Elvis Presley -4-

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Presley returned on January 4, 1954 and recorded "Casual Love Affair" and "I'll Never Stand In Your Way" at which time he met Sam Phillips. Later the spring Phillips called him to record "Without You," a song Phillips had received as a demo. Despite numerous takes Presley failed miserably and at Phillips request just began singing songs in the studio. It was at this time Phillips began believing that he had found what he had been looking for "a white man with the Negro sound and the Negro feel". Phillips enlisted lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black to work with Presley. Though July 4, 1954 is often sited as their first meeting, the three had actually been practicing for several months. On July 5, 1954, they recorded "I Love You Because," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," and "That's All Right". Two days later Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips played "That's All Right" on his Red Hot and Blue show on radio station WHBQ. Audience response was overwhelming and later that night Presley came in for his first interview. Scotty Moore became his manager and "That's All Right" b/w "Blue Moon of Kentucky" became his first local hit. On September 25, Presley made his first and last appearance at the Grand Ole Opry. Outwardly, Presley was more popular than ever and one of the biggest personality cults in modern history was taking hold. Off stage Presley was plagued with self doubt, poor management, and a basic dissatisfaction with his life. He repeatedly threatened to quit show business, but debts and financial obligations to his large extended family, employees, and assorted hangers on made that impossible. Presley turned to drugs. After leaving the army he became wary of the public and would often rent whole movie theatres and amusement parks that he would visit at night. By the late Sixties he was an almost total recluse. Although evidence that Presley began taking drugs shortly after began performing or while in the army, his abuse of prescription drugs increased during the last years of his life. Through all this he remained highly spiritual and publicly denounced the use of recreational drugs. Toward the end of his life he would babble incoherently on stage and rip his pants, having grown quite obese, and at least once collapsed on stage. Despite deteriorating health, Presley maintained a frantic tour schedule, because in 1973 Colonel Parker negotiated a deal with RCA to the rights of many of his masters in exchange for a lump sum payment of which only 2.8 million came to him. After 1973, Parker was earning nearly 50% commission. Worse yet Presley wasn't earning royalties on records recorded before 1973, although they continued to sell millions. Presley opposed tax shelters on principle; naively relied on his father for business advice; gave away expensive gifts and cash. The result was by the mid-Seventies was an impending financial disaster. June 26, 1977 Presley performed live for the last time in Indianapolis. On August 16, 1977, the day before his next scheduled concert, Presley was discovered by his girlfriend Ginger Alden dead in his bathroom at Graceland. His death was attributed to congestive heart failure. A later autopsy revealed advanced hardening of the arteries and an enlarged liver. Later it was determined that drug abuse may have been a contributing factor. in September 1979 Presley's private doctor Dr. George Nichopoulos was charged by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners with indiscriminately prescribing 5,300 and vials in the seven months before his death. He was later acquitted Thousands gathered at Graceland where his body lay in state before he was buried in a mausoleum at Forest Hills Cemetery in Memphis. After attempts to break into the mausoleum, Presley's body and that of his mother were moved to the Meditation Garden behind Graceland. Nearly two years later, Vernon died and was also buried there. The estate now passed on to Lisa Marie. Court battles over the estate ended in June 1983 after twenty one months of litigation with a settlement of four lawsuits. Colonel Parker was forced to turn over most of his interests in Presley's audio and visual recordings to RCA and the Presley family in return for a large monetary settlement. Priscillia Presley assumed control of the estate and through a number of business moves made Presley's estate more valuable than it had ever been. The cornerstone of the Elvis Presley Enterprise, Inc. financial empire is the Tennessee state law Priscillia Presley pushed for that guarantees to heirs of commercial rights to the deceased celebrity's image and likeness. as a result Elvis Presley is a trademark and anyone selling Presley related memorabilia in the U.S. must pay EPE an advance fee plus a royalty on every item sold. Claiming the funds were needed to maintain the property, Priscillia opened Graceland to the public in 1982. Though not maintained exactly as Elvis left it and the second floor, where the bedroom was remains off limits to the public, millions from all over the world have visited Graceland. Approximately 675,000 people visit Graceland yearly. The Presley estate in now estimated at well over a $100 million. Presley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Back | Home "Elvis", "Elvis Presley" and "Graceland" are Registered Trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. © 1996 E.P.E., Inc Written by DK Peneny First Published 3/98