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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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