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2nd Level Green Feather
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Uh-oh, I feel a long one coming on!
John was prone to over-the-top statements, everyone knows that, but to him - and many early rock and rollers - yes, there was nothing before Elvis. If you see him talk about Chuck Berry, he is equally effusive. He heard Little Richard soon after he heard Elvis (possibly weeks), and went on record many times saying how hearing Little Richard sealed the deal that Elvis had begun. Lots of other guys did NOT like Elvis and were NOT so influenced by him. Frank Zappa, for instance. Pete Townshend. Just two guys off the top of my head who were not Elvis fans. Both of my parents were ambivalent about Elvis. I've met lots of people who were around in the 50s, early rock and roll fans and for them, it most definitely was not "all about Elvis".
To say he was the biggest influence on pop music ever - that's debateable. Instead of just saying this grand statement, and I understand, that's what being a rock and roll fan is all about......let's enumerate exactly what Elvis did do..and what he didn't do. There is no diminishing Elvis' importance and influence. But there is overstating it.
-Organically bridging white and black styles.......absolutely. He wasn't the only one (Fats Domino and Chuck Berry are two examples)......
-His hiccupping style.......widely imitated, Buddy Holly and John Lennon being two of the best examples.
-His performance style......any rock singer who fronts a band has got some Elvis in him. It didn't come out of nowhere, he was into black music, but he most definitely had his own trademark thing, like a James Brown or Mick Jagger or a Michael Jackson. Or an Elvis. A one and only.
-The early Sun records....the use of tape echo especially......not just sticking a microphone and recording a performance, but enhancing the performance through some kind of studio trickery.....well, that's been the name of the game ever since, and especially in rock and roll. I put that more on Sam Phillips - and after he left Sun, the records became more generic and were recorded more traditionally. (Chess Records also had distinctive echo on their records. Les Paul also used studio trickery.)
- The music business changed, he exploded the music business. Teen idols were in. The music business liked teen idols (and still does) because they're easily controlled, and super-easy to market. Elvis most definitely made great records throughout his career, but for the most part, the focus was on marketing him as a star and exploiting all the money there was to be made on this kid. There was no precedent for an Elvis, so moving into more mainstream music, and going Hollywood (and going Vegas)....seemed like the path to take.
Those to me are the biggies about Elvis and his influence, off the top of my head. Those are alot of things! Most artist do one thing, if that. He accomplished many!
I see Elvis in all kinds of things today. But I see The Beatles more, way more. Their breadth of influence is way more expansive, into areas you don't even think of. Social mores. Fashion. Even interest in health food and yoga and Eastern philosophy, that all blew up after the Beatles went to India. Music styles that you wouldn't even think of being influenced by. I mean, "Bitches Brew" has Beatles in it, whether or not Miles would admit it, or even know it. Recording techniques, millions of them. The way drums are played, guitars are played, bass is played......the way songs are written......and in multiple ways, all those things I just mentioned, not just one thing. The way you market and present music. The movement from singers to bands. The movement from singles to albums. When you see a video, they're doing The Beatles' early videos and music sequences from their Richard Lester movies, they're not doing Elvis numbers from "Follow That Dream". It goes on and on and on and on. (now cue all the Beatle resenters to pile on....maybe you should just start a thread on that one, lol.)
Anyways, Elvis is great, but there's alot of great stuff in the 50s, and it wasn't "all" about Elvis. You could say though that the 60s WERE all about the Beatles. Virtually nothing that happened in the 60s or that has happened since is untouched by at least something The Beatles did, even tangently. You just can't say that about Elvis, sorry.
Would the 50s have been the same without Elvis? Most definitely not. Would rock and roll have been the same without Elvis? Most definitely not. Is he the biggest influence ever in pop music? I see him as one of the big ones. I don't see him as the only one, and I don't see him as the biggest. But who cares? It's only rock and roll and I like it!
Johnny Ray: Cry (1951)
note the influence on Elvis
Elvis Presley: That's When Your Heartaches Begin (1957)
