The “New York Times” says “Mr. Presley has no singing ability” and “The New York Journal” says “unintelligible lyrics, inadequate voice”. As these newspapers were aimed at adults, there would have been few of Elvis’ teenage fans reading the comments made, so the papers did not need to be in his favour and would probably sell more copies if it wasn’t, because it dramatises the view of Elvis.
Source B does show that he has had a big impact on the US society, although it is not entirely positive or negative, just saying that Elvis has “caused the most heated reaction”. The photograph in source D backs up what source B is saying about his reaction by showing lots of screaming teenage fans obviously obsessed with Elvis, their icon.
Source C also appears to contradict source B, as it is reporting on the effects of his performance not passing any judgement about his singing or suggesting that he shouldn’t have gone on the show like source B has suggested.
Q.3 Study sources E and F.
How useful are these sources as evidence of the impact of Elvis Presley in the mid-1950’s? (10 marks)
Although sources E and F contain very different information, they are both useful as evidence of the impact of Elvis Presley.
Source E shows very biased opinions of three different people speaking in 1956 – 1957. These opinions are all very negative towards Elvis Presley.
Statement one was a congressman who said, “His animal gyrations violate all that I know to be in good taste”. He probably had a negative approach to the rock and roll star, because he was trying to get votes from adults as opposed to teenagers (Elvis’ main fans) so needed to appeal to an adult audience, the majority of which also had a negative attitude to Elvis Presley.
The second statement in source E was by a member of the Ku Klux Klan, a racist organisation. Many people who heard Elvis Presley’s music before they saw his appearance on TV thought that he was black because of the black gospel musical influence in his singing. I think perhaps this racist organisation also thought this, because they said, “do away with this cannibalistic, Negro-loving rock and roller”.
The final statement also shows a negative attitude towards Elvis. An evangelical preacher – a very religious man, who would have thought Elvis’ movements were very suggestive and not appropriate for his daughter who he refers to in the statement, which is probably why he has a disapproving attitude.
Although all three statements had a negative attitude to Elvis Presley’s singing career, they are still useful because they show the large impact he had on several different members in society, showing that many groups in society disliked him.
Source F shows the top five singles of years 1955, 1956 and 1957. This is statistical data as opposed to opinions, meaning that is unlikely to be biased unlike the statements in Source E.
The data from the years 1955 to 1957 are useful in different ways. The data showing the top five singles in 1955 is useful because it shows the reader how fast Elvis’ rise to fame was because it shows he was not on the scene in 1955, though in 1956, when Elvis was just starting out, he already had four out of the five top hit singles and continued to do well having three of his singles in the top five the following year. This shows that he had a very positive impact in the mid-1950’s, as there were a lot of people buying his singles.
Although sources E and F contradict each other, they are both evidence that Elvis Presley had a very large impact in the mid-1950’s.
Q.4. Study Source G
Source G suggests that attitudes towards Elvis Presley were beginning to change by 1958. Use the sources and your own knowledge to explain why this was happening (12 marks)
People’s opinions towards Elvis Presley started to change by 1958, from a negative attitude to a more positive one.
One reason for this is that Elvis Presley served in the U.S. army in 1958. It was compulsory for a man at this time to serve in the army for two years during his lifetime. However, it was also well known that many of the people who had money or power would usually “try to use his influence to buy his way out”.
Elvis Presley did not do this though, and was therefore seen as trying to promote the American way of life. Source G, a magazine article about his service in the army, says “such a rich and famous man serve alongside other draftees without using his influence to buy his way out”.
Americans believe in the American dream, which is the idea that if someone works hard enough, they can achieve what they are aiming for. The extract from the magazine article in source G refers to this American dream, “where else could a nobody like Presley becomes a somebody so quickly”. This gives the impression that Elvis has achieved the American dream, because although I know he was born into quite a poor family, he had become a well-known icon through his hard work and attitude, this gained him a lot of respect.
Opinions also became more positive towards Elvis, because he had started to release music, which was seen as a lot less controversial; such as soundtracks for his films also he had given up his performances as these were seen as very rebellious.
Elvis also started to appear in films playing less controversial characters that appeared more acceptable to America. Many of his films started to have links to his own life so people got a better understanding of him, rather than continuing to play the rebellious characters such as the one in “Jailhouse rock”.
