

recordingofElvis'ssongsbecaushethoughtthe

ownerofSunRecordsshouldhearhimsing.

VOICETWO:

TheownerofSunRecords,SamPhillips,hadbeen

lookingforawhiteperformerwhocouldsingblack

estedElvisworkwitha

lmonths

laterMisterPhillipsagreedtohavethegroupmakea

eleadonJulynineteenth,

hesongswas"That'sAll

Right":

(MUSIC)

TherecordsoldwellinMemphis,andwasplayeda

thershearElvis,

SamPhillipsorganizedariesofperformancesat

hepeoplewho

heardElvisperformattheshowswasColonelTom

ignedanagreementthatColonel

Parkerwouldorganizehisappearances.

OneofElvis'firstnewrecordingsbecameahugehit,

was"HeartbreakHotel":

(MUSIC)

VOICEONE:

Bythemiddleofthenineteenfifties,ElvisPresley

wasknownaroundtheworldastheyoungmanwho

movedhishipsinaxualwayashesangrockand

ultssaidheandhismusicwere

omen

owdsattendedhis

performances.

was"LoveMeTender."Thetitlesongwasabighit.

(MUSIC)

VOICETWO:

ElvisPresleywasoneofthehighestpaidactorsin

Hollywoodforanumberofyearsinthenineteen

dinthirty-onemovies.

Innineteenfifty-eight,justashefinishedmakingthe

movie"KingCreole,"Elvisreceivednoticethathe

hadtorveintheUnitedStates

Army.

HewasstationedinGermany

wherehelivedinalargehouand

datedalotofbeautiful

nggirlhemetin

GermanywasPriscillaBeaulieu,the

,

afterElvishadfinishedhisarmy

rvice,shecametolivewithhimin

Elvisand

Priscilla

Presley

rriedinnineteensixty-ven,

cameparentsninemonthslater

ofababygirl,LisaMarie.

VOICEONE:

ColonelParkermadesurethatsongsElvishad

recordedearlierwerereleadduringtheyearshe

swasjustaspopularafter

hismilitaryrviceashewasbeforeit.

ElvisPresleywonthreeofthemusicindustry's

highestaward,ivedthefirst

or"HowGreat

ThouArt,"analbumofreligiousmusic.

(MUSIC)

VOICETWO:

Elvisreturnedtoperformingliveshowsinnineteen

sixty-nine,inLasVegas,traveled

aroundthecountryperformingbeforehuge

ntotakedrugstohelphim

edalotofweightsohetookdrugsto

ookextremely

strongdrugstoreducepain.

Elvisalsosufferedfromtheemotionalsickness,

meworafterhismarriage

everpermittedPriscillatostaywith

himinLasVegasortravelwithhimaroundthe

didnotwantPriscillatoeother

llafinallyleft

himinnineteenventy-twoforanotherman.

VOICEONE:

ElvisPresleyreleadmanyrecordings

ofhisperformancesduringthe

enjoyed

nineteenventy-threetelevision

showfromHawaiiwaseninforty

countriesbymorethanonethousand

millionpeople.

Elvis

Presley

Hislastrecordalbumwascalled"MoodyBlue."He

tshit

songswascalled"WayDown":

(MUSIC)

VOICETWO:

ElvisPresleydiedonAugustsixteenth,nineteen

eportssaidhehadaheart

attack,butlatertestsshowedmanydrugsinhis

sagreethatthedrugsprobably

caudhisdeath.

Hundredsofthousandsofpeoplestillvisithishome,

Graceland,ntinueto

buyhismusic,makinghimthemostpopular

resleyremainsthe

undisputedKingofRockandRoll.

(MUSIC:"GoodRockin'Tonight")

ANNOUNCER:

producerwasPaulThompson.I'mFaith

againnextweekforanother

PEOPLEINAMERICAprograminVOASpecial

English.