Regarding the Ready Teddy video: when Scotty takes over with his solo you witness the sheer joy of musicians not only playing for an audience but alsofor each other. Everyone in a band knows that magical feeling.

I was 19 in 1977, working as a cook in Boston, and our chef came out and told the staff that Elvis had died, one of the waitress's started to cry, the chef came back and gave us all a shot of whiskey.

To be an Elvis Fan - no explanation necessary!
Not to be an Elvis Fan - no explanation possible!
46 Presidents but Only One King!

I was in a taxi cab in New York City. I was a tourist there. The driver was what we used to call a "greaser" -- a guy with his hair slicked back 1950s style. The news came over the radio. The driver wept.

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ProfessorWolf

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Sighunt

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ProfessorWolf

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umakmehrd

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Cooltoplady
Chuck Berry died in 2017 not 45 years ago.

Well played !

indeed

i think elvis more then earned the respect and fame he gets as a pioneering rock 'n roll musician and performer

but there is only one true original king of rock 'n roll and it's charles edward anderson berry

however making this point in a thread about the 45th anniversary of elvis's death is maybe in a bit disrespectful and in poor taste

so let's leave rhis argument for another thread

As a long time closet guitar player who has also emulated and tended to view Chuck as the rightful king, on a separate argument, we can certainly debate the influence and popularity of Elvis, but one cannot deny that it was white artists like Elvis and the Stones who helped bring and re-introduce black artists to a mainstream music audience. Just saying...

true but it's also worth noting why it was necessary for white artists to record black music for white audiences to acknowledge and take interest in the music being made by there fellow countrymen

Chuck Berry had white American audiences from the beginning. He didn't need "white artists" to rescue his career.

Which black artists did Elvis record their songs and introduce?

my comment was more a response to sighunt's post and more about the stones introducing and popularizing black blues and r&b artists to white audiences not necessarily about elvis or chuck berry

both of which you are correct had already attracted white and black audiences

i should have been more specific

but one could say that the stones and the beatles definitely helped revive chuck's career after he got out of prison

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ProfessorWolf
my comment was more a response to sighunt's post and more about the stones introducing and popularizing black blues and r&b artists to white audiences not necessarily about elvis or chuck berry

both of which you are correct had already attracted white and black audiences

i should have been more specific

but one could say that the stones and the beatles definitely helped revive chuck's career after he got out of prison

I don’t think the listening population at that time had any interest of who wrote the song or if it was a cover of an old blues tune. They just wanted to hear the artist no matter who wrote the song. Elvis was a cover artist. People thought that all his hits were originals.
You can’t think like we do in 2022 you have to think what it was like in 1958. 45’s and AM radio play was just all about all you would know



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-08-23 18:47 by More Hot Rocks.

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ProfessorWolf
my comment was more a response to sighunt's post and more about the stones introducing and popularizing black blues and r&b artists to white audiences not necessarily about elvis or chuck berry

both of which you are correct had already attracted white and black audiences

i should have been more specific

but one could say that the stones and the beatles definitely helped revive chuck's career after he got out of prison

Gotcha.

The funny thing is, there were 60's white blues acts in the US that never achieved the popularity of the Stones and Cream, etc. It specifically took British folks to introduce those original American bluesmen to Americans.

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More Hot Rocks

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ProfessorWolf
my comment was more a response to sighunt's post and more about the stones introducing and popularizing black blues and r&b artists to white audiences not necessarily about elvis or chuck berry

both of which you are correct had already attracted white and black audiences

i should have been more specific

but one could say that the stones and the beatles definitely helped revive chuck's career after he got out of prison

I don’t think the listening population at that time had any interest of who wrote the song or if it was a cover of an old blues tune. They just wanted to hear the artist no matter who wrote the song. Elvis was a cover artist. People thought that all his hits were originals.
You can’t think like we do in 2022 you have to think what it was like in 1958. 45’s and AM radio play was just all about all you would know

From my understanding, a lot of Elvis songs were specifically written for him by pro songwriters and not actually covers by other artists.

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TravelinMan

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More Hot Rocks

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ProfessorWolf
my comment was more a response to sighunt's post and more about the stones introducing and popularizing black blues and r&b artists to white audiences not necessarily about elvis or chuck berry

both of which you are correct had already attracted white and black audiences

i should have been more specific

but one could say that the stones and the beatles definitely helped revive chuck's career after he got out of prison

I don’t think the listening population at that time had any interest of who wrote the song or if it was a cover of an old blues tune. They just wanted to hear the artist no matter who wrote the song. Elvis was a cover artist. People thought that all his hits were originals.
You can’t think like we do in 2022 you have to think what it was like in 1958. 45’s and AM radio play was just all about all you would know

From my understanding, a lot of Elvis songs were specifically written for him by pro songwriters and not actually covers by other artists.

Elvis did do some covers but you are EXACTLY correct. Singer/songwriters weren't really a 'thing' for really big artists like Sinatra, Crosby, Dean Martin, pre 1950s, whom Elvis really followed and emulated as being 'successful'.

That's why some of those 50s artists like Berry and Buddy Holly really broke the mold paving the way for the Beatles etc.

I saw him in concert in April, 1977, four months before he died.

I was in fifth grade, and still remember it well.

The soundboard is on YouTube, and for that stage in his life he sounded pretty good.

I am 56 now, and to this day I have never met anyone else who saw him live.

My dad took me, in Duluth, Minn.

And because of that, I took both of my twin daughters to see the Stones and McCartney. They are 15 years old. I hope they remember it for the rest of their lives, as I have with Elvis.

For my money, no performer in music history topped the '68 Comeback Special.