Presley's father, Vernon (April 10, 1916–June 26, 1979), had several low-paying jobs, including sharecropper and truck driver. His mother, Gladys Love Smith (April 25, 1912–August 14, 1958) worked as a sewing machine operator. They met in Tupelo, Mississippi, and eloped to Pontotoc County where they married on June 17, 1933.
Presley was born in a two room house, built by his father, in East Tupelo. He was the second of identical twins—his brother was stillborn and given the name Jesse Garon. He grew up as an only child and "was, everyone agreed, unusually close to his mother". The family lived just above the poverty line and attended the Assembly of God church. Vernon Presley has been described as "taciturn to the point of sullenness" and as "a weakling, a malingerer, always averse to work and responsibility". In 1938 he was jailed for an eight-dollar check forgery. He was released after serving eighteen months, but during her husband's absence, Gladys, a wife who was "voluble, lively, full of spunk," lost the family home. Priscilla Presley describes her as "a surreptitious drinker and alcoholic."
At school, Presley was teased by his fellow classmates; they threw "things at him—rotten fruit and stuff—because he was different, because he was quiet and he stuttered and he was a mama's boy".
At age ten, he made his first public performance in a singing contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. Dressed as a cowboy, the young Presley had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone and sang Red Foley's "Old Shep". He won second prize.
In 1946, Presley's mother took Elvis to Tupelo Hardware to get him a birthday present. Although he wanted a rifle, he left the store with a $7.90 guitar. In November 1948. the Presleys moved to Memphis, Tennessee, allegedly because Vernon—as well as needing work—had to escape the law for transporting bootleg liquor. In 1949, they lived at Lauderdale Courts, a public housing development in one of Memphis' poorer sections. Presley practiced playing guitar in the basement laundry room and also played in a five-piece band with other tenants. Another resident, Johnny Burnette, recalled, "Wherever Elvis went he'd have his guitar slung across his back....He used to go down to the fire station and sing to the boys there....[H]e'd go in to one of the cafes or bars....Then some folks would say: 'Let's hear you sing, boy.'"
Presley attended L. C. Humes High School and occasionally worked evenings to boost the family income. He began to grow his sideburns longer and dress in the wild, flashy clothes of Lansky Brothers on Beale Street. Presley stood out, especially in the conservative Deep South of the 1950s, and he was mocked and bullied for it.
After graduation, Presley was still a rather shy person, a "kid who had spent scarcely a night away from home". His third job was driving a truck for the Crown Electric Company. He began wearing his hair longer with a "ducktail"—the style of truck drivers at that time.
......
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Elvis)
