Though Elvis Presley died nearly four decades ago, Thursday would have just been his 80th birthday had he lived.
Despite that short life, and his gargantuan fame, Presley was no child prodigy. As TIME recounted in its first profile of Presley, which ran in the May 14, 1956, issue, it took him nearly half his life to get into music.
Presley was born in Tupelo, Miss., and received a guitar from his parents when he was a kid. He played casually and not very well, and sang at church but not much elsewhere, until one day he “was seized with the urge to hear his own voice, took his guitar with him and made a recording in a public studio.” He had been working as a truck driver, but the studio engineer thought he had an interesting voice and called him back to record more.
Many listeners were slow to catch too. The following letters appeared in the June 4 issue of TIME:
Sir:
For heaven’s sake, leave Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe to the pulp magazines. They are both utterly nauseating.
MRS. FRANCIS McGUIRE
Arlington, Va.
Sir:
There must be some error, since in your May 14 issue I find Elvis Presley in the Music section. What does that idiotic howling have to do with music—except the fact that it is on records? Seems to me, the attitude to take would be one of ignoring the whole noise, hoping it will go away.
ARVYDAS BARZDUKAS Cleveland
Sir:
Don’t worry—we all haven’t gone to the dogs! I’m a redblooded, American, teen-age girl, and I think he’s ghastly!
JUDITH TURICK Los Angeles
Sir:
That “Hi luh-huh-huh-huuv yew-hew” article: Are you sure that fellow’s real name isn’t Pelvis Presley ?
ROBERT E. JORDAN Seattle
Still, no matter what Arvydas Barzdukas wanted, ignoring Presley couldn’t make him go away. Even today, decades after his death, his birthday is still occasion for fans to remember their luh-huh-huh-huuv for his music.
Read TIME’s first profile of Elvis Presley, here in the TIME Vault: Teeners’ Hero
LIFE With Elvis: Early Photos of the King
Elvis Presley in Florida, 1956.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Happy screechers at Jacksonville hold their heads and yell as loud as they can as Presley yowls.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Pulpit comparison of a Presley poster and Bible is drawn by a Baptist preacher, Robert Gray.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Water-warped records played in Jacksonville added new twists to Elvis' wobbling song style.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Presley's motions are demonstrated by a 13-year-old, Steve Shad, in a Jacksonville record shop. High school boys have mastered Presley's gestures, but show little interest in his singing style.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Presley promoter in Jacksonville is the side-burned drummer and disk jockey Scotty Ferguson.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Barber Joe Governale in Jacksonville gives Ronny Turner, 16, the duck-tail cut Elvis favors, leaving a rich overhang of hair in back of head. Ronny is too young for Elvis-style-sideburns.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Antidote to Elvis was church social at Murray Hill Methodist church two nights after Presley left. Before dance, group heard Presley denounced in sermon on 'Hot Rods, Reefers and Rock 'n Roll.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCivic leaders meet with a Jacksonville, Fla. judge to discuss ways of "curbing" Elvis Presley's influence on local teens, 1956.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Prayer for Presley in Trinity Baptist church came after the Reverend Gray said the singer had 'achieved a new low in spiritual degeneracy. If he were offered his salvation tonight, he would probably say. 'No thanks, I'm on the top.' Then teenagers in front rows led in prayer that salvation be granted to him.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCrowd outside a Florida theater before an Elvis concert, 1956.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesElvis Presley in Florida, 1956.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Packed crowd for Presley, 2,200 Jacksonville teenagers turned up at every one of the six shows he gave in two days at the Florida Theatre. Line of uniformed cops and shore patrol seated in the orchestra pit were there to keep audience from storming over the footlights when Elvis sang his 'Hound Dog' finale.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Backstage kisses are bestowed on pretty admirers. Pictured: Andrea June Stephens, who came to Jacksonville from Atlanta, Ga., after writing prizewinning letter on why she would like to meet Elvis. Promised a dinner date with Elvis, she got instead a cheeseburger in a Jacksonville diner.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesElvis Presley in Florida, 1956.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesElvis Presley kisses a "Jacksonville girl" in Florida, 1956.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesElvis Presley in Florida, 1956.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesLIFE magazine, August 27, 1956.LIFE MagazineLIFE magazine, August 27, 1956.LIFE MagazineLIFE magazine, August 27, 1956.LIFE MagazineLIFE magazine, August 27, 1956.LIFE MagazineLIFE magazine, August 27, 1956.LIFE Magazine
