Also, in regards to Elvis's not writing his own songs: that's obviously a huge artistic advantage in favor of the Beatles. I don't necessarily begrudge Elvis for not writing his own stuff, but when you consider that other contemporary artists like Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Bo Diddley, and Carl Perkins, as well as a ton of earlier blues artists, were composers, one has to wonder why Elvis didn't at some point sit down and give songwriting a shot. I think it's because even though he was the King of Rock and Roll, he didn't really feel a deep connection to the music -- his personal favorite songs to sing were gospel songs. And I think he looked at RnR not as a great new musical form but as a vehicle into bigger things: movies and Hollywood stardom. At some point in his career he said that his goal was to be like Dean Martin -- make movies, perform in Vegas, do TV appearances, record albums, etc. His goal wasn't to get to "the Toppermost of the Poppermost."