Elvis wasn’t the first Elvis. Frank Sinatra had the swooning women before anybody ever heard of Elvis.
Elvis took “race music” songs and made them mainstream. He was one of the first and probably the best. He took a Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton blues tune and made it immortal.
I always wondered what the record producers were thinking when they started having him sing Hollywood movie tunes.
I have to think that Col. Tom Parker robbed us of what would have been great Presley music. After 1958, Presley had virtually no rock and roll hits. Virtually none.
Yes, "Return to Sender" in 1962. Yes, he had "Burning Love" in 1974.
And he had a great 1968 and very, very early 1969 in the ballad/popular music arena with "In the Ghetto," "Suspicious Minds," and "Kentucky Rain" (all recorded at the same 1969 session at the American Sound Studio in Memphis).
Other than that?
Well, after 1958 he sang notable ballads and gospel songs . . . and show tunes. Show tune after show tune.
"Spinout"
"Long-legged Girl"
"Big Boss Man"
"Let Yourself Go"
"Do the Clam"
"Clean Up Your Own Backyard"
"Queenie Wahine's Papaya"
A great voice, wasted in large part after 1958 by Colonel Tom unless you were a fan of show tunes.
I said "in large part." There were memorable and great ballads and gospel tunes. And that brief spark during the 1968 American Sound Studio session.
A great voice. But "Queenie Wahine's Papaya?" "Rock-a-Hula Baby"? Colonel Tom, what where you thinking?
They were thinking that he'd sell more records to white middle-class buyers, and they were successful at that for a long time. From a purely financial point of view, Elvis was never bigger than during the early movie years. And don't forget that Elvis's idol, the man he wanted to be, was Dean Martin.
Part of the problem with the movies (and their soundtracks) was that they made too many of them. Three a year at times. That forced them to use weaker and weaker songs ("No Room to Rumba in a Sports Car," anyone?) By about 1966 the public was catching on. The movies weren't doing the business they were, and the soundtracks weren't selling at all. All of which set the stage for the 1968 comeback TV special, where he showed he could still rock. From there, though, it was a pretty much a quick slide to self-parody and death, interrupted by a couple of good songs ("Suspicious Minds" and "In the Ghetto") and the "Aloha From Hawaii" special in 1972.
Blame Colonel Tom for a lot of it, but in the end it's an American Tragedy.
“I always wondered what the record producers were thinking when they started having him sing Hollywood movie tunes.”
Yeah, I hear what you are saying-But at the same time, what about (not sure of the title) “if you’re looking for trouble”. Now that was a great great song. Also Jailhouse rock, was that a hollywood showtune?
Sinatra couldn’t move. Eventually, he just became a glorified lounge singer.
Sammy Davis Jr was a black Elvis which ended up being worth a minor amount. There really was a race division although being ugly as spit didn’t help Sammy. Michael Jackson came along at the right time.