Overview

It was his most electric and influential time as a live performer. The young and hungry Elvis, the rising star, burst onto stages large and small—sexy, controversial, brimming with talent and ambition. One lightning-hot year in Florida fueled his rise from novelty act to headlining megastar. Elvis Ignited follows the immensely talented musician through his tour of Florida in 1955–1956, where he played more concerts than in any other state in the country and where he first became the object of worship, scorn, and controversy. Bob Kealing interviews people who saw the King up close in high school gymnasiums, nightclubs, radio stations, and shopping centers, recalling the time-stands-still memories of hearing his hit songs for the first time and the shrieks of young fans at the sight of the young rockabilly god. Struck by a new kind of music and performances so different from anything they had known before, Floridians saw how special Elvis was before the rest of the world caught on. Kealing continues the story through Elvis’s years in the army and the filming of Follow that Dream in Florida in 1961. Elvis’s rise to fame in the Sunshine State was a turning point in American music history. It was the arrival of rock and roll.

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9780813062303

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Reviews

Kealing . . . takes his time with folks from across the region as they share firsthand stories of their time with Presley. --Creative Loafing Tampa Bay Reveal[s] Florida's crucial role in the life and musical careers of the king of rock 'n' roll. . . . The first comprehensive record of a real turning point in American musical history. --Orlando Sentinel Fascinating stories about the singer's early career in the Sunshine State. --Florida Today [Presley] comes back to life in the pages of Bob Kealing's Elvis Ignited. . . . This is the Elvis that created the legend: young, beautiful, raw and revolutionary, a shot of pure energy into mid-century America. --Tampa Bay Times

[Presley] comes back to life in the pages of Bob Kealing's Elvis Ignited. . . . This is the Elvis that created the legend: young, beautiful, raw and revolutionary, a shot of pure energy into mid-century America. --Tampa Bay Times Fascinating stories about the singer's early career in the Sunshine State. --Florida Today Reveal[s] Florida's crucial role in the life and musical careers of the king of rock 'n' roll. . . . The first comprehensive record of a real turning point in American musical history. --Orlando Sentinel A persuasive argument that Presley's moonshot to fame could not have happened without Florida. . . . Deftly captures a pre-Interstate Florida where an anonymous Presley would be traveling for grueling hours down every two-laner in the state in his signature automobile. --Palm Beach Post Reveal[s] Florida's crucial role in the life and musical careers of the king of rock 'n' roll. . . . The first comprehensive record of a real turning point in American musical history. --Orlando Sentinel Fascinating stories about the singer's early career in the Sunshine State. --Florida Today

Reveal[s] Florida's crucial role in the life and musical careers of the king of rock 'n' roll. . . . The first comprehensive record of a real turning point in American musical history. --Orlando Sentinel

Author Information

Bob Kealing, an Edward R. Murrow and four-time Emmy award–winning reporter for NBC’s WESH-TV in Orlando, is the author of Calling Me Home: Gram Parsons and the Roots of Country Rock; Kerouac in Florida: Where the Road Ends; and Life of the Party: The Remarkable Story of How Brownie Wise Built, and Lost, a Tupperware Party Empire.

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