Well seeing as it would have been his 81st birthday today. Why not. Born 1935, died 1977, aged just 42. Random fact. Elvis was a twin. His still born brother arrived 35 minutes before. Another. With the exception of a few shows in Canada, he never performed a show outside of the USA. Despite 40% of his record sales coming from abroad. Although imo Roy Orbison was better vocally, no denying Elvis was the king of rock and roll. Your favourite Elvis track?
In the Ghetto is also one of my faves.and we cant miss off "Cant help falling in love" for obvious reasons.
Before Elvis there was nothing - John Lennon My favourite tracks Thats all right Mama, Hound Dog, Heartbreak Hotel, Dont be Cruel, Paralysed, Dont, Its Now or Never, Little Sister, Latest Flame, and probably a few more lost in time. Never will forget the first time I heard Hound Dog in the 1950,s you had to hear it then to know what Lennon was on about.
Originally, I was a 'fifties rock 'n' roll boy - Presley, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent (who I saw at the Rink in Park Lane, Sunderland). As such, i'd have chosen 'Hard Headed Woman'. But it didn't remain that way. In the '60's, 'the British invasion' absolutely murdered Presley's credibility. And he tried something with more "social consciousness" to get something back - at least a bit. In many ways, I thought it was an act of desperation by a washed up singer. But, to his credit, he made a damn good job of it. So for me, it was 'In the Ghetto' - a brilliant act of recovery when he very much needed it. Mind you, of the 'fifties rock boys, I'd have said the most lasting influence wasn't Elvis. In just eighteen months, Buddy Holly became enormous, set the group format for generations to come (two guitars, bass and drums) and wrote songs that the 'sixties bands often adopted - The Rolling Stones 'Not Fade Away', Billy J. Kramer's 'Everyday' etc. and, dare I mention, a phenomenally successful British t.v. series - 'Heartbeat' - almost forty years after the man had died?
Great shout Relic and I agree with what you say, but Elvis came first and paved the way for them all. Buddy was amazing the output in such a short space of time has never been equalled, and it was of course a concert in Lubbock, Texas by Elvis that got him started.
Completely right, Clockstander. Even Holly said it - "None of us would have made it without Elvis". He had 'the face of an age - the sort of thing 'Time' magazine looks for, the hip movement from the old black 'flop-house' clubs where most whites at that time, wouldn't have been seen dead inside, and so on - the whole Elvis package made something new "acceptable" - at least to the young. Elvis emphasised 'the generation gap' and made it sell-able.. That was his biggest contribution to 'now' What amazes me at the end of the day is that it took Holly to sum it all up! Can you believe, in just two verses and a chorus, one man summed up the whole generation issue - Holly's 'Well, All Right' was one of the most incisive songs I've ever heard. But I totally agree that Presley spearheaded the whole thing.
Wont forget the first time I heard Buddy either, the travelling fair came to Redhouse every year and the loud music system was a huge attraction to us school kids, approaching the fairground early evening accross the old football field, the the lights came on and sound system struck up with That'll be the Day, it sure was. For all the twists and turns in popular music since then, I dont think those early years were ever bettered tbh.
MJ was a multi instrumentalist who could pick up anything and play it. He wrote his own songs too. MJ was worth 10 of Elvis.
Not a particular fan of any type of music so will go with composites. What I found fascinating about the business was the amount of money made by other people off the efforts of cleverer or more gifted people.
