Welcome to Day 4 of Elvis Week 2017! It’s the week-long celebration of the 82nd anniversary of Elvis Presley’s birth. Today’s episode…

Day 4: Private Presley – It was 1958. Elvis Presley had revolutionized the music business and much of society. It’s hard to overstate the historic and cultural changes that began to take place in the mid-Fifties that EP was at the forefront of. By this point, he had bought Graceland and was at what some would say was his artistic peak. That was when Uncle Sam came calling. A two-year hitch in the Armed Forces was required of American young men at that time and King was no different. They allowed him the time to finish his finest film containing one of his two best dramatic performances – “King Creole” – and then it was off to Germany where he was stationed. Col. Tom Parker thought this was great publicity. He refused to have ‘his boy’ in the Special Services and thought it would be great for Presley’s image to have him simply soldiering with the rest of the fellas. Elvis’ hitch in the Army was major news at the time and his induction and most of his movements getting over to Germany were heavily scrutinized by the media. And Presley was worried. Worried what condition his career would be in when he got out. Two years away in the entertainment industry of the 1950’s, in particular, was a long time. Parker held back recordings to be doled out at particular intervals to maintain the flow of new material while Elvis was away. But Presley wasn’t the only one worried. Gladys Presley was terrified by the prospect of her boy getting hurt or killed while in the Army. This worry was only slightly quelled when Elvis’ parents and grandmother, Minnie Mae, were relocated to a house near where Elvis was stationed in Germany. Unfortunately, Gladys began to gain weight and to experience a decline in her health. She was diagnosed with hepatitis and her condition gradually worsened. She died in August of ’58. Elvis was devastated. We talked on Day 1 about how close Elvis was to his mother. Her death was a major blow to him and one wonders if the rest of his life and career would have been different – perhaps more stable, grounded – if she had lived. This is a huge element of his story to consider. Again I have to say that there are so many facets of the life of Elvis Presley to explore that it’s hard to do it in so short a space. Consider his hitch in the Army alone. While in the Armed Forces, his mother died, he took up karate, he experienced international travel for the only time in his life, he was introduced to amphetamines and he met his future wife, Priscilla. All of these could be dissected in detail. Yet another huge element arising out of this time in Elvis’ life is the plan the Colonel came up with for his one and only client’s career when he emerged from the Armed Forces. While Presley had been in the Army, rock ‘n’ roll had suffered an extreme watering down. The Colonel thought it only logical that now was the time for his boy to reinvent himself as an entertainer for all ages. The edgy rebelliousness of rock might fall out of favour with the bulk of the record-buying public. It was risky. But someone who made wholesome films the whole family could enjoy? Now, that seemed like a sure thing.