Han 1

Jamie Han
4 February 2016
ENG 112-39
Professor Intawiwat
Essay 1 Final Draft
Elvis Presley
Rock and roll music, a combination of African-American genres such as blues and jazz,
was a genre of popular music in the 1950s. Even though it was a genre of popular music at that
century, Elvis Presley was not welcomed to the public when he started to appear as a rock and
roll musician. He spent hard time to change the publics and the cultures stereotypes about his
music. However, he became a famous rock and roll musician as known as The King of Rock
and Roll and changed the culture, public, and other musicians with his music even though he
came to it late.
Elvis Presley was born after his twin brother, Jesse Garon on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo,
Mississippi. While he was young, he learned how to play a guitar from his relatives, and his
musical education started after he moved to Memphis. Memphis was the first place where
Presley came across African-American rock and roll singers music. The variety of music genres
from Memphis music radio stations made him follow his dream of being a musician, and the
rock and roll genre allowed to follow his dream; furthermore, these music radio stations
influenced his own style of music (Connolly).
Before Elvis Presley sang in a rock and roll style, white people never sang rock and roll
music. Nevertheless, only Presley sang rock and roll during that time because he grew up with
listening to African-Americans singing style in Memphis, and it influenced on his singing style.

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In consequence, Presleys singing style was very similar to African-Americans singing style; it
became a problem, and he took criticism for stealing African-Americans music (Spurgeon).
Despite that, Elvis Presley changed people by his music in this racist period. His songs,
Heartbreak Hotel and Hound Dog were very popular songs for teenagers, but a stereotype
about racial discrimination was too powerful to break the segregation wall from their parents
generation. Also, Presleys dancing seemed to symbolize a sexual concept in peoples points of
view. The public criticized his music and him because of his provocative performances. These
became his own style to capture the peoples hearts against racial discrimination although he
received criticism from society (Steinbach).
Elvis Presley was a strong influence on youth culture during the 1950s. His provocative
music and dancing attracted teenagers, and it created a noticeable generation gap between
teenagers and their parents. In this period of segregation, teenagers were less conservative than
their parents; therefore, they were more interested in Presleys music and dancing. Because of
teenagers who preferred the new things, his music was gradually increased in popularity.
Consequently, he became a popular guest on the television variety shows and was everywhere on
the radio, television, and the silver screen as a musician and actor. His first film, Love Me Tender,
was a box office hit, and his new hair style and unique fashion style attracted attention ("Elvis
Presley Biography"). He wore the clothes flashily on the stage, and from all of his stage
costumes, a white jumpsuit which designed by Bill Belew became his trademark. His jumpsuit
was a strong look in the 1970s, and all the men in that time were wearing these jumpsuits. As a
result, all of his styles gave a new culture to teenagers in the 1970s (Hanafy).
Not only did he influenced the public and youth culture, but Elvis Presley also impacted
many musicians. Realistically, his music was less creative and innovative because he used

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African-Americans rock and roll music genre; despite of racial discrimination, he made a new
form of rock and roll by changing and fitting rock and roll to his style of music (Spurgeon).
Presley was the first musician who tried to take the first step toward the road not taken, and there
were many people like him who debuted as developing singers with their styles of music. Many
musicians such as John Lennon, Marty Wilde, and Billy Fury got inspirations from his music and
followed the road on which Presley took the first steps. According to Ray Connolly in The Daily
Telegraph, John Lennon said, Before Elvis, there was nothing. Like this phrase, there would
have been none of these musicians in the world if Elvis Presley have not been in the world
(Connolly).
Elvis Presley impacted much of the world, but some people still say that he stole AfricanAmerican music. However, Presley already knew he could hear that he stole and copied rock and
roll of African-American, but he had courage and will to develop rock and roll against
discrimination although rock and roll was not invented by him. He did not give up his music and
always tried to work hard if people discriminated against him. Finally, Presley changed the
public and culture by his music and became one of the most popular musicians. Without his
innovative ideas and efforts, rock and roll music would not have changed the public, culture, and
other musicians.

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Works Cited
Connolly, Ray. "What if Elvis had Never Been Born? Thirty Years Ago Today the King Died,
but His Legacy Persists. and Elvis Presley's Impact on our World Went Well Beyond the
Music, Argues Ray Connolly." The Daily Telegraph: 024. 16 Aug 2007. ProQuest. Web.
26 Jan. 2016.
"Elvis Presley Biography." Bio.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.biography.com/people/elvis-presley-9446466#death-and-legacy>.
Hanafy, Erin. "A Whole Lotta Fashion Goin' on: New Book Chronicles Elvis Presley's Love of,
and Impact on, Styles of His Time." Columbian: D1. 1 Jan 2004. ProQuest. Web. 26 Jan.
2016.
Spurgeon, Jeff. "United States Congress: Make Elvis Presley's Birthday a National Holiday."
Change.org. Change, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2016.
<https://www.change.org/p/united-states-congress-make-elvis-presleys-birthday-anational-holiday-2>.
Steinbach, Nancy. "Elvis Presley, 1935-1977: He Was the King of Rock and Roll." Biography.
N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.manythings.org/voa/people/Elvis_Presley.html>.