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1958 saw Elvis reporting to the Memphis Draft board for service overseas.
With Elvis in the Army, the music business saw an opportunity to get rid of
the juvenile delinquency and rebel images that had been established. They succeeded,
to a point. When Elvis returned to the States on March 3, 1960, sideburns were
out and stereo was in. Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison and Sam Cooke looked clean cut
and safe. More importantly, their records sounded full and benefited from improved
recording techniques. Elvis jumped back into the music fray and churned out
his usual hits in his own unique raucous style. Yet the songs Its Now or
Never and Are you Lonesome Tonight displayed a new found maturity
in Elvis. Elvis' first movie since his service to uncle sam was GI Blues;
it was a huge success. Despite the movies immense profits, Elvis longed to be
a serious actor, and he got his chance in his next two films, Flaming Star
and Wild in the Country. Suffice it to say, they were not huge hits.
Elvis's hit Blue Hawaii pretty much sealed his fate in being a serious
actor, this film would dictate the winning formulas for the rest of his movies.
Elvis's music began to fade in the middle of
the sixties due to his time spent in the film studios. But in 1968 Elvis had the great TV comeback special.
Once again belting out hits, Elvis began to climb the charts again. The 70's brought Elvis to Las Vegas
were he would live out his days as a lounge lizard.
Finally in 1977, Elvis Aaron Presley was found dead in
the bathroom of his Graceland Mansion. The cause of death was a heart failure due to an overdose of prescribed
medication. Although ELVIS IS DEFINITELY DEAD, the King of Rock and Roll lives on in the heart of his fans.
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