It is clear that from the very beginning of his life, it was difficult. His full …show more content…
Frank Smith, Elvis’ church pastor and his Uncle Vester had taught him how to play. This would be able to lead him to play sometimes during church services, as well as Saturday afternoons, for a local radio station. (“Elvis Presley”) This was known as “amateur hour,” which was played on the air. Even though he had lessons and would be able to play on local radio stations, there was still people out there who did not support him or his style. A good example was his music teacher, who told him that he couldn’t sing, and she believed this so much that he would get C’s in her class. Elvis tried to convince her that he could sing, but she just didn’t like the type of music he sang. The day after that, he decided to bring his guitar and sing for her. He sang a hillbilly song, “Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me.” His teacher decided that he was right, he could sing, but she just didn’t like his style of music. …show more content…
He continued to play in studios, where he met the president of the Sun Records Label, Sam Phillips. He and Elvis teamed up with Scotty Moore and Bill Black, who had worked together in releasing his first hit song in 1954, “That’s All Right (Mama).” (“Presley Elvis”) He was then able to release his first album, which was given the name of Elvis Presley, he sold almost a million copies in less than a month. The music industry released that his music was spreading like wildfire. Not even they knew how to classify him. New to this kind of attention, he was still figuring out the best things to do. This may or may not have come in handy, because he had made an agreement with Colonel Parker, which gave colonel the ability to decide to renew Bob Neal’s and Sam Phillip’s contracts when they were up. In a certain way, this had given Colonel Parker ownership over Elvis.