Elvis Presley and His Effect on Rock and Roll

I. Introduction
By now, the story of Elvis Presley and his meteoric rise from singing truck driver to the "King of Rock and Roll" is universally known and is now an accepted part of American folklore. American teenagers today look back on the innocence of the 1950s with an amused cynicism and wonder aloud what all the fuss regarding Elvis' gyrating pelvis was all about. To provide some background to those may not be familiar with the story of Elvis' humble beginnings, legend has it that Elvis Presley stepped into a studio to make a recording of the song, "My Happiness" as a gift for his mother. The studio was owned by Sam Phillips, who also ran Sun Records. Phillips, impressed with what he heard, introduced Elvis to some country music-based studio musicians, and together, they tried to come up with a unique sound, with not too much initial success. Then, Phillips' recommended that they try some blues songs written by a fellow Sun recording artist, Arthur Crudup. One of the ...