Thursday, January 08, 2009

I'm pretty sure that permissive parenting is where Elvis got his start

Today, January 8th, is the birthday of Elvis Presley.

He was born in 1935 in a small house in East Tupelo, Mississippi. He was an identical twin, but his brother was stillborn. He had no other siblings and his parent drank a lot. His father was in trouble with the law multiple times for various infractions including forgery and transporting bootleg liquor.

He was a well-mannered and quiet child. He got his first guitar at age 11 and was taught to play by his uncle. He had wanted a bike, but they couldn't afford the bike, so they got him the guitar.

He stood out in the conservative deep south of the 1950s with his relatively speaking long hair amongst all the buzz cuts. His rebel appearance didn't match his demeanor at all.

In 1956, just after his birthday, he recorded "Heartbreak Hotel/I Was The One." It was released as a single later that month and became number one by April, selling more than one million copies.

Pricilla was 14 (he was 24) at the time they met, in Germany, and began their relationship. At age 16 her parents allowed her to visit America for 2 weeks, after a second visit that Christmas, they decided she could move to America for good. She was to live with Elvis's parents and be privately educated to finish her senior year. They finally married 7 years after they started dating and had Lisa Marie less than a year later.

Obviously there is much more to Elvis's life than this, but since I am connected to him by 7 degrees, I thought I should at least say a few things.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just can't imagine a 74-year old Elvis. One of the few benefits of dying relatively young, I suppose.

Cant Hardly Wait said...

He shares the same birthday as my mother in law. That has no relevance. Look at him rockin' out, too cue.

Aunt Becky said...

I have the same shirt for Alex. Cracks me up EVERY time!