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Elvis Presley (b. 8 January 1935 d. 16 August 1977) may be the single most
important figure in American 20th-century popular music. Not necessarily the
best, and certainly not the most consistent. But no one could argue that he
was not the musician most responsible for popularizing rock & roll on an
international level.
Viewed in cold sales figures, his impact was phenomenal. Dozens upon dozens of
international smashes from the mid-'50s to the mid-'70s, as well as the steady
sales of his catalog and reissues since his death in 1977, may make him the single
highest-selling performer in history. More important from a music lover's
perspective, however, are his remarkable artistic achievements. Presley was not the
very first White man to sing rhythm and blues; Bill Haley predated him in that
regard, and there may have been others as well.
Elvis was certainly the first, however, to assertively fuse country and blues
music into the style known as rockabilly. While rockabilly arrangements were the
foundations of his first (and possibly best) recordings, Presley could not have
become a mainstream superstar without a much more varied palette that also
incorporated pop, gospel, and even some bits of bluegrass and operatic schmaltz
here and there. His 1950s recordings established the basic language of rock and
roll; his explosive and sexual stage presence set standards for the music's visual
image; his vocals were incredibly powerful and versatile.
Unfortunately, to much of the public, Elvis is more icon than artist.
Innumerable bad Hollywood movies, increasingly caricatured records and mannerisms,
and a personal life that became steadily more sheltered from real-world concerns
(and steadily more bizarre) gave his story a somewhat mythic status.
By the time of his death, he'd become more a symbol of gross Americana than of
cultural innovation. The continued speculation about his incredible career has
sustained interest in his life, and supported a large tourist/entertainment
industry, that may last indefinitely, even if the fascination is fueled more by his
celebrity than his music.
Source : Some of the information on this page came
from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU Documentation
License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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