PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Elvis Presley

PEOPLE IN AMERICA -August 11, 2002: Elvis Presley

By Nancy Steinbach
ANNCR:

Now, PEOPLE IN AMERICA, a program in Special English on the Voice of America. Today Rich Kleinfeldt
and Steve Ember tell about singer Elvis Presley who died twenty-five years ago this week.

((MUSIC: "HOUND¹ DOG"))

VOICE ONE:

That song, “Hound Dog,
”
was one of Elvis Presley’s most popular records. It sold five-million copies in
Nineteen-Fifty-Six. Music industry experts say more than one-thousand-million of Elvis’s recordings³ have sold
throughout the world. He was a success in many different kinds of music --popular, country, religious, and
rhythm⁴ and blues⁵.

Elvis Presley won many awards from nations all over the world, yet he did not record in any language other than
English. He never performed outside the United States, except for three shows in Canada. Yet, his recordings and
films have been, and are still, enjoyed by people all over the world.

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in the southern town of Tupelo, Mississippi, on
January eighth, Nineteen-Thirty-Five. His family was extremely poor.

During his childhood, he sang in church with his
parents. He also listened to music that influenced his
later singing, including country, rhythm and blues, and
religious music. Elvis and his family moved to

Memphis, Tennessee when he was thirteen.

After high school, he had several jobs, including driving a truck. In Nineteen-Fifty-
Three, he made his first recording², of this song, “My Happiness”:

((MUSIC: MY HAPPINESS))

VOICE ONE:

Elvis Presley recorded the song at the Memphis Recording Service. The story is that he paid four dollars to make
a recording for his mother.

A woman who worked at the public recording studio had another job with a local independent record company
called Sun Records. She made a second recording of Elvis ’s songs because she thought the owner of Sun
Records should hear him sing.

VOICE TWO:

The owner of Sun Records, Sam Phillips, had been looking for a white performer who could sing black rhythm
and blues. He suggested Elvis work with a guitar player and a bass⁶ player. Several months later Mister⁷ Phillips
agreed to have the group make a record. It was released⁸ on July nineteenth, Nineteen-Fifty-Four. One of the
songs was “That’s All Right”:

((MUSIC: "THAT’S ALL RIGHT"))

The record sold well in Memphis, and was a played a lot on local radio stations. To let others hear Elvis, Sam

Tupelo home

Phillips organized a series of performances at country fairs in the area. One of the people who heard Elvis
perform at these shows was Colonel⁹ Tom Parker. Elvis signed an agreement that Colonel Parker would organize
his appearances.

One of Elvis’
first new recordings became a huge hit, and led to his many appearances on television. It was
“Heartbreak Hotel”:

((MUSIC: "HEARTBREAK HOTEL"))

VOICE ONE:

By the middle of the Nineteen-Fifties, Elvis Presley was known around the world as the young man who moved
his hips¹⁰ in a sexual¹¹ way as he sang rock and roll music. Many adults said he and his music were bad influences
on young people. Young women loved him. Huge crowds attended his performances.

He made his first movie in Nineteen-Fifty-Six. It was “Love Me Tender¹².
”
The title song was a big hit.

((MUSIC: "LOVE ME TENDER"))

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Presley was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood for a number of years in the Nineteen-Fifties. He

acted in thirty-one movies. In Nineteen-Fifty-Eight, just as he finished making the movie “King Creole,
”
Elvis
received notice that he had to serve in the United States Army. He was stationed in Germany where he lived in a
large house and dated a lot of beautiful women. One young girl he met in Germany was Priscilla Beaulieu, the
daughter of an Army officer. She was fourteen years old.

Later, after Elvis had finished his army service, she came to live with him in Memphis. They married in
Nineteen-Sixty-Seven, when she was twenty-one years old. He was thirty-two. They became parents nine months
later of a baby girl, Lisa Marie.

VOICE ONE:

Colonel Parker made sure that songs Elvis had recorded earlier were released during the years he was in the
army. So Elvis was just as popular after his military service as he was before it.

Elvis Presley won the three of the music industry’s highest award, the Grammy. He received the first one in
Nineteen-Sixty-Seven. It was for “How Great Thou Art,
”
an album of religious music.

((MUSIC: "HOW GREAT THOU ART"))

VOICE TWO:

Elvis returned to performing live shows in Nineteen-Sixty-Nine, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He then traveled around
the country performing before huge crowds. He began to take drugs to help him sleep. He gained a lot of weight
so he took drugs to help control his weight. And he took extremely strong drugs to reduce pain

Elvis also suffered from the emotional¹³ sickness, depression. It became worse after
his marriage ended. Elvis never permitted Priscilla to stay with him in Las Vegas or
travel with him around the country. He also did not want Priscilla to see other
people when he was away from home. And he spent time with other women.
Priscilla finally left him in Nineteen-Seventy-Two for another man.

VOICE ONE:

Elvis Presley released many recordings of his performances during the Nineteen-
Seventies. He also enjoyed great success on television. His Nineteen-Seventy-Three
television show from Hawaii was seen in forty countries by more than one-
thousand-million people. His last record album was called “Moody¹⁴ Blue.
”
He


recorded it in Nineteen-Seventy-Six. One of its hit songs was called “Way
Down ”:

((MUSIC: "WAY DOWN"))

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Presley died on August sixteenth, Nineteen-Seventy-Seven. First reports said
he had a heart attack, but later tests showed many drugs in his body. Experts agree
that these drugs probably caused his death. Hundreds of thousands of people still
visit his home, Graceland, in Memphis every year. Fans continue to buy his music,
making him the most popular recording artist ever. Elvis Presley remains¹⁵ the
undisputed King of Rock and Roll.

((MUSIC: "GOOD ROCKIN’
TONIGHT"))

ANNCR:

This Special English program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Rich Kleinfeldt and
Steve Ember were the narrators. The producer was Paul Thompson. I’m Mary
Tillotson. Listen again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on
the Voice of America.

Graceland
VOA photo -M. Kennedy
Not the real Elvis, but one of
many copies
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1 hound   

n.猎狗，卑鄙的人；vt.用猎狗追，追逐

参考例句：

• The hound found the trail of the rabbit.猎狗发现了兔子的踪迹。
• The police have promised to hound down those responsible for the explosion.警方已保证要追查此次爆炸事件有责任的人员。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

4 rhythm   

n.韵律；节奏

参考例句：

• He has an ear for the rhythm of Irish speech.他对爱尔兰语的节奏很敏感。
• His poem has a pleasing rhythm.他的诗有和谐的韵律。

5 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

6 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

7 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

8 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

9 colonel   

n.(英国陆军、美国陆空军及海军陆战队)上校

参考例句：

• It's a pity we didn't mend our fences with the colonel.可惜我们还没有和上校先生调整好关系。
• An army major ranks between a captain and a colonel.陆军少校的军阶在上尉与中校之间。

10 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

12 tender   

adj.嫩的，柔软的；脆弱的，纤细的；温柔的

参考例句：

• At the tender age of seventeen I left home.早在十七岁的小小年纪，我就离开了家。
• We were sent to boarding school at a tender age.很小的时候我们就被送到了寄宿学校。

13 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

14 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。