6.07 Conclusion – Content

Overview

Elvis Presley was one of the most legendary rock and roll performers of all time. In this lesson, we focus on Presley’s early career in order to understand how and why he was so successful during the 1950s. Elvis’s crossover success and immense commercial appeal turned him into one of the most important musical figures of the twentieth century. Although he continued to sell millions of albums in the 1960s and 1970s, the 1950s were the most important part of his career and the period that had the most profound influence on the development of rock and roll in the United States.

Objectives

Examine Elvis Presley's music and his particular blend of many different styles and genres.
Identify the key figures and institutions that helped turn Presley into the cultural phenomenon that he became during the 1950s
Examine ways in which Presley was turned into a commodity through television appearances and Hollywood films

Conclusion

Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley internalized and hybridized the musical styles of hillbilly, gospel, rhythm and blues, and country and western music, creating a new form of rock and roll. Although he was not a songwriter, relying instead on cover versions and songwriters such as Leiber and Stoller, Presley was a master song stylist who riveted audiences with his impassioned performances and hypnotizing physical movements. His sex appeal thrilled his teenage audiences and terrified their parents. Elvis codified a style of music called rockabilly, and in the next lesson, we will focus on several artists whose entire careers were built on this rockabilly sound and style

“I think that one of Elvis' charms was that he could sing almost any kind of music. I am sure that in his heart, which I don't know what was there, but just from his singing I could feel that he was very partial to gospel music.”

-Patti Page

“Elvis was the major contributor to an entirely new genre of music. Sometimes their exploits were distasteful to people, but they left behind an enormous body of work that endures.”

-Bob Beckel

Sam Phillips did the original recording for Jackie Brentson's "Rocket 88" on March 5, 1951. The song was famously covered by Bill Haley later that year.

A Rockabilly Hall of Fame Presentation