Some on this board might agree with this article...I, on otherhand, vehemently DISAGREE completely with every dumb point this guy makes.




Ten Reasons Why Elvis Presley is Overrated
By Kevin Keller and Kate Kiefer on March 12, 2009


[www.pastemagazine.com] ... d.html?p=2



1. The movies.

Elvis was not a good actor, and his movies are horrible. Take, for example, Harum Scarum (1965). He plays a movie star (naturally) who’s kidnapped and taken to a Middle Eastern country where he’s enlisted by—get this—the Lord of Assassins to kill an Arabian king. Oh, and he falls in love with the king’s daughter. Check out the film’s trailer, which we thought was a parody until we noticed it was posted by Warner Bros.


2. The fake songwriting credits.

Elvis hardly wrote any of his songs, but he sure got credit for all of them. Granted, it was reportedly his manager, “Colonel” Tom Parker (a real piece of work himself), who made Presley do it. But still, we’re talking about more than just taking credit for other people’s hard work—he took money from them. Otis Blackwell deserved the royalties for “Don’t Be Cruel.” Ken Darby deserved the royalties for “Love Me Tender.” The list goes on.


3. The title "the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll."

There's no doubt that Elvis left his mark on contemporary music. But to hold the title of "The King" one should be the most influential in all of rock music. With that in mind, consider how many rock musicians call The Beatles a primary influence compared with Presley. From their set-up to their record sales, the Beatles have far more influence than Elvis on rock ’n’ roll. And considering that four men hold the greatest share of power and influence in rock, it's questionable whether anyone deserves the title. Besides, this is America!


4. “Amazing Grace” (and other terrible gospel songs).

“Amazing Grace” was written by the repentant slave trader John Newton, reflecting on the idea that God's grace could save him from even his most evil deeds. And nothing manages to destroy the introspective song faster than the sound of Elvis moaning and grunting his way through it. Elvis recorded nearly 100 gospel songs over the course of his career, and rarely, if ever, did he bother to drop his affected delivery out of reverence. There's nothing wrong with making a song sound sexy, but hands off the Hymnal, Your Majesty.


5. The fashion.

He started off all clean-cut and handsome, but we can’t get behind Iconic Elvis. There’s just something about those rhinestone jumpsuits that screams “morally reprehensible.” Not to mention, people make fun of Bono for his sunglasses—but this man had the audacity to incorporate a CAPE into his signature style. And don’t even get us started on the sideburns (they deserve their own List of the Day).


6. Vegas.

The King's very public relationship with Vegas may have begun with his movie and song Viva Las Vegas, but Elvis later performed more than 800 sold-out shows that would forever shape Sin City. Whether Elvis was drawn to Vegas, or Vegas was drawn to Elvis, the relationship was a match made in a rhinestone-adorned hell—giving rise to a culture of unoriginal shows that consistently place style over substance. And does it bother you that artists like Celine Dion make millions performing the same show night after night in the same venue? Blame Presley.


7. The Impersonators.

As if seeing hundreds of albums, books and movies highlighting Elvis weren't enough, it appears that about half the world has at least once pretended to be the King. For some, it's as innocent as slicking back their hair and curling a lip in front of the mirror, while countless others have ruined their lives (or at least their reputations) by donning sparkly leisure suits and gyrating their hips in public. Make no mistake; people don't impersonate Elvis just because they like him. They do it because it's easy. Most of what made Elvis memorable had nothing to do with music, so nearly anyone can be the King. Are you overweight and tone-deaf? Not a problem! Just slide into a shiny jumpsuit, shimmy and shake for all you're worth, and you're almost as good as Elvis himself. But make sure to mention that you're "70's Elvis.”


8. "Jailhouse Rock"


9. Graceland.

Each year Graceland receives more than 600,000 visitors, making it second only to the White House in terms of famous American homes. That means that each year, thousands upon thousands of children lose the opportunity to visit a place with actual historical merit (or at least some entertainment value) so that their parents can indulge in weird Elvis fetishes. It's one thing to make your kid listen to Presley in the car, but to steal her summer vacation away to visit a garish monument to rock opulence? Well, that just borders on cruelty.


