The case for Elvis Presley

Exactly. The drawback of going overboard with the charge of cultural appropriation is that holds individuals responsible for structural problems, in this case structural racism. Instead of examining how the record companies, publishing groups, and their owner corporations ripped off black artists, the woker-than-thou treat Elvis as the embodiment of these forces. In doing so, they turn him into a symbolic scapegoat and deny him any individuality as an artist. Treating Elvis as if he was Pat Boone is typical of people who don't know much about rock'n'roll and think social justice is a matter of finding the right person to hate.

Then he wouldn't be awesome, he'd just be a copycat. And that's not what Elvis was. He formed an individual style that encompassed practically all of American popular music, from "Blue Moon of Kentucky" to "It's Now or Never" to "That's All Right." Like soul and R&B, Rock'n'roll was more than repackaged blues.

As for the original post in this thread, I think most people with knowledge of rock'n'roll and music history give Elvis his due. The wider public less so, partly because of the cultural appropriation charge--which is too crude to stand scrutiny and will hopefully wither away--and partly because 50s music is receding into the past. Kids today will listen to the Beatles, but few listen to Little Richard or Buddy Holly, let alone Elvis. Perhaps because 50s music is no longer played on so-called "oldies" stations, perhaps because rock music never escaped from the massive shaping influence of the Beatles. But as others have noted, all music must eventually sink into the past, as the fates of Al Jolson and Bing Crosby demonstrate. The best we can do is be thankful so much of the 20th century is preserved for posterity and share the best of the past with anyone who will listen.

 

This assumption and rumor is still being passed around in 2018. It goes back to a magazine article in 1957. Insanity, how rumor becomes assumed truth.

 

Elvis was more singing the Freddie Bell arrangement who was white and the song was written by whites so he was singing white music.
If Thornton had issue with Elvis she was misinformed because B.B. King, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Sammy Davis Jr. Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Al Green and Isaac Hayes loved and appreciated him.

 

Jet magazine debunked that rumor from the smaller publication but I wasn't referring to that assumption you're referring to.
I was talking about the assumption that black artists didn't like him as an artist and performer.

 

See? My assumption about your posted assumption...and we know what they say about assuming. LOLLL

 

I love how Tom Petty described Elvis in Tom's Running Down a Dream doc. (I've heard him reference him this way in other interviews as well) He was talking about how much he loved Elvis as a young kid, but Elvis didn't inspire him to play music because what Elvis was, was unattainable. Paraphrasing but he said something to the effect of: "Elvis wasn't something you could be. You had to look like Elvis for one, and nobody could look like Elvis. Elvis you imagined walking out of the ocean waves to an orchestra with doves flying around him. You couldn't be that. But the Beatles........I can do that!"

 

BB King in Elvis, “To me he had everyth

 

@Black Magic Woman a good read;

Elvis Presley and Racism | The Ultimate, Definitive Guide | Elvis & Racism

 

There’s another Tom Petty quote about Elvis from the Searcher documentary that I love:

“You know, God bless him. He was a light for all of us. We all owe him for going first into battle. He had no road map and he forged a path of what to do and what not to do. And we shouldn’t make the mistake of writing off a great artist because of all the clatter that came later. We should dwell on what he did that was so beautiful and everlasting, which was that great, great music.”

 

Absolutely... I concur w our OP 100%.
E L V I S is King.

 

I will say as a slight revision to my OP that in Country Music culture in the the southern U.S. Elvis still maintains much more artistic integrity and legitimate iconic status like he used to in the Pop/Rock world.

 

I remember my musical journey back in time from my alternative rock bands back to floyd,zep, stones, Beatles. Once I got back to elvis and chuck berry I appreciated that they started it all but the music wasn't of much interest to me. I found jazz from the same time period and was blown away hearing miles and Coltrane and bird so it's not just how old the music was, it's just not as appealing to me for some reason. Elvis definitely has his place in the musical pantheon though so I dont see him ever being forgotten.

 

I haven't read this thread because every thread that I've seen that calls Elvis "great" immediately draws too much negativity, which is a shame, therefore this will probably be my only post in this thread.

With just a cursory glance I see that Big Mama Thornton's name gets mentioned...who had her song "Hound Dog" written by 2 white teenagers.....and Elvis who also sang that song by those same 2 white teenagers and not even remotely sounding like anything Big Mama Thornton was doing....yet Elvis stole the music..give me a break. I like both versions, but only Elvis' version knocks you off your feet, hence only Elvis deserved the mega-hit.

