Elvis Presley
Elvis in 1956 popularized Rock 'n' roll and black 'race' music with his first hits: "Heartbreak Hotel", "All Shook Up", and "Hound Dog". He was the very best at what he did in the 50's and early 60's. Elvis was chastised in the 50's for his dancing but he just claimed to be feeling the beat and the music. "If you like rock and roll, and feel it, you can't help but move to it." This was his statement following the outrage after he performed "Hound Dog" on the Milten Burle show in 1956. Looking back on it though, you can tell he was just having a good time and getting into it. As time went by he got too popular to tour and in 1957 he toured for the last time for 13 years. He came out of the army and made several great records. As time went by however, he got lost in a mess of silly movies and soundtracks and became decidedly out of touch with the rest of the world. In 1961 he gave his last concert for 9 years in Hawaii. He lost popularity throughout the 60's and his albums rarely sold more than 200 000 copies. This was only a small fraction of his previous norms. He was once the next thing to a sure bet in the music industry. In 1967 he started to turn around. He recorded "High Heel Sneakers", and "Guitar Man" and they were successful. He also recorded a Grammy award winning album "How great thou art". In June 1968 he filmed his first T.V. special. This was one that would re-invent Elvis as the king of Rock 'n' roll. It has been said to be one of the most spectacular career reinventions ever. Elvis went back to liver performing in 1969 in Las Vegas, and touring in 1970. He toured excessively throughout the 70's releasing 6 live albums between 1969 and 1977. He did 2 more television shows (Aloha From Hawaii) 1973 which featured a great looking, more mature but still rockin' Elvis. Elvis in concert (1977) was very sad. It showed an over weight, drugged Elvis who could however still put over a song. He put out 2 movies which were great. That's the way it is (1970) showed Elvis in Las Vegas putting forth a very convincing show, and Elvis On Tour (1972) Showing an Elvis in even better voice and an equal show. Elvis' health deteriorated when he started to abuse his drugs in the mid seventies. I hesitate to put a year on it because there was a time from 1972 - 1975 where it would only happen for very short periods of time. However, from 1976 his problem could not be denied. There were bright times However when he would seem to be unaffected (December 1976) and he Ironically put on a fantastic last show on June 26th 1977. There was a television show filmed on June 19th and 21st of that year. He passed away on August 16 1977 at the age of 42.