By figures of his time I would think that the op is referring to his contemporaries, such as...

Michael Jackson
Lionel Ritchie
Alexander Oneal
Rick James
EWF

to list a few examples.

The op laid out his premise very specifically, defining Prince's influence from his time period going forward...it really ain't that hard to fathom.

hollywooddove said:

Lol.....B.S.

hollywooddove said:

Oh, for goodness sakes, somebody stop the madness and the BS. No way in the soil of this earth did Elvis influence every artist out there. He may have influenced some, but no way will should he be given all the credit for a style he copied big time, from other artists. Come on now, let's give credit where credit is due. Elvis' style was copied from earlier black artists, and his influence was mostly on other white artists that tried to copy what he copied, after that. That was the trend back in that day, when many white artists tried to mock the styles of black artists, because that music was not being accepted in a segregated society until Elvis copied the singing music and dancing styles of black artists, because there really wasn't any other well-known, young white artist trying to do that at that time. It is not like Elvis didn't appreciate learning it from them, but the fact is, he did. He introduced it to white society in his own way. Like many orgers mentioned several times on this thread, the black music that was heard during the 40s and 50s were called "race" music, and all sorts of other names.

If anybody was an influence it was Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and James Brown's music. Chuck Berry and Little Richard influenced Elvis, at least get the facts straight. If MJ called Elvis one of his influences, that's because Elvis copied his style from earlier black artists. Point blank. He didn't even know certain sounds of black music, until he made it his personal business to visit black night clubs, (and that was according to James Brown who confirmed in his book that Elvis inquired about certain types of music sung within the black community, and that he visited black nightclubs to learn the style) in a segregated society at the time, where black artists were not allowed to walk in the door of white clubs, but Elvis, being white, was allowed to frequent black night clubs, because there were no laws barring him from entering any black business or other venue. To this day, in my opinion, Chuck Berry and Little Richard do not receive the amount of credit they deserve, for being two of the major influences of rock and roll. Chuck Berry was an influence to Bill Haley, Bruce Springsteen, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Grateful Dead, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Peter Tosh, and a host of other artists. His reputation and influence on many artists speaks for itself and he could put a stamp on that.




Chuck Berry was an influence to Jimi Hendrix as well







[Edited 1/2/10 11:47am]

By figures of his time I would think that the op is referring to his contemporaries, such as...

Michael Jackson
Lionel Ritchie
Alexander Oneal
Rick James
EWF

to list a few examples.

The op laid out his premise very specifically, defining Prince's influence from his time period going forward...it really ain't that hard to fathom.

Music is Music

I apologize for bringing Elvis into this discussion, my apologies.

After giving the subject thought, Prince didn't destroy music. Technology did. Technology is disruptive. It has singlehandedly changed a lot of industries (newspapers, movie, music, et al.) And it will soon make most people obsolete. Just like a bad Sci Fi movie, the future will be turbulent for workers of most occupations. And one day we won't need people to create music. Computers will do everything.
[Edited 1/3/10 3:18am]

zucris said:

Yeah, . . . . I bet you believe people are people too.

Graycap23 said:

Look, you wanted specific examples. I gave you quotes. John Lennon saying that Elvis influenced him is enough. Obviously you disagree, and I respect your opinion. Prince himself has covered Elvis tunes and referenced him in more than one song. I am done. Thanks for the chat. BTW...if you can find a quote of any of these people praising Hitler, I'll be impressed and shocked.

skywalker said:

.....still waiting.

Graycap23 said:

And I am waiting for your quotes from famous people saying how great Hitler was. Listen, I cannot get more specific than citing several musicians saying that Elvis influenced them. Again, Prince has covered several Elvis songs. He was clearly influenced by Elvis on some level. One does not play Jailhouse Rock without it being an Elvis influence.

What more do you want? Do you want me to diagram a chart showing how Chuck Berry and Little Richard influenced Elvis and how he influenced folks like The Beatles and Bob Dylan. As I said, I enjoyed our talk, but I am not going to spoon feed a lesson in American pop culture/rock music. The sounds of people like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, James Brown, and Elvis are imbedded in pop music. Don't take my word for it...look it up, read a book, do a google seach. It's called the roots of rock and roll.

If you don't think Elvis influenced pop music in a major way, that is your opinion to have and we can simply disagree.
[Edited 1/3/10 10:28am]

skywalker said:

Let me make it simple 4 u. Show me 1 artist where u can H E A R, let me repeat HEAR an Elvis influence. I don't care about any PC quotes.

Graycap23 said:

Keeping with the theme of this websit and Simply put for you: When Prince plays "Jailhouse Rock" I can H E A R the Elvis influence. When Prince plays "All shook up" in Montreux I can H E A R the Elvis influence.
[Edited 1/3/10 10:46am]

skywalker said:

Ohh larwd.....have a good day.

