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Grex > Music2 > #66: The King Is Gone--Or _Is_ He? The Elvis Presley Item | |
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bruin
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The King Is Gone--Or _Is_ He? The Elvis Presley Item
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Aug 14 13:31 UTC 1997 |
Saturday, August 16, 1997, marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Elvis
Presley. Therefore, we have an item to discuss the man better known as "The
King," his contributions to America's pop culture, and what you may have been
doing if you were around (at the time) when you first heard that Elvis was
dead (or if you saw Elvis recently, as some people believe he is still alive
and hiding out somewhere).
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| 41 responses total. |
senna
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response 1 of 41:
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Aug 14 20:49 UTC 1997 |
He didn't die. He went home.
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tpryan
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response 2 of 41:
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Aug 15 01:01 UTC 1997 |
We celebrate King Day in January don't we? For Elvis' birthday?
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orinoco
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response 3 of 41:
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Aug 15 01:42 UTC 1997 |
When was Elvis' birthday, anyway?
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lumen
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response 4 of 41:
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Aug 15 04:00 UTC 1997 |
Oh, Elvis is dead all right-- he was just so larger-than-life as a star that
people won't let him be dead. A true legend. He'll be in the folklore
that historians will study *millenia* from now.
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void
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response 5 of 41:
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Aug 15 07:39 UTC 1997 |
when i first heard that elvis presley had died, i was in the wayback of
a station wagon heading from chelsea to metro airport. not ever having
been much of an elvis fan (and also being eleven at the time), i was
somewhat ambivalent. it was sad that he had died, but it didn't really
affect me personally one way or the other.
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bruin
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response 6 of 41:
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Aug 15 13:26 UTC 1997 |
RE #3 Elvis Aron Presley was born January 8, 1935, in Tupelo,
Mississippi.
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omni
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response 7 of 41:
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Aug 16 04:24 UTC 1997 |
OK, my thoughts on Elvis.
I believe he was overexposed, overmarketed, and generally shoved down the
throats of the teenagers of the 50s and 60s. I am not a fan, although there
are a few of Elvis' songs that I really like, and even sing along with, but
in no way am I a fan. He's like comparing a Cadillac to a Packard.
I believe that Buddy Holly, had he NOT been killed in that plane crash would
have made everyone forget about that kid from Mississippi.
No one ever wrote a song like American Pie to Elvis, the way Don McLean did
for Buddy.
I believe if Ritchie Valens would have lived, he'd probably be a Dylan-esque
rocker.
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mcnally
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response 8 of 41:
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Aug 16 19:58 UTC 1997 |
I'm convinced that as a post-boomer I'm just not culturally equipped to
understand Elvis worship.. I can admit that he made some good music and
some enjoyable, if extremely-cheesey movies, but the notion that Elvis
was the "King" of anything simply Does Not Compute..
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scott
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response 9 of 41:
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Aug 16 22:48 UTC 1997 |
Gotta go back to the really early recordings to hear it. The Vegas stuff was
the beginning of the end. But as far as bringing "race music" into the
mainstream, Elvis was The Man. Too bad about Buddy Holly, because he was
doing it too. But not in the same way.
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jiffer
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response 10 of 41:
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Aug 17 01:41 UTC 1997 |
remeber to leave out your fried banana sandwhiches tonight and the King might
leave you a present! A tub of lard for ones hair is the rare and ultimate
gift.
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orinoco
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response 11 of 41:
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Aug 17 02:14 UTC 1997 |
I've heard the early recordings. They're decent, I suppose, but if I had to
pick a single performer to idolize, rave about, wait for the 'second coming'
of, and so forth, Elvis would *not* be the one.
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lumen
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response 12 of 41:
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Aug 17 04:17 UTC 1997 |
re #5: Since I am of the second wave of Generation X, I had a similar
experience when John Lennon was killed. But then again, I was only in the
first grade at the time..