Q.5. Study all the Sources
“The impact of Elvis Presley on US society during the 1950’s was more the result of television coverage of his performances than of his music”
Use the sources and your own knowledge, to explain whether you agree with this view of the career of Elvis Presley. (14 marks)
To some extent, I agree with the statement “The impact of Elvis Presley on U.S. society during the 1950’s was more the result of television coverage of his performances than of his music”, although I believe this was only in addition to the impact his music had already made.
Source A shows how incredibly popular his music was “Presley has six hit singles in the company’s hit list of top 25 best sellers” in 1956. This was written one year after he became well recognised and showed that he had a dramatic rise in his career. Throughout the mid-1950’s, Elvis had many concerts. His rock and roll style of music was considered fresh, new and rebellious, and offered teenagers the opportunity to explore with a new style of clothing, attitudes and rebellion.
Source A is an article written for a magazine aimed at teenagers, Elvis’ biggest fans which also backs up source D which shows a photograph of Elvis performing on stage in 1956. The photograph shows lots of screaming fans, probably all teenagers, reaching out towards Elvis. This demonstrates how Elvis’ popularity was very much due to the teenage age group. Part of the teenage attraction to Elvis was though his television appearances, which showed the way he dressed – teenagers thought he was a role model for everything they thought their parents feared they would become.
Source F also shows how popular Elvis was at this time; he topped the charts for having more number one hits than any other artist. Source F says he had four “top five singles of the year in 1956” and another top three in 1957. This is statistical data so is very hard to be biased but it is useful because it shows that he had a dramatic rise to his career and suggests that his music was very popular, because at this time he was not staring in films.
Although Elvis’ music had a really positive impact on teenage fans, responses from other groups within society were negative. His music had a big impact on many different people and this can be demonstrated by source E (i) in which a congressman, who had probably seen one of Elvis Presley’s concerts, commented on the way he danced. “His animal gyrations violate all that I know to be in good taste”.
His style of dancing caused offence to many people, and he took the nickname “Elvis The Pelvis” because of the way he rotated his pelvis and shook his leg while singing on stage, making “suggestive” movements. For this reason, many T.V. companies would only show him singing from the waist up, for example on the “Milton Berle show”. When Elvis appeared on the Milton Berle show “ratings soared” and according to source B, he “caused the most heated reaction”. Source E backs this up and shows that Elvis had an impact on many people in society, whether positive or negative.
Elvis, however, did not just make an impact through his appearances; source E shows the negative impact he had on various people form society. In Source E (ii), a member of a racist organisation, the Ku Klux Klan, called Elvis a ‘cannibalistic, Negro-loving rock and roller’. Many people thought that he was black because of the style of music he sang. This shows that his music did make a huge impact on people, however I think his T.V. appearances only added to the impact he had made already. For example, Elvis started to play a rebellious role in his films, such as the character he played in “Jailhouse rock”. It may also have been that he had no live performances whilst he was making his films and so the people who did have a negative attitude, could no longer see his “rebellious” dancing, and pelvis rotating.
The change towards Elvis in the late 1950’s may also have been because he joined the army for two years. Source G makes it obvious that U.S. society though Elvis was a good example of following the American dream. This dream was the idea that if they worked hard enough, anyone could get where they wanted, and Elvis had managed to achieve this dream; he became rich and famous through hard work and determination even though he came from an extremely poor family. For this reason, on his return from the army many people began to think differently of Elvis and he became acknowledged as an acceptable role model.
Once Elvis started to star in films, opinions became more positive towards him as his music became tamer and his records were mainly soundtracks to his new films. His film career lasted many years starting from his first film called “Love me tender” in 1956 and he continued to play the lead role in many films until 1969. In total Elvis starred in 33 films, although many agree that his early films were the best. It wasn’t until the mid 1960’s however, that Elvis’ acting career made him rich and people finally thought that he had fully achieved the American dream. At this time, Elvis was demanding a million dollars for each film that he made, making him the richest person in Hollywood at that time.
In 1967, Presley’s films ‘flopped’ both among critics and at the box office. For this reason, he began to focus on his music once again. I believe his television performances helped him to do this because it was due to the “singer special comeback” which was televised in 1968 that launched the final stage of his career. Many believe his music career was more successful than his acting and overall he sold more than five hundred million records.
However, Elvis began to have less impact on society at this stage. For these reasons I think that the impact of Elvis Presley on U.S. society during the 1950’s was more the result of his music, however his television appearances and film career along with society’s change in opinion did add to this impact greatly and because of the great impact he had on society, he is still remembered for his unique style of rock and roll music today. Many people remember this unique style because of the way he pushed the boundaries of acceptability in his earlier years of fame.
