Elvis Presley

[AndyNorthernSaints]

Can't believe no one has mentioned it. Elvis would be 75 today. Lots of good stuff on BBC4.

[saint boggy]

Can't believe no one has mentioned it. Elvis would be 75 today. Lots of good stuff on BBC4.

his music really is timeless, isn't it......

 

EDIT....just had to Youtube some of his stuff......... legend..

Edited 8 January, 2010 by saint boggy

[miserableoldgit]

his music really is timeless, isn't it......

 

EDIT....just had to Youtube some of his stuff......... legend..

Never heard of him. Is he any good??

[Ponty]

Oliver's Army was quite catchy.

[RedAndWhite91]

They say everyone remembers where they were when Elvis died. Where were you lot?

[Ponty]

I was in the back of the Cortina when the news came on my dad's car radio... or was that John Lennon.. I forget now. One of the two anyway.

[RonManager]

Working at Currys warehouse in Winnall Estate, Winchester. Someone came in with a copy of the Sun. One old boy was in tears. Me, being a young punk, couldn't give a f*ck.

[RedAndWhite91]

Working at Currys warehouse in Winnall Estate, Winchester. Someone came in with a copy of the Sun. One old boy was in tears. Me, being a young punk, couldn't give a f*ck.

 

No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones, in 1977

 

My Mum was only like 12 when he died, she was massive fan of his.

[Block 5]

They say everyone remembers where they were when Elvis died. Where were you lot?

 

In the next cubicle.

[hamster]

Working at Currys warehouse in Winnall Estate, Winchester. Someone came in with a copy of the Sun. One old boy was in tears. Me, being a young punk, couldn't give a f*ck.

 

I love Elvis, but didn't at the time.

 

Mum loves him but as a kid hearing him incessantly on the radiogram along with Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Roger Miller and with Dad's violin and trumpet playing in the next room as a kid turned me against the lot of them. I now know better of course and appreciate the lot.

 

As a 'young punk' you will no doubt be familiar with the little ditty:

 

Elvis is dead

Long forgotten

Now 'The King' is

Johnny Rotten.

[Guest Dark Sotonic Mills]

I love Elvis, but didn't at the time.

 

Mum loves him but as a kid hearing him incessantly on the radiogram along with Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Roger Miller and with Dad's violin and trumpet playing in the next room as a kid turned me against the lot of them. I now know better of course and appreciate the lot.

 

As a 'young punk' you will no doubt be familiar with the little ditty:

 

Elvis is dead

Long forgotten

Now 'The King' is

Johnny Rotten.

 

Wow, your dad would have made a great novelty act.

[Scudamore]

I find all the weirdos that come with the whole Elvis package a little off putting

[St Landrew]

Never quite worked out why people think Elvis was the King of rock an' roll. Good performer, in fact, great peformer. But that's about it, for me.

[Block 5]

I think that Chuck D summed up the whole Elvis phenomenon with his lyrics from 'Fight the Power'.

 

"Elvis was a hero to most

But he never meant sh1t to me you see.

Straight up racist that sucker was,

Simple and plain.

Motherf*ck him and John Wayne."

[Guest Dark Sotonic Mills]

I find all the weirdos that come with the whole Elvis package a little off putting

 

That goes for virtually any of the fangroups though, be they 'Twilight moms' or the Jim Reeves loonies.

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

Elvis = Utter ****e!

[Deppo]

I think that Chuck D summed up the whole Elvis phenomenon with his lyrics from 'Fight the Power'.

 

"Elvis was a hero to most

But he never meant sh1t to me you see.

Straight up racist that sucker was,

Simple and plain.

Motherf*ck him and John Wayne."

 

You missed the "yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boyee!" in between the last two lines.

[Hamilton Saint]

Elvis = Utter ****e!

 

Not the early stuff. The recordings he did with Sam Phillips at Sun Records in 1954 and 1955 were important fusions of country and R & B. Elvis had significant creative input into those recordings.

 

His first year at RCA (1956) was also marked by a lot of good material.

 

But the significance of Elvis as a musical figure was pretty much over once Elvis did his two-year stint in the army and then gave up complete control of his career to the odious Tom Parker.

 

Like many great figures in music history, Elvis was a synthesizer rather than an innovator.

 

A great book about Elvis' early career is Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralnik.

[Hamilton Saint]

I think that Chuck D summed up the whole Elvis phenomenon with his lyrics from 'Fight the Power'.

 

"Elvis was a hero to most

But he never meant sh1t to me you see.

Straight up racist that sucker was,

Simple and plain.

Motherf*ck him and John Wayne."

 

 

This is a lie. Elvis was not a racist. Do some homework and you'll see why.

