lonelygurl8305 said:

Sure, Elvis was great. He was overrated, but still great nonetheless.

Look out for the same old crowd telling you how he stole all his music, blah blah, blah.

I love Elvis. The world of popular music is not likely to ever again see a phenomenon on the level Elvis Presley as far as musical and historical impact.


He was an electrifying performer and a fantastic singer. If you're interested in getting something by him, try the 30 #1 Hits and 2nd To None albums. Or if you're interested in delving a little bit further, but still sticking with the hits, get the Hitstory box set that collects those 2 discs and adds a 3rd disc of hits (the US version's 3rd disc has 19 tracks, but the international version has about 30, and it's a largely different tracklist).



There will be several people who will come on here and claim that Elvis was a racist, and stole everything that made him successful. However, that's the first indication that the person speaking doesn't know the first thing about Elvis and that their opinion is irrelevant.

Dayspring said:

Right on!

Dayspring said:

Yeah, I dont know, or think that Elvis was a racist, know of us will ever know that... but I think that he help put rock music out there, ya know. I'd get laughed out of the city that I live in if people knew I like Elvis...lol

I'm a big Elvis fan, especially of the 1968-77 period. The material may not, on balance, have been as strong as the 50s stuff, but his voice was extraordinary by then.

Shapeshifter said:

I agree. It took me a while to really appreciate him fully - but he is quite amazing.

For those who don't go to the ... other place (Prince Music and More), there's a highly active and controversial thread comparing Elvis and Prince 'Who is Better?', tho it's a more interesting discussion than just that. Some orgers have been predictably dissing Elvis as racist, stealing black music etc, and posters such as myself arguing other viewpoints.

I'm not trying to start such a debate here, but for those interested who don't normally go there, it's worth a (long) read, if only to see who doesn't read the previous posts before posting the same thing again (something I would never do ).

As for Elvis, I never call him 'King' because its hyperbole and he was never into the 'King' stuff personally, but he is almost definitely my favourate singer. I've been a fan since I was around 10 years old, and these days I particularly dig his late '60s - '77 stuff, as his voice was better and richer than before, he had deeper insight into life and thus could better communicate the often deeper, more personal songs he chose in his later period. Imo he was also a better stage performer then, especially from '68-'73. A lot of the '70s live stuff is fantastic, and some of his (often drug enhanced) sayings and monologues are either tragic or hilarious depending on your mood.

Many think his best album/ compilation to be the Sun sessions from '54-'55, but I prefer his 1969 sessions, which gave us 'Suspicious Minds', In the Ghetto' and many others, best collected on the double CD 'Suspicious Minds'. I also love his gospel/ inspirational performances (such as 'American Trilogy', 'How Great Thou Art' and others) and much of his country music.

He even did a few tracks that could be described as funk or country/ gospel funk at least.

An awsome performer, even now often misunderstood imo.

Miles said:

he really redefined himself in '69 and was able to come back from the 60's (which had basically been an embarassment in terms of music).

he went from meaningless horrid movie music to a vow to never sing a song he didn't believe again.

I like early Elvis best, but the '69 period ranks up there, too

lonelygurl8305 said:

Elvis is cool!!!!

Did you know that he dyed his hair black to attract fans. He is a natural blonde.

Self proclaimed king, but he can sure shake it!!!

Not a big Elvis fan, but he has made some great songs and he had an amazing voice. No one can ever deny that. The man could really sing and he was easy on the eyes too .
[Edited 5/1/07 16:30pm]