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).41 responses total.
He didn't die. He went home.
We celebrate King Day in January don't we? For Elvis' birthday?
When was Elvis' birthday, anyway?
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.
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.
RE #3 Elvis Aron Presley was born January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi.
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.
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..
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.
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.
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.
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.
It never will, Jon. It's best to put up with it and let it go on.
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!
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?
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.
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 :)
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.
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...
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.
Just a note --- we've postulated that there will be a cult of Elvii far into the future, like it or not.
FWIW, read "Elvissey", by Jack Womack - it's about an alternate universe in which Elvis is a God figure.
Oh Gawd. Probably right along the lines of Brave New World.
Regarding #19: Indeed, I'm sure things had been fairly quiet until he came along.
Hmm...sort of, omni. I never got around to finishing reading it.
Elvis wasn't just music, he was image. People remember the image more than the music, and that's what he did for rock n roll. George's guitar work doesn't impress me overmuch. There are plenty of others who are more adept.
Of course there is Eddie Van Halen ;)
Such as Eddie Van Halen.
That's not fair-- Eddie Van Halen is among the most technically skilled players, so *everyone* suffers when they are compared to him. Personally, I get tired of guitarists when they place so much emphasis on competition, especially in the technique area. Harrison isn't an amzing player, but he's nice to listen to. For that matter, when we the lasxt time you heard someone who was a wizard at playing the flamenco style? *That* is some difficulty.
I believe Hector Elizondo, of Chicago Hope is an accoplished flamenco player. How about the likes of: Chet Atkins Mark Knofler <sp> Jimi Hendrix or Lester and Earl (Flatt and Scruggs)
Well, technique for it's own sake isn't a worthy goal, but it's sure a good means to an end. What lumen said - Harrison isn't technically brilliant, but he's still my favorite Beatle.
Lester and Earl? Didn't they pioneer banjo picking styles? As for Hendrix, guitarists I've talked to note him for his experimentation, but not necessarily for his techinical superiority.
I forget which one played the banjo, and which one played the guitar, However, I did see something on TNN about a man who is can be called a master. Roy Clark, who as I heard, can play in any style he cares.
Tommy Tedesco. He is (was?) one of the studio heavyweights. Any guitar-like
instrument, any style. For the short run of Martin Mull's talk show
("Fernwood Tonight") he played the bandleader.
Earl Scruggs played banjo, and there is at least one book by him on the style
he uses.
Right-- most banjo teachers teach the Scruggs method. That would mean Lester is the guitar player. As for Roy Clark, he had been a staple of the "Hee Haw" country variety show for years, and I'm sure he had been playing for years. By the way, shouldn't this discussion thread be tied to Jovan's item about musicians, techniques, and styles?
There are a lot of songs Elvis only played *once* - to record
this chaf as filler for the many movie soundtrack albums that needed
to be put out with the movie. While there are Elvis fans that would
be able to pick out one that is on their fave list, that fact remains
that in the Elvis archives, a lot of tunes are uninspired/unperspired.
Usually only the title theme is what would make it to the 'really
learned, rehearsed and used in a concert setting. Elvis did compose
a few words/music, but as we noted above, mostly found, or had song
found for him to sing.
Now some of the others we respect, Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan,
the Beatles, Billy Joel and more did sweat to put together their
tunes. They lived with these in their head for some time, then
sweat to do get them into concert and recorded performances.
Elvis in 1956 woke up the music industry and America to a
dramatic change, a change that might have happened anyway, but not
so much without the personality/packaging to go with it.
oh, so that's why we had all the elvis stuff on sale at work <smacks herself on the forehead>
I have never laughed so hard as I did when I was watching the documentary/movie of Elvis' Vegas comeback shows '69. At one point, during dress rehearsal, he walked out on stage while the band was jamming to a low sort of jumping tune. He picked up the mike...started nodding his head along with the music...you thought he was going to start singing the song, but instead he says, "Ubbagobbageebagobbagabbagubbagobbageebagubbagoddamn!!" I am not exxagerating in the least. Oh, right before he says that amazing line, he says, "Now, some of y'all may not've been down south too much.....", *then* he says the gobbledy gook line. I was rolling. No offense to anyone, but my friend and I were just watching the video in order to laugh at Elvis, anyway. And in addition, we were in the right frame of mind.
That does sound hilarious! I hope nobody got any funny ideas about the South-- hehehe. :)
Too late, Jon! <just kidding...heh heh...>
Hee hee hee!
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