Elvis Presley was the first real rock and roll star. A white southerner who singing blues laced with country. Presley brought together music from both sides of the color line. Presley performed this music with a "natural hip swiveling sexuality" that made him a teen idol and a role model for generations of "cool" rebels. Presley was repeatedly dismissed as vulgar, incompetent and a bad influence. However, the force of his music and image transferred to the mainstream, it was time for a change.
Born January 8, 1935, in East Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley was the son of Gladys and Vernon Presley, a sewing machine operator and a truck driver. …
