Elvis Presley is one of the biggest names in music history. He was a singer, actor, musician, and veteran; a true American icon. Presley’s music styling fused country, pop, and rock into a soulful blend that is still iconic today. While he may have an influence on the musician’s music, Presley has also had a great impact on a musician's individuality, breaking social and musical barriers, and influencing how music is sold and consumed.
After graduating from high school in Memphis, Tennessee (Wilson), Presley worked many odd jobs in order to pursue his musical career. In 1953, he cut his very first demo at Sun Records. From this demo, the producer decided to help Elvis record his very first single (Graceland). His first single sold 20,000 copies and was the start of his rise to fame. After five cutting-edge singles were released, Elvis’s contract was sold to RCA Records. By 1956, Presley was an international sensation (Wilson).
Teenagers were intrigued by Presley, largely due to his sexual dance styles, sense of personal style, and musical inclinations. However, he did face a large amount of criticism from the older generation. Presley’s gyrating hips, rambunctious, and (at times) suggestive music was the fuel for this criticism he faced. Before Elvis, performers didn’t move around much and audiences were behaved. While the bobby-soxers of the 1940s swooned over Sinatra, they did not tear at their faces and his clothes or jump up on the stage just to be close to him. Sinatra made women swoon, but electrified Elvis made everyone talk and think about sex. When older adults tried to ban his music the sexier Elvis got. This can be seen in today’s pop culture with the sexualization of both female and male artists alike. Artists often define themselves by provocative dance moves; an example of this is Michael Jackson. Artists are also known for their provocative way of dressing, like Lady Gaga and her revealing red carpet outfits.
Elvis broke barriers by merging the rigid musical genres of the time. His Sun records were R&B songs recorded as country and country songs recorded as r&b. His first nicknames were“Hillbilly Cat” and “King of Western Bop.” When Elvis was first touring in 1954 and 1955, he played on a showbill with country performers. There wasn’t controversy about his wild act or different music. Therefore, it was not southern prejudice against sexuality and R&B music that became the problem throughout his career it was Northern prejudice against open sexuality, R&B music, and also Southerners. This influence can be seen in different genres today such as “popco” which is a fuse of pop music with country music. People from different areas are able to sing their own genre of music freely without rigid barriers. An example of this is country artist Keith Urban. Keith Urban is from Australia and was one of the first foreign country artists to break into the mainstream American country industry despite being from another country.
Elvis came from a social class that didn’t make seeing skin color as anything significant. This means that because he was part of a lower social class, he had no prejudice against colored people. Before he acquired fame, Elvis often attended black churches, frequented black clubs, listened to R&B records, and even befriended the young BB King. Elvis was painfully aware of his poor Southern social class and most likely felt closer socially with black people than with middle-class white people. This is important to look at because Elvis rose to fame a few short years before the start of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. Elvis was able to merge the two classes through his R&B country hits.
The desegregation wasn’t not only in his music. Watching all of his 1960’s movies it’s surprising to see the ethnic diversity of the various casts , especially given other musical comedy movies of the day. Also, the 68 special, if you look at the audience for the leather portions, there’s a huge mix of ethnicities.
A big part of the prejudice against Elvis was not only that he didn’t sing and perform like a typical white artist, but that he was poor and southern, achieving fame the wrong way. He came out of the South, not New York or Los Angeles like other artists, and his sexuality was seen as a threat toward “respectable” middle-class women. Hillbilly, which means uneducated and unsophisticated because they come from the countryside (Merriam-Webster), today remains a freely used pejorative after all.
Elvis changed the way artists record music. Before Elvis, a singer or group put out a 45 single. They were usually shorter than a Long Play (“LP”) and were released in increments. After five 45 singles were out, they would be a collected album or a couple of Extended Plays(“EP”), which are 45 singles with 4 songs on them. With Elvis, the standard became a single, a second single, collect them on an EP, then do an album with the EP and some filler tracks. This made it possible for an artist to have the same song on a 45 single, an EP and an LP. Elvis showed that there was no end to reselling the same material.
Elvis remains not only the template for how to be a rockstar but also how to be an artist across various types of media. Entertainers of that time period usually focused on one area of entertainment. Elvis, however, was a multiple threat with his singing on the radio, television and film performances, and his well-attended concerts. Now it is common to see artists delve into acting, such as Harry Styles who was a lead singer in the boyband One Direction and is now a star in the “Dunkirk” (R.L). We also have corporations such as Disney Channel that fuse musicality with acting within almost every single television show produced.
Music is the one area that Elvis is absolutely most known for. Many people of that era however, did not consider him a great artist because he did not write his own songs.. The vast majority of singers do not write their own songs and the majority of songwriters are not singers. Elvis helped pirate this into the music industry. The music industry now is filled with writer and singer collaboratives.
Despite dying over 40 years ago, Elvis remains the highest selling recording artist of all-time and has more record certifications in the United States than any other musical act, including The Beatles (RIAA). The RIAA lists highest rated artists by decade, and Elvis continues to make the list, even in decades after his death. Elvis’ two biggest sale years 1956 and 1957 were before the RIAA even existed. He has probably also inspired more songs, tribute records, outright impersonations or influenced more artists who followed than anyone else. For example, how can one person claim to be inspired by The Beatles, without acknowledging that they were inspired by novelty Elvis?
Elvis fans are like no other fans. The Grateful Dead had the Deadheads who followed them around; Queen had The Royal Family of fans that followed them around. Elvis played Vegas, where the international fans came to him. While Elvis had gates on his residences, he often spent time at the gates with the fans that were waiting out for him. Elvis fans are known to not only have no upper limit for buying the same songs over and over, but they also have no bottom limit. They want every single take, in between banter, soundboard recording, and any scrap of video or audio no matter the quality of the recording or content. Most fans are content to play records and watch the movies. Others enjoy the Elvis Impersonators or tribute artists; some people even believe Elvis’ death was falsified and he still lives today. we have seen many “groupies” for different artists. Fans go to different lengths to follow and support their favorite artists. An example of this could be what is called “stan twitter”. The word stan means “an overzealous or obsessive fan of a particular celebrity” (Stan | Oxford Dictionary). Different fans will create an account on Twitter in support of their favorite artist, and engage with other “stan” accounts. This creates an online community of fans from across the globe together on Twitter.
There’s a lot that can be said about Elvis. He was different things to different people. Presley made sex public, challenged the powers that be by being famous the wrong way and for the wrong things. He ignored the artificial boundaries of musical genres, and in doing so brought together racial groups on the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement.