Both Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley are talented icons, no doubt about it. However, if you put them up against each other, who do you think would come out on top?

Consider things like...

Voice
Live Performances
Overall Impact
Acting
Whose Songs Are Remembered More?

The King of Cool


VS

The King of Rock


WHO WILL WIN? YOU DECIDE!!!!!

in the style column, frank all the way.

Frank Sinatra

They were both super-cool in their own way. Here they are together:

http://www.youtube.com/wa...kd9nHE-mE8

This is probably my favorite Elvis performance:

http://www.youtube.com/wa...6olBj0Ul2w

Chairman of the Board

They did a nice performance together in the mid-50's where they sang each other's songs. One's a pop singer, the other a rock and roll singer. It's too hard to compare the two. Elvis made some timeless songs and is an American icon. Ditto Frank. But if I had to choose, I'd choose Frank because as Stax said, he had a style and flair that is cool in any era (kinda like a pop Miles Davis). Elvis has sadly been parodied (by himself and others) too much to say that.

That's a great comparison. Two huge singers who get as much criticism as praise.

For pure singing & longevity I'd say Frank, though early Elvis kicked ass and I'd rather listen to him. Both are imitated as much as any other singer in the world. You could argue either. Frank was in good for for most of his life, though. But Elvis was talented enough to even do My Way at the very end of his life and make it work.

For live performances, I'd say Elvis. That's where his legend comes from, his look, his moves, the girls, the excitement.

Overall impact I guess Elvis. I think he's more of an icon.

Acting, Frank. Elvis didn't get much of a chance with the crappy movies he did, but I think Frank showed more flair for serious acting.

I think more of Elvis' songs are remembered right now, but in 100 years that may change.

Again, it's a very good comparison.

namepeace said:

This was actually in the early '60s, shortly after Elvis got out of the army. Check out the link I posted above to see the actual performance.

Definately Elvis. Frank was a great singer and performer, but he's nothing compared to ELVIS PRESLEY!

I like Frank better, but I'd say Elvis because he did different styles of music. More range to his career.

But Frank late 1950's - early 1960's Rat Pack in vegas, thats cool

Frank.

Plus, Frank was also a very good dancer as well as an actor. He could really hold his own alongside Gene Kelly, which is really hard to do. I love them together in movies like Anchors Aweigh and On The Town.

Triple threat all the way!

JesseDezz said:

Many thanks.

I love 'em both, and you really can't compare them, but if I had to choose, I'd pick Frank. He made several great albums - Wee Small Hours, Only The Lonely, Songs For Swinging Lovers, the first sublime one with Jobim, September of My Years. And, unlike Elvis, he made four great films - The Manchurian Candidate, The Man With The Golden Arm, Suddenly and From Here To Eternity. And then there were the women he pulled - Ava Gardner and Victoria Principal .... Elvis couldn't compete.

Shapeshifter said:

In terms of criteria:

Voice - Equally matched; although Frank's legendary phrasing blows Elvis's away.

Live Performances - Equally matched at their peak, although Frank didn't disintegrate the way Elvis did between 1975-77. He was still a commanding performer until the final years of his life.

Overall Impact - No Elvis, no Beatles or The Rolling Stones (to name a few); no Sinatra, no fun.

Acting - Right: Manchurian Candidate, From Here To Eternity (Oscar winner), Suddenly, The Man With The Golden Arm - terrific performances. Elvis - Paradise Hawaiian style ... Need I say more?

Whose Songs Are Remembered More? - Put it this way, they both did My Way. Whose do you know best?

Shapeshifter said:

Sid Vicious' version of course.

Shapeshifter said:

The only thing that hillbilly had on Frank was his appetite(for food and pills).

Shapeshifter said:

True, but that song isn't not really a fair comparison. My Way was written specifically for Frank and was already basically his signature song when Elvis did it. Elvis showed incredible balls just trying it (supposedly his band really didn't want him to do it). Somehow he even did a pretty convincing job of it, too.

Otherwise I pretty much agree with your assessment of them.

minneapolisgenius said:

... which is miles better than either Frank's or Elvis', frankly (no pun intended - boom boom!), I know.

(Oh, and here we go again - Mrs Jarvis Cocker from Holland trying to hijack yet another thread. )
[Edited 1/30/07 12:32pm]

NDRU said:

Actually, if you see the film of Elvis's last concert, it's the strange and chilling highlight of that train wreck. Elvis is cracking jokes that he's forgotten the punchline too, losing his way in "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and visibly oozing out from under his corset, but he somehow summons all his strength and gives an incredible performance of My Way, rescuing the song from cliche and giving it a noble dignity in the process.

Shapeshifter said:

yeah, it's pretty unbelievable that he was able to make it work, but that's the weight (again with the puns) he carried as a personality & performer.

That's part of the reason this is such a great comparison

That concert is painful to watch!
[Edited 1/30/07 12:39pm]

NDRU said:

Yes it is. But then so were some of Frank's last shows. I saw him at Docklands in London in 1990. I wasn't expecting much but amazingly he carried it off on his own charisma and overwhelming legend alone. Granted the voice was but a shadow of itself, but what a shadow!

Shapeshifter said:

That's not thread jacking. We're talking about "My Way" aren't we?

NDRU said:

Back to that last concert - it was tragic. Elvis fat, sweaty, pilled up, eyes full of fear as he's seriously screwing up songs his audience know better than him, obviously losing his grip on everything, looking seriously obscene and out of breath doing his pelvic moves .... Yet he amazingly snatches victory from the jaws of defeat for My Way.

minneapolisgenius said:

Yes dear, but Elvis and Frank, not Sidney. Anyway, if I can possibly tempt you away from leading this thread into temptation (i.e: I think Jarvis is the English embodiment of Frank and Elvis), where do you stand on the Sinatra-Elvis debate? I'm seriously interested to hear your thoughts on the matter. No, REALLY. (PS: Am playing We Love Life in your honour - great album, but let's get a room if we want to discuss it).

Shapeshifter said:

refraining from responding to that We Love Life comment.....

Anyway, I already picked Frankie. I posted a bit up above on why I love him.

But to elaborate a bit more, I guess I just like Frank's music more and I listen to it a LOT more than Elvis'. I thought Frank held it together better throughout his whole career, and Elvis sort of became a parody after a while, as talented as he was.

Although I am a sucker for a really cheesy Elvis movie.

NDRU said:

Which goes back to what I said. Elvis' iconography was subject to parody, even by himself. That's the main difference between the two. Frank has been satirized, parodied, and even characters based on him in fictitious works of art are now iconic (think Johnny Fontaine). But those things (or other things known or said about him) never tarnished his image as an icon of music and style.

Sadly, the same thing can't be said of Elvis, a victim of success, revisionism (justified to a degree) and himself.

namepeace said:

Too true.

There are two Elvises. One was an amazing singer & performer, trendsetter, fun personality, sex symbol...One was a complete joke, a self parody, a tragic and comedic figure, naked emperor, glitzed out phony, iffy singer at best. The two Elvises mixed & mingled sometimes, but they were still distinct.

There was only one Frank Sinatra. That's one thing he had over "the king."

NDRU said:

Let's not forget Chuck D's devastating riff on Elvis in "Fight The Power," well known among Gen Xers and Yers alike.