Reply #38: True

[ForrestGump]

I differ on the Lennon quote (John himself contradicted that opinion and seemed to enjoy himself at Elvis' 1972 New York concerts), because Elvis brought the same blend of musical influences to the studio in his last session that he did in his first. In that respect, he never changed, and some of his post-Army sessions rate among his best (e.g., the 1960 "Elvis Is Back" sessions, the 1969 Memphis sessions, and some of the most amazing singing ever during the 1966 gospel sessions).

His record company never knew how to handle him and it showed, all the way through the end of his life and beyond (things really turned around when they let some European uber-fans take over the cataloging of their Elvis archives). For that matter, he was never appreciated in the US as he was (and is) abroad. He also never really grasped the full extent of his fame or his following. I think he'd be stunned to find that he's still topping charts and still regularly showing up on magazine covers, in books, on TV, and in the movies.

I love the '70s stuff, and I listen to it perhaps most of all (it's more accessible, in some ways, not least because there's more material and documentation available), and he was an amazing performer throughout. You're right, though, it was in the '50s that Elvis changed the world. And not just the musical world -- as Greil Marcus so eloquently told us, Elvis changed world history. Elvis would have mattered to a huge extent even if he'd never recorded anything past "Hound Dog." The rest is just a very nice bonus...