[T.B. Yoits]

...he [Elvis] was and is the King. Nobody has ever had anything like his voice and his talent.

Yet Elvis himself apparently admitted to Tom Jones that Chuck Berry was the real King of Rock and Roll.

Elvis knew; the crooning singers weren't rock and rollers. The guitarists were the ones who created rock and roll.

Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin pointed to Link Wray's "Rumble" from 1957 as one of the pieces that started it all.

[Chainmail]

I have no doubt that Chuck Berry was the real father of Rock - but Elvis was the guy who opened up Rock to the world from its limited exposure before. He was a crooner - later - but his first popular recordings were the real thing.