ElvisCollector.info

A - Z Elvis songs

Alphabetical list of every Elvis song

500 Miles (FTD Series)

  Adam and Evil
  After Loving You
  Ain't That Loving You Baby
  All I Needed Was The Rain
  All Shook Up
  All That I Am
  Alla en el Rancho Grande
  Almost
  Almost Always True
  Almost In Love
  Aloha-Oe
Alright, Okay, You Win (FTD Series)
  Always On My Mind
  Am I Ready
  Amazing Grace
  Amen
  America The Beautiful
  American Trilogy
  And I Love You So
  And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind
  Angel
  Animal Instinct
  Any Day Now
  Any Way You Want Me (That's How It Will Be)
  Anyone (Could Fall In Love With You)
  Anyplace Is Paradise
  Anything That's Part Of You
  Apron Strings
  Are You Lonesome Tonight
  Are You Sincere
  As Long As I Have You
As We Travel Along The Jericho Road (Million Dollar Session)
  Ask Me
Auld Lang Syne (FTD Series)

Baby I Don't Care
  Baby If You'll Give Me All Of Your Love
  Baby Let's Play House
  Baby What You Want Me To Do
  Barefoot Ballad
  Beach Boy Blues
  Beach Shack
  Because Of Love
  Beginner's Luck
  Beyond The Bend
  Beyond The Reef
  Big Boots (Fast version)
  Big Boots (Slow Version)
  Big Boss Man
  Big Hunk O' Love
  Big Love Big Heartache
  Bitter They Are Harder They Fall
  Black Star
  Blowin' In The Wind
  Blue Christmas
  Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
  Blue Hawaii
  Blue Moon
  Blue Moon Of Kentucky
  Blue River
  Blue Suede Shoes
  Blueberry Hill
  Bosom Of Abraham
  Bossa Nova Baby
  Boy Like Me A Girl Like You
  Bridge Over Troubled Water
  Bringin' It Back
  Britches
  Bullfighter Was A Lady
  Burning Love
  By and By

Cane and a High Starched Collar
  Can't Help Falling In Love
  Carny Town
  Catchin' On Fast
  Cattle Call (Yodel)
  Change Of Habit
  Charro
  Chesay
  Cindy Cindy
  City By Night
  Clambake
  Clean Up Your Own Back Yard
  C'mon Everybody
  Come Along
  Come What May
  Confidence
  Cotton Candy Land
  Cottonfields
  Could I Fall In Love
  Crawfish
  Cross My Heart and Hope To Die
  Crying In The Chapel

Dainty Little Moonbeams
  Danny
  Danny Boy
  Dark Moon
  Datin'
  Devil In Disguise
  Didja Ever
  Dirty Dirty Feeling
  Dixieland Rock
  Do Not Disturb
  Do The Clam
  Do The Vega
  Do You Know Who I Am
  Dog's Life
  Doin' The Best I Can
  Dominic
  Doncha Think It's Time
  Don't
  Don't Ask Me Why
  Don't Be Cruel
  Don't Cry Daddy
  Don't Forbid Me (from Million Dollar Session)
  Don't Leave Me Now
  Don't Think Twice It's All Right
  Double Trouble
  Down By The Riverside - When The Saints Go Marching In
  Down In The Alley
  Drums Of The Islands

Early Mornin' Rain
  Earth Angel
  Earth Boy
  Easy Come Easy Go
  Easy Question
  Echoes Of Love
  Edge Of Reality
El Paso (FTD Series)
  El Toro
  Elvis Medley
  Evening Prayer
  Everybody Come Aboard

Faded Love
  Fair's Moving On
  Fairytale
  Fame and Fortune
  Farther Along
  Fever
  Find Out What's Happening
  Finders Keepers Losers Weepers
  First In Line
  First Noel
  First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
  Five Sleepy Heads
  Flaming Star
  Flip Flop and Fly
  Follow That Dream
  Fool, The
  Fool ('72 Version)
  Fool Fool Fool
  Fool Such As I
  Fools Fall In Love
  Fools Rush In
  For Lovin' Me
  For Ol' Times Sake
  For The Good Times
  For The Heart
  For The Millionth and The Last Time
  Forget Me Never
  Fort Lauderdale Chamber Of Commerce
  Fountain Of Love
  Frankfort Special
  Frankie and Johnny
  Froggy Went A Courtin'
  From A Jack To A King
  Fun In Acapulco
  Funny How Time Slips Away

