“貓王”的人生傳奇

World culture has not been the same since Elvis Presley left his mark on American music. He is the image most often associated with the rock and roll movement of the 50’s and 60’s. He is such an important figure that he is often referred to as “The King of Rock and Roll” or simply “The King”

Elvis Presley was born on 8 January 1935 in Tupelo， Mississippi. His twin brother， Jesse， died at birth， so Elvis’s parents brought him up with an intensive care. As he was born in an average family， Elvis spent his childhood in poverty.

His talent for singing did not come as a surprise， he had a good voice right from his childhood. When he was 13 years old， the Presley family moved to Memphis， Tennessee. It was here that he completed his graduation from high school. To support himself and his father， Elvis took a job as a truck driver. Later， he hoped to get a job as an electrical repairman， but destiny had something else in store for Elvis. A disc containing two ballads that Elvis recorded at Sun Studio (for four dollars) to give to his mother as a birthday gift， was first heard by Sun Studio’s president Sam Phillips. At that time， Sam was in search of a white man who could match the singing style of a Black singer， and after listening to Elvis， he was sure that he had found the man he wanted. Sam signed Elvis， and a new superstar was born.

Further， in 1955， Presley signed a recording contract with RCA Victor， who promised to help transform Elvis Presley from a local star into a national level star. As promised， Elvis was shown in newspapers， television appearances， and photographs where he was hailed as the next superstar of the music world.

In 1956， his first performance of “Heartbreak Hotel” on The Milton Berle Show successfully put Elvis on the top list of superstars and the nationwide “Elvis Craze” began.

Elvis became the Prince who ruled hearts of his millions of friends. For the next seven years from 1956 to 1963， Elvis was the only superstar who ruled both the box office and pop-music charts. Elvis made history， many of his records were on the top position for about a whole year. All of his albums sold millions and were all huge hits. Elvis is credited with creating a new musical genre “Rock-n-Roll” this gave him a central place in the history of pop music.

In the year 1958， Elvis responded to the call from US Army and served as a jeep and truck driver in Germany. He served in the US Army for about two years. During this time， Elvis met fourteen-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu， whom he married in 1967.

Elvis remained popular even when he was notrecording and performing. When he returned from military service in 1960， he quit performing in concerts and concentrated on making movies.

After starring in several very successful hit movies， Elvis returned to the world of music after the birth of his daughter， Lisa Marie in 1968. Elvis once again started working with his old band and proved that the old magic was still there.

After a couple of years， Elvis and Priscilla got divorced. Elvis planned to build a Memphis estate for his mother at Graceland. By this time， his lifestyle had completely changed. He became a drug addict and he also became paranoid and had developed a fear that he would be robbed， for which he had started practicing Karate.

On August 16 1977， the “King of Rock-n-Roll” died at the age of 42. The official verdict was heart failure resulting from a drug overdose.

Elvis Presley had more than 100 records on the billboard charts， out of which about 18 records assumed the number one position. During his lifetime， he starred in about 31 movies; all of them were huge successes.

自從艾維斯·普萊斯利涉足美國樂壇，世界文化史便換上一副新面貌。人們經(jīng)常將他的形象與五六十年代的搖滾風(fēng)潮相聯(lián)系起來。他是一位在樂壇上極為舉足輕重的人物，常被人們稱為“搖滾之王”，或者簡稱“貓王”。

艾維斯·普萊斯利1935年1月8日出生于密西西比州圖珀洛市。艾維斯的孿生兄弟杰西一出世就夭折，因此他的父母在將他撫養(yǎng)成人的過程中極盡小心。艾維斯出生于一個普通家庭，他的幼年是在貧困中度過的。

他的演唱天賦并非突如其來，他自幼就有一副好嗓子。艾維斯13歲時， 他一家遷到田納西州孟菲斯市。在那兒，他完成了高中學(xué)業(yè)。為了養(yǎng)活自己和協(xié)助父親，艾維斯當(dāng)了卡車司機。后來，他希望能獲得一份電工的工作，但是命運為艾維斯作了其它的安排。艾維斯花4美元到太陽唱片公司為他母親錄制了一張兩首曲子的唱片，以此作為母親的生日禮物。這兩首曲子先被太陽唱片公司的老板薩姆·菲利普斯聽到了。當(dāng)時薩姆·菲利普斯正在尋覓一個擁有黑人歌手演唱風(fēng)格的白人，聽了艾維斯的歌后，他相信自己找到了要找的人。薩姆和艾維斯簽了約，一位新的超級明星就此誕生。

接著，在1955年，普萊斯利與RCA Victor唱片公司簽署了一份唱片契約，該公司許諾幫助將艾維斯·普萊斯利從一位地方明星變成國家級明星。如協(xié)議承諾的那樣，艾維斯頻頻在報紙、電視和海報上露臉，儼然音樂界的未來巨星。

1956年，艾維斯在密爾頓·伯利演唱會上的成名曲《傷心旅店》成功地將他塑造成一位頂級明星，“貓王熱潮”開始席卷整個美國。

艾維斯成為萬千歌迷朋友心中的白馬王子。在接下來的7年中，從1956年到1963年，艾維斯是唯一一位在票房和流行音樂排行榜中獨占鰲頭的超級明星。艾維斯創(chuàng)造了歷史，他的眾多唱片整整一年高居榜首。他的所有專輯都有幾百萬張的銷量，并且都是炙手可熱。艾維斯被譽為“搖滾”新流派的締造者；這為他贏得了流行音樂史上的中心位置。

1958年，艾維斯響應(yīng)美國軍隊的號召，應(yīng)征入伍，成為駐扎德國的一名吉普車與貨車駕駛員。他在美國軍隊中服役差不多兩年。在此期間，他邂逅了當(dāng)時年僅14歲的普里西拉·伯利歐，二人后來在1967年結(jié)為夫婦。

即使艾維斯服役期間沒有出新唱片或進行表演，他還是深受歡迎。1960年他退役歸來后，不再進行演唱表演，而是專心于拍電影。

艾維斯主演了幾部非常成功的熱門電影。1968年，女兒莉薩·瑪麗出世后，他重新回到樂壇。艾維斯再次與他的舊樂隊攜手合作，并且再次表明了他的魅力依然沒有消退。

幾年之后，艾維斯與普里西拉離了婚。艾維斯計劃著在孟菲斯的“優(yōu)雅園”為他母親筑建一座房子。到了這一時期，他的生活方式徹底發(fā)生了變化。他變成一個癮君子，并且患了妄想癥，總是害怕自己將會被搶劫，為此他開始練習(xí)空手道。

1977年8月16日，貓王逝世，終年42歲。官方診斷的死因為服毒過量導(dǎo)致心力衰竭。

艾維斯·普萊斯利有100張唱片上了音樂排行榜，其中18張高居榜首。終其一生，他主演的影片大約有31部，所有影片都取得巨大成功。