The year 1957 was pivotal1 in Elvis Presley’s career, marking his movement from live performance to cinema. In his third movie Jailhouse Rock he played a young prisoner who became a rock star. This storyline allowed Presley to showcase2 his signature3 quiff4, his brazen5 sneer6 and, of course, the manic leg-and-hip-shaking7 “Elvis the Pelvis” dance idolised by teenagers, but loathed8 by their parents.
The song, opened by two instantly-recognisable guitar chords9 and a snare drum10, was inspired by a scene in the film where the inmates11 put on a show12. Using the names of real criminals, songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller summed up 13 a boisterous14 party in five verses of rhyming couplets15. The third verse, in which two men dance together, came under inevitable scrutiny16, yet has since been embraced17 by the…
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Speak Up (Digital) - 1 Issue, No 473