Elvis' 1st single, "That's All Right" b/w "Blue Moon of Kentucky"...one side an R&B number by a black man, the other a bluegrass number by a white man. Elvis made "Blue Moon of Kentucky" his own Elvis style making it a"pop song just about" said Sam Phillips on the tape that demonstrates what makes Elvis great...and he improved "That's All Right"...Elvis' version rocks, whereas Arthur's is just fine, but Arthur doesn't move my soul & make me want to move & dance like Elvis. Both sides show why Elvis deserved the attention....the original versions are fun, but they are not Elvis-level superstar fantastic that Elvis made them.

2nd single, same thing, one side black, the other side white.

His 1st album similarly had half the songs by white country artists, half by black R&B artists....also white Rodgers & Hart for goodness sake....some covers succeeded, some were mediocre, but it was all Elvis...just whatever music he liked.

He went on to record Gospel of whatever race...because it wasn't about race..

Elvis just loved music of all kinds, of whatever race and he integrated it. "I sing all kinds," said Elvis. Integrated....that is the key!

For the culture, Elvis opened a lot of doors, and those in the know, like James Brown, loved Elvis and publicly praised his efforts for opening the door in that society for him. To knock Elvis for unashamedly embracing, not appropriating, the culture of everyone and every race, is insane.

Come on, his first #1 single "Heartbreak Hotel" was written by a white man & white woman. "Blue Suede Shoes", "I Want You I Need You I Love You", "Jailhouse Rock"... white people writing, embracing & integrating sounds, not stealing anything. Elvis did everyone..whatever sounded good.

Elvis doesn't deserve the negativity. He was a great talent. People dismiss him at their loss.

James Brown knew where it was at when speaking about Elvis

 

I have noto read any of the previous posts, so I may be way out of bounds.

As a tween & teen in the 1960''s growing up in the midwelt (Iowa) I only knew Elvis through his movies. As a kid, they didn't seem as cheesy as they do to me as an adult.

I can't think of any other of his peer group (Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, + many others) that I knew existed or knew their music existed.

Even the Singer Special (aka The comeback special) was on my radar as a 16 year old. I wish I could have been one of the cool kids who saw the original broadcast. But I wasn't

My best friends mother had all the Elvis LPs. I pawed through them many times but never played them. My bad.

I was into the Who, Rolling Stones, Guess Who, Steepenwolf.

So I later had to catch up.

 

That's right, those who missed out had to go BACK to catch up! Well stated.

 

You need to own some Elvis. Start with the Sun Sessions...you won’t look back.

 

My late beloved Grandma loved Elvis. And she passed that love to me.

In fact, I dig 70s Elvis.

 

CD #1 form the Tupelo box is unworldly.

 

My kids love some older music, including the Beatles, Queen, and Stones, but they burst out laughing at Elvis whenever they hear it. Something about his vocal style sounds very dated and “put on” to modern ears IMO.

 

And so far the Tupelo box is the only official release that contains the original dry version of That's All Right. RCA's version added reverb. In fact RCA additional reverb and compression to all the Sun sides before they reissued them. Of the 10 Sun sides only That's All Right was missing the trademark slap back tape echo from Sun.

A Boy From Tupelo also has the RCA version for comparison. 99% of the living have only heard the RCA reverbed version. I was floored the first time I heard the original dry version. It was mastered from an actual Sun single for this box set.

 

When Time magazine did their 100 Most Important People of the Twentieth Century, they included only two musicians. One was Elvis; the other was Bob Dylan - the body and mind of rock n roll, if you will. Yes, Elvis made some pretty lame movies and some pretty bad music that went along with them. But he was always capable of making great music into the Seventies. I am a teacher and I have used Warren Zevon's "Porcelain Monkey" in class, a critique of Elvis that never mentions him by name. There are always a few students that know who the song is about and there is never a student who asks "Who is this Elvis Presley you speak of?". He is one of those figures that is seared into the culture.

 

Elvis was and is the man. The king is severely missed in 2018 and 2019.

 

Warren Zevon had a certain fetish for Elvis. "Threw its all away for a figurine." He, like so many of us play the "what if" game when it comes to Elvis.

 

My kids- just turned 3/ almost 5- are too young to get “dated”. They really respond to powerful/theatrical voices with pronounced vibrato. Elvis and Lady Gaga are their current favorites. It’ll be interesting to further educate them about The King as they get a little older. (Some of the Lisa Marie stuff may need to wait a few years! )