Was Elvis overrated?

lee_baby_simms

hidinginthebush wrote: »

Jimmy Rabbitte: Elvis is not soul.
Jimmy Rabbitte, Sr.: Elvis is God.
Jimmy Rabbitte: I never pictured God with a fat gut and corset singing "My Way" at Caesar's Palace.

"Now don't upset your father!"

Oink

The boy had talent when he started.



I like to think Beelzebub has a devil set aside for Colonel Sanders (give him a jab for me wontcha Mister).

dub_skav

ScienceNerd wrote: »

I have a lot more admiration for musicians who perform music they've written themselves, it's hardly an outlandish concept. Elvis' musicianship can be rightly criticised because he wrote so little.

I don't believe his musicianship can be questioned as that is about music/singing, not writing.
You seem instead to question his validity as an artist.

Do you not respect any actors unless they write the film too?

GLaDOS

Dravokivich wrote: »

Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Pavarotti?

What about them? I never said anyone who doesn't write music is awful, lets burn everything they produced. They're still great musicians, but you can criticise them from a song writing perspective.

You've got a very dire opinion with regards to musicianship.

That's fine by me.

dub_skav

Oink wrote: »

The boy had talent when he started.



I like to think Beelzebub has a devil set aside for Colonel Sanders (give him a jab for me wontcha Mister).

Not a chicken fan?

Charlie Babbitt

Ella says: No.

Oink

dub_skav wrote: »

Not a chicken fan?

Estupido... Wrong colonel!

pauliebdub

Yes he was over-rated.

Leiber Stoller wrote him some great songs, he had a great voice and was a great showman. However apart from a handful of great singles, there wasnt a lot of quality output and no decent albums of note.

AckwelFoley

Elvis was a racist.

0ph0rce0

Elvis was muck, A Shíte musician and singer.

But the man had great delivery.

BadCompany

He was the singular face of the Rock n' Roll movement and he was excellent at what he did. I know there was Rock n' Roll around at the same time and even before him (Chuck Berry and Little Richard come to mind) but no one made even close to the impact that Elvis made. Did his "whiteness" and good looks play a part? I think it would be naive to say no, it certainly didn't disadvantage him in a still very segregated US. But the man had immense talent, charisma and was an incredible performer that whipped the youth of the day into a frenzy, something only paralleled (and probably exceeded) by Beatlemania. Short answer - it is almost impossible to over-rate him in a musical context. I think this sentence says it best -The mark of greatness is when everything before you is obsolete and everything after you bears your mark.

John Lennon: "Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been the Beatles."

irlirishkev

No.
Folk, gospel, blues, rock, r&b.. he sang it all and sang it brilliantly. He could take any song and make it his own. Nobody told him how to do that.

He was an inspiration to countless artists who repeatedly sing his praises.

It saddens me that despite him making millions of people happy, there are those who insist on concentrating on the last couple of years of his life.

Overated? No way.

raven136

So incredibly important for breaking down barriers for a generation

His voice was fantastic and plenty of the great singers of that time wrote little or none of their own songs

I personally love his live version of American Trilogy

Charisma,vocals,dancing and came along at the right time so not overrated imo

His gospel stuff is still incredible to listen to

The comeback special is his best work

Sam Cooke the greatest of them all tho.

BadCompany

raven136 wrote: »

So incredibly important for breaking down barriers for a generation

His voice was fantastic and plenty of the great singers of that time wrote little or none of their own songs

I personally love his live version of American Trilogy

Charisma,vocals,dancing and came along at the right time so not overrated imo

His gospel stuff is still incredible to listen to

The comeback special is his best work

Sam Cooke the greatest of them all tho.

Are you and I the same person!? Meant to mention in my post that his latter day (or "Fat Elvis" years as I affectionately call them) live version of American Trilogy is definitely one of my favourites, makes my hairs stand on end!

And also Sam Cooke is the best ever, 100% agree

andy1249

BadCompany wrote: »

He was the singular face of the Rock n' Roll movement and he was excellent at what he did. I know there was Rock n' Roll around at the same time and even before him (Chuck Berry and Little Richard come to mind) but no one made even close to the impact that Elvis made. Did his "whiteness" and good looks play a part? I think it would be naive to say no, it certainly didn't disadvantage him in a still very segregated US....

Your getting to the heart of it now .... Elvis was the acceptable white face of Rock n Roll , most americans at the time being racist.

Elvis was the Corporate "Acceptable" face of Rock n Roll , the most original and much more talented artists at the time being downtrodden and black , and deliberately pushed and kept to their own lesser known and lesser publicised charts and labels.

For me , Elvis' Success is simply a reminder of the disgusting racism throughout America at that time ...nothing more , and it makes me sick to see him.

