Agreed, I dont see what the fuss is about with Elvis.
Please check out http://www.elvispresleynews.com/Beatles.html I know some of the facts of the meeting are in dispute (ie the jam session that only John remembers) but it gives a good indication of the impact Elvis had on that generation. I don't know how you can appreciate The Beatles place in rock history if don't understand Elvis's.* (I'm not saying you should like his music - I don't - but give him his dues)
*sorry - that sounds snooty and I don't mean it to be.
Elvis was a puppet- a revolutionary puppet who defined rock and roll, but a puppet nonetheless.
Whoa. Who was pulling the strings then? (and I'm only talking pre-army here). Remember, up to Brians death The Beatles were told what to wear, how to behave, what to say, where to play. (and they did it all, without, apparently, a murmur of discontent.)
Elvis's image was his own, as was his choice of material (until after the Army). He was not manufactured. What you saw in '56 was the real Elvis, not a make-over.
People saying Elvis is just another singer is like people saying Pepper is just another album. Look at music before and after and what Elvis achieved. As Lennon said, before him there was nothing. Elvis brought rock'n'roll into the mainstream and gave it its image that still endures today. He wasn't the product of some manager or studio boss, he was the original hunky dorry man. You need to see him in context to appreciate him (as with Beatlemania/Pepper).
I don't like Elvis, but if that's what John said, I can respect it.
But, before Elvis there was black blues music. That's where it all really comes from.
One of the good things about The Beatles was that they acknowledged their influences, including black artists like Chuck Berry. I get the impression that Elvis, in the segregationist mentality of 50's America, couldn't have acknowledged the artists that made it possible for him to get so great. Great on top of the achievements of black bluesman. Reminds me of the Chinese expression, though the context is different, 'I stood on the shoulders of great men and saw far.'
If you ask me, Chuck Berry deserved the credit Elvis got. And he wrote his own songs. Great ones. Still classic. Still great.
True. Elvis didn't invent rock'n'roll, but it was never (sadly) going to hit mainstream while its main proponents were black, die-hard rockabillies ( a nod to PC) or old fat guys like Bill Haley. Rock'n'roll, as we understand it today, is Elvis. (ie the whole moody teenage rebellion thing). And you could argue that The Beatles (in the beginning) sound was made on the back of all the American artists they so admired, but that in no way lessens their achievements (and so it should be for Elvis).
I can give a nod to people who love Elvis for him 'being there', at the right time, with the right image. But, I'd see him more as an entertainer with a cool image rather than a giant of music. Maybe history will judge Chuck Berry as the 'real' Elvis, or Elvis as the 'false' Chuck Berry, so to speak.
I think the main bias against Elvis is that he didn't write his own songs, and yes, that will always stand against him. But remember, there was absolutely no expectation in those days that artists should write their own material. (Sinatra didn't, Pavarotti doesn't, but would you deny them their status?) And remember how Elvis's working of the songs he did blew THE WORLD away. (and being Beatle fans, we have to accept that image is as important as sound, which he had in spades (and NOT manufactued, like the....)) Anyway, we need to find something to agree on! (but hats off for discussing, not arguing. This is why I joined a forum.)
It's fair comment! I don't hate Elvis or anything. I just don't like his kind of stuff. But his voice wasn't bad for sure. True about singer/songwriters not being the done thing in those days. But when the Beatles came and 'stole Elvis's throne', so to speak, it was fully deserved. But, Elvis will go down in history with justification too.
Just listen to Elvis Sun Sessions. The young Elvis is literally in the act of defining rock-n-roll with Scotty Moore and Bill Black. These recordings are magic. Listen to "Blue Moon of Kentucky." If you want a moment that signifies the birth of rock-n-roll, wait for the part where Elvis stops the slow bluegrass shuffle and tells the boys to get "real gone" and they take the song into hyperdrive. Electric.
The early stuff for RCA still has some of the raw power, but it was waning by the time he joined the Army. "Teddy Bear"? Ugh!
The last great song E did was "Little Sister" with James Burton on guitar.
As much as I love the Beatles, I still don't think they were as much a live performance phenomenon as Elvis. They're bobbing up and down is nothing compared to E's moves.
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