Graycap23 said:

You too. Still not sure what you were looking for...um, Elvis was a HUGE influence on pop music/culture. I think it's a fair example and proof when Prince chooses to play an Elvis song. Again, not sure how that isn't a clear example...nor, am I sure why people literally saying Elvis was an influence is not valid to you.

skywalker said:

Influence: U can HEAR qualities or characteristics on one artist in another artist's CREATIVTY. Playing a cover song is NOT an influence. It's playing a cover song.

You too. Still not sure what you were looking for...um, Elvis was a HUGE influence on pop music/culture. I think it's a fair example and proof when Prince chooses to play an Elvis song. Again, not sure how that isn't a clear example...nor, am I sure why people literally saying Elvis was an influence is not valid to you.

Graycap23 said:

That is YOUR definition of influence. Not THE definition of influence...certainly not as the dictionary defines it. Playing a song (cover or not) is a form of creativity. Prince incorporated Elvis into his performance, and thusly, into his art. Again, we'll agree to disagree. If you want to believe that Elvis didn't influence pop music/culture, it is your belief to have.

I leave you with this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...is_Presley
[Edited 1/3/10 11:56am]
[Edited 1/3/10 11:56am]

NONSENSE said:

We have already seen art created in the name of handy technology. It is pretty sad. Sometimes we need old fashioned ingenuity to tell a good story whether it be music or movie or whatever.

Technology ultimately I think is a good thing. I would hate to be living in caves right now. But GREED is the major enemy. Somehow it is always the damn greedy bean counters that always wind up in charge of everything. They screw everything up. Just look at the American economy. Screwed up by the greed of everyone. Consumers want to blame giants like Wal Mart for coming into their towns and robbing communinities of the smaller mom and pop business.....

STOP BUYING AT WALMART THEN

I promise they will shut down. Music is crappy? Stop buying shitty music. Shut the sales down. People know this but they will not use this. Amazing.

If Americans were Pirhanas, they would be canabal and frenzie themselves out.

skywalker said:

it's not that elvis was not a great influence upon many artist of many cultures and races, what is trying to be conveyed by many (for you to understand) is that elvis was not the only, nor major, nor the singular focal point to the roots of the "pop music culture."

at the beginning of elvis' singing career he had the boldness to display the influence that gospel, blues and black musicians in his local environment had upon him.
during his high school days, elvis even copied the dress style of local black entertainers. (see his early pix)

he is known to have adored the music of black gospel singer sister rosetta tharpe.
it is also known that he listened to the regional radio stations that played "race records," spirituals, blues, and the backbeat-driven music known as rhythm and blues.
much of elvis' early recordings were inspired by local african american musicians such as arthur crudup and rufus thomas.
b.b. king recalled that he knew elvis p. before he was popular. they both used to frequent beale street. due to the early influences.

presley seems to have singled out the (black) musical style in his notable beginning, this sound gave him wide recognition as a up-coming recording artist.

along with much thanks to record executive, sam phillips wanting a white boy who could sing like a black singer, presley became an early icon.
sam phillips, (circa 1953-54) was always on the lookout for someone who could bring the sound of the black musicians on whom sun recording studio focused to a broader audience. it has been written that sam often stated repeatedly "if i could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars'".

in 1956 elvis did a remake of "hound dog." it was originally recorded by the female blues singer big mama thornton, which she recorded in 1952.

by may 16 of 1956 elvis added "hound dog" to his live performances.
presley first performed of "hound dog" to a nation wide television audience on the milton berle show on june 5, 1956, over 40,000,000 people saw the performance and the next day controversy exploded, as did elvis's huge popularity (thanks to sam phillip's recording of, and his long sought find and discovery in elvis presley)

so it's okay to say how huge of an influence elvis had on the pop music/culture, but it's a major fact that elvis' early music recordings was a sythesized cross-over of black music sung by a young white boy. that inturn was embraced by white teens and young adults of the time.

elvis is/was a notable influence upon many white artist in that he "boldly" went were many white artist had never gone before him.
elvis displayed to young whites that it was okay to move your body in reaction to the "down beat" in music.
elvis brought out the blue eyed "soul" in many future artist irregardless of their color or race.
elvis was huge in that he did add to the

Diversity in sound and
Nuances in the
Artistry of black american music

this flamboyant style of dress was very popular for performing and recording black blues men circa late 19-forties & early fifties


face it, in reality elvis' early fame was not totally about elvis, it is about his (black) vocal singing style, it was about the rawness in his musical delivery, and it was about the unihibited way he moved to the rhythm of the music, the music that catapulted him into musical stardom and wealth.
[Edited 1/3/10 13:16pm]

hollywooddove said:

