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Elvis Presley's Influence On Pop Culture

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Rock and roll music started with this one quote: “I don’t sound like nobody” (Marsh). Elvis Presley uttered this phrase when he first met Sun founder Sam Phillips, during a recording session that Elvis was making for his mother’s birthday. Elvis’s voice and singing style pleased Phillips so much that he believed Elvis was a black man! The public would also have this theory about him until they actually saw him. Of course, when Elvis Presley walked into Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, even he could not predict that he was about to change the course of music history forever. “Elvis Presley is the true definition of a rock star. He has basically had music all around him his entire life. From first hearing the depressing blues from the Mississippi …show more content…
In the first place, two of Elvis’s favorite genres were country and R&B, which he used to create rockabilly music. “Inspired by the country music he heard on the radio from the Grand Ole Opry every Saturday night, as well as the gospel-flavored sounds ringing around church each Sunday morning, Elvis had no idea that he had already embarked on the path that would lead him to fame and fortune” (Doll). Elvis was a huge fan of both gospel and country, but had always played just for fun. In fact, there was no thought in his mind of becoming a musician when he was young. Being inspired by these music genres did not just inspire Elvis to create his own sound; he also uniquely covered some of them as his material! “Several albums were recorded by Elvis of him singing only blues and gospel covers. These were his two favorite types of music, and he felt that he wanted to pay tribute to them in the biggest way possible” (Geller). By Elvis wanting to record songs like “Polk Salad Annie”, “Blue Moon of Kentucky”, “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, and other contemporaries, he showed his fans that he was more than just a rock singer. Likewise, he was very versatile, and had a range that most front men in modern times cannot even maintain as they grow older. Of course, the public know him for other reasons other than just his …show more content…
Several musicians around Elvis’ time cite “The King” for helping them get into the music business, including The Beatles. “Paul [McCartney] told Elvis that if it weren’t for him there would be no Beatles, that he made it possible for everyone else, that he was the king. Then John [Lennon] said, ‘Elvis, these crowds, man, they can get wild and crazy, I mean we put our lives on the line. It’s scary” (Geller). Elvis’ music spoke to people all over the world. Numerous musicians are among those individuals who say that Elvis is the reason they got into the music industry. Interestingly, a considerable amount of African-American musicians were deeply offended when Elvis started experimenting with blues music, because it was their creative outlet of expression. However, many of the people who succeeded him took their stage presence from him. “A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man’s music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copies his stage mannerisms from Elvis’ ” (Wilson qtd. in Geller). The hypocrisy that Jackie Wilson, famed soul singer, provides, encompassing black musicians who took from Elvis, just as he took from them, gives an insight into who influenced who. A frequent amount of today’s African American artists include Elvis high on their list of favorite performers. In summary, Elvis Presley enchanted the world in a variety of

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