Talk:Elvis Presley/Archive 16

message: Elvis' father Vernon Presley is described as a "taciturn to the point of sullenness," whereas his mother Gladys "was voluble, lively, full of spunk."Peter Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, p.12. The family was active in church and community. However, in 1938, when Elvis was three years old, his father was convicted of forgery. Vernon, Gladys's brother Travis Smith, and Luther Gable went to prison for altering a check from Orville Bean, Vernon's boss, from $3 to $8 and then cashing it at a local bank. Vernon was sentenced to three years at Parchment Farms Penitentiary. Though after serving eight months Vernon was released, this event deeply influenced the life of the young family. During her husband's absence, Gladys lost the house and was forced to move in briefly with her in-laws next door. The Presley family lived just above the poverty line during their years in East Tupelo. 
In 1941 Elvis started school at the East Tupelo Consolidated. There he seems to have been an outsider. His few friends relate that he was separate from any crowd and did not belong to any "gang", but, according to his teachers, he was a sweet and average student, and he loved comic books. In 1943 Vernon moved to Memphis, where he found work and stayed throughout the war, coming home only on weekends. This certainly strengthened the relationship between mother and boy. According to Peter Guralnick, the common story that the Presleys formed a popular gospel trio who sang in church and travelled about to various revival meetings is not true. 
In 1946 Elvis started a new school, Milam, which went from grades 5 through 9, but in 1948 the Presley family left Tupelo, moving 110 miles northwest to Memphis, Tennessee. Here too, the thirteen-year-old Elvis lived in the city's poorer section of town and attended a Pentecostal church. At this time, he was very much influenced by the Memphis blues music and the gospel sung at his church.
Elvis entered Humes High School in Memphis taking up work at the school library and after school at Loew's State Theatre. In 1951 enrolled in the school's ROTC unit, tries unsuccessfully to qualify for the high school football team (he's cut by the coach when he won't trim his sideburns and ducktail}, spending his spare time around the African-American section of Memphis, especially on Beale Street. In 1953 Elvis graduated from Humes, majoring in History, English, and Shop. 
After graduation Elvis worked first at Parker Machinists Shop, and then for the Precision Tool Company with his father, finally working for the Crown Electric Company driving a truck, where he began wearing his hair the trademarked pompadoure style. 
 
Elvis's parents were very protective. He "grew up a loved and precious child. He was, everyone agreed, unusually close to his mother."Peter Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, p.13. His mother Gladys "worshiped him," said a neighbor, "from the day he was born." Elvis himself said, "My mama never let me out of her sight. I couldn't go down to the creek with the other kids."Guralnick, p.13. 
In his teens, Elvis was still a very shy person, a "kid who had spent scarcely a night away from home in his nineteen years." Guralnick, p.149 He was teased by his fellow classmates who 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."Guralnick, p.36, referring to an account by singer Barbara Pittman and Patrick Humphries, Elvis The #1 Hits: The Secret History of the Classics, p.117. Gladys was so proud of her boy, that, years later, she "would get up early in the morning to run off the fans so Elvis could sleep".Guralnick, p.280. She was frightened of Elvis being hurt: "She knew her boy, and she knew he could take care of himself, but what if some crazy man came after him with a gun? she said...tears streaming down her face."Guralnick, p.346.
:I think these paragraphs are well sourced, but you may change or rearrange some parts of the text before including it in the article, if you like. Onefortyone 10:36, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Right, I am going to include the above paragraph in the actual article - I'll let you work on talk as I stated on your talk page for another day - then we'll see where we can arrange items and agree. --Northmeister 04:46, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Parents, childhood and youth

message: RE: the first sentence —
"Elvis Aron Presley (1935-01-08 – 1977-08-16), known simply as Elvis and also marketed as "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" or "The King", was an American singer and actor."
The King's full name is Elvis Aaron Presley. --Chris 16:01, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: You are incorrect.  At birth, his name was Elvis Aron Presley.  He used both spellings throughout his life and apparently considered officially changing the spelling to Aaron, but never did.  The Aaron spelling does appear on his gravestone.Shsilver 16:11, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thanks, I was about to change it in the article. Seems like some of the "regular sources" aren't clued in about this either... --Chris 04:51, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

text: This page includes a photo of the tombstone, showing "Aaron". I don't have any particular PoV on this, but the consensus hereabouts is that (i) he was born "Aron" but (ii) his "official" [huh?] name was "Aaron". It's hardly believable that the tombstone had a misspelling; ergo, it's the correct spelling of, uh, well, of his "official" name. (And no, I don't know what that actually means, if anything.) -- Hoary 11:14, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Just a spelling nit