10. He won’t go away.

The 'Elvis Lives' thing is just embarrassing. Tupac Twitters, but Elvis really died. He stopped making music. Over 30 years ago. Somehow, his hits are still being regurgitated and, of course, topping charts. In 2002, a compilation of his 30 No. 1 hits went quadruple platinum. And this past Christmas, his duets record reached 17 on the US 100. It creepily featured a bunch of female pop and country stars, like Amy Grant and Martina McBride, pretending to sing with him. You might wonder, how could Gretchen Wilson record a song with Elvis in 2008 if he died in 1977? The answer’s obvious: Elvis lives.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-21 06:42 by Justin.

the king is the king and that's just the way it is....sorry, there can no substitutes.

Dont say this to me in the pub

His Gospel was inspiring.
He can't take the blame for impersonators.
When Sun studios gave birth to Rock n Roll, Elvis was the attending physician.

He is the only thing that really is worth all the hype.

The King, no one above, no one beside.

Just play "Heart Break Hotel"

__________________________

In the immortal words of Mojo Nixon, Elvis Is Everywhere!

Elvis Is Everywhere

When I look out into your eyes out there,
When I look out into your faces,
You know what I see?
I see a little bit of Elvis
In each and every one of you out there.

Lemme tell ya...
Weeeeeeeeeellllllll...

Elvis is everywhere
Elvis is everything
Elvis is everybody
Elvis is still the king

Man o man
What I want you to see
Is that the big E's
Inside of you and me

Elvis is everywhere, man!
He's in everything.
He's in everybody...

Elvis is in your jeans.
He's in your cheesburgers
Elvis is in Nutty Buddies!
Elvis is in your mom!

He's in everybody.
He's in the young, the old,
the fat, the skinny,
the white, the black
the brown and the blue
people got Elvis in 'em too

Elvis is in everybody out there.
Everybody's got Elvis in them!
Everybody except one person that is...
Yeah, one person!
The evil opposite of Elvis.
The Anti-Elvis

Anti-Elvis got no Elvis in 'em,
lemme tell ya.

Michael J. Fox has no Elvis in him.

And Elvis is in Joan Rivers
but he's trying to get out, man!
He's trying to get out!
Listen up Joanie Baby!

Elvis is everywhere
Elvis is everything
Elvis is everybody
Elvis is still the king

Man o man
What I want you to see
Is that the big E's
Inside of you and me

Man, there's a lot of unexplained phenomenon
out there in the world.
Lot of things people say
What the heck's going on?

Let me tell ya!

Who built the pyramids?
ELVIS!
Who built Stonehenge?
ELVIS!

Yeah, man you see guys
walking down the street
pushing shopping carts
and you think they're talking to allah,
they're talking to themself.
Man, no they're talking to ELVIS!
ELVIS! ELVIS!

You know whats going on in that Bermuda Triangle?
Down in the Bermuda Traingle
Elvis needs boats.
Elvis needs boats.
Elvis Elvis Elvis
Elvis Elvis Elvis
Elvis needs boats.

Aahh! The Sailing Elvis!
Captain Elvis!
Commodore Elvis it is.

Yeah man, you know people from outer space,
people from outer space they come up to me.
They don't look like like Doctor Spock.
They don't look like Klingons,
all that Star Trek jive.

They look like Elvis.
ELVIS!
Everybody in outer space looks like Elvis.
Cause Elvis is a perfect being.
We are all moving in perfect peace and harmony towards Elvisness

Soon all will become Elvis.
Everything everywhere will be Elvis.
Why do you think they call it evolution anyway?
It's really Elvislution!
Elvislution!

Elvis is everywhere
Elvis is everything
Elvis is everybody
Elvis is still the king

Man o man
What I want you to see
Is that the big E's
Inside of you and me

That's right ladies and gentlemen,
The time has come!
Time has come to talk
To that little bit of Elvis inside of you.

Talk to it!
Call it up!
Say "Elvis, heal me!"
"Save me, Elvis!"
"Make me be born again
in the perfect Elvis light"

That's right!
You've got that Elvis inside of ya
and he's talkin to ya
He says he wants you to sing!
Everybody's got to sing like the king!

Like the king
Get that leg going now
Get your lip too.
Not no fool Billy Idol lip either
Everybody!
Yeah, we're rockin now!

