Vester presley biography of martin

If I Can Dream // The Essential Elvis Presley

A few years ago I met Elvis Presley’s Uncle Vester. Cross the road from Graceland, Elvis’s smallish mansion in Memphis, and you enter the large museum-and-souvenirs complex where you can view his private plane, his collection of police badges and all those swirling, sequined efforts he used to garb himself in for a Las Vegas show, and then go and buy yourself an Elvis alarm clock. In a booth in one of the many trinket shops sits the affable Uncle, ready to autograph for you a copy of his Vester Presley Cookbook, a collation of favourite Presley family recipes, and impart to anyone who cares to stop and be buttonholed his memories of his celebrated late nephew.

For us Uncle Vester discoursed proprietorially from beneath his stetson on the reasons why Elvis wasted all those years making all those terrible movies. (It had seemed a good, graceless question to ask at Graceland.) Soon a crowd had gathered round. You have to remember, Uncle was saying, Elvis never did anything he didn’t want to – all this talk of him being a pawn of Colonel Parker’s was only put about by people who didn’t know him. Whereas the Presley family, they knew him – they were all so close to him! Not a day that went by, Uncle confided, but he didn’t miss him, which was why it was so important that the family had pulled together in their loss.

No doubt encouraged by the sympathetic pause that followed Uncle’s testimony, an English woman spoke up from the back of the crowd. ‘Mr Presley, um, it’s nice news, isn’t it, about Elvis’s daughter?’ Uncle Vester looked blank. ‘The little baby. You know? Her first child, arrived yesterday.’

‘No, no.’ Uncle Vester stirred testily to reassert his authority. ‘No, she hasn’t had a baby. I’d be the first to know. We’re a very close family, the Presleys.’

Dread contending with pride in her

American singer and actor (1935–1977)

For other uses, see Elvis Presley (disambiguation).

"Elvis" and "King of Rock and Roll" redirect here. For other uses, see Elvis (disambiguation) and King of Rock and Roll (disambiguation).

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Known as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's energized performances and interpretations of songs, and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, brought both great success and initial controversy.

Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi; his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was 13. His music career

'That's All Right' (Side 1) and 'Blue Moon of Kentucky' (Side 2). 10 inch record (78 RPM), Sun Records, Memphis, Tennessee, 1954. Sun #209. Label credits: Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill (see below). Yellow and brown Sun label near fine. Record itself is very good or very good minus (superficial scratches). Elvis Presley's first record.The following is from The Sun Records Label Story (David Edwards, w w w . b s n p u b s . c o m / s u n s t o r y . h t m l --- without the spaces). Sam Phillips started Sun Records in February 1952. The first Sun record was Sun #174. 'Eight months later, in 1954, when he needed a singer for a song called 'Without You', Sam called Elvis Presley into the studio. Elvis was terrible on the song, so Phillips asked him what else he could do. Elvis sang religious, gospel, western and even Dean Martin material. Elvis told Sam he was looking for a band and Sam put him in touch with Scotty Moore and Bill Black. Elvis rehearsed with Scotty and Bill and then went back to the Sun studios. The first song recorded was 'I Love You Because' and some other country oriented songs. During a break, Elvis, Scotty and Bill were messing around in the studio, Elvis was banging on a guitar and singing 'That's All Right, Mama' an old country blues song by Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup. When Sam Phillips heard this, he told Elvis to start over and he would record it. Sam Phillips recognized that in Elvis he had what he had been looking for, a white singer who sounded black. They knew that 'That's All Right, Mama' (Sun 209) would be the first single for Elvis Presley. During the next few days, they recorded Bill Monroe's 'Blue Moon of Kentucky' for the second side of the single. Sam took a dub of the record to Dewey Phillips, Sam's former business partner and top DJ on WHBQ. Dewey played the song over and over, listeners called in with their enthusiastic reaction. Dewey call