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April 25, 1912
Gladys Love Smith is born.
April 10, 1916
Vernon Elvis Presley is born.
June, 1933
Gladys Smith and Vernon Presley are married.
January 8, 1935
In Tupelo, Mississippi, shortly before dawn, in a two-room house built by her husband and her brother-in-law, Gladys Presley gives birth to identical twin sons. The first, Jesse Garon, is born dead. The second, Elvis Aaron, is born alive and healthy. Elvis would be their only child.
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1935 - 1948
Elvis grows up within a close-knit, working class family, consisting of his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who all live near each other in Tupelo. There is little money, but Vernon and Gladys do their best to provide for their son, who is the center of their lives. They move from one house to another in Tupelo, and even live in Biloxi, Mississippi for a short while, returning to Tupelo. Elvis attends the Assembly of God Church with his family, and the music and preaching register deeply. Other influences are black bluesmen in the neighborhood and country music radio programs enjoyed by his family.
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1945
Ten-year-old Elvis stands on a chair at a microphone and sings "Old Shep" in a youth talent contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, held in Tupelo. The talent show is broadcast over WELO Radio. Second prize is $5.00 and free admission to all the rides at the fair.
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1946
Elvis's parents cannot afford a bicycle that Elvis wants, so Gladys talks him into accepting a guitar instead. Elvis's first guitar costs $12.95 and is purchased at the Tupelo Hardware Company. The bicycle would have to wait until Christmas of 1947.
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Late 1948
Elvis plays his guitar and sings "Leaf on a Tree" for his Milam Junior High class in Tupelo as a farewell. Elvis and his parents pack their belongings in a trunk strapped to the roof of their 1939 Plymouth and move to Memphis, Tennessee in search of a better life economically. Other members of the Presley and Smith clan would follow.
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1948-1953
Elvis and his parents live in public housing or low rent homes in the poor neighborhoods of north Memphis. Life continues to be hard. Vernon and Gladys go from job to job, and Elvis attends The Christine School, then Humes High School. Elvis works at various jobs to help support himself and his parents. The Presley-Smith clan remains close-knit, and Elvis and his family attend the Assembly of God Church. The teenage Elvis continues to be known for singing with his guitar. He buys his clothes on Beale Street and he absorbs the black blues and gospel he hears there. He's also a regular audience member at the all-night white, and black, gospel sings that are held downtown. He wears his hair long (compared to the day's standards) and slick, and lets his sideburns grow. He's really different from the other kids, a good-natured misfit.
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While at Humes High, Elvis nervously sings with his guitar at a student talent show. Much to his own amazement, he gets more applause than anyone else and wins, then performs an encore. The acceptance feels good.
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June 3, 1953
Elvis graduates from Humes High School.
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1953
Elvis works at Parker Machinists Shop right after graduation. That summer he drops by The Memphis Recording Service, home of the Sun label and makes a demo acetate of "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" for a cost of about $4.00. (The studio came to be known as Sun Studio though never officially named that until many years later. For simplicity this text uses the name Sun Studio.) The studio owner isn't in, so his assistant, Marion Keisker handles the session. Elvis wants to see what his voice would sound like on a record and he has vague aspirations to be a singer. He takes the acetate home, and reportedly gives it to his mother as a much-belated extra birthday present. By the fall, he is working at Precision Tool Company, and soon changes jobs again, going to work for Crown Electric Company. At Crown, he does various jobs, including driving a delivery truck. He also goes to night school and studies to be an electrician.
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January, 1954
Elvis makes another demo acetate at Sun. This time the songs are "Casual Love Affair" and "I'll Never Stand in Your Way". Sam Phillips, the owner, is in this time and, like Marion Keisker, is intrigued by this unusual looking and sounding young man. (There has recently been scholarly argument about which songs were recorded this time around. The two songs listed here are those most typically identified as the ones he recorded.)
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Summer 1954
At Marion Keisker's suggestion, Sam Phillips calls Elvis into the studio to try singing a song Sam hopes to put out on record. The song is "Without You" and Elvis does not sing it to Sam's satisfaction. Sam asks Elvis what he could sing, and Elvis runs through a number of popular tunes. Sam is impressed enough to team Elvis up with local musicians Scotty Moore (guitar) and Bill Black (bass) to see if they, together, could come up with something worthwhile. Nothing really clicks until July 5, when after a tedious session, Elvis and the guys break into a sped-up version of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right". This song, backed with "Blue Moon of Kentucky" would be the first of five singles Elvis would release on the Sun label. Elvis, Scotty, and Bill start performing together, with Scotty acting as the group's manager. Elvis continues to work at Crown Electric as the group starts to play small clubs and other smalltime gigs locally and throughout the South, enjoying moderate success with the records and personal appearances. Elvis's one appearance on the Grand Ole Opry doesn't go over particularly well, with one of the Opry officials suggesting that Elvis go back to driving a truck. The Opry is very important at this time. This is a painful disappointment in Elvis's early career
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Late 1954 - 1955
Elvis, Scotty, and Bill continue to record and to travel.
