Everyone has a favorite musician, and they could probably name their favorite songs, the places and dates of when they saw them, but if asked, would they be able to talk about their favorite artist before they were famous? Could they discuss their favorite musician’s childhood, such as where they were from, when they first became interested in music, and if they were even good in the beginning?
Before he would be known as the King of Rock n’ Roll, Elvis Presley led a simple life. His mother, Gladys Presley, was carrying twins, Jesse Garon and Elvis Aron; both were delivered on January 8, 1935; Jesse Garon would be pronounced as a stillborn.1 Although Elvis did not have a chance to actually meet his brother, he would grow up visiting his brother’s grave; he would always refer to Jesse as his twin.2 Gladys believed that even though Jesse Garon did not survive, Elvis would always carry his brother with him. Gladys believed that Elvis carried the strength of both babies, but without Jesse Garon, Elvis always felt he was missing half of himself.3 People that lived around them noticed that Elvis seemed unusually close to his mother.4 Gladys, only having one child, hovered over Elvis as he was growing up; because of that, Elvis would always be by his mother’s side.
It was very hard for the family to lose Jesse Garon at birth, but they made the best of it, and loved Elvis fiercely. Elvis’s father, Vernon, and his mother loved him very much and wanted to protect him from everything, but showed restraint in allowing him be his own person. After losing Jesse, the family was heartbroken, but leaned on one another for strength. They knew that family would always be there for them if they needed help and the Presleys kept their little family of three close. With the tragedy of knowing that someone was missing in their family, Elvis made sure that he was there for the both of them, always promising that he would do whatever he could for his parents.
Elvis started going to school, and although he was not the brightest student, he did his best in his classes and followed the rules. He was always on his best behavior when at school, and was polite to those around him. Elvis was shy and tried to get along with his classmates, trying out for football and ROTC, getting out of his shell.5 Elvis was not good with attention on him in his early life; he was a loner. He was always alone, and found himself more at ease being around teachers than his fellow classmates.6
Elvis started showing interest in music at a young age, but only truly did something with music when he was older. When he was two, Elvis attended a church sermon with his mother and upon hearing the choir sing Shake Rag, a rhythm-and-blues song; he ran from her lap to join the choir.7
His love for music was instinctual; he drank it in, allowing it to flow through his veins like a drug; he had a channel stuck in his head hooked up to the divine gods of music.8
He was passionate even at a young age and to be this passionate, he knew what he wanted to do with his life. The sounds he would hear around him affected him to make his sound, to find what he did or did not like.
Elvis soaked up all the musical sounds around him, the train whistle, the white country singers, the poplar sound on the radio, the jamboree performers at the courthouse, the gospel music at his church, the flux of sounds in Shake Rag, the gospel at the African American churches and the tent revivals.9
Wherever he went, he always found a sound that intrigued him. The hold music had on him would prove to be the most powerful bond he had ever felt in his life.
- Peter Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley (Little, Brown & Company, 1994), 13. ↵
- Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, 13. ↵
- Bobbie Ann Mason, Elvis Presley (A Lipper/ Viking Book, 2003), 11. ↵
- Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, 13. ↵
- Glen Jeansonne, David Luhrssen, and Dan Sokolovic, Elvis Presley, Reluctant Rebel: His Life and Our Times (Praeger, 2011), 22. ↵
- Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, 35. ↵
- Mason, Elvis Presley, 16. ↵
- Mason, Elvis Presley, 16. ↵
- Mason, Elvis Presley, 17. ↵
75 comments
Luke Trevino
Amazing! I could not stop reading this article. Elvis Presley is personally a favorite musician of mine and I honestly never knew anything on his childhood. It was truly amazing that someone at the age of two years old can instantly fine what they will do the rest of their life. I would of never known he was shy with how talkative and open he was in his later life. His music is even better now that I know he was raised with a really good foundation. I loved how the essay didn’t begin as a kid but started at birth. Overall, very well organized essay, cant wait for part two!
Angelica Espinoza
Wow, wow, wow! So many different interesting facts here! I honestly had never heard that Elvis had a twin, it’s unfortunate that he didn’t make it or we may have had two incredible musicians! Also interesting to learn that he was a momma’s boy and how close his family was. This entire article had me fascinated from beginning to end! Great job highlighting key and interesting points in his life. Thanks and kudos on writing such a nice article!
Joshua Tinajero
Awesome Article! It is crazy how people can feel as if they know someone just based of their fame and success. I never knew Elvis was a twin, or that he lost his brother at birth. However I did know about his early childhood passion in music.
Kimberly Rios
Great article! I’ve always been a fan of Elvis, and although I did know most of his background you included information that I had not known. I find his background extremely interesting, you would think he would be a confident child and love the attention but instead we learn that he was quite the opposite. Your introduction was very effective in grabbing the readers attention and the rest of the article did a good job at keeping this attention. Very interesting, I will be waiting for part 2!
Andres Palacios
Elvis is one of the greatest musicians of all time, being an inspiration for many in his generation and even today’s generations, he might be gone but his music will live forever. Great article with a lot of factual information such as the fact of how close he was to his mother and to his family after his brother passed away.
Alyssa Almaguer
Great article! I never knew Elvis was a twin, I must ask my parents now if they knew that since they are big Elvis fans! I never would have thought he was so close to his family, but it makes sense since he felt like he needed to be strong for his mother. Very interesting topic!
Analina Devora
I love this article. You’re obviously very passionate about “The King.” It was interesting reading that he was a good, well behaved child. For some reason I expected him to be a very troubled kid like most famous artists. It’s crazy seeing his impact on the world. If you were to go to any big city such as New York or Las Vegas, even Hawaii, you would be able to some kind of Elvis impersonator, making money off of simply copying what this man did his whole life.
Aurora Torres
This was a good article. Reading this I learned that he was shy and to me that was a shock because he was “Elvis,” a singer that performed in front of millions. Also, so sad that he lost his brother…… and how he wanted to make his parents proud I’m sure as young child he probably had lots of pressure to do the best he can. But once he found music he never let that go and he became this new person. Thanks for this.
Diana Moreno-Gutierrez
It’s quite ironic how many iconic artists come from childhood hardships and were not always comfortable with being the center of attention. Elvis was a huge success and knowing his brother passed away at such a young age makes me admire Elvis more as a person. I’m sure he used it as a motivation to preserver and succeed always remembering his brother. I loved reading the article and I defiantly learned something new about him.
Kassandra Guillen
The introduction of your article was very well done! It was a great way to get the readers involved right from the beginning. As much as I have heard about Elvis Presley throughout the years, it has never been brought to my attention that he had lost a twin brother. It is quite interesting to learn about the King of Rock n’ Roll’s childhood and upbringing. Thank you for sharing this information with us and I look forward to reading part II.