Elvis is with us.
He's with us and he's speaking to us.
He says "Peoples!"
"Peoples!"
"Everybody!"
"Everybody got to sing!"

Elvis is everywhere
Elvis is everything
Elvis is everybody
Elvis is still the king

Man o man
What I want you to see
Is that the big E's
Inside of you and me

Elvis is everywhere
Elvis is everything
Elvis is everybody
Elvis is still the king

Man o man
What I want you to see
Is that the big E's
Inside of you and me

Elvis!

1. The movies.

Most are crap, but King Creole's a good film.


2. The fake songwriting credits.

Colonel Tom Parker's business acumen.

3. The title "the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll."

He didn't award himself that title. RCA's publicity department and the Colonel did that.


4. “Amazing Grace” (and other terrible gospel songs).

Bollocks! Those gospel recordings are superb.

5. The fashion.

No one looked good in the 70s. And Elvis '68 comeback look has been copied and imitated more times than I care to remember - as has the gold lame suit.


6. Vegas.

Say that to Frank Sinatra ... Colonel Tom Parker at it again.


7. The Impersonators.

Come off it ...

8. "Jailhouse Rock"

How is that overrated? It's also one of the first mainstream songs about jailhouse punking.


9. Graceland.

What? He's overrated because of his house? This list is desperate.


10. He won’t go away.

And never will. Unlike the people who come up with lists like these.


><



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-20 23:54 by Nikolai.

Shows what a lousy article this is when you can't even answer your own point

"8. "Jailhouse Rock"

I can't be arsed to read most of it....

Quote
Nikolai
1. The movies.

Most are crap, but King Creole's a good film.


2. The fake songwriting credits.

Colonel Tom Parker's business acumen.

3. The title "the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll."

He didn't award himself that title. RCA's publicity department and the Colonel did that.


4. “Amazing Grace” (and other terrible gospel songs).

Bollocks! Those gospel recordings are superb.

5. The fashion.

No one looked good in the 70s. And Elvis '68 comeback look has been copied and imitated more times than I care to remember - as has the gold lame suit.


6. Vegas.

Say that to Frank Sinatra ... Colonel Tom Parker at it again.


7. The Impersonators.

Come off it ...

8. "Jailhouse Rock"

How is that overrated? It's also one of the first mainstream songs about jailhouse punking.


9. Graceland.

What? He's overrated because of his house? This list is desperate.


10. He won’t go away.

And never will. Unlike the people who come up with lists like these.


><

I almost spat my coffee out laughing at your response to #9

None of those items on that list had anything (other than tangentially) to do with his music.

Elvis was great. If you are unable to see that, or are more comfortable laughing at the more comical aspects of the man's persona - like most knuckleheads who think they're too "smart" for Elvis - then, I pity you.

the commercialization of his house is an embarrassment to the civilized world. It's the only house I've ever visited where you can buy a stuffed toy in the likeness of said house.

OLDKR

I know I'm a very bad person and I'm going to hell, but- while the list is pretty lame- it does make some points.

Obviously the Sun Records stuff is brilliant, and so is a lot of his latter-day stuff (his version of "In the Ghetto" is great, and "Suspicious Minds" is as perfect a song as you could ask for), but I've always actually RESENTED the "King of Rock n' Roll" label.

The title belongs to Chuck Berry. And if there were true justice in this world, Otis Redding would have had EVERY accolade and honor that was bestowed on Presely, and he would have attained the same cultural stature as well. (the US had a little problem with their skin pigmentation, I'm sure).

You can probably come up with a million reasons why he wasn't a great person, smelled bad, pill popper etc.

None of it matters when he opens his mouth - so with singing as the sole criterial - absolutely NOT overrated.

Thank you, Thank You Very Much - now go make me a hunka hunka peanut butter-banana sandwich.

"the commercialization of his house is an embarrassment to the civilized world. It's the only house I've ever visited where you can buy a stuffed toy in the likeness of said house.

OLDKR"

So commercial you had to visit the place? And I wasn't aware Elvis was actually responsible for the soft toy?

I actually don't like his voice all that much. I prefer Eddie Cochran, in the same way I prefer Otis to Sam Cooke, Jagger to McCartney, and other golden throated, mellow toned crooners like Dylan, Reed, Waits, Strummer,Johansen, Ted Hawkins, etc.

