名人轶事:Elvis Presley

（单词翻译）

By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: March 13, 2005

((THEME))

ANNCR:

Welcome to PEOPLE IN AMERICA, a program in VOA Special English. Today Rich

Kleinfeldt and Steve Ember tell about one of America’s most popular singers,

Elvis Presley.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

That song, “Hound Dog,” was one of Elvis Presley’s most popular records.

It sold five-million copies in Nineteen-Fifty-Six. Music industry experts say

more than one-thousand-million of Elvis’s recordings² have sold throughout

the world. He was a success in many different kinds of music --popular,

country, religious, and rhythm³ and blues⁴.

Elvis Presley won many awards from nations all over the world, yet he did not

record in any language other than English. He never performed outside the

United States, except for three shows in Canada. Yet, his recordings and

films have been, and are still, enjoyed by people all over the world.

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in the southern town of Tupelo, Mississippi on

January eighth, Nineteen-Thirty-Five. His family was extremely poor. During

his childhood, he sang in church with his parents. He also listened to music

that influenced his later singing, including country, rhythm and blues, and

religious music. Elvis and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when he was

thirteen.

After high school, he had several jobs, including driving a truck. In

Nineteen-Fifty-Three, he made his first recording¹, of this song, “My

Happiness”:

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Elvis Presley recorded the song at the Memphis Recording Service. The story

is that he paid four dollars to make a recording for his mother. A woman who

worked at the public recording studio had another job with a local

independent record company called Sun Records. She made a second recording of

Elvis’s songs because she thought the owner of Sun Records should hear him

sing.

VOICE TWO:
The owner of Sun Records, Sam Phillips, had been looking for a white

performer who could sing black rhythm and blues. He suggested Elvis work with

a guitar player and a bass⁵ player. Several months later Mister⁶ Phillips

agreed to have the group make a record. It was released⁷ on July nineteenth,

Nineteen-Fifty-Four. One of the songs was “That’s All Right”:
(MUSIC)

The record sold well in Memphis, and was a played a lot on local radio

stations. To let others hear Elvis, Sam Phillips organized a series of

performances at country fairs in the area. One of the people who heard Elvis

perform at these shows was Colonel⁸ Tom Parker. Elvis signed an agreement that

Colonel Parker would organize his appearances.

One of Elvis’ first new recordings became a huge hit, and led to his many

appearances on television. It was “Heartbreak Hotel”:#p#副标题#e#

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

By the middle of the Nineteen-Fifties, Elvis Presley was known around the

world as the young man who moved his hips⁹ in a sexual¹⁰ way as he sang rock and

roll music. Many adults said he and his music were bad influences on young

people. Young women loved him. Huge crowds attended his performances.

He made his first movie in Nineteen-Fifty-Six. It was “Love Me Tender¹¹.” The

title song was a big hit.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Presley was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood for a number of

years in the Nineteen-Fifties. He acted in thirty-one movies.

In Nineteen-Fifty-Eight, just as he finished making the movie “King Creole,

” Elvis received notice that he had to serve in the United States Army.

He was stationed in Germany where he lived in a large house and dated a lot

of beautiful women. One young girl he met in Germany was Priscilla Beaulieu,

the daughter of an Army officer. She was fourteen years old. Later, after

Elvis had finished his army service, she came to live with him in Memphis.

They married in Nineteen-Sixty-Seven, when she was twenty-one years old. He

was thirty-two. They became parents nine months later of a baby girl, Lisa

Marie.

VOICE ONE:

Colonel Parker made sure that songs Elvis had recorded earlier were released

during the years he was in the army. So Elvis was just as popular after his

military service as he was before it.

Elvis Presley won the three of the music industry’s highest award, the

Grammy. He received the first one in Nineteen-Sixty-Seven. It was for “How

Great Thou Art,” an album of religious music.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Elvis returned to performing live shows in Nineteen-Sixty-Nine, in Las Vegas,

Nevada. He then traveled around the country performing before huge crowds. He

began to take drugs to help him sleep. He gained a lot of weight so he took

drugs to help control his weight. And he took extremely strong drugs to

reduce pain

Elvis also suffered from the emotional¹² sickness, depression. It became worse

after his marriage ended. Elvis never permitted Priscilla to stay with him in

Las Vegas or travel with him around the country. He also did not want

Priscilla to see other people when he was away from home. And he spent time

with other women. Priscilla finally left him in Nineteen-Seventy-Two for

another man.

VOICE ONE:

Elvis Presley released many recordings of his performances during the

Nineteen-Seventies. He also enjoyed great success on television. His

Nineteen-Seventy-Three television show from Hawaii was seen in forty

countries by more than one-thousand-million people.

His last record album was called “Moody Blue.” He recorded it in Nineteen-

Seventy-Six. One of its hit songs was called “Way Down”:

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Presley died on August sixteenth, Nineteen-Seventy-Seven. First reports

said he had a heart attack, but later tests showed many drugs in his body.

Experts agree that these drugs probably caused his death.

Hundreds of thousands of people still visit his home, Graceland, in Memphis

every year. Fans continue to buy his music, making him the most popular

recording artist ever. Elvis Presley remains¹³ the undisputed King of Rock and

Roll.

(MUSIC)

ANNCR:

This program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Rich Kleinfeldt and Steve Ember

were the narrators. The producer was Paul Thompson. I’m Faith Lapidus.

Listen again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program in VOA Special

English.