ELVIS

1
ELVIS THE TEEN MARKET1951 The Catcher in
the Rye PublishedThe novel's main character,
Holden Caulfield, will become a popular icon for
disillusioned teens seeking to rebel against a
society full of "phonies.1952 Fender Les Paul
Electric GuitarsJan 1952 Sun Records Launched25
June 1950 27 July 1953 KOREAN WARDec 1953
First White Rock and Roll Song Bill Haley "Crazy
Man CrazyJuly 1953 Elvis Presley Discovered at
Sun Studios1954 Brown vs. Board of
Education1954 Hank Ballard song Work with me
Annie huge hit but bannedJuly 1954 First Elvis
Single "That's All Right (Mama)"/"Blue Moon of
Kentucky1955 James Dean and Rebel Without A
Cause1955 Blackboard JungleMay 1955 Elvis
Female Fans cause riotAug 1956 Jerry Lee Lewis
at Sun RecordsSept 1956 Elvis on Ed SullivanAug
1957 Dick Clark and American Bandstand premiers
on ABC
2

• Elvis and Rockabilly
• Poor southern white teenagers who grew up in
  parts of the south that were segregated but right
  next door to each other.
• They combine elements of African American popular
  RB and Southern Country Western into what
  became known as Rockabilly.
• Popular artist included Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis,
  Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, and Bill
  Haley.
• SUN RECORDS in Memphis became synonymous with the
  new style

3

• Early Elvis Presley
• Born in Tupelo Mississippi in 1935.
• Growing up Mississippi the Presleys were
  extremely poor and moved several times.
• In 1948 they headed to Memphis on the prospect of
  work for Elviss father, who eventually found a
  low paying but steady job at a paint company.
• Elvis was exposed at an early age to the 2
  indigenous forms of music in the rural poor
  south Country The Blues
• In Memphis, Elvis would frequent blues clubs
  along Beale Street and hear BB King and others
• Elvis spent his early career as a sideman in Doug
  Poindexters Starlite Wranglers (a country band).

4

• Early Elvis Presley
• Elvis also spent time singing in church and
  learning from other gospel groups that would
  perform at his evangelical church First Assembly
  of God in South Memphis.
• SUN RECORDS was started in Memphis by SAM
  PHILLIPS (a radio engineer) to give southern RB
  artist who couldnt make it to Chicago a place to
  record.
• He recorded artist on Chess and Modern Records
  but artist such as Howlin Wolf, BB KING, IKE
  TURNER eventually went to Chicago leaving
  Phillips looking for something
• July 18, 1953 Elvis walked into Sun Studios to
  record a song for 4 as a present for his mom.
• Phillips soon took a liking to Elvis who returned
  a few more times to record for 4 a song.

5

• Early Elvis Presley
• Phillips paired Elvis with guitarist Scotty Moore
  bassist Bill Black and they recorded their 1st
  45.
• They A side was an RB song Thats All Right,
  Mama and the B side a country tune Blue Moon of
  Kentucky.
• Phillips then gave an advanced copy to local DJ
  Dewey Phillips 4 days later and the phones
  started ringing and all hell broke loose
• Dewey located Elvis in a movie theater brought
  him on his show mainly so people could here what
  high school he went to as most listeners thought
  he was African American.
• 5000 orders came into SUN and Elvis began
  performing with the trio publicly.

6

• Early Elvis Presley
• Elviss live performance drove teenage girls
  crazy but much of his on stage dance moves were
  considered obscene by the older generation.
• In 1954 He started 13 months on Louisiana
  Hayride as very influential radio show that had
  previously launched country artist such as HANK
  WILLIAMS.
• In May-July 1955 female fans torn his shirt,
  shoes, socks, and almost his pant at several
  concerts throughout the south.
• His appeal even extended into the African
  American community as he appeared in 1956 at an
  all black benefit for needy children and caused
  just as much pandemonium as at previous all white
  events.