[Block 5]

This is a lie. Elvis was not a racist. Do some homework and you'll see why.

 

Lyrics by Carlton 'Chuck D' Ridenhour, who no doubt was influence by the infamous quote that was attributed to the King:

 

“The only thing n*ggers can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes.”

 

Whether Elvis actually said this or not is hotly debated; there are plenty of folk who think he did and just as many who disagree.

 

I did my homework long ago Hamilton Saint, and to be honest I think the jury is out on this one.

And it always will be. But what a lyric!

[RedAndWhite91]

Lyrics by Carlton 'Chuck D' Ridenhour, who no doubt was influence by the infamous quote that was attributed to the King:

 

“The only thing n*ggers can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes.”

 

Whether Elvis actually said this or not is hotly debated; there are plenty of folk who think he did and just as many who disagree.

 

I did my homework long ago Hamilton Saint, and to be honest I think the jury is out on this one.

And it always will be. But what a lyric!

 

Wouldn't surprise me, given the racial climate at the time, and the fact that a quote like that in the 50's or 60's would have probably been considered acceptable.

[Block 5]

You missed the "yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boyee!" in between the last two lines.

 

You need to do some homework Deppo.

Start here:

[Block 5]

Wouldn't surprise me, given the racial climate at the time, and the fact that a quote like that in the 50's or 60's would have probably been considered acceptable.

 

You're probably right mate.

A southern redneck in the 1950s who isn't a racist?

I guess it's possible, but highly improbable.

[Deppo]

You need to do some homework Deppo.

Start here:

 

Don't teach your granny to suck eggs.

[Block 5]

Don't teach your granny to suck eggs.

 

Sorry Nan.

[hypochondriac]

Never liked Elvis. Always thought he was overrated and his music was quite cr*ppy on the whole. I'll probably get slated for that but just my opinion. My musical tastes are pretty obscure anyway.

[INFLUENCED.COM]

This is a lie. Elvis was not a racist. Do some homework and you'll see why.

 

I heard he was keen to meet up with Michael Jackson in heaven and when he did said "Thank f cuk for that someone told me Lisa married a black man"

[Hamilton Saint]

Lyrics by Carlton 'Chuck D' Ridenhour, who no doubt was influence by the infamous quote that was attributed to the King:

 

“The only thing n*ggers can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes.”

 

Whether Elvis actually said this or not is hotly debated; there are plenty of folk who think he did and just as many who disagree.

 

I did my homework long ago Hamilton Saint, and to be honest I think the jury is out on this one.

And it always will be. But what a lyric!

 

That quote was "attributed" to Elvis but there is no good evidence that he ever said it. When Elvis was confronted with questions about it, he denied he ever said it, or even anything like it.

 

In a previous post in this thread I mentioned Peter Guralnik, who wrote a comprehensive, two-volume biography of Elvis: Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love. These are not hagiographies; they are even-handed portraits - warts and all - about his "rise and fall". He probably spent 10-15 years working on these books. There is nothing in Elvis's history that even suggests that he was a racist.

 

Here's an article that Guralnik wrote about this issue for the New York Times back in 2007, when it was in the news.

 

http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/peter_guralnick_elvis_racist.shtml

 

Here's another article about that infamous quote; it provides evidence to show why he could not have uttered it. It's by Rob Rabiee:

 

http://www.elvisinfonet.com/spotlight_racist.html

 

 

Speaking of quotes, here's what James Brown said about Elvis:

 

 

"I wasn’t just a fan, I was his brother. Last time I saw Elvis alive was at Graceland. We sang ‘Old Blind Barnabus’ together, a gospel song. I love him and hope to see him in heaven. There’ll never be another like that soul brother."

 

 

And Little Richard:

 

"Elvis was an integrator. Elvis was a blessing. They wouldn’t let Black music through. He opened the door for Black music."

 

 

And Sammy Davis Jr.:

 

"On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Elvis eleven."

 

 

And Jackie Wilson:

 

“A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man’s music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis.”

 

 

I want to make it clear that I'm not a big Elvis fan. I like a lot of his earlier stuff (1954-56), as I wrote previously, but I think the comments about him being racist are unfair, unhistorical and pernicious

[Hamilton Saint]

I think that Chuck D summed up the whole Elvis phenomenon with his lyrics from 'Fight the Power'.

 

"Elvis was a hero to most

But he never meant sh1t to me you see.

Straight up racist that sucker was,

Simple and plain.

Motherf*ck him and John Wayne."

 

 

By the way, as Peter Guralnik points out in his New York Times article (cited in my previous post), "Chuck D has long since repudiated that view for a more nuanced one of cultural history".