Treat writing as a process

English first additional language

Grade 7

Module 14

Use reading strategies

Activity 1

Elvis Presley: The King of Rock

Ask anyone you know who is older than 45 what they thought of Elvis when they were young, and you’re sure to get very spirited answers. In the late ‘fifties a new star took the world by storm and turned the world of popular music upside down. Elvis Presley, aka Elvis the Pelvis, changed the face of pop music forever. Something amazing was happening on the music scene and suddenly teenagers were clawing their way through the crowds to see and hear their idol. For the first time in modern history girls were fainting on the spot as they caught a glimpse of their hero. There was pandemonium as Elvis wiggled his now-famous hips. An idol had been born.

Some people thought him common, and most parents were dismayed by their children’s inexplicable behaviour. He was often called vulgar and parents did all they could to keep him from influencing their children. But both his music and his image were so powerful that there was no stopping his climb to fame.

Here is a very short history of the man who came to be called “The King”:

Elvis Presley was the first real rock and roll star. He was a white Southerner (from the USA) who sang blues mixed with country and western, with a bit of gospel added into it. He performed his music with a natural swivelling of his hips that made parents feel ever so uncomfortable, but his daring, unconventional performances caused him to become a role model for generations of cool rebels. Up to then teenagers had been listening to ballads sung by the so-called “crooners”, and they hadn’t had a star they could call their own. They had simply shared the music that the older folks were listening to. Now it was time for a change in the mainstream culture.

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in a humble home in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His twin brother was stillborn and he grew up as an only child.

When he was in fifth grade, his teacher asked him to enter a talent contest on children’s day at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. He was only ten. Dressed in a cowboy suit, and standing on a chair to reach the microphone, he sang Red Foley’s song, “Old Shep”, and won the second prize ($5) and free tickets to all the rides. On his next birthday he received a guitar and his uncle gave him basic guitar lessons. Elvis was a bit of a rebel as a young man, and was refused a place in his high school football team for not wanting to trim his sideburns and ducktail.

His musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, and the gospel music he heard in the church that the Presleys attended. The R&B he heard on historic Beale Street in Memphis, as he mingled with the (mostly black) youngsters, certainly played a major role in his musical development. His sound and style were unique and refreshing and challenged the racial barriers that existed during that era, especially in the South. After working as a truck driver, he began his singing career in 1954, and by 1956, with his records being distributed under the influential RCA Victor label, he was a sensation in most western countries.