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Old 08-11-2008, 02:19 PM   #29 (permalink)
Minstrel
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Elvis Presley is kind of the Joe DiMaggio of music. His iconic status is out of proportion with his greatness, but both were definitely great.

Early Elvis music is still pretty fantastic, in my opinion. I don't think it's the best music ever, but it's easy to see why he took the nation by storm with it.

And he wasn't just a copyist. He may have owed a greater debt to bluesmen then was ever recognized at the time, but he he gave that music a rock energy and backbeat.

Other artists, like Little Richard, did also, but they were contemporaries (who deserved more credit than they got). Elvis was doing it at virtually the same time and deserves the same "innovation" credit.

I like Elvis Costello's music, but I'll take Presley over Costello any day. At least, his earlier stuff.
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