 listening library presents who was Elvis Presley by Jeff Edgers read for you by Kevin Perri so who was Elvis Presley he was called the King that's because Elvis Presley ruled rock and roll there were other singers in the 1950s but nobody like Elvis he looked different he greased up his black hair and grew long sideburns he wore whatever he wanted even pink pants with black stripes looked cool on Elvis and boy could he dance then there was the music in the 50s before Elvis there was no rock and roll there were two kinds of popular music on the radio white singers sang romantic songs or cute songs a big hit in 1953 was how much is that doggy in the window in small clubs black singers were performing rhythm and blues or R&B it was loud with a strong beat and was easy to dance to back then R&B wasn't played very much on radio stations just because it was black music but Elvis listened to those black singers mainly from records other kids had and he loved that music rhythm and blues music helped make Elvis a big star he sang R&B in his own special way girls screamed when he stood on stage and wiggled his hips boys tried to look like him parents were upset they didn't like this new music they thought Elvis was too wild but they was no turning back this was the start of rock and roll and of all the rock stars to come Elvis was always the biggest he had one hit record after another he sold out concerts he became a movie star and when he died more than 30