“Before Elvis, there was nothing.” We understand John Lennon’s statement as a tribute to his inspirational role model from his teenage years.
But, of course, Elvis’ family tree and musical influences have been studied diligently, and unfortunately not always without the ulterior motive of collaborating or even dismissing him in a certain direction.
His ancestors are mostly poor artisans and cotton pickers from Mississippi, of Scots-Irish origin. Early ancestors in the maternal line are also French (Mansell), Native American (Morning White Dove), Jewish (Martha Tackett). Paternal traces lead back 300 years to Scotland and Germany.
Around the time of her 21st birthday, pretty dark-haired seamstress Gladys Love Smith falls in love with a handsome blond boy: 17-year-old laborer Vernon Elvis Presley. They are very lucky in love, they are passionate about dancing and singing, and only two months later they secretly marry. However, both have barely outgrown the bitter poverty of their childhood, have no place of their own and only very poor schooling and training.