I agree Greed is the major motivator but technology is also a beast to be reckoned with. In some cases, they go hand in hand. Computers and new technologies have changed the game. Today millions of people are unemployed because technology has replaced them. How many local mom and pop records stores are still operational? Most were put out of business by file sharing & MP3s. Technology also killed local radio. Currently, radio show can be broadcast from anywhere in the world. How many DJ's and others lost jobs? It's a vicious cycle. So while technology can be a good things it also has it's side effects. I would also argue that greed has always been amongst us. The rapid advances of modern technology have not.
[Edited 1/3/10 12:47pm]

lafleurdove said:

Not to get off topic, but just want to say thanks to lafleur, for confirming what others here have been saying about how Elvis "learned" the music performed and created by black musicians, as well as their dance movments. Elvis copied, learned and emulated the creative style and music of black artists/musicians at a time when White society, considered our music "race, jungle and n*gger" music, and that's a fact. It was accepted by some, not all, of white society, when a white boy stole it, sang it, copied it, emulated it and received "credit" for singing and emulating the the creative music and dance styles, that the same music white society degraded and called "n*gger" music at that time. Whether people like hearing it or not, it's a fact. Okay now back on topic.
[Edited 1/3/10 13:34pm]

2elijah said:

I dont think people get the point about Elvis, nobody claims he invented anything, just that he brought it into the mainstream in a grand fashion, and thus influential for good or bad, same with an artist like MJ, he did not invent the moonwalk or write thriller, but their impact immense not the less.

violetblues said:

I see your point, but mainstream of yesterday, has a different meaning today, where today mainstream includes consumers across all racial lines.

If Elvis helped in making black music/performance style go "mainstream", maintream back then meant "music listeners/consumers in the white market", because that type of music that Elvis played and danced to, was already within the black community and Blacks had already been consumers of it, so Elvis' music or dance style didn't introduce anything new to the black community of that time, other than a white guy emulating what came out of their cultures.

It was something new to the White market, in Elvis fashion, so Elvis contributed in getting "white folks" to listen to that type of music, and it was not immediately accepted right away by many white folks, because many still saw it as "race" music. It's like when Blacks were playing and dancing to boogie-woogie music and doing dance styles of the 40s;then later you had white folks listening to that type of music and young, white kids/adults copying/emulating that music/dance style, as well.

I guess it's time to get back on topic though.

skywalker said:

it's not that elvis was not a great influence upon many artist of many cultures and races, what is trying to be conveyed by many (for you to understand) is that elvis was not the only, nor major, nor the singular focal point to the roots of the "pop music culture."

at the beginning of elvis' singing career he had the boldness to display the influence that gospel, blues and black musicians in his local environment had upon him.
during his high school days, elvis even copied the dress style of local black entertainers. (see his early pix)

he is known to have adored the music of black gospel singer sister rosetta tharpe.
it is also known that he listened to the regional radio stations that played "race records," spirituals, blues, and the backbeat-driven music known as rhythm and blues.
much of elvis' early recordings were inspired by local african american musicians such as arthur crudup and rufus thomas.
b.b. king recalled that he knew elvis p. before he was popular. they both used to frequent beale street. due to the early influences.

presley seems to have singled out the (black) musical style in his notable beginning, this sound gave him wide recognition as a up-coming recording artist.

along with much thanks to record executive, sam phillips wanting a white boy who could sing like a black singer, presley became an early icon.
sam phillips, (circa 1953-54) was always on the lookout for someone who could bring the sound of the black musicians on whom sun recording studio focused to a broader audience. it has been written that sam often stated repeatedly "if i could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars'".

in 1956 elvis did a remake of "hound dog." it was originally recorded by the female blues singer big mama thornton, which she recorded in 1952.

by may 16 of 1956 elvis added "hound dog" to his live performances.
presley first performed of "hound dog" to a nation wide television audience on the milton berle show on june 5, 1956, over 40,000,000 people saw the performance and the next day controversy exploded, as did elvis's huge popularity (thanks to sam phillip's recording of, and his long sought find and discovery in elvis presley)

so it's okay to say how huge of an influence elvis had on the pop music/culture, but it's a major fact that elvis' early music recordings was a sythesized cross-over of black music sung by a young white boy. that inturn was embraced by white teens and young adults of the time.

elvis is/was a notable influence upon many white artist in that he "boldly" went were many white artist had never gone before him.
elvis displayed to young whites that it was okay to move your body in reaction to the "down beat" in music.
elvis brought out the blue eyed "soul" in many future artist irregardless of their color or race.
elvis was huge in that he did add to the

Diversity in sound and
Nuances in the
Artistry of black american music

this flamboyant style of dress was very popular for performing and recording black blues men circa late 19-forties & early fifties


face it, in reality elvis' early fame was not totally about elvis, it is about his (black) vocal singing style, it was about the rawness in his musical delivery, and it was about the unihibited way he moved to the rhythm of the music, the music that catapulted him into musical stardom and wealth.
[Edited 1/3/10 13:16pm]