Mike Stoller: The "Vegas" Elvis is ridiculous

First: thanks to everyone for their kind words.

Second:

The music Elvis made in the 1970s surely didn't match Stoller's taste and the way the King presented himself was also far, far away from what Stoller thought was cool. So to him the guy in the jumpsuit with the huge orchestra and the army of backup singers must have been ridiculous.

I think differently, I like the 1970s Elvis. Because of the schmaltz, because of the orchestra and because of the backup voices. Maybe Stoller would also call my taste a bad one.

To each his own.

You're not alone, a lot of people became fans of Elvis during the seventies and loved that era! What people fail to understand was that Elvis wasn't the same man as he was in the fifties, his taste in music and style had changed, which obviously didn't appeal to Mike Stoller.

I'd just like to be clear that nothing in what either "the big guy" or I say is meant to discredit contrary opinions. That other people like other things for other reasons is part of what makes the world an interesting place.

Really interesting posts, Mr Stoller. Especially this bit, with which I agree (in that I understand what they meant):

As successful as Elvis was, they were frustrated by what they saw as his unrealized creative and personal potential. It was frustration for him. Their negativity in discussing Elvis is about this, not about Elvis himself, nor their own ambitions. The problem was not that Elvis "went his own way," it was that he didn't; he went the Colonel's. Working with Elvis under these conditions was like being given a race car, but only being allowed to drive it around one suburban block rife with stop signs and speed bumps.

Thank you for sharing.

Thank you pstoller, for the very nice posts. It was refreshing to read your posts after reading some pointless and inaccurate posts from other members (apart from one or two others) on this thread.