Elvis Aaron Presley an immensely talented American artist gained extreme popularity at a point in time as a vocalist, actor, and musician. His popularity made him frequently known just as “Elvis” amongst his huge fan base. Titles such as “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “The King” (Marsh, 176) should give one some idea of how loved and revered he was in the industry.
In the year 1954, Presley entered the line of business as one of the earliest musicians related to the rockabilly genre, which was an energetic blend of genres such as Country, and Rhythm & Blues with a powerful backbeat. His narrative versions of songs forming almost a new genre, blending “black” and “white” tastes, gave him enormous popularity and at the same time raised some controversial issues. He recorded catchy numbers belonging to the Rock ‘N Roll genre, with chart-topper tracks like “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock”. Later Elvis and Rock ‘n Roll became synonymous terms and the King himself embodied the genre. Presley was a naturally gifted person with a multi-talented singing voice and soon he becomes a bizarrely wide singing sensation all over the country. His talents were not limited to just Rock ‘N Roll but also engulfed other genres, such as Gospel, Blues, Ballads, and Pop. Thus far, his credibility has been acknowledged by being inducted into numerous halls of fame in the field of music. (Marsh, 98-99)
During the 60s era and subsequently, Presley was lured into the movie industry making around 31 movies. These movies received poor ratings but financially succeeded due to their musicals, which became immediate hits amongst the Presley fan base. Late in the ’60s, Elvis came back to live music performance in a special television broadcast and started to perform once again across the country, particularly in Las Vegas. During the entire span of his success-filled career, he created records for concert turnouts, television ratings, and sales. He is undoubtedly one of the most admired and influential performers in the history of music. (Marsh, 176-9)
All throughout his triumphant career, Elvis Presley had a far-reaching cultural impact and immeasurable influence on music as a whole. As quoted by the Rolling Stone Magazine, “it was Elvis who made rock ‘n’ roll the international language of pop.” (Dedina, 1, 1) Elvis was described as an American music pioneer of the post-1950 era who alone redirected the perception of music and culture. His catchy numbers, awe-inspiring dance moves, classy attitude, and clothing emerged as the quintessence of Rock ‘n Roll. The Elvis Presley genre was profoundly influenced by different genres such as Afro-American Blues, Christian Gospel, and Southern Country.
Presley recorded hard reeling Rockabilly, Rock ‘N Roll dance tracks along with soothing ballads that established a marketable foundation stone on which in due course other rock artists constructed their careers with success. Numerous African-American performers rose up to the national arena subsequent to acceptance of the Presley genre amid mass listeners of White American origin. John Lennon later on quoted, “Before Elvis, there was nothing.” (Fairbanks, 1, 1)
Due to the post-World War II, economic boom during the 50s the affluence of the average American had increased considerably. Thus, children were given monthly or daily allowances. This phenomenon proved to be beneficial for the music industry as a whole and enhanced the Elvis Presley craze. Till that time, the target buyer for the music industry was typically the age group, which was in their late teens or early twenties. Presley generated a huge demand for his albums and the seekers of his records were primarily approaching teens and early teens aged somewhere between 10 and 15. Teens were starting to lead a more independent lifestyle and Presley emerged as a national icon and altered the course of music in terms of not only style but also the listeners. (Marsh, 29-32)
African-American music was also deeply impacted by the Elvis Presley act. He openly admitted the influence of “black” music on his style of singing and compositions, referring to performers like B. B. King, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, Jackie Wilson, Ivory Joe Hunter, and Fats Domino. Till the 50s era, black musicians had recorded very small amounts of sales of their music albums proportionate to the national market latency. African-American songwriters had restricted means in the industry and could barely make ends meet. However, after Presley buying the music of Afro-American Otis Blackwell and the hiring of gifted black songwriter Claude Demetrius by his music company, the industry witnessed a theatrical alteration. (Marsh, 126)
However, during his career span, Elvis faced his own fair share of controversies. Promotion of his music sometimes faced problems as white disc jockeys refused to play “black” music, which Elvis’s music exhibited largely, and on the other hand, black disc jockeys were not comfortable belting out tracks recorded by a white man. Presley’s hybrid form of music style was criticized heavily by racists as they thought this brought about the intermingling of blacks and whites and many critics were of the opinion that his music and presentation style crossed sexual boundaries and instigated the youth sexually. (Marsh, 188)
Despite such fierce criticism, Elvis Presley remains one of the Time Greats in not only American but also world music. He altered the course of the music industry in the second half of the 20th century and brought in new heights of hybrid music. His style influenced the music of forthcoming generations and thus deservingly he is known as “The King”.
Works Cited
Dedina, Nick. Elvis Presley. Real.com. 2008. UK Music. Web.
Fairbanks, Brian W. “Elvis Is Everywhere”. Cleveland Plain Dealer. 2002. Web.
Marsh, Dave. Elvis. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1997.