Gentle On My Mind
  Gently
  Get Back
Ghost Riders In The Sky (FTD Series)
  GI Blues
  Girl Happy
  Girl I Never Loved
  Girl Next Door Went A Walking
  Girl Of Mine
  Girl Of My Best Friend
  Girls Girls Girls
  Give Me The Right
  Go East Young Man
  Goin' Home
  Golden Coins
  Gonna Get Back Home Somehow
  Good Luck Charm
  Good Rockin' Tonight
  Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues
  Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do
  Got My Mojo Working
  Green Green Grass Of Home
  Guadalajara
  Guitar Man

Hands Off
  Happy Ending
  Harbor Lights
  Hard Headed Woman
  Hard Knocks
  Hard Luck
  Harem Holiday
  Have A Happy
  Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
  Hawaiian Sunset
  Hawaiian Wedding Song
He (FTD Series)
  He Is My Everything
  He Knows Just What I Need
  He Touched Me
  Heart Of Rome
  Heartbreak Hotel
  Hearts Of Stone
  He'll Have To Go
  Help Me
  Help Me Make It Through The Night
  Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)
  He's Your Uncle Not Your Dad
  Hey Hey Hey
  Hey Jude
  Hey Little Girl
  Hide Thou Me
  Hi-Heel Sneakers
  His Hand In Mine
  His Latest Flame
  Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees
  Home Is Where The Heart Is
  Hot Dog
  Hound Dog
  House Of Sand
  House That Has Everything
  How Can You Lose What You Never Had
  How Do You Think I Feel
  How Great Thou Art
  How The Web Was Woven
  How Would You Like To Be
  How's The World Treating You
  Hundred Years From Now
  Hurt

I Asked The Lord (He's Only A   Prayer Away)
  I Beg Of You
  I Believe
  I Believe In The Man In The Sky
  I Can Help
  I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)
  I Can't Stop Loving You
  I Didn't Make It On Playing Guitar
  I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine
  I Don't Wanna Be Tied
  I Don't Want To
  I Feel So Bad
  I Feel That I've Known You Forever
  I Forgot To Remember To Forget
  I Got A Feelin' In My Body
  I Got A Woman
  I Got Lucky
  I Got Stung
  I Gotta Know
  I John
  I Just Can't Help Believin'
  I Love Only One Girl
  I Love You Because
  I Met Her Today
  I Miss You
  I Need Somebody To Lean On
  I Need You So
  I Need Your Love Tonight
  I Really Don't Want To Know
  I Shall Be Released
  I Slipped I Stumbled I Fell
  I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here
  I Understand Just How You Feel
  I Want To Be Free
  I Want You I Need You I Love You
  I Want You With Me
  I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago
  I Was The One
  I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water
  I Will Be Home Again
  I Will Be True
I Wonder I Wonder I Wonder (FTD Series)
  If Every Day Was Like Christmas
  If I Can Dream
  If I Get Home On Christmas Day
  If I Loved You
  If I Were You
  If I'm A Fool (For Loving You)
  If That Isn't Love
  If The Lord Wasn't Walking By My Side
  If We Never Meet Again
  If You Don't Come Back
  If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
  If You Talk In Your Sleep
  If You Think I Don't Need You
  I'll Be Back
  I'll Be Home For Christmas
  I'll Be Home On Christmas Day
  I'll Be There
  I'll Hold You In My Heart
  I'll Never Fall In Love Again
  I'll Never Know
  I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')
  I'll Never Stand In Your Way
  I'll Remember You
  I'll Take Love
  I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen
  I'm A Roustabout
  I'm Beginning To Forget You
  I'm Comin' Home
  I'm Counting On You
  I'm Falling In Love Tonight
  I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)
  I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs
  I'm Leavin'
  I'm Left You're Right She's Gone
  I'm Movin' On
  I'm Not The Marrying Kind
  I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
  I'm Yours
  Impossible Dream
  In My Father's House
  In My Way
  In The Garden
  In The Ghetto
  In Your Arms
  Indescribably Blue
  Inherit The Wind
  Is It So Strange
  Island Of Love
  It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)
  It Feels So Right
  It Hurts Me
  It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)
  It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'
  It Won't Be Long
  It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)
  It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You
  Ito Eats
  It's A Matter Of Time
  It's A Sin
It's A Sin To Tell A Lie (FTD Series)
  It's A Wonderful World
  It's Been So Long Darling
  It's Carnival Time
  It's Different Now
  It's Easy For You
  It's Impossible
  It's Midnight
  It's No Fun Being Lonely
  It's Now Or Never
  It's Only Love
  It's Over
  It's Still Here
  It's Your Baby You Rock It
  I've Been Blue
  I've Got A Thing About You Baby
  I've Got Confidence
  I've Got To Find My Baby
  I've Lost You