Jimoslimos

The acceptable face of black music in America. There were better, but less marketable performers at the time.

BadCompany wrote: »

John Lennon: "Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been the Beatles."

Lennon also reportedly said "Elvis really died the day he joined the Army"

Fighting Irish

Yup, just like the beatles

sbsquarepants

Dravokivich wrote: »

I suppose you'd be wanting all performers to write everything they perform?

Not at all. Just the ones being lauded as the king of rock and roll. There are any number of outstanding performers who do just that, perform. I'm a fan of dozens of these.
But to be hailed as the king of rock and roll, you should be doing more than merely performing.

Pumpkinseeds

Fighting Irish wrote: »

Yup, just like the beatles

+ 1 for that. If John Lennon hadn't been murdered I think people would have forgotten them long ago, the same with Elvis and James Dean

Hoop66

AckwelFoley wrote: »

Elvis was a racist.

Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant **** to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother **** him and John Wayne

Blisterman

ScienceNerd wrote: »

I have a lot more admiration for musicians who perform music they've written themselves, it's hardly an outlandish concept. Elvis' musicianship can be rightly criticised because he wrote so little.

Virtually nobody prior to the 1960's wrote their own songs. Songwriters and performers were seperate professions, in the same way that screenwriter and actors are. So it's hardly fair to criticise him for that.

That being said, I do think his influence has waned quite a bit. You hear modern musicians list Beatles, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Billie Holiday etc as influences on their sound, but it's quite rare to hear Elvis mentioned in the same way.

Henlars67

What tends to be constantly overlooked is the fact that he began his relationship with Priscilla when he was 24 and she was a 14 year old child.

That tells me all I need to know about him, and renders his musical talent or lack of it totally irrelevant to me.

mad muffin

Lets put it this way.

If I were to sleep with one man, skinny Elvis would be that man.

In the morning he would whisper to me; "thank you, thank you very much". And I would whisper back; "no, thank you".

Fat Elvis would have to pay me to sleep with him... :pac:

Blisterman

Henlars67 wrote: »

What tends to be constantly overlooked is the fact that he began his relationship with Priscilla when he was 24 and she was a 14 year old child.

That tells me all I need to know about him, and renders his musical talent or lack of it totally irrelevant to me.

That's a fairly ridiculous reason to write off someone's musical ability. Fair enough, don't buy his records, but what he does in his personal life doesn't make him any more or less talented.

raven136

andy1249 wrote: »

Your getting to the heart of it now .... Elvis was the acceptable white face of Rock n Roll , most americans at the time being racist.

Elvis was the Corporate "Acceptable" face of Rock n Roll , the most original and much more talented artists at the time being downtrodden and black , and deliberately pushed and kept to their own lesser known and lesser publicised charts and labels.

For me , Elvis' Success is simply a reminder of the disgusting racism throughout America at that time ...nothing more , and it makes me sick to see him.

What rubbish

Elvis music was a breakdown of barriers.The white man who sang with the black voice.
Nashville executives didnt want to list Elvis on country charts because he played "black music"

This tosh about him being a rascist stems from a rumor of a quote that he gave in boston.A rumor that is totally false yet Chuck D still plays along with it

Elvis was hailed by the African American community,appearing on stage with BB King at various events
Going to the Memphis fairgrounds on what was known as "coloured" nights

His hero was Roy Hamilton whom Elvis thought was akin to god

But yeah lets write him off as a rascist because he was white

Keith300

Henlars67 wrote: »

What tends to be constantly overlooked is the fact that he began his relationship with Priscilla when he was 24 and she was a 14 year old child.

That tells me all I need to know about him, and renders his musical talent or lack of it totally irrelevant to me.

A fourteen year old isn't a child.

Henlars67

Blisterman wrote: »

That's a fairly ridiculous reason to write off someone's musical ability. Fair enough, don't buy his records, but what he does in his personal life doesn't make him any more or less talented.

I didn't say it made him more or less talented. I said it rendered his talent irrelevant to me.

If an adult has a 'romantic' relationship with a child I only have one opinion of them, regardless of what other things they've done in life.

Henlars67

Keith300 wrote: »

A fourteen year old isn't a child.

Well a 14 year old definitely isn't an adult

jam_mac_jam

Keith300 wrote: »

A fourteen year old isn't a child.

Near enough. 14 is not far off a child in a lot of cases and that's today never mind at that time. A 14 year old should be having their first snog not getting married. Its disgusting.

RobbieTheRobber

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

+ 1 for that. If John Lennon hadn't been murdered I think people would have forgotten them long ago, the same with Elvis and James Dean

So should we just ignore the record number of sales the Beatles had and all the records they had broke with the amount of Number ones. All while john Lennon was alive becasue it was his death that made them famous eh?