7

• Early Elvis Presley
• In Sept of 1956 while in Hollywood filming his
  first movie Elvis made his first appearance on
  one of the nations most popular shows THE ED
  SULLIVAN SHOW and almost overnight was a
  household name.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• DONT BE CRUEL / LOVE ME TENDER from Elviss Ed
  Sullivan performance.

8

• OTHER SUN RECORDS ARTIST
• JERRY LEE LEWIS
• Nicknamed The Killer in high school because he
  used to call people killer
• Was said to have the left hand of an RB player
  and the right hand of a Country player.
• Drove to Sun Studio from home in Louisana at 19
  and talked his way into recording with a producer
  who showed the recording to Sam Phillips.
• Sam signed him in 1956 to Sun he played back up
  for a few lesser known Sun artist.
• In 1957 he released Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On
  and sold 60,000 copies but not a national
  success.

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• OTHER SUN RECORDS ARTIST
• JERRY LEE LEWIS
• Sun Records gambled on Jerry and put together an
  expensive promo package to promote the single
  which included spots on The Steve Allen Show Ed
  Sullivan Show.
• The spots paid off and Lewiss frantic banging of
  the Keys,kicking the piano stool into the
  audience, playing the keys w his right foot made
  the teen fans in the audience go crazy.
• Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On soon reached 3 on
  the Billboard singles charts and 1 month later
  Great Balls Of Fire neared 1 on the Top 40.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• GREAT BALLS OF FIRE

10

• OTHER SUN RECORDS ARTIST
• CARL PERKINS
• Soon after Lewiss Top 40 success a steady stream
  of Sun talent began climbing the charts.
• Carl Perkins, born in Tiptonville, Tennessee
  developed a unique style of guitar playing after
  building his own guitar a a youth.
• He developed his rockabilly style playing around
  Memphis and was very similar to Elvis.
• He signed with Sun in 1954 and is best known for
  his hit song Blue Suede Shoes .
• At the height of his early success tragedy struck.

11

• OTHER SUN RECORDS ARTIST
• CARL PERKINS
• While in route to a TV appearance in NYC him
  his band were in a terrible car crash in Delaware
  that put Carl in the hospital with a broken
  collarbone.
• Shortly after Elvis covered Blue Suede Shoes
  and had an even bigger hit with it.
• Carl was best known afterwards for being a
  songwriter more than a performer wrote several
  hits for Elvis.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• BLUE SUEDE SHOES

12

• OTHER SUN RECORDS ARTIST
• JOHNNY CASH
• Completed the BIG FOUR at SUN RECORDS (Presley,
  Lewis, Perkins, Cash)
• Cash joined the Air Force in 1953 and began
  learning the guitar in his spare time.
• He learned songs by country stars Hank Snow
  Hank Williams but also loved artist like Howlin
  Wolf Muddy Waters.
• He started a group with other Air Force musicians
  and began to write songs in his barracks.
• In 1955 after leaving the Air Force he signed
  with Sun Records as a songwriter.

13

• OTHER SUN RECORDS ARTIST
• JOHNNY CASH
• After writing a hit song for one of Suns country
  artist, he convinced Sam Phillips to let him
  record his next song Folsom Prison Blues
• Later in 1956 he released his signature song I
  Walk The Line and it reached the top 20 on
  Billboard.
• Elvis ask Johnny to write him a song many times
  but after his chart success Phillips kept having
  Johnny sing his songs.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• I WALK THE LINE

14

• MAJOR LABEL ROCKABILLY
• DECCA RECORDS BILL HALEY THE COMETS
• Major Labels began to compete with Sun for the
  Rockabilly market.
• Decca Records took the lead with the signing of
  Bill Haley
• Started out as a country western group in
  Pennsylvania but released a cover of Rocket 88 in
  1951 began infusing the RB sound.
• For sometime they were no longer accepted as a
  country band or an RB band
• In 1953 had a minor hit song Crazy Man Crazy
  that got them noticed by Decca.