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October 16, 1954
They appear for the first time on the "Louisiana Hayride", a live Saturday night country music radio show originating in Shreveport, Louisiana, broadcast over KWKH Radio. The show is the Grand Ole Opry's chief competitor, carried by 190 stations in thirteen states. This leads to regular appearances on the "Hayride" and, in November, Elvis signs a one-year contract for fifty-two Saturday night appearances. This is a great break, but as Elvis's popularity grows, his commitment to the "Hayride" prevents him from traveling much outside the South to further his career on a larger scale. During Elvis's association with the "Hayride" he meets "Colonel" Tom Parker, a promoter and manager connected with various acts, and connected with the "Louisiana Hayride". Parker is also the manager for country star, Hank Snow. A previous client was country star Eddy Arnold.
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January 1955
Elvis signs a contract with Bob Neal, who becomes his manager.
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1955
Elvis, Scotty, and Bill continue touring on their own and in package shows with various country stars, including package tours of artists from the "Hayride". Colonel Parker is involved. This includes touring with Hank Snow. The regular "Hayride" appearances continue. Drummer D.J. Fontana joins Elvis's band. In the spring, Elvis fails to be accepted on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts", a network television show. As always, Elvis's live appearances have special appeal for the teenagers, especially the females. Elvis's unusual style, sexy moves, and good looks start to cause excitement wherever he plays. Sometimes the crowds break through the barricades in near-riot behavior. Elvis gains more and more popularity and begins to receive national attention. Colonel Parker becomes more involved in Elvis's career.
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August 15, 1955
Elvis signs a management contract with Hank Snow Attractions, which is owned equally by Snow and Colonel Tom Parker. Bob Neal remains involved as an advisor. Colonel Parker will be Elvis's manager from this time on, and Snow is soon no longer connected to Elvis.
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November 20, 1955
Elvis signs his first contract with RCA Records, which would be the label he would record for from then on. Colonel Parker negotiates the sale of Elvis's Sun contract to RCA, which includes Elvis's five Sun singles and his unreleased Sun material. The price is an unprecedented $40,000, with a $5,000 bonus for Elvis. RCA soon re-releases the five Sun singles on the RCA label. At the same time Elvis signs a contract with Hill and Range Publishing Company, which is to set up a separate firm called Elvis Presley Music, Inc. Elvis would share with Hill and Range the publishing ownership of, and share writers' royalties with writers of, songs bought by Hill and Range for him to record. Elvis is the hottest new star in the music business.
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January 10, 1956
Two days after his twenty-first birthday, Elvis has his first recording session for RCA, held at their studio in Nashville. Among the songs laid to tape during this session is "Heartbreak Hotel".
The Jordanaires, a gospel quartet and popular country back-up group, begin working with Elvis in the studio during the first few RCA sessions and would soon begin touring with him. They would also appear with him in several films. They would be his main back-up group until the late sixties.
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January 27, 1956
"Heartbreak Hotel" b/w "I Was the One" is released by RCA and sells over 300,000 copies in its first three weeks on the market. It would go to number one on Billboard's pop singles chart for eight weeks and would also hit number one on the country chart and number five on the R&B chart. It would become the first Elvis single to sell over one million copies, thus becoming Elvis's very first gold record.
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January 28, 1956
Elvis appears with Scotty, Bill, and D.J. on the Jackie Gleason-produced "Stage Show", starring Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey on CBS. This is Elvis's first network television appearance. He appears on six weekly "Stage Shows" in a row and makes minor waves nationally. The last of these six "Stage Show" appearances is March 24. Traveling and personal appearances continue during this time, including the "Louisiana Hayride" appearances for which he is still under contract. Fame and "infamy" build.
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February, 1956
As "Heartbreak Hotel" makes its climb up the charts, "Mystery Train" b/w "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", Elvis's fifth and last single to be released on the Sun label, hits number one on Billboard's national country singles chart. His first number one hit on a national chart.
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March 13, 1956
RCA releases "Elvis Presley", Elvis's first album. The album would go to number on on Billboard's pop album chart for ten weeks. It would become the first Elvis album to reach over $1 million in sales, thus becoming Elvis's first gold album.
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