Rightful place?
Red Foley, Country Music Hall of Famer, was Pat Boone's father-in-law. I think.
What's he getting it for? Covering the records of fifties black artists? Whatever.
Here is his website,
http://www.patboone.com/
He is very Pro-America. Here's an excerpt from his site,
QUOTE, 'In his interview with NewsMax.com, Boone said many of Hollywood's older stars — Reagan, the late John Wayne, Glenn Ford, Clint Eastwood — were more respectful of their country and much more appreciative of their success.
'He said in those days, Americans believed they were at least on the right course, even if they didn't always agree with U.S. leaders. And he said entertainers and the media would never savage candidates the way they do today.
'"The idea that the Dixie Chicks could go over to another country and tell an audience they were ashamed the president was from their home state of Texas — especially a place like England, an ally," was unheard of, Boone said.
'"I remember telling people, 'I can't wait to introduce the Dixie Chicks to Colonel Sanders," he quipped.
'"Now here comes Michael Moore, calling himself a documentarian, which he is not," Boone said. "He's a propagandist, and an overt bad one at that." He said the media and entertainment elite are "fawning" over Moore "because they think he'll skewer our president." But he criticized Moore for releasing the film he says is full of "biased lies" especially during a time of war, when Bush is trying to lead the country to victory against terrorism.
'Boone compared Moore's attacks to those of the Washington, D.C.-area snipers.
'"[Moore] is over in Cannes [France] taking shots at the president and lobbing bombs at him from the local theater as well," he said. "To lob this kind of criticism – it's like biological warfare in the media. Talk about your weapons of mass destruction." ' END QUOTE
Excerpt from Pat Boone during Prodigy chat at
http://pages.prodigy.net/dianamorris/feat1k.htm
QUOTE:
Mr W0nderful (PRODIGY Member) -- Who would you say was your main competition back in the '50s? Was it Elvis? How about Sinatra?
Pat Boone (Speaker) -- Definetly Elvis. He was my opening act in Cleveland, in the fall of 1955, just before his record of "Heartbreak Hotel" was released. When we appeared together, my second record, "Ain't That a Shame," was headed to no. 1. I was able to follow Elvis, but that was the first and only time. He took over the role of King of pop music for awhile. I was glad to be the Crown prince. Sinatra was very complimentary of me at that time. He called me the Great White Hope.
END QUOTE
Rightful place?
Pat Boone was never Rock and Roll. He was, at most, Easy Listening.
Sorry, but this was the landmark record that started it all...before Elvis, before Pat Boone - a former country & western group that took the R&B back beat and changed face of pop/rock music.
Bill Haley and His Comets are always given the shaft when it comes to their important influence on rock and roll. Haley began his career in the mid-1940's, and was cranking out some excellent rockabilly stuff on the Essex label when Elvis was still in high school in the early 1950's.
Pat Boone did play a role in early rock, but it would be hard to make a case that he belongs in the rock hall of fame. When rock music first began to be popular circa 1955 or so, most parents hated it. It was raw and gritty and not like the smooth pop ballads that Sinatra, Como, Doris Day, and others were recording. Boone sort of bridged the gap and made rock & roll tamer and more accepted by parents. He did tame cover versions of more hard-edged rock songs by other artists, such as Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame" and Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti".
Pat's versions were often huge hits, as were his mainstream pop songs such as "Love Letters in the Sand" and "Moody River". But they could be called rock only in the sense that the Carpenters or Bobby Goldsboro could be called rock. They were Top 40 pop hits rather than rock.
In the case of Pat, the main argument for his importance in rock history is that he made rock more mainstream by toning in down, and recording softer hit versions of established rock songs. He played a role in early rock, to be sure, but not in the truly creative way that Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, and Elvis did.
Being a Christian may well be a drawback but I doubt Pat would be in the rock hall of fame in any event.
Pat Boone was the antidote to Elvis Presley. Opposite of rock.