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Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Roger Basick.

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And I’m Gillian Woodward. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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“Well, it’s one for the money

Two for the show

Three to get ready

Now go, cat, go

But do not step on my blue suede shoes.”

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These are lyrics from the song “Blue Suede Shoes.” Carl Perkins wrote and recorded it. The song became popular. But the version of the song most people remember was by another singer. This new singer helped create a style of music called rock and roll. Fans later called this singer the “King of Rock and Roll.” He became one of the most famous entertainers of the twentieth century. He was known all over the world by just one name: Elvis.

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Today’s Spotlight is about the singer, Elvis Presley. He was born in 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, during the Great Depression. The Great Depression was one of the worst economic downturns in modern history. Presley’s family was poor and lived in a small house. The family was close and very religious. They also loved music. Presley’s parents gave him an instrument called a guitar when he was eleven. As he grew older, Presley sang and played his guitar in talent shows. He loved listening to gospel and rhythm and blues music. He visited stores in out-of-the-way African American communities in search of new music.

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When he was 19, Presley paid for a recording session at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Sam Phillips owned Sun Records and liked Presley’s music. He liked the way Presley combined different styles of music. He signed Presley to a recording contract. Presley released the song “That’s All Right” which became popular on local radio stations.

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Presley released his first recordings during a time of racial segregation in the United States. African American communities and White communities stayed away from each other. White children did not attend the same schools as African Americans. African Americans could not drink from the same water fountains or use the same bathrooms as White people. While White people sat in the front of buses, African Americans had to sit in the back. But Presley’s music appealed to both audiences. He combined African American rhythm and blues with mainstream country music. Critics called the style “rockabilly.” The music helped unite some of the racially mixed youth of America. The mixture of music also challenged racial barriers in society.

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Some critics accused Presley of stealing African American music and presenting it to White audiences as his own creation. But Presley always gave credit to his influence. Presley said:

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“A lot of people seem to think I started this business. But rock and roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that kind of music like African Americans. Let us face it: I cannot sing like Fats Domino can. I know that.”

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At first, Presley performed on stage while playing a guitar. But when he appeared on the television program The Milton Berle Show in 1956, Berle gave Presley a suggestion that changed music history. Berle told him to leave his guitar behind the stage. Berle wanted Presley to move freely on stage without carrying a guitar. When Presley performed that night, he danced and swung his hips. He moved wildly across the stage. The audience erupted. They had never seen anyone perform like this. Because Presley swung his pelvis so much, the press later called him “Elvis the Pelvis.”

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After the show, Milton Berle said he received hundreds of thousands of complaint letters from parents about Presley’s dancing. Parents said he was acting sexually. Parents believed Presley would corrupt young minds. But Presley’s fans loved his rebellious and exciting performance. He became a hero to his young followers. 40,000,000 viewers watched the show.

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The famous musician Bruce Springsteen was six years old when he saw Presley’s performance. He said, “Everything starts and ends with Elvis.”

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Presley joined the United States military from 1958 to1960. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, thought it would make Presley seem more responsible to adults. If Presley served his country, not as many would complain about him. It would win Presley more fans and he could make more money. But Presley secretly worried that rock and roll would not last. It was a new musical movement that he helped make popular. He feared his musical career would be over by the time he was done with the military.

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During the 1960s, Presley focused on acting in films more than performing music. The films featured his music. He usually played a singer or a musician. His films were successful, but they did not receive critical praise. Whenever Presley tried to play a character who did not sing, the film did not make much money. Presley did not perform music in front of a live audience for seven years. Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu, and had a daughter named Lisa Marie.

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Presley enjoyed making films, but his passion was music. His lack of acting success and his desire to refocus on music drove him back to the stage. In 1968 Presley recorded a television show called The Comeback Special. He performed songs in hopes of relaunching his music career. It was very successful.

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Presley now refocused on his music career. He often performed in Las Vegas, Nevada. His shows drew large crowds. He was once again one of the top entertainers in the world. Presley remained important despite new and exciting rock and roll bands like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Doors, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience winning many followers. Many of these performers admired and copie d Presley. John Lennon of the Beatles said:

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“Nothing affected me until I heard Elvis. Without Elvis, there would be no Beatles.”

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Bob Dylan, one of the most influential singer-songwriters of all time, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, said about Presley:

“When I first heard Elvis Presley’s voice, I just knew that I was not going to work for anybody and nobody was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like breaking out of jail.”

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The Grammy is the biggest award in American music. Presley won three Grammys. Even though he is considered the King of Rock and Roll, he won all three Grammys in the Gospel music category. Gospel is a type of Christian music that comes from African American culture. Gospel music uses lyrics based on themes found in the Christian Bible. Presley’s music is so varied, it is even included in a Christian category.

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Despite Presley’s talent and fame, he still struggled with problems. One of his biggest problems was addiction. In 1967, Dr. George Nichopoulos, or Dr. Nick, as he was called, began treating Presley. Dr. Nick served as Presley’s personal physician for the last ten years of Presley’s life. At first, Dr. Nick treated him for minor pain. But Presley became addicted to opiates. Opiates are drugs to relieve pain. Presley ended up taking so many kinds of drugs such as valium, quaaludes, and sleeping pills that he became constipated. This means he could not have regular bowel movements. He soon began taking medicine called laxatives to help him go to the bathroom. He abused this medicine, too.

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Dr. Nick gave Presley any kind of medicine he wanted. Dr. Nick later claimed that it was because he did not want Presley to get the drugs from unlicensed sellers on the street. Some accused Dr. Nick of trying to make money off Presley by over-prescribing him medicine. Dr. Nick admitted at a hearing before the Tennessee Board of Health that he had prescribed thousands of doses of different addictive pills for Presley. The jury did not convict Dr. Nick because they believed he was trying to protect Presley from getting the medicine from unlicensed sellers. However, Dr. Nick continued to over-prescribe medicine to many other patients, and eventually lost his medical license.

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Presley’s drug abuse, severe constipation, and weight gain began taking a toll on his health. He was tired and uncomfortable for much of the time. He also did not eat healthy foods and developed Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes is a condition in which the body cannot use insulin correctly, and sugar builds up in the blood. This causes increased tiredness.

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Despite his struggles, Presley continued to perform to large audiences for the last few years of his life. During the first seven months of 1977, Presley performed 54 shows in 49 cities before dying of heart failure in August of that year. He was 42 years old. In those brief 42 years, Presley unforgettably shaped the world of music. He influenced multiple generations of performers. Presley’s combination of musical styles, his energetic performances, and his memorable personality blazed a trail for others to follow. He helped define rock and roll, and he still wears its crown.

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Have you ever listened to Elvis Presley’s music? Do you like it? Did you know that he died so young? You can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram , and X. You can also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.

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The writer of this program was Peter Anderson. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. No A.I., or artificial intelligence, was used in this program. Spotlight programs are written, voiced, and produced by real people for real people, no matter where in the world they live. This program is called, “Elvis Presley – The King of Rock and Roll.”

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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

Question:

Have you ever listened to Elvis Presley’s music? Do you like it?

The post Elvis Presley – The King of Rock and Roll appeared first on Spotlight English®.