Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley

Musical innovation is full of danger to the state, for when modes of music change, the laws of the state always change with them. (Plato, The Republic) I only caught something of the aftermath of Elvis' music as I was a child in the seventies, but recently I became intrigued with people like Elvis, Johnny Cash, and the Beatles who rose from poverty and obscurity to unfathomable stardom. What were the circumstances at the time that sprouted such abundance of talent, innovation and catalytic changes in music? I decided to begin by exploring the ascent of the King. Peter Guralnick' portrayal of Elvis' life in this first volume, from early childhood to his departure for Germany, was a remarkable feat of writing. In fact, I could not put the book down, as the author depicts the era so vividly, it feels as if you are taking a journey back in time. Every aspect of Elvis's life is dissected, so much so that that one has the uncanny feeling that the author was omnipresent, able to witness it all firsthand. He mentions the clothes Elvis wore on particular appearances, what he had for dinner, what he said on a particular date with a girl, and so on. It is all done so discreetly, however, that while remaining true to Elvis's portrayal he does not offend by providing information that we would wish to remain private. Guralnick gives a detailed historical background which is vital to understanding the cultural influences on the young, impressionable Elvis growing up in the small, agricultural town of Tupelo, Mississippi in the 30's and 40's. The family's constant struggle to find work, the father, Vernon, well-meaning but somehow always failing to hold down a steady job, the mother, Gladys, labouring in the cotton fields, doing the laundry and sewing to keep up payments, the family's humiliation when Vernon is incarcerated for forging a check, are all chronicled on a background of Church music, sermons by ardent preachers and the sounds of gospel and rhythm and blues emanating from the negro quarter of the town. Elvis comes across as a poignantly sensitive boy, who silently internalizes the suffering of the family's dismal plight, feeling despondent to help, but sensing that he will amount to something one day and will therefore be able to relieve his family from their perpetual financial woes, particularly his beloved mother. His mother's unconditional love and unswerving support provide him with the confidence he needs to retain his nonconformist look despite the bullying from his classmates. But where would such artist be without the visionary Sam Phillips, a talent scout, who opens Sun recording studio in the early 50s, just when Elvis begins to hear his calling for music? Elvis’s first self financed recordings are made in 1954 but rock-et science hits the scene with “That’s all right” and from then on Elvis splits the atom on stage driving his fans to unprecedented frenzy with his sensational energy, charisma and infectious charm. The book is so thourougly researched that most of the names of the musicians contemporary to Elvis are mentioned as well as their influence on the King and the music scene at the time. With the help of the amazing internet I was able to find the ones that interested me, like Big Mama Thornton and her marvelous rendition of Hound dog! Watching videos of the youthful dynamite from the Hayride days, which I had not seen before, justified the stories I had heard about the extreme scenes of adulation, of the young girls wailing and screeching like maenads in orgiastic ecstasy for their Dionysian god. I realized why Elvis was such a threat to the establishment and how extraordinary he must have looked at a time when other performers wore conservative suits and sang sedately with little sexual innuendo. Reading the book was a real treat, a journey back in time which for the five days it took me to read, immersed me in the time of innocence, discovery, promise and expectation. Too bad it was so short lived