Jailhouse Rock
Jambalaya (FTD Series)
  Johnny B Goode
  Joshua Fit The Battle
  Judy
  Just A Little Bit
  Just Because
  Just Call Me Lonesome
  Just For Old Time Sake
  Just Pretend
  Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello

Keep Your Hands Off Of It
  Kentucky Rain
  King Creole
  King Of The Whole Wide World
  Kismet
  Kiss Me Quick
  Kissin' Cousins
  Kissin' Cousins (No 2)
  Known Only To Him
  Ku-u-i-po

Lady Loves Me (Duet with   Ann-Margaret)
  Lady Madonna
  Last Farewell
  Lawdy Miss Clawdy
  Lead Me Guide Me
  Let It Be Me
  Let Me
  Let Me Be There
  Let Us Pray
  Let Yourself Go
  Let's Be Friends
  Let's Forget About The Stars
  Life
  Like A Baby
  Little Bit Of Green
  Little Cabin On The Hill
  Little Darlin'
  Little Egypt
  Little Less Conversation
  Little Sister
  Lonely Man
  Lonesome Cowboy
  Long Black Limousine
  Long Legged Girl (With The Short Dress On)
  Long Live Rock and Roll
  Long Lonely Highway
  Long Tall Sally
  Look Out Broadway
  Lord's Prayer
  Love Coming Down
  Love Letters
  Love Machine
  Love Me
  Love Me Love The Life I Lead
  Love Me Tender
  Love Me Tonight
  Love Song Of The Year
  Lover Doll
  Loving Arms
  Loving You

Make Believe
  Make Me Know It
  Make The World Go Away
  Mama
  Mama Liked The Roses
  Mansion Over The Hilltop
  Marguerita
  Mary In The Morning
  Mary Lou Brown
  Maybellene
  Mean Woman Blues
  Meanest Girl In Town
  Memories
  Memphis Tennessee
  Merry Christmas Baby
  Mess Of Blues
  Mexico
  Milkcow Blues Boogie
  Milky White Way
  Mine
  Miracle Of The Rosary
  Mirage
  Mona Lisa
  Money Honey
  Moody Blue
Moonlight Sonata (FTD Series)
  Moonlight Swim
  Mr Songman
  My Babe
  My Baby Left Me
  My Boy
  My Desert Serenade
  My Happiness
  My Heart Cries For You
  My Little Friend
  My Way
  My Wish Came True
  Mystery Train

Never Again
  Never Been To Spain
  Never Ending
  Never Say Yes
  New Orleans
  Next Step Is Love
  Night Life
  Night Rider
  No More
  No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car
  Nothingville
Number Eight (FTD Series)

