Vendetta1 said:

Are you asking for examples of Elvis' artistry? How is that possible? I could list the songs that I prefer and if you don't like Elvis you will be able to counter with "I hate those songs". That would be equally true for every artist.

Perhaps we could make it an argument about success on the music charts or sales...

Or we could dig up the accolades Presley received from his peers past and present?
They aren't hard to find and range from fellow rockabilly artists to Jimi Hendrix to the Beatles, to U2, to 50 cent.

So, where do you want to go with this and ultimately what does it say about the original topic of "was Elvis a racist?"

kalelvisj said:

Was I even talking to you?

anywho, no, I am not an Elvis fan but at least I am trying to see what people saw in him. His voice did nothing for me.

Vendetta1 said:

I would say in an forum you ARE talking to me and anyone else who happens to read your post. If not we could all just use email.

And you validate my point, you don't like his voice, which is your prerogative) so no matter what song I, or any other person posted, your reaction would be "that you don't like his voice." So, why ask?

Personally, I love his 50's music the most, but I also appreciate much of his gospel music. But I guess my favorite tune would be a toss up between "If I can dream" and "Suspicious Minds".

kalelvisj said:

because I want to know. Damn, it is so hard to just answer my question without thinking I have some ulterior motive?

There are tons of artists whose voices I don't like and yet dig their music anyway. I love Prince's falsetto but don't dig his regular voice.

i only asked because I was trying to understand.

Vendetta1 said:

I am sorry, I did not mean to imply you had any ulterior motives at all. In fact, I have found your posts in multiple threads to be thoughtful, engaging and often hilarious. It just seemed to be a bit leading of a question that couldn't be answered in any really substantial way.

Now that I realize you are looking for some kind of serious answer, I can more easily answer the question.

Elvis was one of the first multi-genre artists delivering heartfelt takes on the blues, country, pop and of course straight a head rock n roll. I stole the following quote from another site but I think it sums up the quality of Elvis' voice:

Elvis Presley was a baritone whose voice had an extraordinary compass — the so-called register — and a very wide range of vocal color. It covered two octaves and a third, from the baritone low-G to the tenor high B, with an upward extension in falsetto to at least a D flat. Presley's best octave was in the middle, D-flat to D-flat. In ballads and country songs he was able to belt out full-voiced high Gs and As, showing a remarkable ability to naturally assimilate styles, and eliciting a multiplicity of voices.

Presley's range, though impressive in its own right, did not in itself make his voice that remarkable, at least in terms of how it measured against musical notation. What made it extraordinary, was where its center of gravity lay. By that measure, and according to Gregory Sandows, Music Professor at Columbia University, Presley was at once a bass, a baritone and a tenor, most unusual among singers in either classical or popular music.

While I don't expect any of this to convince you of his artistry, I hope it at least illuminates why other people might find artistry in his career.

Again, sorry if I took your original question out of context. I certainly did not intend to offend.

Peace
[Edited 7/13/09 18:39pm]

kalelvisj said:

Thank you very much.

See, even on a Elvis thread...


We can make peace..

funkpill said:

errant said:

Very true. But Chuck D & Flavor Flav are still firm about their opinions on John Wayne.

TonyVanDam said:

so go start a thread about about John Wayne be a racist. otherwise, what's your point?

i dont know if he was a racist or not but i will say that just because he loved black music and respected the black artists that created it dont mean he didnt have some racist personal views.

i dont know if he was a racist or not but i will say that just because he loved black music and respected the black artists that created it dont mean he didnt have some racist personal views.nobody can convince me that he wasnt surrounded by a bunch of 'good ole boys', i mean the name col tom parker alone screams redneck.one thing that cant be debated is elvis benefitted from racism and segregation, and for all the talk about how much he loved black music did he ever put his money where his mouth was? did elvis ever take a stand against the racist practices of the venues he performed in? ray charles was banned from geogia because he refused to play at a segregated venue, do anybody know of any instances where elvis took a stand against racism? i really dont care if he was or not, i happen to think he was incredibly overrated as a singer and performer and it wouldnt suprise me one bit if a white man from the deep south during the jim crow era was a racist.the same white kids who beat,spit on and humiliated those black kids at arkansas little rock was probably listening to chuck berry and fats domino records.

lowkey said:

No one knows how a person really feels deep down, so you could be right.

lowkey said:

so, basically, all you're saying here is that you yourself are prejudiced against certain types of people and it really has nothing to do with Elvis at all and just your own generalizations about white people from the south.

thanks for the heads up.

uPtoWnNY said:

So we assume automatically that someone is guilty of racism because we don't know what's deep down inside of that person?

MrSoulpower said:

No, what I'm saying is people rarely show their true colors in public(unless they slip up), so the answer is we don't know how Elvis truly felt about black folks.

If the truth were to be told, we all have our own prejudices. I guess the question is do we work to overcome these impulses?

MrSoulpower said:

No, what I'm saying is people rarely show their true colors in public(unless they slip up), so the answer is we don't know how Elvis truly felt about black folks.

kalelvisj said:

uPtoWnNY said:

That's true, but you were already telling the other poster that "he could be right", when there is zero evidence for this, in fact, there is much evidence to the contrary.

In your context, you could also claim that someone could be right accusing me, or anyone else, of racism, simply because nobody but I know how I truly feel inside, right?

Vendetta1 said:

It is almost a miracle! Org hugs all around!