The Emperor's New Clothes

It has been a while since I wrote anything on this piece of useless clutter on the internet, but here I am, typically, at 1 am in the morning trying to conjure up something worthwhile to read, like, retweet, pin, you get my drift. As many of you already know, I'm trying to educate myself on the dying art of rock 'n' roll, not by going out there and getting a guitar, but by taking this edgy course on coursera called the History of Rock- Part I.

It has been about four weeks since the course began and we have traversed through the roaring twenties, the mildly depressing thirties and the war-struck forties. We have spoken about the three broad genres of music; Pop, R & B and Country and Western, and about how Bing Crosby became America's favorite uncle. We also heard about Frank Sinatra's crooning excited the girls of the 40s, so much so, that they went from muttering a barely comprehensible "Oh Golly!" to shriek at his very presence. a trend that hasn't stopped since. But that flutter in their hearts would be barely a missed beat compared to what was to follow in the next decade.

The New Clothes first, shall we?

Elvis came. He saw. He didn't like it and did everything his own way, paving the way for the mainstreaming of rock 'n' roll (in a good way). I'm not going to give you a history of Elvis Presley ( Born in Tupelo, moved to Memphis, signed with Sun, and then signed by Col. Tom Parker for RCA) but to give you an idea of why he is hailed as one of the best in the world. 

Now, when we think of Elvis, what's the first image that pops up in our head?

This. 

Or this. 

The massive sideburns, the oh-so-garish-but-only-Elvis-can-pull-it-off costume on stage and the crooning of clean pop music by a nearly middle-aged man, who sometimes slurs his way through songs, and has to carry a .45 on stage to protect himself from any over-enthusiastic fans. This Elvis, though widely popular and a commercial dream, was not even a patch on the Elvis of the late 50s and the late 60s (The comeback special). Why do I feel that way? Multiple Reasons:

The King

1. That's all Right (Mama): Elvis announced himself to the world with this nifty little single covering Crudup ( as was the convention then, with the song being more important than the artist). You can hear him here in the Lousiana Hayride (with the screaming girls in the background and notice - near-nothing-sideburns), a popular country and western radio show.

Immediately noticable is the quality of his voice and also, it's depth. We hear him and say, this guy is not going to be some mainstream pop crooner, he's different. (Listen to Bing Crosby or Sinatra- they are generally more melodious and sing safe songs with sappy lyrics)

2. His live uncensored brilliance (till it was uncensored anyhow):

Elvis in the 1950s was Elvis uncut, unmoulded and un-mainstreamed and commercialized. He was playing because he loved to play and sing the music that he sung. Tom Parker was raking in the money without thinking beyond TV and Elvis was on the rise. His live performances on TV were considered evil, grotesque and even devil's music by some parents, but the kids loved it, and the kid-in-me does too. His performances were raw and full of energy and reflected a new rise in youth power and the teenage movement in America. 

Heartbreak Hotel on the Milton Berle Show with gyrations that were deemed inappropriate for the 50s. ;)

And Hound Dog on the same show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJnVQDA9rHA

The hilarious bit is that he's shafted into the comedy section.

The most ridiculous performance of his career. ;)

3. The Comeback Special (1968): Elvis went off to fight in the war between 58-60 and then was forced to act in a bunch of sappy movies between 1960-67. Consider this the Yeh-Jawaani-yeh-diwaani moments of his career. Cringe. 

But then he came back in 68 to sing in a bunch of live performances to a small audience where he felt relaxed, and we finally experienced Elvis at his absolute, magical and enchanting best. 

In this whole section, we see Elvis play like a footballer in his peak years, playing for fun and the joy of playing. This is probably the last time that we see Elvis at his best. Soon after this, he was commercialized and started singing clean pop, broke his marriage and died due to overdosing on medication.

But let us take a moment to the rock 'n' roll phenomenon that was Elvis. I would see it this way. Today, we enjoy the brilliance of Pink Floyd, the eclectic magnificence of Led Zeppelin, the magic of the Beatles and are more than satisfied by The Rolling Stones, but all these bands would probably have never been as popular and some might never even have seen the light of day in popular American music, but for Elvis. Elvis came over in 1954, rocked the world, changed the perception of rock 'n' roll to something that was more a revolution than a fad, and took it all the way, not to the next level, but to an almost iconic status in American history. He became the face of America to the world as a pop star but his roots were deeper and ingrained in R & B and Country, the thankfully-not-so-forgotten brothers of mainstream pop. 

So, to Elvis Presley, the King, a moment or a few. 

And to my favorite performance.