Most people are familiar with the broad outlines of the Elvis Presley story -- how a young man (still a teenager) became an overnight sensation and changed pop music and pop culture forever. But the incandescent heyday of Elvis was so short and his decline was so long that it's hard to appreciate how astonishing the Elvis phenomenon was. This book sets the record sraight and provides a nuanced and sensitive reading of his youth, his musical influences, his personality, and the culture that engulfed him. It's everything you always wanted to know about Elvis, packaged in a way that really makes you feel as if you were there. There's much that sticks in my mind from this book, but the strongest parts are the descriptions of the life he led as a kid and teenager in Memphis. Elvis' family was poor, not quite living on public assistance but poor enough to live in subsidized housing after they moved from Tupelo, Mississippi, to Memphis when his father sought higher-paying factory work. Elvis was about 12 at the time of the move, and he was a country boy. His family left behind their close relatives in Tupelo, which was disorienting. Also, the big city and big-city schools intimidated him, and he never quite recovered. He spent his high school years as an outcast -- a mediocre student, a shy kid with a few close friends, a musician who wasn't very good -- and the burning ambition and unique talent was hard to discern. But all the while, the key influences in his life built in strength. "Last Train to Memphis" captures these pieces eloquently and with telling detail. You can feel yourself sitting on a porch stoop in the heat of a summer evening, with Elvis strumming his guitar and singing gospel and pop songs of the day. You can see Elvis walking down to the Hotel Chisco to watch innovative DJ Dewey Phillips spin popular white tunes and then mixing in the emerging music from Black artists in the South. You can see Elvis' mother cooking him fried chicken, greens, and mashed potatoes, and sitting at the table where they talk about almost nothing at all, for hours and hours. You can hear the sounds coming from bars on Beale Street, the Black Broadway where Elvis tentatively wandered on occasion. And you can see the storefront Sun Records, where Sam Phillips produced records by newcomers Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis -- within an 18-month period of mind-boggling creativity. The book also tries to explain what happened. It punctures myths about Elvis as a dumb, instinctual musician and replaces it with a man who loved many types of music, studied it, and was meticulous in the recording studio. For example, it was common in the early 1950s for bands to make cheap recordings that they would sell to friends and at concerts. But instead of doing that, Elvis went to Sun Records to get a professionally produced recording, and then he went back regularly for 9 months, trying to get Sam Phillips to listen to the recording. So, Elvis' perseverence was part of his success. Also, while Elvis definitely had strange habits and loved the accoutrements of stardom, he was genuinely a nice and caring person. The book has literally a hundred quotes from people of all walks of life who found him to be open, an "innocent" really, who treated everyone with respect and interest. You really feel that you'd have enjoyed meeting him and becoming a member of his entourage for a week. The book also casts Colonel Parker in a fairly positive light. Parker really did have Elvis' best interests at heart, especially in terms of fame and fortune. He brought Elvis from a very promising regional act, a Grand Ole Opry kind of guy, to the biggest showcases in TV and Hollywood in a matter of months. And he protected Elvis' artistic independence in those early years, fighting relentlessly against RCA record execs who wanted him to record as fast as possible while he was hot. Finally, the book details the punishing schedule of performances that Elvis and his band endured in his two-plus years of early stardom. He was doing shows every night, often in cities 500 miles apart. Long drives and even longer train rides -- sometimes 20- or 30-hour train rides -- were the norm. He criss-crossed paths with everyone from Bill Monroe and the top Opry stars of the day to Buddy Holly, BB King, Jerry Lee Lewis, to the great gospel performers -- and he inspired and was inspired by all of them. Meanwhile at each stop, Elvis would encounter a near-riot, scores of ready women, dozens of people seeking favors and handouts, and a phalanx of media. How he could handle it at age 20 or 21 is beyond comprehension. For a great history of the dawn of rock, read this book. You'll find out about the people who started it, and what they were trying to do. You'll find out about life on the road, and the fervent sharing of new music as it swept the land. And you'll learn about the greatest figure of all, Elvis.

For some reason I started listening to Elvis when I was in my mid/late twenties, around 1995. With no provocation, I simply picked up a copy of the Complete Sun Recordings and tried to imagine what it must have been like back in the mid/late fifties to hear this coming across the radio. Tried to put myself in the place of a listener back then. Before the Beatles and the Stones and Zeppelin and all the rest. I then bought more albums, the early RCA albums, the two gospel records, the later records like From Memphis and Elvis Country, simply because I liked the music and his voice. I just read the two volume bio by Guralnick and I really enjoyed how Guralnick, in an non-pretentious way, made Elvis seem real to me. The first volume is a little easier to stomach just because of the subject matter. The invention of rock and how it grew organically from humble beginnings in Memphis and then grew into a national and then global phenomenon is exciting to behold-and Elvis seemed truly on fire. The second volume is sometimes tough to read as Elvis seems to become, well, sort of unlikable. Womanizer, boastful, manipulative, ego driven, self pitying, messianic, and then ultimately miserable. Its almost as if the two books are about two different people in a way. And for this, I credit the author. There is no reason to judge Elvis. Its hard to feel sorry for someone as successful as he was; yet, I found myself pitying him. It seems as if he started with all the best intentions, and then got put onto a train that he couldn't control, couldn't stop, until his body stopped it for him. Sad stuff. But, I think ultimately what Guralnick conveys is a very human Elvis, and a very talented Elvis, who really did try to bring beauty and light into the world and entertain people. Guralnick makes a very complicated person as legible as can be reasonably expected. I don't sense an "agenda" here, just a really well researched, straightforward telling of the man's life. I would say that ultimately, the best way to appreciate Elvis is to listen to the music that he made. His voice tells the whole story. But this was a great read and it has enhanced my knowledge of the man and his music.

