Elvis Presley
Rubbernecking
Stop, look and listen baby
that's my philosophy
If your rubberneckin' baby
well that's all right with me
Stop, look and listen baby
that's my philosophy
It's called rubberneckin' baby
but that's all right with me
Some people say I'm wasting time
but they don't really know
I like what I see I see what I like
it gives me such a glow
First thing in the morning, last thing at night
I look, stare everywhere and see everything insight
Stop, look and listen baby
that's my philosophy
If your rubberneckin' baby
well that's all right with me
Some people say I'm wasting time
but they don't really know
I like what I see I see what I like
yer, it gives me such a glow
Sittin' on the back porch all by myself
Along came Mary Jane and I'm with somebody else
Stop, look and listen baby
that's my philosophy
If your rubberneckin' baby
well that's all right with me
Stop, look and listen baby
that's my philosophy
It's called rubberneckin' baby
but that's all right with me
Stop look and listen baby
that's my philosophy
yes it is now
_______________________________
Elvis Aaron Presley a was an American singer, musician and actor. He is a cultural icon, often known as "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", or simply "The King".
Presley began his career as one of the first performers of rockabilly, an uptempo fusion of country and rhythm and blues with a strong back beat. His novel versions of existing songs, mixing "black" and "white" sounds, made him popular—and controversial—as did his uninhibited stage and television performances. He recorded songs in the rock and roll genre, with tracks like "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock" later embodying the style. Presley had a versatile voice and had unusually wide success encompassing other genres, including gospel, blues, ballads and pop. To date, he is the only performer to have been inducted into four music halls of fame.
In the 1960s, Presley made the majority of his thirty-three movies—mainly poorly reviewed musicals. In 1968 he returned to live music in a TV Special and thereafter across the U.S., notably in Las Vegas. Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales. He is one of the best-selling and most influential artists in the history of popular music. Health problems plagued Presley in later life which, coupled with a punishing tour schedule and addiction to prescription medication, led to his premature death at age 42.
Early life
Presley's father, Vernon (April 10, 1916–June 26, 1979), had several low-paying jobs, including sharecropper and truck driver. His mother, Gladys Love Smith (April 25, 1912–August 14, 1958) worked as a sewing machine operator. They met in Tupelo, Mississippi, and eloped to Pontotoc County where they married on June 17, 1933.
Presley was born in a two room house, built by his father, in East Tupelo. He was the second of identical twins—his brother was stillborn and given the name Jesse Garon. He grew up as an only child and "was, everyone agreed, unusually close to his mother". The family lived just above the poverty line and attended the Assembly of God church. Vernon Presley has been described as "taciturn to the point of sullenness" and as "a weakling, a malingerer, always averse to work and responsibility". In 1938 he was jailed for an eight-dollar check forgery. He was released after serving eighteen months, but during her husband's absence, Gladys, a wife who was "voluble, lively, full of spunk," lost the family home. Priscilla Presley describes her as "a surreptitious drinker and alcoholic."
At school, Presley was teased by his fellow classmates; they threw "things at him—rotten fruit and stuff—because he was different, because he was quiet and he stuttered and he was a mama's boy".
At age ten, he made his first public performance in a singing contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. Dressed as a cowboy, the young Presley had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone and sang Red Foley's "Old Shep". He won second prize.
In 1946, Presley's mother took Elvis to Tupelo Hardware to get him a birthday present. Although he wanted a rifle, he left the store with a $7.90 guitar. In November 1948. the Presleys moved to Memphis, Tennessee, allegedly because Vernon—as well as needing work—had to escape the law for transporting bootleg liquor. In 1949, they lived at Lauderdale Courts, a public housing development in one of Memphis' poorer sections. Presley practiced playing guitar in the basement laundry room and also played in a five-piece band with other tenants. Another resident, Johnny Burnette, recalled, "Wherever Elvis went he'd have his guitar slung across his back....He used to go down to the fire station and sing to the boys there....[H]e'd go in to one of the cafes or bars....Then some folks would say: 'Let's hear you sing, boy.'
Presley attended L. C. Humes High School and occasionally worked evenings to boost the family income. He began to grow his sideburns longer and dress in the wild, flashy clothes of Lansky Brothers on Beale Street. Presley stood out, especially in the conservative Deep South of the 1950s, and he was mocked and bullied for it. At Christmastime in 1952, he performed in the "Annual Minstrel Show" sponsored by the Humes High Band. Presley received most applause—he sang "Cold Cold Icy Fingers" and gave an encore of "Till I Waltz Again With You." Presley was also enrolled in the school's ROTC program.
After graduation, Presley was still a rather shy person, a "kid who had spent scarcely a night away from home". His third job was driving a truck for the Crown Electric Company. He began wearing his hair longer with a "ducktail"—the style of truck drivers at that time.
Musical influences
Initial influences came exclusively through his family's attendance at the Assembly of God, a Pentecostal Holiness church. Rolling Stone magazine wrote that: "Gospel pervaded Elvis' character and was a defining and enduring influence all of his days."
In private, during breaks at recording sessions or after concerts, Presley often joined with others for informal gospel music sessions. A girlfriend, Judy Spreckels, confirms that he "liked to sing hymns....He introduced me to 'Amazing Grace'.
The young Presley also listened a lot to local radio; his first musical hero was family friend Mississippi Slim, a hillbilly singer with a radio show on Tupelo’s WELO. Presley performed occasionally on Slim’s Saturday morning show, Singin’ and Pickin’ Hillbilly. "He was crazy about music....That’s all he talked about," recalled his sixth grade friend, James Ausborn, Slim’s younger brother. "I think gospel sort of [inspired] him to be in music, but then my brother helped carry it on." Before he was a teenager, music was already Presley’s "consuming passion". J. R. Snow, son of 1940s country superstar Hank Snow, later recalled that even as a young man Presley knew all of Hank Snow’s songs, "even the most obscure".
The family's move to Memphis expanded Presley's musical horizons. He became a regular at record stores that had jukeboxes and listening booths, playing old records and new releases for hours. He attended services at the East Trigg Baptist Church, whose pastor, the Rev. Herbert W. Brewster, was a composer of numerous gospel songs. Presley was an audience member at the all-night black and white "gospel sings" downtown. Memphis Symphony Orchestra concerts at Overton Park were another Presley favorite, along with the Metropolitan Opera. His small record collection included Mario Lanza and Dean Martin. Presley later said, "I just loved music. Music period."
Another major influence of the move to Memphis was the strong tradition of blues and soul music. He went to blues as well as and hillbilly venues. Many of his recordings were inspired by black Memphis composers and recording artists, including Arthur Crudup, Rufus Thomas and B.B. King.[28] King says that he "knew Elvis before he was popular. He used to come around and be around us a lot...on Beale Street".
According to Michael Bertrand, he "was an untrained musician who played entirely by ear. 'I don't read music,' he confessed, 'but I know what I like.' ... Because he was not a songwriter, Presley rarely had material prepared for recording sessions..." When he, as a young singer, "ventured into the recording studio he was heavily influenced by the songs he had heard on the jukebox and radio."
Info courtesy of Wikipedia.org
co-workers and friends. Nate 9/30/07
