Elvis

[Zzzptm]

Here's a topic I want to dive into: the music of Elvis Presley.

Biographically, he's a complicated figure, especially after the drugs enter the picture - and that happened when his sergeant introduced him to amphetamines in the Army - but it's his music that I want to look at. He wanted to entertain, and when people told him to do rock and roll, that's what he did. His first choice was to be a crooner, then a gospel singer, then a country act, but it was Heartbreak Hotel that put him on the musical map back in 1956 and put him on the path to become someone larger than life.

The music he had the most fun with was taking old blues numbers and rocking them up, just like Little Richard, Fats Domino, and Bill Haley did. When he loved a song, you really heard it in his recording. When he didn't love the song, and that was true for nearly all of his movie soundtrack numbers, you didn't hear that special something in the music. Yes, there was his voice and stylized delivery, but none of his spark.

And although after his 1968 Comeback Special he swore he'd only do songs he liked from that point forward, I'm thinking he wasn't given free rein on what songs to choose from, as his albums clearly steered into country and adult contemporary pop, free and clear from his R&B roots. Pretty much the only songs with soul in them that he could do were gospel tunes - and even then, they gave 'em the Pat Boone treatment with big orchestral production backgrounds. (Similar thing happened to Johnny Cash - his 1972 Christmas album was stripped back, raw, and emotional, while his 1980 album was way overproduced. We're talking tympani drums pounding away on "Silent Night" overproduced.)

So when we consider Elvis' impact on rock and roll, it's really his output from 1956-1958 that we're looking at. There were the country-style tunes from Sun that we got in 1954-55, but he only had regional success with those. When Sam Phillips sold his contract to RCA, Elvis became a massive, national sensation. Over 50% of RCA's sales in 1956 were Elvis records, that's how big he was.

And when you listen to his RCA hits, you can hear why he was blowing minds all over the USA:

Scotty Moore's guitar work shouldn't be discounted - how many kids heard him, grabbed up a guitar, and then became massive guitar heroes in the 60s and 70s?

Listening to the vocals, there's definitely a lot more emotion than technique in this kid, and that's important for rock. Just ask Little Richard. His phrasing is off here and there, but does it really matter? I mean, this is rock and roll, right? One could even say that the slight off-ness of his vocal actually got the ball rolling to do things like that deliberately, or to at least forgive them when they happened. Would we have had Ozzy if not for Elvis?

Little Richard also recorded vocals where he lost half a beat because he had to gasp for air and things like that - added a "live" element to the recording, a flaw in the gem that made you know it was real and not 97 different takes spliced together in the studio, like The Byrds would do.

That song, "Hound Dog" hit number 1 on the pop and R&B charts and I think #5 on the Country charts in the USA. It was a hit across the board, not just for one particular type of audience.

[Jack the Stripper]

I’ve always dug Elvis. I’m no aficionado or super fan but have always appreciated and respected him as a singer/performer and the cultural impact he had. My mum is a big fan.

I listened to a bit of your show btw Z. Were you the host? Some good knowledge you had there.

[Zzzptm]

Yes, I'm Steve T. Cockroach. My wife is Arlene. It's fun getting into character and calling my mom Ranger Rita... and then having to play like she's not my mom!

Part of what I do on the show is bring in the history that goes with the music. I love it when a song has a good story to go with it, like "Blue Moon of Kentucky". The story there is that Elvis needed a B-side for his single and had no clue. His bass player started to faff around and sing in a really awful falsetto, parodying Bill Monroe's 3/4 country standard.

And then they had an idea to do it in 4/4, rock it up, and make it that B-side. The border between rock and country was very thin back then, with guys like Conway Twitty, Jerry Lee Lewis, and even Little Richard going back and forth across it.

The song you shared, "Suspicious Minds" comes from 1969, so it's got much denser production than what Sun or even RCA did back in the 50s. But I love the emotion in Elvis' delivery. Yes, there's plenty of schmaltz to plow through with that thick string section, but the backing vocals really add an angelic touch to the song. It's pop, no question about it, but Elvis' passion for the song makes it a keeper in my book. This is also before the drugs really wrecked his system. When I listen to "Way Down", his last single before dying, it's clear how unhealthy he was at the time. His range is limited, his voice shaky in parts, and you can hear the effort involved in pushing out those notes.

Just a year before that, Elvis sounded pretty much OK on "Promised Land".

Yes, there's a premature cap on his range, but at least he's making look easy, not sounding winded or like he's going to catch a stroke any minute.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Ok I confess I'm so not a fan of Elvis... but as a friend of mine once said "if you sling enough mud some of it is going to stick". And as such there are 3... yes 3 Elvis songs I quite like: "In The Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds" and, in particular "Always On My Mind".

KDC has left the thread!

[Zzzptm]

Ok I confess I'm so not a fan of Elvis... but as a friend of mine once said "if you sling enough mud some of it is going to stick". And as such there are 3... yes 3 Elvis songs I quite like: "In The Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds" and, in particular "Always On My Mind".

KDC has left the thread!

Interesting that you've got songs from his later years as opposed to the early stuff. I like those as well, especially "Suspicious Minds", but I really like the deep cuts from the early years. Let me submit his cover of "What'd I Say" as an exhibit and see if you don't also like it:

It's not early early Elvis, as it's from 1964, but it's still pre-comeback.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

^^^That's okay, but doesn't particularly thrill me!

My problem with Elvis (and indeed many singers from that 50s/60s era) is not that they can't sing (Elvis has a great voice), it's just that I don't like what they sing that much... I'm not a huge fan of Rock & Roll. It's the same with the Beatles, I don't care for their early stuff but when they became serious song writers that's when they shone. I like the three Elvis songs I mentioned mainly because they are later songs and are not rock and/or roll!

If I grew up at that time I might feel differently, but like classical music it's heyday is before my time!

[Zzzptm]

So, question to you, KDC, what do you make of 70s+ artists that do covers of 50s songs?

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I didn't mind the odd song by Mud

I really didn't like Showaddywaddy

Shakin' Stevens gave me hives!

Do the Stray Cats count? I really like them.

To be fair there's the odd R&R song I like, and Buddy Holly was probably the best.

[Zzzptm]

Just interested... I know that bands from the 70s forward would reach back to the Golden Age for their encores. Led Zeppelin reached back for about 60% of their album cuts, as well...