As with any high profile person who seemed bigger than life, how much do we really know about Elvis, the person. I'm only to page 145 of this book, but I see a very young man who was spiritual, profoundly kind and respectful to people who was absolutely absorbed in music as if it fed his soul. He never stopped trying to "be a singer." Problem was, he was way ahead of his time, because his "style" was a cross-over between the style of early black groups and a style that had yet to be discovered, until Sam Phillips of Sun Records took an interest in Elvis. By a fluke of just "horsing around" during a very long recording session testing out Elvis' potential, Elvis started joking around singing and slapping his guitar and BAM! Sam heard the style that would bridge black and white music and appeal to the wider audience that included the young generation. I anticipate the rest of this book, which covers the rise of Elvis, will be just as interesting as the first 145 pages. This book is Volume I to Peter Guralnicks duo, Volume II covering the fall of Elvis.

Peter Guralnick is one of those rare biographers who presents a life with a respect for the complexity that any life deserves, with an understanding of the responsibility of the enormous task. Not only did he spend years doing a phenomenal amount of research, and interviewing hundreds of people (some many times), he has a remarkable intuitive sense of which accounts are best juxtaposed against others in order to give us some feeling of the contradictions and complexities of Elvis Presley, both in his behavior as experienced by others, and his own view of himself, sometimes profoundly self-aware, other times tragically mired in denial. Guralnick manages to do this -- give us a kind of sideways view of this fantastically magnetic figure -- without ever cramming any psychological theories down our throats. Not that he does not express his own opinions, but when it comes to the grand questions, he lets us draw our own conclusions. But don't let that fool you: Last Train to Memphis is a page turner start to finish. As a reader, I sense that as Guralnick came to "know" Elvis, he had much of the same conflicted feelings that those who knew him in life had. But, as someone able to maintain the distance necessary to responsibly write in depth about the life of another, Guralnick put all of that contradictory and sometimes outright mysterious behavior of his subject into a portrait that gives us a feeling for "the boy" (as he is and is called in this first volume). Guralnick is an American music historian, and approaches describing that part of the story very well as far as finding a middle ground between lay people and readers who already have serious knowledge. As someone with very little knowledge, I was able to learn how incredibly unusual Elvis was both as far as the music he was compelled to seek out from his earliest years and how he would take those deep influences and make them his own in ways that profoundly changed the course of music in the mid 20th century. This volume ends with the death of Elvis's mother, a trauma he would never really recover from, and his entry into the army, which would also alter his life in permanent and ultimately tragic ways. But Guralnick also subtly shows us that Elvis Presley's difficulties actually began far earlier than that. There is no other Elvis biography that comes close to what Peter Guralnick has done here.

By the time I was old enough as a kid to be interested in popular music, Elvis Presley’s best days were behind him. I never did like his music, but for some reason, I have always been fascinated by him as a character. After visiting Graceland, his Memphis, TN home last year, I wanted to read more about the King of Rock and Roll. A friend told me that the only biography worth reading about Elvis is by Peter Guralnick. And so I tackled book one, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. Last Train covers Presley’s birth until he departs for Germany while in the army, and this truly is a masterwork. Most of Presley’s past is well documented. He was born in Tupelo, MS to poor parents in a two room shack with no running water or indoor plumbing. His twin brother was stillborn. Presley’s rise to fame is just an incredible story of hard work, perseverance and some being in the right place at the right time. Guralnick so expertly shows the contradictions between the “real” Elvis and the “celebrity” Elvis. For instance, Elvis was a loner during his childhood, yet had to always be surrounded by his Memphis Mafia as an adult. He was considered the King of Rock and Roll, but crossed almost all genres from blues to R & B to country. And yet, probably his favorite music to sing was gospel. His was considered a sex icon, yet had some strange sexual hang-ups. Many considered Elvis to be an ignorant country bumpkin, yet he had a genius for remembering songs, writers, performers, and lyrics. Born poor, he became one of the richest performers in the U.S. Yet, he had way more money than sense or good taste. He also squandered much of his money through his generosity to his friends and family. And while he was identified as a bad influence on teens and young adults, he was humble, well-mannered, and loved his mama. One thing I really enjoyed reading about was the Memphis of Presley’s youth. So much about Memphis contributed to his success. Growing up, there were venues to showcase your talent, singing contests, recording studios, the musicians from Beale Street, and even disk jockeys who would play a song by a local artist 20 times in a row. It was almost like the perfect storm for Presley’s success. My one minor complaint is that there is an awful lot of information about Presley’s recording sessions, the musicians who played with him, his tours, etc. But for someone who is a die-hard Elvis-fan, they will eat up every word. Also, Guralnick is a music critic, so he is writing what he knows. I can’t knock him for that. I happened to buy the Kindle version, and was pleasantly surprised at the special features at the end, including three videos and three audio interviews. I have the second book, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley to complete this 2-part biography.

In Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, Peter Guralnick presents a groundbreaking biography that transcends the myth of Elvis Presley to reveal the man behind the legend. With nearly a decade of research and hundreds of interviews, Guralnick meticulously chronicles the first twenty-four years of Elvis's life, from his childhood in Tupelo to his meteoric rise in the music industry. The biography captures the transformative impact of Elvis's music on American culture, detailing his early recordings at Sun Records, including the iconic "That's All Right" and "Mystery Train," as well as his RCA hits like "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Hound Dog." These formative years are portrayed as a time of unprecedented triumphs and self-invention for Elvis, shining a light on his deep passion for music spanning various genres, including blues, gospel, and pop. However, Guralnick does not shy away from the more somber moments, including Elvis’s draft into the army and the loss of his mother, which mark turning points in his life. Through insightful reflections from those close to him and Elvis's own words, Last Train to Memphis offers a complex and emotional portrait of a young man filled with ambition, loneliness, and unwavering belief in himself and his music. This meticulously crafted biography serves not only as a tribute to Elvis's extraordinary accomplishments but also as a testament to the cultural landscape he helped reshape, making it a must-read for fans and music history enthusiasts alike.

Author Peter Guralnick says he wrote "Last Train to Memphis" because he "wanted to rescue Elvis Presley from the dreary bondage of myth." In this nearly 500-page book, the first of two volumes, Guralnick provides a detailed, deep and revealing portrait of Elvis, one of the greatest entertainers of all-time. This first volume goes from Elvis' childhood to September 1958, when his mother Gladys dies. He had been drafted into the Army seven months earlier. Elvis grew up being different, lonely and with no real friends. He was shy, quiet, sensitive and easily embarrassed. Kids often made fun of him. Elvis walked into Sam Phillips' Sun Records recording studio in the summer of 1953, a couple months after graduating from high school. Elvis knew he wanted to make records, but he was unsure how to go about doing it. His unabashed originality came through on his recording of "That's All Right Mama." Phillips said, "Elvis had the most intuitive ability to hear songs without having to classify them or himself. " He added, "Elvis was one of the most introspective human beings I ever met. It seemed like he had a photographic memory for every song he ever heard." Elvis Presley came along at the right time. At the end of World War II, younger people had grown up with the sounds of the big bands of the 1940s, but they didn't have any music to identify with; they were looking for something--and Elvis gave it to them. No one had ever seen anyone like Elvis. According to a Memphis newspaper, "He was a white man singing negro rhythms with a rural flavor." He knew how to connect with audiences and he knew how to entertain. He was musically talented and unclassifiable. Guralnick writes, "Elvis was the change that was coming to America." He electrified American teenagers and offended adults and the status quo. Adults charged that Elvis was obscene, vulgar and bad for America. That criticism, however, didn't slow down his unprecedented rise to the top. Sam Phillips sold Elvis' contract to RCA for $25,000 in 1955. Phillips said Elvis "knew where he wanted to go and he was very single-minded about it." Soon, Col. Tom Parker, a carny at heart, started to run Elvis' career with an iron hand. Despite all of his success with hit records, Elvis' main ambition was to be a serious actor like James Dean or Marlon Brando. He didn't want to just sing in the movies. Sadly, Col. Parker was more than happy to just let him sing in the movies. In March 1957, at age 23 and at the height of his popularity, Elvis was drafted into the Army. Although he was unsure and worried about how a two-year stint in the military would affect this career, he asked no special favors, and sought to be a role model for others. Seven months after he was inducted, his mother Gladys died. Elvis was devastated. "Everything I had is gone," he cried. At this point, he was willing to abandon his career and try to live a normal life. But, he said, "It's too late for that, there are too many people who depend on me. I'm too obligated." It's easy to think of Elvis Presley as a simple-minded, good-looking, fairly talented entertainer who happened to be in the right place at the right time. But Guralnick proves how that is far from true. He captures the excitement and uniqueness that was Elvis Presley. In a month-by-month account, Guralnick details Presley's rise to fame. Readers will gain a deeper appreciation of Elvis Presley by reading this book.