Elvis' voice sounded silly a lot of the time (his version of Amazing Grace really IS embarassing), and I LIKE silly music.

Quote
oldkr
the commercialization of his house is an embarrassment to the civilized world. It's the only house I've ever visited where you can buy a stuffed toy in the likeness of said house.

OLDKR

and I bet there's absolutely NO Stones kitsch in YOUR home....

...hey I've won on those Elvis slots in Vegas.....hunka hunka burning love...

Elvis was overrated bout the same time he got overweighted.

.........Somewhere around '55 Atlantic Records put in a bid
for Elvis but RCA came in over-top of 'em and slammed something
like 35-40 grand on the table and bought themselves the Rockin' Machine .....

The company he woulda kept at Atlantic...woulda made the world an even more thumpin' place .....
Ahmet ... Ray Charles ...Big Joe ..Solomon...Pickett ...Clovers...Coasters....Didn't happen...But the
thought of it still brings sh...sh..shudders



ROCKMAN

The scene in 'Hail Hail Rock n' Roll!', when Bo Diddely, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard are all sitting around talking about the early days, sums up a lot of my feelings about Elvis' celebrity.

Bo, is being his usual lovely and dignified self; Chuck is being his usual sly, slightly evasive, and bitter self; and Little Richard goes off like a mofo, and tells the truth:

the industry got a moderately talented, pretty-boy hick with the right skin color and groomed him to be a huge pop star, with movies, lame crooning, and all manner of safe and acceptable shennanagins. The times were perfect for that sort of thing.

Elvis: the original American Idol.

lets face it memphis is a musical theme park you play dodge the homeless drug addict on your way between beale street, sun, stax and graceland- all incredibly commercialized, the level of which cannot be reasonably known to the initiated! I was caught unawares.

OLDKR

Quote
Rockman
.........Somewhere around '55 Atlantic Records put in a bid
for Elvis but RCA came in over-top of 'em and slammed something
like 35-40 grand on the table and bought themselves the Rockin' Machine .....

The company he woulda kept at Atlantic...woulda made the world an even more thumpin' place .....
Ahmet ... Ray Charles ...Big Joe ..Solomon...Pickett ...Clovers...Coasters....Didn't happen...But the
thought of it still brings sh...sh..shudders

excellent point, man.

Can you imagine Elvis writing and recording with the MG's at Stax? or at Muscle Shoals?

Atlantic used Muscle Shoals almost exclusively for Areatha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, and also distributed Stax/Volt stuff.

"I was caught unawares."

What, you were unaware Graceland MIGHT be tacky?

"Elvis was overrated bout the same time he got overweighted."

Total tosh, Some of Elvis' greatest works was produced during the early to late 70's....

Any day now

Nah, for me it was the earlier stuff. I think there was a decent live release of a 1974 show, but the essence of Elvis' work came earlier imo.

I rate him on his voice and voice alone, and thats fecking nigh on impossible to overrate FACT !

That's Someone You Will Never Forget 1962 .... Stunning stuff ......



ROCKMAN

Agree Rockman.

Pot Luck is a great album. So are all the post army albums (non film).

You aint lived till you hear Mystery Train original 78 played on a 1956 Radio Gram. Or HMV 78 of Heartbreak Hotel.

Late Elvis is also superb. The Jungle Room sessions get to the heart of the man in his twilight.

Elvis 70's masters is a must.

Quote
Muppet HiFi

Quote
Rockman
.........Somewhere around '55 Atlantic Records put in a bid
for Elvis but RCA came in over-top of 'em and slammed something
like 35-40 grand on the table and bought themselves the Rockin' Machine .....

The company he woulda kept at Atlantic...woulda made the world an even more thumpin' place .....
Ahmet ... Ray Charles ...Big Joe ..Solomon...Pickett ...Clovers...Coasters....Didn't happen...But the
thought of it still brings sh...sh..shudders

excellent point, man.

Can you imagine Elvis writing and recording with the MG's at Stax? or at Muscle Shoals?

Atlantic used Muscle Shoals almost exclusively for Areatha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, and also distributed Stax/Volt stuff.

Elvis DID actually record at Stax. He used some top musicians there and at the American Studios in 1969