Scott and Jim hit on a point. While Elvis was not talented much as a musician
(he just sang what was given him), he was EXTREMELY marketable, and still is,
from what I gather. In person, he was a young man any mother or grandmother
could have easily adored-- he was said to be very polite, good-natured, and
even-tempered. He liked animals and animals liked him. He had enoromous sex
appeal early in his career. He translated well to the big screen-- although
he *cannot* act, his movies have been dubbed into several languages.
I agree wholeheartedly that Buddy Holly was by far more talented, and
noteworthy. But Elvis had an image that the music industry and Hollywood
needed, and that was easy for them to shape and mold.
Myself, I'll be glad when Elvis myth and cultdom finally dies.
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senna
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response 13 of 41:
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Aug 17 05:08 UTC 1997 |
It never will, Jon. It's best to put up with it and let it go on.
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omni
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response 14 of 41:
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Aug 17 05:27 UTC 1997 |
Senna is right. Til it does die, just play Buddy's "Not Fade Away" extra loud
on Aug 16. ;)
Buddy was more of an influence. If you were listening, I believe it was Paul
McCartney or Lennon that said they were greatly influenced by Buddy, and later
to a lesser extent Elvis. But if you listen to some of the Beatles songs, you
can hear Buddy's influence.
I think when the antropologists sort it all out, they will find that people
like Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, Bo Diddley, Elvis and The Beatles were the real
fathers of the phenomenon of rock and roll music.
Long Live Buddy Holly, Long live Rock & Roll!
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omni
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response 15 of 41:
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Aug 17 05:31 UTC 1997 |
One more thing to add.
Elvis was mostly a recording artist. Buddy was a writer, producer, arranger,
engineer, and recording artist. It came from the sound in his head, not what
someone told him what to do. Elvis lacked that quality. Mozart was the same
way. He heard it and wrote it down. Who knows how many more symphonies,
operas, etc there would have been had he lived beyond 35?
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krj
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response 16 of 41:
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Aug 17 05:35 UTC 1997 |
To understand the impact of Elvis Presley in the 1950's, it would
probably be instructive to dig a bit into what other pop music
white suburban Americans were listening to in that era.
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lumen
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response 17 of 41:
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Aug 17 07:48 UTC 1997 |
Thanks again, Jim-- you articulated perfectly the small details I did not
know. I had assumed he was a composer, etc., but I didn't say anything to
that effect. Nice to have people who honestly know :)
Man, I wish I had learned this in my music appreciation class :)
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scott
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response 18 of 41:
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Aug 17 13:49 UTC 1997 |
Elvis did have a lot of talent. He was the one who brought in the R&B tunes
to sing, and he played piano and guitar. Granted he wasn't up to the Buddy
Holly standard, but he wasn't Milli Vanilli or Whitney Houston either.
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orinoco
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response 19 of 41:
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Aug 17 17:21 UTC 1997 |
Well, I'll grant you that Elvis may have seemed a lot more spectacular in the
context of what else was going on during the '50s. That's something I can't
really comment on from personal experience, tho...
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omni
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response 20 of 41:
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Aug 17 17:50 UTC 1997 |
re 17, Thank you. I learned what I know from reading and listening to music.
Does anyone recall who started the sitar mania in the early 70's?
George Harrison did, after taking lessons from Ravi Shankar. It seems
that after the Beatles did a song with a sitar, there was an explosion of
groups that followed.
I consider George Harrison to be one of the finest guitar players in the
world, right after Stevie Ray.
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anderyn
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response 21 of 41:
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Aug 17 20:52 UTC 1997 |
Just a note --- we've postulated that there will be a cult of Elvii
far into the future, like it or not.
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orinoco
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response 22 of 41:
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Aug 17 23:30 UTC 1997 |
FWIW, read "Elvissey", by Jack Womack - it's about an alternate universe in
which Elvis is a God figure.
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omni
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response 23 of 41:
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Aug 18 03:16 UTC 1997 |
Oh Gawd. Probably right along the lines of Brave New World.
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lumen
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response 24 of 41:
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Aug 18 21:41 UTC 1997 |
Regarding #19: Indeed, I'm sure things had been fairly quiet until he came
along.
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