15

• MAJOR LABEL ROCKABILLY
• DECCA RECORDS BILL HALEY THE COMETS
• In 1954 they released Rock Around The Clock
  followed with a cover of Joe Turners Shake,
  Rattle, and Roll which hit the Top 10 in the US
  Britain.
• After this success they rereleased Rock Around
  the Clock in 1955 which hit the top of the
  charts and cause world wide riots when it was
  included on the soundtrack of Blackboard Jungle
  which was a movie about teen rebellion.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK

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• MAJOR LABEL ROCKABILLY
• DECCA RECORDS BUDDY HOLLY
• In 1956 Decca discovered Buddy Holly a skinny
  geeky looking teen w/ thick-rimmed glassed from
  Lubbock, Texas.
• Holly had played to try and make a career in
  western swing music but that all changed when he
  meet Elvis at concert.
• Elvis asked Buddy his then group to back him at
  the grand opening of a Pontiac car dealership.
• After that Buddy began to incorporate Elviss
  style into his own music.
• In 1957 he started a new trio called The
  Crickets
• After signing with Decca, Holly took his new
  group to producer Norman Petty.

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• MAJOR LABEL ROCKABILLY
• DECCA RECORDS BUDDY HOLLY
• Petty produced the groups first big chart hit
  Thatll Be The Day which was a line taken from
  a John Wayne movie The Searchers.
• They followed with several soon to be classics
  including Peggy Sue Maybe Baby and Not Fade
  Away
• Unfortunately Buddy is probably best known for
  his career being cut tragically short when he
  died in a plane crash in Iowa with two other
  rising stars of the time The Big Bopper
  (Chantilly Lace) and Richie Valens (La Bamba)
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• THATLL BE THE DAY

18

• MAJOR LABEL ROCKABILLY
• OTHER MAJORS
• With the success of Rockabilly artist in Sun
  Records and now a Major Label Decca, other majors
  began to scramble to keep up.
• Capital Records signed Gene Vincent, Korean War
  vet from Virginia who scored with the hit song
  Be Bop a Lula
• Columbia Records signed a duo called THE EVERLY
  BROTHERS (sons of country stars Ike Margaret
  Everly), they released 2 songs that flopped but
  then after being dropped from Columbia scored a
  major hit after moving to Cadence Records with
  Bye Bye Love
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• BYE BYE LOVE

19

• MAJOR LABEL ROCKABILLY
• ELVIS leaves Sun Records
• In 1955 Major labels began to bid over Elvis.
• RCA Victor offered Sun Records 40,000 to buy out
  Elviss contract, Sam Phillips took it as Sun was
  in financial trouble.
• The real force behind the selling of Elvis to RCA
  was his new manager, Colonel Tom Parker, from The
  Netherlands who had got his start in carnivals.
• The Colonels new strategy for Elvis was to
  continue radio and touring but also to focus on
  the new media of TV and to get Elvis into
  Hollywood films.

20

• ELVIS backlash
• After the success of Elvis other Rockabilly
  artist a major backlash was brewing especially
  among older Americans.
• Main stream press such as The New York Times,
  Time Magazine, etc. openly criticized Elvis and
  other acts as being sophomoric artist that were
  sexhibitionist that lived off the fat of
  teenagers heads.
• Government officials blasted Elvis and others for
  their role in the moral corruption of Americas
  youth.
• Fears of increased juvenile delinquency continued
  to grow movies such as Blackboard Jungle, The
  Wild One (w/ Marlon Brando) Rebel Without A
  Cause (w/ James Dean) symbolized teenage
  rebellion in 1950s America.

21

• ELVIS backlash
• The generation gap between the baby boomers who
  loved Rock Roll their parents began to widen
  fueled fears.
• The older generation who had grow up and lived in
  a very racist and segregated society feared the
  social implications of race mixing and violence.
• 1958 a quote from a southern teen made its way
  through the media and scared parents to death
  Im not afraid of Negroes, Im afraid of
  parents.
• Anger parents organized They burned effigies of
  Elvis, burned RR records, expelled students for
  attending Elvis shows, got Elvis songs banned
  from Radio stations, etc..