O Come All Ye Faithful
  O' Little Town Of Bethlehem
Oh Happy Day (FTD Series)
  Oh How I Love Jesus
  Old MacDonald
  Old Shep
  On A Snowy Christmas Night
On Top Of Old Smokey (FTD Series)
  Once Is Enough
  One Boy Two Little Girls
  One Broken Heart For Sale
  One Night
  One Night (Of Sin)
  One Sided Love Affair
  One Track Heart
  Only Believe
  Only The Strong Survive

Padre
  Paradise Hawaiian Style
  Paralyzed
  Party
  Patch It Up
  Peace In The Valley
  Petunia The Gardener's Daughter
  Pieces Of My Life
  Plantation Rock
  Playing For Keeps
  Please Don't Drag That String Around
  Please Don't Stop Loving Me
  Pledging My Love
  Pocketful Of Rainbows
  Poison Ivy League
  Polk Salad Annie
  Poor Boy
  Power Of My Love
  Promised Land
  Proud Mary
  Puppet On A String
  Put The Blame On Me
  Put Your Hand In The Hand

Queenie Wahine's Papaya

Rags To Riches
  Raised On Rock
  Reach Out To Jesus
  Ready Teddy
  Reconsider Baby
  Relax
  Release Me
  Return To Sender
  Riding The Rainbow
  Rip It Up
  Rock-A-Hula Baby
  Roustabout
  Rubberneckin'
  Run On
  Runaway

San Antonio Rose
  Sand Castles
  Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)
  Santa Claus Is Back In Town
  Santa Lucia
  Saved
School Days (FTD Series)
  Scratch My Back
  See See Rider
  Seeing Is Believing
  Sentimental Me
  Separate Ways
  Shake A Hand
  Shake Rattle and Roll
  Shake That Tambourine
  She Thinks I Still Care
  She Wears My Ring
  She's A Machine
  She's Not You
  Shoppin' Around
  Shout It Out
  Show Me Thy Ways, O Lord
  Signs Of The Zodiac
  Silent Night
  Silver Bells
  Sing You Children
  Singing Tree
  Slicin' Sand
  Slowly But Surely
  Smokey Mountain Boy
  Smorgasbord
  Snowbird
  So Close Yet So Far (From Paradise)
  So Glad You're Mine
  So High
  Softly As I Leave You
  Soldier Boy
  Solitaire
  Somebody Bigger Than You and I
  Something
  Something Blue
  Song Of The Shrimp
  Sound Advice
  Sound Of Your Cry
  Spanish Eyes
  Speedway
  Spinout
  Spring Fever
  Stand By Me
  Startin' Tonight
  Starting Today
  Stay Away
  Stay Away Joe
  Steadfast Loyal and True
  Steamroller Blues
  Steppin' Out Of Line
  Stop Look and Listen
  Stop Where You Are
  Stranger In My Own Home Town
  Stranger In The Crowd
  Stuck On You
  Such A Night
  Summer Kisses Winter Tears
  Suppose
  Surrender
  Susan When She Tried
  Suspicion
  Suspicious Minds
  Sweet Angeline
  Sweet Caroline
Sweet Leilani (FTD Series)
  Swing Down Sweet Chariot
  Sylvia

Take Good Care Of Her
  Take Me To The Fair
  Take My Hand Precious Lord
  Talk About The Good Times
  Teddy Bear
  Tell Me Why
  Tender Feeling
  Tennessee Waltz
  Thanks To The Rolling Sea
  That's All Right
  That's Someone You Never Forget
  That's When Your Heartaches Begin
  There Ain't Nothing Like A Song (Duet Nancy Sinatra)
  There Goes My Everything
  There Is No God But God
  There Is So Much World To See
  There's A Brand New Day On The Horizon
  There's A Honky Tonk Angel (Who'll Take Me Back In)
  There's Always Me
  There's Gold In The Mountains
  There's No Tomorrow
  They Remind Me Too Much Of You
  Thing Called Love
  Thinking About You
  This Is Living
  This Is My Heaven
  This Is Our Dance
  This Is The Story
  This Time
  Three Corn Patches
  Thrill Of Your Love
  Tiger Man
  Today Tomorrow and Forever
  Tomorrow Is A Long Time
  Tomorrow Never Comes
  Tomorrow Night
  Tonight Is So Right For Love
  Tonight's All Right For Love
  Too Much
  Too Much Monkey Business
  Treat Me Nice
  T-R-O-U-B-L-E
  Trouble
  True Love
  True Love Travels On A Gravel Road
  Tryin' To Get To You
  Tumblin' Tumbleweeds
  Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus - Nearer My God To Thee
  Tutti Frutti
  Tweedle Dee
  Twelfth Of Never
  Twenty Days and Twenty Nights

