August 17, 2007

Elvis Presley - Once The King, Always The King

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 and passed away on August 16, 1977.

So here's a little tribute post to The King. It's a collection of quotes about him made by other famous musicians. It's pretty interesting to see what a huge influence he was on these artists - the biggest names in the music industry.


Bono - "Elvis is like the Big Bang of rock 'n' roll. It all came from there."
Bruce Springsteen - "Elvis is my religion. But for him I'd be selling encyclopedias."
Frank Sinatra - "I'm just a singer. Elvis was the embodiment of the whole American culture."
Bob Dylan - "When I first heard Elvis' voice I just knew I wasn't going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss...Hearing him was like busting out of jail."
John Lennon - "Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been a Beatles."
Paul McCartney - "When we were kids growing up in Liverpool, all we ever wanted to be was Elvis Presley."
Johnny Cash - "Elvis was such a nice guy, and so talented and charismatic...He loved cheeseburgers, girls and his mother, not necessarily in that order."
Mick Jagger - "He was a unique artist...and original in an area of imitators."
Keith Richards - "Before Elvis, everything was in black and white. Then came Elvis. Zoom, glorious Technicolor."
Jim Morrison - "Elvis is the best ever, the most original. He started the ball rolling for all of us."
B.B. King - "His phraseology, his way of looking at a song, was as unique as Sinatra's...Had Elvis lived, there would have been no end to his inventiveness."
Elton John - "If it hadn't been for Elvis, I don't know where popular music would be. He was the one that started it all."


Some Cool Elvis Facts

• E
lvis was a big fan of the British comedy troupe Monty Python and would often act out their skits in front of his friends.
• Elvis' very first Ed Sullivan Show appearance, on September 9, 1956, was seen by an estimated 55-60 million viewers. That's at least 21 million more viewers than the last American Idol finale had.
• Elvis loved giving Cadillacs as gifts and would even give them to strangers. One day, when Mennie L. Person, a Memphis bank teller, was admiring his Cadillac he appeared and asked her if she liked it. He then took her to a nearby showroom and told her to pick out any car she wanted.
• Elvis had a black belt in karate and was so passionate about the martial arts that he gave his instructor $50,000 to build a karate school in Memphis, Tennessee.
• According to a recent poll by CBS television and one by CNN/USA Today, approximately 45% of Americans consider themselves to be Elvis fans.
• Elvis is the most impersonated celebrity of all time. It's estimated that there are over 50,000 people in the world who make a living as Elvis impersonators.
• More people (1.5 billion) tuned into Elvis' Aloha From Hawaii concert than watched the very first moon landing (1.2 billion).

9 comments:

  1. El - mean in romanian "he"
    Vis mean in romanian "the (a) dream"

    El ? Vis !

    ReplyDelete
  2. I heard that he ate 8 ice cream sundaes for breakfast one time. Any guy who can do that is Aces in my book.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Valentin: Thanks for that translation. It's quite interesting! Wish I'd known it all along. It makes for interesting conversation.

    Bush: Sounds like the perfect way to start the day to me! :P

    Shine on,
    Aaron

    ReplyDelete
  4. I adore Elvis..no matter what anyone says he had a special place in all of our lives, ...and so handsome ! :)My parents always listened to his music, I caught it from them,..and my own girl loves him too though she is only six! I never knew it was his death anniversary..great post ! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jesse: Thanks! And same here. My parents were/are big fans, which is how I originally got my hands on some of the LPs. Been a fan ever since. I especially enjoy his wide vocal range and vibrato.

    Shine on,
    Aaron

    ReplyDelete
  6. long live the king!!
    i was not even born when he died but learned to appreciate his music and i absolutely think that Elvis is eternal! and his musics just wont never die!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was only about one month shy of 4 years old when he died, but I learned to appreciate his music as well.

    And yes, by the looks of it, he is eternal. The candlelight vigil at Graceland on the 16th had record attendance...around 40,000 people showed up for it. Amazing. Simply amazing.

    Shine on,
    Aaron

    ReplyDelete
  8. Aaron,
    I don't think there has ever been another person with the range to their voice that Elvis had. No matter what type of music he sang, he could make it his own.

    Do you remember when we took you and your brothers to visit Graceland? The hall with all the gold and platinum records tells it all.
    Mom

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Mom,

    Yes, I most certainly remember going there! I remember the gate with musical notes, the carpeted walls, the pool table that was ripped the very first night it was used, the car collection, the wall of televisions, the trophy room with his outfits, etc. I can remember it just like it was yesterday.

    As for his vocal range..."I suppose you'd had to call him a lyric baritone, although with exceptional high notes and unexpectedly rich low ones. But what is more important about Elvis Presley is not his vocal range, nor how high, or low it extends, but where its center of gravity is. By that measure, Elvis was all at once a tenor, a baritone and a bass, the most unusual voice I've ever heard."

    ~Gregory Sandows, Music Professor at Columbia University, published in "The Village Voice".

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting the Aaron Cook Dot Com™ blog! Please leave your awesome comment below! :)

Shine on,
Aaron