22

• ELVIS goes to HOLLYWOOD
• After the backlash against Elvis his manager Tom
  Parker decided to take advantage of all of the
  attention.
• Colonel Tom put Elvis in a tux and had him stand
  perfectly still singing to a hound dog on The
  Steve Allen Show.
• It was meant to be humorous but it foreshadowed a
  new direction in Elviss image.
• Elvis splits from his original trio
• Elviss popularity will increase as his image
  became more subdued after being drafted into the
  Army in 1958 for a 2 year stint.
• He also opted for a clean cut image in his movies
  which only farther severed to broaden his fan
  base.

23

• MAJOR LABEL ROCKABILLY
• ELVIS goes to HOLLYWOOD
• On orders from Colonel Parker Elvis did not sing
  for the Army and instead concentrated on lining
  up movie deals after his tour of duty in Germany.
• Elvis starred in 31 feature films including GI
  Blues, Blue Hawaii, Viva Las Vegas, Jailhouse
  Rock, Love Me Tender, etc.
• Colonel Parker insisted Elvis only do films that
  were written around songs even though he was
  offered dramatic roles in such classics as
  Midnight Cowboy and West Side Story.
• YOUTUBE ELVIS MOVIES

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• HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL EPISODE 2
• 000 4330

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• THE RISE OF THE TEEN MARKET
• LOST ROCK ROCK IDOLS
• At the end of the 1950s Rock Rolls early idols
  were having issues..
• Elvis was in the Army and not performing.
• Buddy Holly died in a small plane crash in Iowa.
• Little Richard returned to the ministry.
• Chuck Berry was in Federal prison for illegal
  transportation of a minor and intended
  solicitation.
• 23 yr old Jerry Lee Lewis had married his 13 yr
  old cousin.

26

• THE RISE OF THE TEEN MARKET
• LOST ROCK ROCK IDOLS
• Even though Rock Rolls early Idols were having
  issues the Rock Roll market was booming.
• The Us economy are was booming at the end of the
  50s.
• The Record industry had been reinvigorated by the
  new Rock Roll market.
• Rock Roll was sweeping the international scene.
• 2 young entrepreneurs took advantage of the
  vacancy of Rock Rolls MIA Idols to produce a
  new crop of idols a fresh batch of songs to
  sell Americas teens who were starving for it.
• DICK CLARK DON KIRSHNER

27

• DICK CLARK AMERICAN BANDSTAND
• Clark who would become known as a market genius
  was born in upstate NY in 1929.
• Studied advertising and radio at Syracuse
  University
• He worked his way up in radio and landed his
  first real announcing job in Philadelphia at WFIL
  for a radio show of popular and classical music
• In July of 1956 he moved to television and took
  over hosting Philadelphia Bandstand, a local
  showcase of high school students dancing to
  popular hit records.
• Clark knew very little about pop music and rock
  roll but quickly learned to enjoy it. He realized
  quickly there was a lot of money to be made in
  this new music.

28

• DICK CLARK AMERICAN BANDSTAND
• Clark who traveled to Madison Ave to find
  sponsors, eventually turned Philadelphia
  Bandstand into a nationally televised show in
  1957 changed the name to American Bandstand.
• Clark was known for running a tight ship
  enforcing a strict dress code for dancers to make
  the show more acceptable to adults.
• Clark was criticized by some for taking the
  rebellion sex out of rock roll and cleaning
  it up for the older generation.
• However droves of teenaged girls still responded
  to the show with over 45,000 letters a week and
  sent ratings throw the roof.
• Clark would soon also move into the business of
  not only promoting his show but acts he would
  groom to be its stars.

