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Why All The Fuss About Elvis
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Er.. BB King, Bill Haley, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra to name a few.
magoo
New member
The blokes been dead for thirty years and people are STILL crying over him!!
Personally I think he was fat gobshite that didn't have that much talent.
He couldn't act to save his life, okay he could sing a bit but nothing special.
A mediocre entertainer yes, but so is Bobby Davro.
Just don't get it at all
lol fair enough if you don't like him but your opinion is ill informed and absurd.
Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
Didn't Mark Bolan, Bing Crosby and Elvis die in succesive months if I remember correct ?
Always thought Elvis was overated
Always thought Elvis was overated
Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
Bowie ?
Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
The Timekeeper
FAT BOY 'NOT' SLIM
Lord Almighty I Feel my temperature risin
Jam The Man
Well-known member
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,089
Elvis - women loved him, men wanted to be like him.
Classically handsome, a singer, dancer, writer, musician, actor and showman. And anyone who can bed Prisicilla Presley in her prime deserves credit.
Basically, Elvis had more talent in his sideburns that Robbie Williams could ever dream of. Elvis is a true legend and his like will probably never be seen again.
Classically handsome, a singer, dancer, writer, musician, actor and showman. And anyone who can bed Prisicilla Presley in her prime deserves credit.
Basically, Elvis had more talent in his sideburns that Robbie Williams could ever dream of. Elvis is a true legend and his like will probably never be seen again.
otk
~(.)(.)~
I like the Bowie link, as myself, Elvis and Bowie share a birthday. Jan. 8th. 
Theatre of Trees
Well-known member
Lots of doughnuts I seem to recall.
It's fairly well known that Elvis didn't write his own songs.
gothenburg_gull
Member
Elvis basically invented youth culture as we still know it today. Teenagers screamed at idols like Frank Sinatra before Elvis came along, but what was different with Elvis was that those teenagers actually started living a different type of life - you can argue that things were changing in that period anyway, but Elvis was certainly a catalyst for the way that things did change..
So many musicians have said that it was seeing or hearing Elvis that started them off in the business - Lennon, McCartney, Springsteen and so on.
Elvis didn't rip off the people who went before him - the people doing what he was doing were basically the black artists of the time, and Elvis opened the door for those black artists to reach the mainstream - people like Little Richard and James Brown have said so in the past.
Rather than ripping people off Elvis was a true original, a mix of black and white, gospel and country - and not just in his voice, his music, but in his whole style. People forget now just how strange he looked to people back then - wild, outlandish clothes, long hair, sideburns, little bit of eyeliner: it was shocking! Elvis changed everything!
Of course, he had the most incredible voice too - capable of singing anything from a wild rock and roll tune like "A Big Hunk O Love" or "Jailhouse Rock" to a sincere prayer like gospel tune such as "Somebody Bigger Than You and I" or "An Evening Prayer" to a raw blues like "Reconsider Baby" or "Merry Christmas Baby" to a sexy finger snapping sultry ballad like "Fever" or "Relax" to a pop classic like "Suspicious Minds" to a swampy funk track like "If You Don't Come Back" to a gentle calypso like "Song of the Shrimp" (honestly! recently covered by Frank Black of Pixies fame) to... well you get the idea.
Yes, most of his movies were awful (although King Creole and Jailhouse Rock and Change of Habit are great, and he acts really well in them) but look at them for what they were - they were the music videos of their day!
You either "get" Elvis or you don't. You can't really explain it if you don't get it, but even if you don't really "get" it you have to be a bit of a fool if you think he was overrated or just average. The fact that 30 years after he died we are still talking about him, still playing his music, that he is still current (check the album and single charts this coming weekend!) shows that he had something special.
Oh, and he recorded the best Dylan cover version EVER. "Tomorrow Is A Long Time" is just a beautiful, beautiful version of a wonderful song.
Frank Worthington liked him too you know...
So many musicians have said that it was seeing or hearing Elvis that started them off in the business - Lennon, McCartney, Springsteen and so on.
Elvis didn't rip off the people who went before him - the people doing what he was doing were basically the black artists of the time, and Elvis opened the door for those black artists to reach the mainstream - people like Little Richard and James Brown have said so in the past.
Rather than ripping people off Elvis was a true original, a mix of black and white, gospel and country - and not just in his voice, his music, but in his whole style. People forget now just how strange he looked to people back then - wild, outlandish clothes, long hair, sideburns, little bit of eyeliner: it was shocking! Elvis changed everything!
Of course, he had the most incredible voice too - capable of singing anything from a wild rock and roll tune like "A Big Hunk O Love" or "Jailhouse Rock" to a sincere prayer like gospel tune such as "Somebody Bigger Than You and I" or "An Evening Prayer" to a raw blues like "Reconsider Baby" or "Merry Christmas Baby" to a sexy finger snapping sultry ballad like "Fever" or "Relax" to a pop classic like "Suspicious Minds" to a swampy funk track like "If You Don't Come Back" to a gentle calypso like "Song of the Shrimp" (honestly! recently covered by Frank Black of Pixies fame) to... well you get the idea.
Yes, most of his movies were awful (although King Creole and Jailhouse Rock and Change of Habit are great, and he acts really well in them) but look at them for what they were - they were the music videos of their day!
You either "get" Elvis or you don't. You can't really explain it if you don't get it, but even if you don't really "get" it you have to be a bit of a fool if you think he was overrated or just average. The fact that 30 years after he died we are still talking about him, still playing his music, that he is still current (check the album and single charts this coming weekend!) shows that he had something special.
Oh, and he recorded the best Dylan cover version EVER. "Tomorrow Is A Long Time" is just a beautiful, beautiful version of a wonderful song.
Frank Worthington liked him too you know...
gothenburg_gull
Member
True, although he did write a couple. Not brilliant, but okay. His genius was really in interpreting songs -adding things, changing the odd lyric here and there, changing phrasing and tempos etc. If you listen to the first take of, say, a song like "His Latest Flame" and compare it to the finished version you can really see how he added something extra to the original composition.
JJ McClure
Go Jags
If you've not watched this, then do. 100% quality entertainment the likes of which won't be seen again.
Stinky Kat
Tripping
I think Elvis is great, but not as great as the songs his death inspired, my two favourites are Elvis is dead by Peter and the Terst Tube Babies which is on Vaultage 78 and and the best of all
I remember Elvis Presley by Danny Mirror, released about a month after the death so I expect he remember him unless he had a very bad short term memory
I remember Elvis Presley by Danny Mirror, released about a month after the death so I expect he remember him unless he had a very bad short term memory
gothenburg_gull
Member
Personally I like "Tupelo" by Nick Cave and "Black Velvet" by...what was her name, Allanah Myles?
"A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel" by U2 is pretty good too, and, although written six or seven years before he died, "Went To See The Gypsy" by Bob Dylan is very good.