Unchained Melody
  Until It's Time For You To Go
  Up Above My Head
  US Male

Vino Dinero Y Amor
Violet
Viva Las Vegas

Walk A Mile In My Shoes
  Walls Have Ears
  Way Down
  We Call On Him
  We Can Make The Morning
  Wear My Ring Around Your Neck
  Wearin' That Loved On Look
  Welcome To My World
  We'll Be Together
  We're Comin' In Loaded
  We're Gonna Move
  Western Union
  What A Wonderful Life
  What Every Woman Lives For
  What Now My Love
  What Now What Next Where To
  What'd I Say
  What's She Really Like
  Wheels On My Heels
  When I'm Over You
  When It Rains It Really Pours
  When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  When The Saints Go Marching In
When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano (FTD Series)
  Where Could I Go But To The Lord
  Where Did They Go Lord
  Where Do I Go From Here
  Where Do You Come From
  Where No One Stands Alone
  Whiffenpoof Song
  Whistling Tune
  White Christmas
  Who Am I
  Who Are You (Who Am I)
  Who Needs Money
  Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
  Why Me Lord
  Wild In The Country
  Winter Wonderland
  Wisdom Of The Ages
  Witchcraft
  Without Him
  Without Love (There Is Nothing)
  Wolf Call
  Woman Without Love
  Wonder Of You
  Wonderful World
  Wonderful World Of Christmas
  Wooden Heart
  Words
  Working On The Building
  World Of Our Own
  Write To Me From Naples

Yellow Rose Of Texas / Eyes Of   Texas
  Yesterday
  Yoga Is As Yoga Does
  You Asked Me To
  You Belong To My Heart (from Million Dollar Session)
  You Better Run
You Can Have Her (FTD Series)
  You Can't Say No In Acapulco
  You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
  You Don't Know Me
  You Gave Me A Mountain
  You Gotta Stop
  You'll Be Gone
  You'll Never Walk Alone
  You'll Think Of Me
  Young and Beautiful
  Young Dreams
Young Love (FTD Series)
  Your Cheatin' Heart
  Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming
  Your Mama Don't Dance
  Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby
  You're A Heartbreaker
  You're The Boss
You're The Reason I'm Living (FTD Series)
  You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

Gladys & Vernon transcript

ElvisCollector.info

1956 Vernon and Gladys Interview about raising Elvis:

Young Elvis Presley had become a phenomenon, and in the fall of 1956, the New York Daily Mirror decided it was time to give him a serious look. And so in early September, columnist Sidney Fields headed down to Memphis to gather material for a series of articles in the Mirror. He didn’t get a chance to talk with Elvis, who was in Hollywood shooting Love Me Tender at the time, but Fields was able to get an extensive interview with Elvis’s parents, who invited him into the Presley home. That interview with Gladys and Vernon Presley was the basis for a five-part expose entitled “The Real Story of Elvis Presley,” which ran in the Daily Mirror from September 23-27, 1956. What follows is a brief summary of the series’ first three parts, in which the Presley’s revealed much about how they raised their son.

Sidney Fields had gone to Memphis hoping to discover “WHAT is Elvis Presley?” Visiting his parents seemed like a logical first step in looking for the answer. On first meeting Vernon and Gladys Presley, he was impressed with their closeness and honesty. “They do have a deep bond between them,” he observed, “which is nice to watch, and they express it in a quiet kindness.” He described Gladys as “39, plump, placid, and pious” and Vernon as “40, a gentle, graying, handsome man, as tall as his son.”

