Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley - Biography Book About the King of Rock and Roll | Perfect for Music Lovers & Elvis Fans | Great Gift for Birthdays, Holidays & Music Enthusiasts

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.