29

• DICK CLARK AMERICAN BANDSTAND
• FABIAN
• In 1959 Clark agreed to promote FABIAN who
  lip-synced on his show but got screams though he
  couldnt sing a note
• He hardly ever sang live relied on studio
  tricks for his records.
• He turned the 6 a week drugstore clerk into an
  overnight sensation.
• Within one year Clark helped the Philadelphia
  teen sell almost 1 million copies of his
  signature song Tiger plus had him on The Ed
  Sullivan Show and on the cover of Time Magazine.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• TIGER by FABIAN

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• DICK CLARK AMERICAN BANDSTAND
• FRANKIE AVALON
• Another regular Philadelphia teen on American
  Bandstand.
• Played trumpet in the group Rocco and The Saints
  but went solo in 1958.
• Through repeated appearances on Bandstand he
  scored hits with songs such as Venus and Why
• He would later go on to Hollywood and star in a
  series of popular beach movies with actress
  Annette Funicello.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• VENUS

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• DICK CLARK AMERICAN BANDSTAND
• CHUBBY CHECKER THE TWIST
• Clark also brought fame to another Philadelphian
  Ernest Evans (better known as Chubby Checker).
• Clark noticed a couple doing a new dance on the
  show and thought it might be offensive and kept
  the cameras of them.
• Soon Clark realized that this dance had
  commercial potential and urged Cameo Records (a
  company he part owned) to record a new version of
  the Hank Ballard song The Twist.
• Cameo choose Chubby Checker (an African American
  singer who had attended high school with Fabian
  and Frankie Avalon) to cut the new version.
• In 1960 American Bandstand played Checkers
  version until it hit the top of the charts.

32

• DICK CLARK AMERICAN BANDSTAND
• CHUBBY CHECKER THE TWIST
• The Twist not only gave Chubby Checker a hit song
  but sold 70 million copies and got him 2 starring
  roles in Hollywood films (Twist Around The Clock
  Dont Knock The Twist).
• The new dance craze went international and also
  spawned a series of recordsTwist with BB King,
  Twist and Shout, Twist with Bobby Darin,
  Twistin The Night Away, Twist with Duane
  Eddy etcetc. a follow up song by Checker
  Lets Twist Again
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• THE TWIST by CHUBBY CHECKER

33

• THE PAYOLA INVESTIGATION
• Clark became entangled in the payola
  investigations of 1959 1960 due to his
  interlocking business interests.
• Payola (Play for Pay) was not a new idea in the
  music business dates back to the early
  vaudeville era some see it as simply a part of
  promotion.
• The scandal started on TV when Charles Van Doren
  admitted before Congress he had been given
  answers in advance on the NBC quiz show
  Twenty-One.
• Congress extended their investigation on
  corruption into the music business.
• ASCAP joined in mainly out of concerns that new
  rival licensing company BMI must be involved due
  to its success with Rock Roll songs

34

• THE PAYOLA INVESTIGATION
• This was a new way to attack Rock Roll legally
  and focus was directed towards Rock Roll DJs
  and Record Labels.
• Congress alleged that bribery had become the
  prime function of this business to get a record
  on the air at any cost.
• Many DJs were fired in the wake of the
  investigation and many were called to testify
  before a special Congressional committee.
• Two big names were called in Dick Clark Alan
  Freed.
• Dick Clark wearing a blue suit calmly told
  Congress he had never taking Payola after his
  testimony escaped the scandal with his job and
  reputation intact.
• Alan Freed was not so lucky, after admitting he
  had taken 30,650 from 6 different record
  companies, he was fired and blacklisted.

35

• DON KIRSHNER THE BRILL BUILDING
• TIN PAN ALLEY
• is the name given to the collection of New York
  City music publishers and songwriters who
  dominated the popular music of the United States
  in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
• ASCAP (the established tunesmiths) had hoped
  for a time (1960-1963),as an effect of the payola
  scandal, songwriters became the dominant force in
  Rock Roll.
• The established writers were disappointed as a
  new breed of songwriters outdistanced them. They
  were lead and nurtured by NYC music publisher Don
  Kirshner.
• Kirshner was the mastermind behind the reshaping
  of Tin Pan Alley sometimes called in later years
  after Kirshner took over -TEEN PAN ALLEY.