Mrs. Presley showed Fields their son’s room, the predominant feature of which was stuffed animals—teddy bears, pandas, elephants, monkeys, dogs—everywhere. “I took him to carnivals when he was a kid,” explained Vernon, “and taught him how to pitch baseballs at wooden bottles and win stuffed animals. He still does it. Last week he won a toy dump truck. It’s in the living room.”

They sat down to talk in the living room, which Fields described as “mixed modern and traditional with a touch of gaudiness.” Gladys pointed out that “Elvis picked out everything with me to furnish the house, and he’s always sending new things home. He sent so many lamps home I had to store most of them away.”

• Young Elvis always kept in touch with parents

Whether their son was in Hollywood or on the road, he always keeps in touch with them, said Mrs. Presley. “He phones us every other night, no matter where he is. ‘How’s my babies?’ he asks us. We’ve always been very close. Why, to this day he gets frightened when his father dives into the pool for fear he won’t come up. He was always that way about us.”

Gladys recalled another incident that demonstrated young Elvis’s concern for his father. When Elvis was 5, his father and some other men were helping a neighbor put out a fire inside his house. Elvis screamed when he saw his father and the other men run inside the house to save some of the family’s belongings. “He was afraid his father wouldn’t ever come out,” said Gladys. “I just told him, ‘Daddy will be all right, now. You stop that, hear!’ And he did.”

Fields asked about their own upbringing and how that shaped their goals for their only son. Gladys, one of eight children, explained, “We didn’t get to go to school. Vernon didn’t graduate either. We can only read and write enough to get by. That’s why I always wanted my son to have an education.”

“We were poor,” Vernon added. “When I was sick my wife walked to work many times because she had no carfare. And many times we hardly had any lunch money to give Elvis. But we did eat and had clothes and a roof over our heads. Maybe we got them all on credit, but we had them. We never had much until three years ago, but Elvis never wanted for anything even when we were troubled. And we always taught him right from wrong as far as we knew, though we didn’t have hardly any education.”

Mrs. Presley was pleased with how they taught their son. “He was raised well,” she said. “He never lies. He doesn’t swear. I never heard him call anyone anything except ‘Mister’ and ‘Sir.’ And we taught him if he can’t help a man out of a ditch the least he can do is say a prayer for him, and the Lord will never let him fall.”

• Young Elvis was disciplined when needed

His mother spanked the young Elvis when needed, and his father remembers hitting his son just once. “He was 5 then,” Gladys explained. “He took two empty Coke bottles from a neighbor’s porch. He told me the neighbor let him take ’em, but that was stealing’ and he had to be corrected. I got Vernon to take the switch to him and give him one or two licks.” Vernon added with a wince, “It hurt me more’n it did him.”

His parents recalled that when Elvis started at L.C. Humes High School at age 13, he didn’t go in the first day because he was so scared. He was afraid the other kids would laugh at him. He had a desperate need to be liked. “And when he isn’t, he worries about it,” said his father.

The Presley’s admitted they were always protective of their only son. As an example, Vernon explained how they tried to stop Elvis from playing football after he fell in love with the game at age 15. “After school the white boys would team up against the colored boys,” he recalled. “They’d come home with their clothes torn and their hides, too. Elvis being all we had, we didn’t want him to get hurt. But he wouldn’t stop. Gladys was working’ in the hospital then and one day a boy was brought in from a football game, and he died of a blood clot. That scared both of us and we made Elvis quit.” Mrs. Presley added, “Know what he told me? He said: ‘I’ll stop because I don’t want to worry you.’”

• All of young Elvis’s girls were nice

Of course, Elvis had discovered girls about that time too. In fact, the first time young Elvis could remember really being out of his mother’s sight was when he started dating at age 16. “He didn’t have real dates till then,” said his father, “but he had girl friends since he was 11. Once, when he was 16, I seen him sitting’ real close to a little girl and I spoke to him about what he should know. He listened. He always does. We’ve been lucky. All the girls he’s known have been nice kids.”

