Comments on: Time Capsule: A Peek Back to the Day When Elvis Made It Big

By: Brad Tierney

Brad Tierney — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 23:45:36 +0000

Whether you love Elvis or hate him, there is no dismissing his relevance, even today. However he did what he did, there has never been another entertainer who embodied so many things to so many people, worldwide. Elvis was a collection of opposites…shy, polite and humble, yet rebellious and individual. This fallacy that Elvis “stole his music from blacks” is baffling to me. The culture he was exposed to and grew up in, is what made up his DNA. Elvis WAS country and BLUES- everything about where he came from contributed to what he was. Yet somehow because he was the white guy in a time when blacks were being discriminated against, across this country, his absorption and homage to black culture and music is deemed racism. BB King was there on Beale Street prior to Elvis’ meteoric rise and he saw the situation in its purest form. He fervently denies that Elvis stole anything.

The opposite was was going on in St. Louis where a young Chuck Berry was writing himself into Rock-n-Roll history books. Wikipedia is cited as stating: “Although the band played mostly blues and ballads, the most popular music among whites in the area was country. Berry wrote, “Curiosity provoked me to lay a lot of our country stuff on our predominantly black audience and some of our black audience began whispering ‘who is that black hillbilly at the Cosmo?’ After they laughed at me a few times they began requesting the hillbilly stuff and enjoyed dancing to it.”
Berry’s calculated showmanship, along with mixing country tunes with R&B tunes, and singing in the style of Nat “King” Cole to the music of Muddy Waters, brought in a wider audience, particularly affluent white people.”

I’ve never heard of Chuck Berry being labeled a racist.

By: Jaime B Urroz

Jaime B Urroz — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:02:59 +0000

Two mere examples of Presley’s presence being felt, today, in areas that have zero to do with his record shattering music, music, recordings, movies, or television appearances. When Tupelo, MS was first chosen by Japanese investors to be the venue of its latest car manufacturing investment in the US, worth billions and creating thousands of jobs, and that was in 2006, the Prime Minister of Japan was Junishiro Koizumi, his country’s number one Elvis fan. And the President of the United Sates was George W. Bush (LOL) To those who are not aware, he (Koizumi), was the reason for Graceland becoming, a few months later, the only home other than the White House or any of the Presidential retreats, to have hosted an official meeting between a head of a foreign Government, and a sitting President of the United States. And he took him there, from DC and back, on Air Force One. That these two countries were at war, a real global war, precisely when those same heads of Government and of State, were being born, makes that particular meeting even more significant as a place of meeting one’s former foe, now an ally. Now, a second example. In 1960, when the idea for the building of the “U.S. Arizona Memorial” was first being materialized, all efforts to obtain the funds to build it came up short. Until Elvis Presley gave that concert. Today, even the number of visitors to Graceland, impressive in their own right, pale in comparison with those of Hawaii’s largest tourist attraction. Fifty million have toured it, more than a million per year and Elvis’ concert, and the publicity that it got, led the way to Congress’ change of heart, and their quite remarkable provision of the remaining funds then needed. Presto. It was opened in 1962, and one of the first people who toured was Presley, with the corresponding publicity creating even more interest. And the rest, as they say, is history. Of course, both the plant and the memorial would have been built even if Presley had never existed, but that’s like falling into wishful thinking, but in reverse.

By: Jaime B Urroz

Jaime B Urroz — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:24:05 +0000

The increase and diffusion of knowledge is the heart of the Smithsonian, and being grateful for contributions, and advances made to popular culture, be it through music, or any of the several mediums in the world of entertainment as well as to ackowledge them via articles such as this is precisely the memory of the heart of the institution itself acting as it should. Nothing can be as shortsighted as believeing that the era of Elvis Presley, his advent so to speak, can be dismissed lightly. Not with someone whose life is being showcased, as I write this message, in 4 personal exhibits in as many Presidential libraries, 5 music hall of fames, boasts 1,234 biographies written about his life or even portions of his life, left a legacy, inadventent as it may have been, in many areas including tourism in at least four states of the Union, namely Mississippi, Tennessee, Nevada and Hawaii. That his personal home is the subject of the only global peregrinage in modern history and to the tune of in excess of 18 million paying visitors since Graceland opened its doors to the public in 1982,is sound proof that whatever Presley did, most of it good, left a huge imprint not just in the US, but throughout the globe. No, Elvis’ presence is still with us, so kudos to the writer of the article, and to the Smithsonian for informing its readers about an important time in popular culture, when that very presence was first being felt, as recent as it may be, historically speaking.

By: Maurice Colgan

Maurice Colgan — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:38:32 +0000

The vast majority of those denigrating Elvis Presley and his music back in 1956 are now dead. Whereas here in Ireland Elvis is seen as, Deadly! (Super cool)

An Elvis song is presently used on TV and at cinemas here to promote our National lottery.

By: Cathy Dolby

Cathy Dolby — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:45:55 +0000

I would have expected better than this from the Smithsonian. Presley had his day, and it is over…thankyou.

By: Guillermo Perez-Arguello

Guillermo Perez-Arguello — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:32:26 +0000

Yet, inspite of all that, Billboard Magazine, in its latest issue, showcased the top ten songs about MLK, yet failed to include “If I can dream” in the list, in detriment of including at least two songs which never had the same impact, Elvis’ passioned delivery witnessed as it was by 50 million americans who watched him perform it on December 3, 1968. He was, is and will always be underappreciated….

By: Guillermo Perez-Arguello

Guillermo Perez-Arguello — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:28:04 +0000

“The man has no discerning singing ability”, was how a New York Times music columnist described one of Presley’s earliest television appearance. And this inspite of the fact his first album was already out, in which he showcased the most ecclectic lesson on how to sing at least 5 musical styles.

By: Brian Quinn

Brian Quinn — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:20:34 +0000

Of course, Elvis was more than a mere musician but quite an historic person. It was he alone who broke down social and cultural barriers in 1950′s U.S.A. making it easier for all entertainers who followed in his footsteps and in doing so paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement and Dr.Martin Luther King Jnr.

By: Maurice Colgan

Maurice Colgan — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:22:15 +0000

Here in Ireland back in 1956 Elvis Presley’s astounding voice and rebellious delivery caused a great deal of controversy.

See : ‘Elvis in Ireland’ by Ivor Casey a newly published biography.

Slowly but surely the impact of his voice alone is finally being appreciated by musicologists world-wide.

The media could fool the people most of the time but Elvis’s amazing talent just keeps amazing us all, and our grandchildren!

By: Jaime B Urroz

Jaime B Urroz — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 22:11:33 +0000

Wonderful piece of writing on America´s most underrated musician, if such a thing is possible as he remains undoubtedly the most celebrated, yet also least understood musical personality in the last 200 years, not just in the US, but throughout the world. One person who was impressed with Presley, during those Stage Show live appearances in New York, was Quincy Jones, who played trumpet for the CBS TV band that spring. It takes a genious in the making to even begin to understand a younger one, as he electrifies an audience with his blues offerings. Having been told that he could not pitch his ¨Heartbreak Hotel¨, because it wasn´t a hit yet, what does Presley do in his first three appearances? He hits America with not one, or two, but at least five R&B and blues originals, back to back, from the three mentioned in the article, to ¨Baby, let´s play House¨ and ¨Money Honey¨¨. Integration in the making, and he probably didn´t even know it…