On January 8, 1946, Elvis' mother Gladys took him to Tupelo Hardware to buy a present for his 11th birthday. Elvis wanted a .22 caliber rifle or a bicycle, but after some crying he was persuaded to choose a guitar, his only choice. The Presleys gave their son a $7.75 birthday gift that became a priceless legacy. His love of music began in his Assembly of God church in East Tupelo, where as a small child he sang "Jesus Loves Me" before the congregation. His pastor, Brother Frank Smith, taught him to play guitar. His first chords were D, A and E, the chords of "Ole Shep," the song he sang in 1945 to win second place in a youth talent contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show at the Tupelo Fairgrounds. Growing up in East Tupelo, he was surrounded by music, from gospel in church to country and western on the radio from the Grand Ole Opry to blues coming through the doors and windows of juke joints in the Shake Rag community, and he combined those forms into his own unique sound that would rock and roll the world forever.