Fields asked how they felt about the charges that Elvis’s obscene stage movements were debasing the morals of America’s youth. “Those things hurt,” admitted Mrs. Presley. “He’s never sassed us, and he’s never been uppity. Big people are still the same as little people to him, and he’s considerate of both the same way. We’re country folk. He’s a country boy, and always will be. How can any boy brought up like mine be indecent or vulgar? Especially when he’s so good to us and his friends. Why, he always wants to do what’s right.”

Elvis’s father denied other rumors that his son drinks and takes dope. “He never touch a drop of liquor in his life, and he wouldn’t know dope if he saw it.”

“He’s a sympathetic boy, and tender-hearted,” Vernon continued. “It hurts him when someone thinks bad of him. Maybe this will tell you what he’s like. He was ushering’ at the movies this time, and on his night off he was downtown with his friends and he sees this Salvation Army lady taking’ up the Christmas collection. But the box was empty. Elvis put his last $5 bill in it, and started drumming’ up a noise to get that box filled. It was filled.”

• To parents, young Elvis’s temper was his only fault

Does Elvis have any faults his parents can see? A bit of a temper, said his mother. “To be plain with you, he’s the easiest goin’ guy you ever saw until he gets pushed or shoved. Then he gets mad, and he’s a little too high tempered. But lots of people are.”

The family always talked things out. “We’ve always been able to calm him, to talk to him about everything,” said Vernon. “Except maybe his dates, and then we could talk to him if they were the wrong girls and he’d listen. He’ll say something about a car he’d like to buy and I’ll say, I wouldn’t son, and he’ll listen. Even now he obeys.”

And the Presley’s see nothing wrong with their son’s “twitching and twisting” on stage. “Even when he was a tiny kid and we sang at church and camp meetings, Elvis moved around and acted out his songs,” Mrs. Presley said. “He’s always had a lot of energy and he’s big now and gets rid of it in his music. When he sings he’s been’ himself and that’s not bad or wrong.”

Vernon recalled more about young Elvis’s singing. “At 9 he was picked to sing alone in church,” he said. “At home we sang as a trio, when Gladys wasn’t playing’ the harmonica. Elvis always had a natural talent. He can’t read a note even now. But you don’t have to teach a fish to swim.”

• Young Elvis: “I can sing better than that”

And Gladys remembered a time when she took her son to the fair in Tupelo. After listening to a guitarist sing a song, Elvis told his mother, “I can sing better than that.” According to Vernon, “he just walked right up on that platform, his legs shaking’ a little, and sang that song without any accompaniment.” “With a real powerful voice,” added Gladys, “and he did sing it better than that guitarist.”

The Presley’s recollect that from early on young Elvis dreamed of what he would do for his parents someday. “When he was hardly four,” his mother recalled, “he’d tell me: ‘Don’t worry, baby. When I’m grown up I’ll buy you a big home and two cars. One for you and Daddy and one for me.’ All his life he’d say out loud what he was going to do for us, and he’d say it in front of other people. And you know, I believed him.”

While in high school, Elvis took jobs in the afternoon to help his parents make ends meet. “And even when he was in school he’d go around and pay the grocery bill, $25, $30,” said Mrs. Presley. “We didn’t ask him to. He’d just do it himself.” Once Elvis got his father to buy him a lawn mower and used it to make himself $8 a week. “But he stopped when the girls watched him,” remembered Vernon.

• Elvis: "You’ve taken care of me … Now it’s my turn"

“And when he got 19 and started making money,” Gladys said, “he told us: ‘You’ve taken care of me for 19 years. Now it’s my turn.”

Even with their son about to turn 22, the Presley’s expected their close family ties would last forever. “This is Elvis’s home,” declared his father. “He’s never had no other home except with us.”

“And even when he gets married,” said his mother, “part of him will always be here.”

When Sidney Fields left Memphis and returned to the big city up north, he took with him a good feeling about Elvis Presley’s parents. “I like these people,” he wrote in one of his Daily Mirror articles a few weeks later. “They’re simple, neighborly, unaffected by the fame and fortune of their son, or the furor he has created.”

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