36

• DON KIRSHNER THE BRILL BUILDING
• ALDON MUSIC
• At age 21, Don Kirshner Al Nevins (pop group
  Three Suns) started a music publishing company in
  the middle of Tin Pan Alley in offices at 1615
  Broadway in the fame Brill Building.
• Kirshner discovered teams of young songwriters
  who challenged the established firms and soon
  over took them.
• Among Kirshners discoveries were Jerry Leiber
  Mike Stoller who wrote many hits for Elvis, The
  Coaster, and many others
• Neil Sedaka, who not only wrote hits for
  popular artists such as Connie Francis but also
  was one of the few songwriters of the era to
  record his own music.

37

• DON KIRSHNER THE BRILL BUILDING
• THE DOO-WOP GROUPS
• Kirshners songwriters wrote hit songs and helped
  establish Doo-Wop groups as commercially
  successful.
• Doo-Wop originated on the streets of NYC by poor
  young African Americans who wanted to sing RB
  but where to poor to afford instruments.
  Sometimes the groups were duel on the streets.
• Many groups modeled themselves after The Ravens,
  who were formed in 1945 and later signed as an
  RB act to Columbia in 1950, most notable hit was
  Earth Angel

38

• DON KIRSHNER THE BRILL BUILDING
• THE DOO-WOP GROUPS
• One successful group that Leiber Stoller of
  Aldon Music wrote for was The Coasters.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• THE COASTERS SEARCHIN
• Leiber Stoller were also involved with one of
  Doo-Wops biggest hits with Ben E. King who was
  formerly of The Drifters.
• It was a song written for The Drifters but
  recorded and produced as an after thought.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• STAND BY ME

39

• DON KIRSHNER THE BRILL BUILDING
• CAROL KING
• Carol Klein (later known as Carol King) just out
  of high school in 1960 and who was once the
  subject of a Neil Sedaka song, wrote Aldon
  Musics 1st super smash hit that would set the
  trend of Aldons musicial direction for the next
  3 years.
• Along with her songwriting partner Gerry Goffin,
  whom she meet in college, she joined Aldon in
  1958.
• They wanted to compose Tin Pan Alley songs that
  were aimed at teens. Not too adult, artistic, or
  too correct
• The duo composed a teen ballad Will You Love Me
  Tomorrow and at first Kirshner had a hard time
  selling it.

40

• DON KIRSHNER THE BRILL BUILDING
• After striking out with major labels and artist
  Kirshner approached a small New Jersey label
  called Sceptor Records and convinced them to have
  their all girl group The Shirelles record Will
  You Still Love Me
• The song hit number 1 in Jan of 1961 and The
  Shirelles were the first number one female /
  Doo-Wop/ Rock Roll act every.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• THE SHIRELLES WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME

41

• DON KIRSHNER THE BRILL BUILDING
• PHIL SPECTOR Other Girl Groups
• Phil Spector (owner of Philles Records) would
  record produce other successful All Girl Groups
  and use Aldon Music to supply the hit songs.
• Spector best known for his WALL OF SOUND
  recording technique (which meant usually doubling
  everything, vocals instruments, etc) would
  perfect this sound and achieve success with
  groups like The Crystals and most famously with
  THE RONNETTES.
• Spector also married and then later divorced the
  lead singer of The Ronnettes.
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• THE RONNETTES BE MY BABY

42

• DON KIRSHNER THE BRILL BUILDING
• KIRSHNER NEVINS SELL ALDON MUSIC
• 1963 Kirshner and Nevins sold Aldon Music for 2
  million.
• They had so much success so quickly and began
  receiving offers they eventually could not
  refuse.
• After leaving Aldon, Kirshner took a high paying
  job in the Columbia Screen Gems Television Music
  Division, where he supervised the record and
  music publishing interests of the company.
• He timing was impeccable as the popular music
  scene was getting ready to take a new direction
  from the hits Aldon had supplied at the being of
  the 1960s.

43

• HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL EPISODE 2
• 4330 end