Elvis

[gridlore]

OK, it's 25 years since Elvis keeled over. So what? He was at best a moderately talented singer. I have never understood the cult surrounding him. You want a King of Rock? Try Mick Jagger! A career that is approaching 40 years of great music and a life that epitomized rock excess. Elvis was a lounge act when he died.

Elvis? feh.

Comments

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

I think lysana has some valid points about the significance of Elvis in music history. And from a social standpoint, I inject that his hip-swivelling antics on TV which nearly got him banned were the beginning of the challenge against the clean-cut 3-piece suit staid appearance of pop musicians up that point. I think Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis had their own wildness about them, but it was markedly different.

From what I understand, being around Elvis in person was a lot like being around certain politicians in person: He had charisma and presence. It doesn't matter how talented he was or what his views were under those circumstances. People were mesmerised by him.

I agree with you on the music itself... He wasn't writing anything exciting, and he was not a great vocalist. I don't understand the cult or the religion. But then, that would be true of a great many cults and religions.