Elvis at 75 – Still the King of Rock and Roll
By MNJ
| Posted in Feature
Elvis Aaron Presley would have been 75 today, so if you’re up there watching us El – Happy Birthday! Pictured is a 21 year old Elvis in the studio in 1956 with his vocal backing group, the Jordanaires. On the left is his longtime guitarist, Scotty Moore, playing an acoustic rather than his trademark Gibson ES-295.
This is how I like to remember him, from the period he was recording songs like Heartbreak Hotel, All Shook Up and Hound Dog in a small studio in Memphis – records which still sound as fresh and exciting as if they were cut last week.
For me, The Sun Sessions, including his first hit, That’s All Right Mama, contain some of the finest moments in musical history and provided the sound on which rock and roll and subsequently pop and rock was based. Who knows what may have happened if Elvis had taken his friend’s advice and stayed a truck driver, or if Scotty Moore, bass player Bill Black and Elvis hadn’t broken into That’s All Right at the end of another fruitless recording session. It was at this moment that studio owner Sam Phillips heard the sound he was looking for and rock and roll was born.
When the record was aired, many listeners thought that Elvis was a black artist. Let’s not forget that at this time in the southern states of the US, racial segregation was the norm, so reaction to his music from the black community was favourable but the white audience at first thought it was just ‘race music’ as they then called it. When it was revealed that he was white, it got worse because then the ulta conservative, church-going southeners thought it depraved and the aural embodiment of sex. To his great credit, Elvis ignored the prejudice and went on making records, becoming the legend that still lives with us today.
Anybody that has seen any footage of any his last concerts in the mid-1970s can’t help being shocked at not only his appearance, but that his greatest musical asset, his voice, had all but deserted him. It’s uncomfortable viewing, as he forgets lyrics and mumbles incoherently into the microphone. He had become a sad parody of himself by this time, manipulated by the corrupt business people that surrounded him who had pushed him too far physically and mentally just to satisfy their own greed.
What would Elvis Presley be doing now if he had lived? My guess is that he’d have become a serious movie actor in the 1980s and 1990s and then made some rootsy albums in the last few years, maybe collaborating with other artists, and returning to the gospel/country/blues influences that gave him the inspiration to sing in the first place.
Tags: elvis presley, rock and roll
Ah, thanks for the reminder, Marc!
I’m set to start recording an album with the Country / 50′s Rock ‘n’ Roll band tomorrow. I called the guys and told them to start the recording tonight instead, starting with an ‘All Shook Up’ cover. It only seems right to record on the Elvis’ birthday.
David Bell
Great article, thanks for posting it.
Interesting to think that both David Bell and his Lead Guitarist Frankie Bengel are also 21 years of age, and today, some 54 years after the above picture of Elvis was taken, are about to record some of his songs in a snow covered studio in Romford.
Here’s to the next 75 years.
Frankie
Frankie
Nice article about the King. Personal fave performances: Lawdy Miss Clawdy from 1956 (you can get it on the 1999 release of his self titled RCA debut), Jailhouse Rock and the comeback special performance of Trouble.
Professor Edwin Fail