Pagey said:

Right on! Beautifully said and I'm not a huge Elvis fan. I like him and some of his music, but I'm not what anyone would call a big fan. I agree with your comments 100%. Some people just don't get it.

Pagey said:

He didn't read my reply either. It's a shame that many younger folks today don't or can't appreciate Elvis. It's really all it is. It's not like he's the greatest, but his place in music history cannot be denied. And certainly the above poster has yet to point out any sort of overrated-ness on the Elvis thing.

I suppose technically when your product starts selling millions of copies you aren't properly considered a cult anymore but still...

A few years ago I believe a figure of over 4 million copies was thrown around when discussing Ani DiFranco. Now Ani might be considered cultish (and definitely independent) but once your output has exceeded so many copies one could argue that you're not so much a cult anymore.

I consider in the grand scheme of things that Ani, Tori and Bjork, in relation to the general public, might be considered cultish because their product is rarely heard and while they do move millions, it's pretty much over time and to a select number of people.

Elvis would be a LOST SPERM if it weren't for Chuck Berry, Jackie Wilson, Little Richarc and them.

The Beatles & The Stones would be passed air if it weren't for Lil' Richard & the Motown sound.

BT11 said:

i'd like to feel her... ANYTHING...

superspaceboy said:

Good compromise.

If the Strangers With Candy movie makes $100 million, it moves right into that grey area.

Harlepolis said:

You've missed the point entirely. No one is saying Elvis invented music/rock & roll, it's his huge influence on so many that was mentioned.

kisscamille said:

I was talking randomly,,,my post wasn't pointed to any of you fellas!

Harlepolis said:

Well, I'm sorry that you feel that way about Elvis, The Bealtes etc. I not a huge Elvis fan, but I love the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Both have made some unforgetable music over the years and it will live on long after you and I are dust. As a fan of both, I know that they were hugely influenced by black artists, but it took bands like them to bring this kind of music to the forefront. I'm not saying it was right, but it's how it was back then.

Harlepolis said:

if it weren't for Elvis, the Beatles, and the Stones, then Chuck Berry, Jackie Wilson, Little Richard and all of rock and roll might be nothing more than footnotes in the book of pop fads of the 20th century.

GrayKing said:

You're absolutely right! However, unfortunately this is a black/white issue for some.

[b] 1. Britney Spears
2. Jessica Simpson
3. Ashlee Simpson
4. Lindsay Lohan
5. Lil jon

kisscamille said:

Well my friend....
It was a Black/White issue then,
and it still is now.....
Race played a big part of Elvis being "The King"
That can't be over look.....
That's history....I mean HIStory...

kisscamille said:

Actually, I do get it.....
It was all about image.....
No white parent was going to approve their
daughters falling all over a black performer...
Elvis impact on Rock N Roll is simply put...
Right place, right time....
Rock & Roll was considered Ni@!er music,
corrupting the teens....
It became okay when a white man, who sounds black,
started to sing it....Check your history...
Claim me ignorant if you want, but I'm not delusional....
And I still stick with the Vanilla Ice statement...

funkpill said:

i think race matters in the US stay the way they do because of discussions like this. It was 50 years ago. Move on. everyone!!!

i wasn't alive than it wasn't my fault. it was the way it was, just don't let contiune to be that way by participating in rhetoric like this

funkpill said:

But, again, because of Elvis, a lot of those once-ignorant teens discovered the blues, r&b, and rock n roll and those who invented it, regardless what their parents thought. He opened the door and a flood came through. I respect your opinion, but your argument doesn't hide his place in rock history or his continuing influence on generations of rockers.

Pagey said:

Okay point taken.....
Yes, he's a part of history, but for the wrong reason...
And I respect your opinion just as well...
Now let us all be friends again....

[Edited 3/9/05 0:24am]

ehuffnsd said:

I beg the differ.....
I think by shutting it down as if it don't exist,
makes matters worst....
It needs to be address...
For history will constantly repeat itself.....

ehuffnsd said:

As soon as black people are given their jazz & rock&roll back, then we might all be able to move on. Until then, I'm still waiting for a white female rap artist to sell millions of rap albums!!!

Lil Jon & 50 Cent can't kill mainstream hip-hop all by themselves you know.

I always wanted someone really nerdy like Barbara Streisand to make a hip hop record and be really big at it so it would become "uncool" like when Ethel Merman did a disco record. It wouldn't work though because hip hop has dominated for too long and has powers on it's side that disco didn't have. Too bad Clear Channel wasn't there to back up disco like it's here now backing up and shoving hip hop down people's throats.

Cloudbuster said:

like more chest hair.

TonyVanDam said:

This is the impact that Elvis has....
He's the King...
Well to some people.....
[Edited 3/9/05 0:18am]

Christopher said:

Bitch!

Cloudbuster said:

That was nasty

vainandy said:

abierman said:

Doggy.....

TonyVanDam said:

just wait... after the success of the rap on American Life... Madge will do a rap album

funkpill said:

But what you're talking about here is a sociological issue, not a musical one.
Of course, it was easier for Elvis to gain acceptance because he was white. That goes without saying. The same reason that say, Russell Crowe probably gets more movie offers than Denzel Washington. But people shouldn't denigrate Elvis's talent for these reasons. Elvis was a great singer, perhaps one of the greatest (equal to Sinatra, Ray Charles , or Aretha ,in my book) and a superb entertainer. Even CHUCK D (!) has said that he considers Elvis to be a great artist, and that his comments in "Fight the Power" were more about how audiences accepted El more readily than his black counterparts, than an attack on Elvis himself.

I do find it interesting how Elvis is the one artist who seems to get constantly raked over the coals (mainly by Blacks, but also some others as well) for "stealing" Black music. There have been White artists who've worked in mainly Black idioms for ages, from Benny Goodman to Stan Kenton to Sinatra to
Paul Butterfield to Eric Clapton to Hall and Oates to Eminem today, yet only Elvis is portrayed as this great cultural thief. ( And of course, nobody would dare say that Charlie Pride "stole" Country music, or Kathleen Battle "stole" Opera, or Wynton Marsalis "stole" Classical, without fear of being branded an idiot at best or a racist at worst, would they ???)

American Music has always been a melting pot of styles and influences, but people want to keep things in little boxes and not open their minds a bit ( And I wonder if a lot of this animosity towards Elvis comes from him being a Southener ??)

jjhunsecker said:

I think the resentment of elvis stems purely from the fact that he's labelled the undisputed king of rock n roll when he wasn't necessarily the best rock artist, or even the best among the early pioneers, black or white. Sure Elvis was a pioneer of rock, and one of the most important rock artists of all time. But for him to be ranked above Chuck Berry and Little Richard in the eyes of the public and the critics is at least partially because he's white.

Edit: also I don't even think Elvis was the greatest white rocker either. The Beatles the Stones, and even artists that were relatively contemporary with him are shafted in comparison to the amount of prestige he has (Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis).
[Edited 3/9/05 12:04pm]

jacktheimprovident said:

Elvis is labeled the king of rock 'n' roll because of all the success he had, not because he was the best performer or best artist. No one in the history of rock 'n' roll has had more hit singles or hit albums than Elvis. That's why he's the king.