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What was it about Elvis Presley?


Steel2Velvet

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I haven't seen an Elvis thread here, but he probably deserves some discussion.

Aside from his looks and stage presence; what are your thoughts on the reasons for Elvis' rise to fame. Was he necessary for rock and roll to exist? Was that voice and his musicianship the leverage he needed? Would he be successful today if just starting out as a 19 year old?

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hmmm not sure Steel...I was never an Elvis fan, but I do have a friend that is a big time fan..she even has an Elvis Room!....lots of memorabillia worth alot of money too...I think it was a combination of his voice, looks, and he was very entertaining while performing, ya know the swingin of the hips and all...wasnt that taboo back then?...so I guess that's part of the reason...Would he be successful starting today at 19? well I suppose, but I bet he would of had a different choreography routine to his dance :grin:

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You took the words right out of my mouth.

On the stage he seemed like he had this almighty power that no-one could match.

I've never been a huge fan, but those videos of him in his early days when he's performing, hot and sweaty, really going for it, is quite extraordinary!

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It's because you women like bad boys ! ;)

Secretly, many of us guys were jealous of him, even though we liked his music. I was a teenager then and had progressed from 50s Pop to the "new" Bill Haley, Little Richard and Fats Domino Rock and Roll. But this guy was different.

I used to buy all his records until I got cheesed off with some of the lousy soundtrack albums from the many B grade Movies his (Mis)Manager signed him to.

With all the early hype it's easy to overlook just what a great interpreter of a song he was. I like his ballads best(generally).

He would have made it in any era. He's the King.

:guitar:

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I like Elvis in the beginning, the first couple years before he made his first movie.

He took other peoples songs and made them his own.

That's All Right - Arthur 'big boy' Crudup

Blue Moon of Kentucky - Bill Monroe

Good Rockin' Tonight - Roy Brown

Baby, Let's Play House - Arthur Gunter

Mystery Train - Little Junior Parker

Money Honey - the Drifters

Lawdy Miss Clawdy - Lloyd Price

The first 50 songs are just dynamite

(chronological).

:elvis:

_ _ _ _ _

Treat me like a fool

Treat me mean and cruel

But love me

Wring my faithful heart

Tear it all apart

But love me...

Here's more to explore.

:cool:

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He came along at the right time. He wasn't the first to rock and roll, but he was a leader when it came to taking it over the edge.

I mean, look at his early clips. Every inch of the guy moved when he sang. Toes, ankles, knees, hips, waist, shoulders, all the way up to his hair. He was a full body spasm, the likes of which no-one had ever seen before. He took the Mississippi Blues he listened to growing up, and turned it into Elvis Presley's voice.

Though Little Richard was a lot racier, lyrically, and Jerry Lee Lewis was a lot wilder on stage, neither had the pure charisma Elvis possessed. Some people have an aura, a true brighter light shining from withing them. Elvis had that his entire life.

That incredible voice. No one, and I mean no one, ever, sang like Elvis. I love the guy, always have. I remember crying when Elvis died. I was 13, and it was the first real sadness my Mom and I shared.

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Elvis was my great-aunts favorite singer(my grandmother's sister), her daughter's favorite, my mother's favorite, and if not my favorite, I still enjoy his songs and yeah watching that sexy body and hearing that sexy voice. He crossed all age barriers, and no one will ever do the same.

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I agree with all the other gals who have posted: he was absolutely gorgeous :D

I really like songs like 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'All Shook Up' and 'Jailhouse Rock'.

I think that the reason people went crazy for him is because there had been nothing like him ever before and society needed something to shake things up. Also, for the first time, there was a new age group: teenagers. The end of World War Two had created this whole new generation who were staying at school longer and not moving into full time work at 14 or so. Suddenly there was this whole new audience waiting for something that they could really get into. And Elvis was it! If their parents thought he was awful, all the better!!

He's not my favourite, but I can see past my own personal preferences and acknowledge that Elvis, along with The Beatles, is the greatest ever :bow:

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he was the first one to combine things like sex appeal, a great voice, wonderfull songs and also the rise of the record industry and the media. Young people took the lead, they were trendy and fashion since Elvis... he gave them the power. I see him like the equivalent of James Dean for music and TV was there to make him famous too.

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Elvis was a giant talent as covered by all the posts above. One other ingredient that went into his success was his complexion. Until Elvis just abbout all of the great songs were performed by blacks, many of whom he covered early in his career (see BB above). Radio stations were dying for white performers (especially in the South) and when he came along it was BAM! The Colonel knew what he had.

I'm not saying that that was the key to his immediate success, just that it helped. His immense talent took him the rest of the way.

Thank God, he saved us from Pat Boone covers of R&B.

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He crossed all age barriers, and no one will ever do the same.

And still does. When my son was only about 5 and I was playing an Elvis CD in the truck, he perked up and paid attention. To this day (lo, these many 7 years later) he still loves Elvis... and that's a compliment; other than Elvis it's 50 Cent and that ilk these days.

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This can be answered really simply. Grab a copy of "Aloha From Hawaii". Select "Steamroller Blues". See that commanding stage presence? Hear that fantastic range? THAT is "what it was about Elvis Presley". He exuded, radiated and oozed coolness. The ladies (ahem) wanted to 'be' with him, and the guys wanted to BE him. That curled lip and slow pelvic grind that came to a bump-stop would have made Mother Theresa come unglued. Good Gawd the man was cool...Henry Winkler's "The Fonz" from the '70's "Happy Day's" drew heavily on Presley's persona. There will never be another Elvis. Ever.

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There will never be another Elvis. Ever.

Except for the 816 in Vegas and those that are rentable for bar-mitzvahs in any city with a population over half a million.

But I know what you mean. (Although Tom Jones did, and still does to a degree, elicit the identical reaction from the ladies to his stage performance.)

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I'd have to say that Elvis was the best in his day when rock was young.Jerry Lee Lewis was jealous of Elvis.Jerry felt that he should be "The King" instead of Elvis.Carl Perkins was also a contender for the King title but was in an auto accident and couldn't perform for awhile so he lost out to Elvis.Carl wrote Blue Suede Shoes by the way.As far as having a favorite song by Elvis I pefer Crying In The Chapel.

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Elvis' voice turns your legs to jelly....I'm not a huge fan, but I like his music. Too bad that he was loyal to someone who only wanted to exploit him and let him self-destruct. Otherwise, the real him might be doing the nightclub circuit in Vegas today.

Tom Jones.....nice voice, but looks-wise only one word fits....ewwwwwww

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  • 2 weeks later...

Elvis enjoyed the edginess. His style of performance was not seen in public if not tolerated. I think if anything the controversy hightened his career during the time. Not to mention this was a well chiseled, sexy man. Obviously looks are important to the public. I think if writer's had been more dominant, perhaps he would have been even bigger. The reproduction of other artist's songs are fun and it worked for him for a while, but he desperately wanted to do his own thing as we saw in his Gospel interest. Today we have seen just about everything. I don't think there's much that can done to make us sit up and say "DAMN" what was that. Elvis in my thought would have been another "Justin Timberlake" in today's world.

I will say it again, Hollywood and most everything it touches/produces is so twisted and tweeked by the time we see it. If you are a musician you should make music the way you want it.

Antigone Rising: Now that they are stepping into mainstream they have been reduced to a commercial sound. Almost country if you will. These chicks rocked while struggling.

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