Why is Elvis considered so great?

Forgive me for putting forth my own perception but...

Any band that is sufficiently "classic" can be considered overrated, but, from my personal standpoint, I have this opinion of Elvis Presley.

I'd love to hear as to why he's considered the "King of Rock 'n Roll" to this day. Because to me, he didn't really do anything new when it came to Rock 'n Roll. He almost never wrote his own music; he often did covers of Rock 'n Roll standards written by guys like Carl Perkins, Little Richard, or Chuck Berry. He didn't really do anything different from other Rock artists at the time sound-wise (it was just fast-paced R&B and blues beats, same as all other 50's musicians, really).

So, tell me, why is Elvis considered the "King"?

Well, Elvis didn't write his own music. A lot of people didn't. Frank Sinatra never wrote his own music. Why should Elvis not have the same leeway?

But, to quote Peter Guralnick, a rock critic who was there:

"The world was not prepared for Elvis Presley... Elvis had the moment. He hit like a Pan-American flash, and the reverberations still linger from the shock of his arrival."

That answer anything?

(The quote is from How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll, by Elijah Wald.)

edited 18th Mar '14 12:43:27 PM by Aldo930

It's kinda vague to me. Did it say anything about his sound or anything revolutionary he did otherwise?

Basically, what he's saying is that Elvis hit in the right time and right place. Nobody had heard anything like him. Maybe Bill Haley and the Comets, but not much else.

Visit Graceland and you'll know.

He brought rock and roll music to white people. Also, his pelvis was too sexy for 1950s eyes.

Race. Rock-n-roll was the right sound, at the right place, at the right time. And Elvis was the first rock-n-roller with the right skin color. That's why he became the King, and Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley didn't.

I have an LP of Elvis' first recordings for Sun Records, and the liner notes have a quote from one of the label's executives: (paraphrasing) "If I can just find a white boy who plays like negro, then I'll make a million dollars."

, This in a nutshell. Elvis was the iconic "sex symbol" musician of that time...he was handsome, he had (for his time) amazing (and overtly scandalous) moves, and his voice bridged the gap between white and black artists as much as his music. He was like a bomb going off in the 50's music scene.

edited 18th Mar '14 2:11:34 PM by Willbyr

The last few posts have pretty much nailed it, IMO. He was a popularizer, not an innovator. Popularizers usually get the money and the fame, not to mention the recognition. Others created it, he just found a way to make it palatable to a mass (i.e. middle class and white) audience. And, of course, the oft-mentioned fact that he was white. Can't forget that. At the time, racism was sorta mainstream, after all...

Not to say that he wasn't talented, cause he was. But he didn't invent Rock & Roll, nor was he its greatest early artist, IMNSHO. Still Top 5 though.

It's a bit like the relationship between Nirvana and Grunge- Nirvana DID NOT invent it (arguably, The Melvins, Green River and Soundgarden did that back in '85-'86, which was a year or two before Nirvana even formed), but they did popularize it and turn it into a big pop-culture movement in '91-'92. Well, them and Pearl Jam, anyways. Elvis did the same thing to Rock & Roll, in a nutshell.

edited 18th Mar '14 3:43:52 PM by sharkcrap11

Compare mainstream music pre-and-post Elvis, and you can see it. Another thing is that his style sounds clean and fresh to this day. Listen to "A Little Less Conversation", "Jailhouse Rock", or "Burning Love" - and they still sound like they could have been recorded yesterday. What that is, is called timelessness.

Let's also not forget that beneath the hip-swinging and simple singles, the man had serious chops, particularly in the vocal department, and a genuine love for the music and the people who he emulated. He also had serious stage presence, which really doesn't carry in the studio recordings.

I'm not a huge Elvis fan, but I will give credit where credit is due.

To me, Chuck Berry will always be the King of Rock 'n' Roll!