Reply #13: Elvis' 1950s work was unprecedented in quality, style and influence. [View All]

[NightTrain]

The simple fact is, without Elvis Presley, rock 'n' roll would have been a lot smaller and influential than it was in the '50s. Who knows, without Elvis, the music might even have been nothing more than the short-lived fad its most vehement critics predicted it would be. As John Lennon put it, "Before Elvis, there was nothing."

And who cares if Elvis never wrote a song? Neither did Maria Callas or Luciano Pavarotti--or Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby, for that matter--but I don't hear anyone criticizing them for a lack of composing ability!

Furthermore, many of his songs may have originally been recorded by blues and R&B performers, but Elvis transformed them all into something uniquely his own. Listen to Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right" or Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" if you don't believe me. Presley didn't even use most of the original lyrics in those songs! Rather, he came up with new ones, often on the spot during his recording sessions. So much for the "What did he ever write?" argument.

Anyway, my most overrated band/musician is the Doors, and specifically Jim Morrison. Let's just say, dying young was the smartest career move he ever made! I find it hard to believe that Morrison's I'm-such-a-rebel posturing wouldn't have died some time in the '70s or '80s if he hadn't bitten the big one first.