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Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

This is not about knocking Elvis. I find it strange that Modern rockers rarely cite Elvis as an influence. He was not a songwriter he never challenged Dylan or the Beatles in the 60's. There have been many in the last 40-45 years who I think have surpassed him in terms of influence, quality of music and radio airplay.

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

Play nice now.

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

You don't hear many bands citing Dylan as an influence anymore either. It's just progression, and people like Elvis and Dylan aren't heard as much in modern music. That doesn't make them overrated. But, as you can see on this site his popularity has definitely waned.

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

It’s a fair point, Chelsea. There are musicians just starting out now whose PARENTS hadn’t been born when “Heartbreak Hotel” came out.

However, I take it as axiomatic that we should always, always, always take what musicians have to say about their work with a grain of salt. Not that they’re dishonest, but their job is to create music, not to explain it.

And an artist who works in a tradition is influenced by the artists who gave that tradition its form, whether they realize it or not. If you play rock & roll (or whatever rock & roll has evolved into by now), then Elvis Presley is an influence on you (and so are hundreds of other artists). Your DNA influences you, whether or not you know what’s in it.

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

There's probably only 2 artists on this site more influential than Elvis - I think you know who they are...

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

Yes, Midaso, I'd say that's Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

Got it in one

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

Elvis is an artist whose appeal relies heavily on context. As the context fades into history, his appeal wanes.

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

I grew up with Nirvana and then BritPop came here in the states. I like Chuck Berry also but when was the last time you heard a core modern rock artist say Chuck Berry was their biggest influence. This is where I give the Velvet Underground credit along with the Beatles, Led Zeppelin etc: they have maintained a big influence on rock music. I play in a band and I know in my circles what Acclaimed music artists are still influential. Maybe it's different in Britain.

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

That is true, Paul (although, to beat this to death, appeal and influence aren’t the same).

Even when I was a teenager in the 1980’s, early rock & roll felt like it was in the past, but still accessible. I don’t think that imaginative leap is nearly as easy for people who are teenagers today. Youth-oriented pop music and the media that distribute it are so ubiquitous now that it’s hard to imagine the sensation kids must have had in 1956, of something new and raw happening. Which I think is the context you mean.

But there’s something about Elvis himself, too, which I think you’ve put your finger on. I mean, the same cultural context gave us Little Richard and Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry and Johnny Cash and Buddy Holly and Ray Charles, all of whom I think can be appreciated in 2008 without having a terribly keen sense of history…and all of whom I listen to for pleasure, which I rarely do with Elvis.

(I’m still gonna vote for ‘im, though…)

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

Schleuse,

Building off your comment.

I'm your age and my parents are bit older. That makes me the first generation in my family to enjoy rock music. My parents thought Elvis and The Beatles were for teeny boppers (and later hippies). They were just a little bit too old. So even though I was too young to catch Elvis when he was young, I wasn't listenig to my parents (or grandparents) music when I put on an Elvis record. It was new to me in the early 1980s. Nowadays its ancient, by comparison.

Part of the problem with Elvis is that he got so big and then got really corny. If you just took his pre-Army career (Sun Sessions and early RCA hits) and compared it to the same amount of early material from Berry, Holly, and Richard, I think Elvis would measure up, musically. The problem is fat Elvis syndrome.

Re: Is Elvis Presley Overrated?

My comment is poorly written. My parents are a bit older, as in "on the old side" (not a bit older than me).