The rise of a star
Waliul Arefin is excited by a tale
Last Train to M Memphis
The Rise of Elvis Presley
Peter Guralnick
Little, Brown and Company
Elvis Presley, the legendary American rock-n-roll singer and Hollywood actor of great fame, was a simpleton but a hard-working fellow with unmatched nervous energy. Almost a god to the billions of music lovers all over the globe, particularly to teenagers, he was a craze and rose to the pinnacle of success. It made him a highly paid singer in his times. But he is not dead to music aficionados as yet and still his smashing hit numbers stir the souls of listeners and take them to a different world of music.
Peter Guralnick, an expert on American music and musicians, has taken up an arduous task to bring to the public the life and events of this legendary singer in his magnificent work Last Train to Memphis, in which he explores the rise of Elvis from a simple fellow to superstar with innumerable glorious feathers to his cap.
Son of Presley and Gladys Presley, Elvis was a gentle and goody goody boy with a passion for and love of music from his childhood. An average student at school, what he talked about was music to his friends and peers and nothing else. When he was a fifth grader, his recognition as a singer came when his teachers put him in a talent competition on the radio sponsored by the local station WELO on Children's Day (Wednesday, October 3, 1945). He climbed up to a chair so he could reach the microphone and sang 'Old Shep' which brought him fifth place in the state. Soon after the contest he got his first guitar from his family. However, from the seventh grade this child prodigy took his guitar to school everyday.
His uncle Vester, a great connoisseur of country music; Gladys' brother Johnny Smith and the pastor Frank Smith taught him a few chords, but Frank was the great influence on the would-be rocker. Though assailed by poverty, his love for music never diminished. On the contrary, it continued to rise with the passage of time. There were times when the family had nothing for food but corn bread and water. But at a point things began to change for the better and the Presleys moved to Memphis on November 6, 1948. Memphis became the local town for them from then on. To support his family, Elvis went on to work at Precision Tool with 27 dollars a week but as he was under aged, he was forced to go back to his yard business. During his sophomore year, he worked as an usher at Loew's estate. He loved to hang out with friends, watched movies and enjoyed partying but was still a shy guy. He loved pranks and practical jocks. He liked sleek cars and loved to experiment with hair-do.
After graduation he approached the Tennessee Employment Security Office through which he got a job at MB Parker Machinists' shop at 23 dollars a week. During this time, he fell in love with Dixie Locke. But Dixie could not rope him in as he turned out to be a ladykiller. As his popularity and fame grew under the able guardianship of Colonel Parker as his advisor and Bob Neal as his manager, he moved away from the bonds of family and Dixie.
Starting off as a ballad singer, Elvis soon entered the domain of country music and then changed over to blues and ultimately to rock-n-roll. Regarded as the 'king of rock-n-roll' during this time, he saw that the crowds would just go crazy watching him shaking his knees while singing. ' That's all right , mama', ' Without You', ' Blue moon of Kentucky', ' Reconsider Baby,',' Good Rockin', 'Tweedle Dee', ' I got a woman'',' I Forgot to Remember to Forget' were his smashing hit singles. With friends Scotty, Bill and Bob on his side, he tore apart every stage show with enviable success. Money, popularity and fame were at his fingertips but he was lonely at heart. Girls would die to date and meet him. He could not control himself all the time and had flings with June, Anita, Lime and many others. He was particularly a heartthrob to teen-agers to whom he owed a lot, according to one of his statements in later life. Topping the music scene he soon stepped into the Hollywood movie industry and made his mark in hit movies like 'Love me Tender', ' Loving You', 'Jailhouse Road' and many more. But he was not as successful as an actor as he was in singing.
The various facets of the music world, the nitty-gritty of the stage shows, recording, communication and management have come to the fore along with many unknown aspects of Elvis' life in this magnificent and revealing book. In addition, the glamour and razzmatazz of Hollywood filmdom have been captured well with necessary descriptions of events by the author, which has made the book more interesting and alluring. Music lovers and general readers will appreciate the book. To know more about the glamorous life of Elvis Presley, wait eagerly for the second volume of the biography, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley.
Waliul Arefin is a critic and freelance writer.
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