Elvis Presley

[Deleted]

Correct me if I'm wrong (and I well may be) but towards the end of his Vegas days, with the white sequined cape and the bloat, etc., wasn't his fan-base primarilly middle aged women? I'm wondering if at that point he had ceased pulling in new, youthful fans. Seems like maybe younger people would have seen him as their parents' rock idol and maybe even been turned off by that.

But I could be wrong and he never did stop attracting the younger rock fans.

[jennipoo]

Dennis Quaid taught me that Jerry Lee Lewis had started pulling younger fans away from Elvis.

I think other artists like Ricky Nelson and the Beatles were doing the same.

[dwanollah]

I read an analysis somewhere about the whole Elvis v. Beatles thing that said something like that... that Elvis was more of a novelty nostalgia act for housewifes, whereas the Beatles made relevant music through the duration of their career.

I can't stand Elvis, but I'll admit not only was he groundbreaking musically, but he was HOT when he was young. Gawd damn.

[soccer mom]

I was in high school during the Elvis era. I liked his music, but was embarrassed by his movies. Yet I saw virtually every one of them at drive-in in southern California. Don't ask my why, because I was really a Beatles fan. In the early 70's, my father and I were discussing Elvis because he had just been in town on tour. He said, "He's the king of rock and roll." I was very surprised that a 55-year old guy would even say that since his music preferences were big band sounds and Bing Crosby.

If any of you saw the recent "Walk the Line" movie about Johnny Cash, there is a scene where Cash is off stage watching a very young Elvis perform. A smile comes across his face as he sees and acknowledges quietly, the charisma Elvis had with his audience as well as the ryhthm and blues style of singing that attracted them. That's when I realized what my father had seen some 35 years earlier. He became a mess in later life for reasons that have been acknowledged by posters here, but for some strange reason, he's still the king of rock and roll.

[Deleted]

I know, soccermom -- It's gratifying that while people are honest enough to acknowledge that he messed up later in his career, he still deserves that title. Notice how, on the other hand, Michael (ick) Jackson, once The Prince of Pop is now always referred to as either the "Erstwhile Prince of Pop" or the "Self-Proclaimed Prince of Pop"? He'll never again be referred to simply and unironically as The Prince of Pop.

[margojata]

Michael Jackson's problem is that he's still alive. If Elvis had lived and been even more publicly crazy, would he still be the King? Those were also the days when we didn't know everything that was going on with celebs. How many people still think Elvis had a heart attack on his toilet? In reality, it was an Anna Nicole incident - but that stuff wasn't as public as it is now.

As for the Beatles or Elvis - aren't we getting so far removed from both that that's no longer relevant? New generations do discover the music all the time, but I think it's hard to compare when we're talking 30-40+ years ago now. I like the 1950's Elvis stuff .. but most people now hear things like Burning Love (which I think is horrendous!) as an example of Elvis.

[heyalice]

Michael Jackson's problem is that he's still alive.

Apart from being true, it's also pretty damned funny as well.

[SluttyMary]

margojata said:

How many people still think Elvis had a heart attack on his toilet?

He didn't?

Why would they say that then?

[margojata]

- The official coroner's report lists "cardiac arrhythmia" as the cause of Presley's death, but this was later admitted to be a ruse entered into by the Presley family along with autopsy physicians Dr. Jerry T. Francisco, Dr. Eric Muirhead and Dr. Noel Florredo to cover up the real cause of death, a cocktail of ten prescribed drugs, taken in doses no doctor would prescribe -

All that means is that his heart stopped, and of course they tried to cover up all the drug abuse....

Morphine, demerol, codeine, valium, quaaludes, barbituates.. among the drugs in his system.

[ownlife]

I thought he died on the throne of a heart attack. I don't know how he was able to function at all with that combo of drugs margojata mentioned.

Does anyone think Elvis could have pulled himself out of his downward spiral or was he just doomed? Sometimes I think if Elvis had someone in his life who would have kicked out the Memphis Mafia enablers, gotten Elvis into rehab and helped him find something to do besides sitting around at home, he'd still be around doing nostalgia tours and shooting out TV screens, but then I think it's impossible to straighten out another person's life unless they want to change.