Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:23 pm
Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:49 pm
jurasic1968 wrote:"The King proves he's right all along". I read this interesting article on the Elvis History.com website from May 15 1977 written by John Milward from the Chicago Sun Times and I found it very chalenging. It appeard in Memphis Commercial appeal. Unfortunately I have not a scanner and I cannot post the article here because the page cannot be coppied. The article focuses a lot about the Elvis and Beatles golden years.
Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:53 pm
Sun Feb 24, 2013 3:29 pm
Mon Feb 25, 2013 12:24 am
Mon Feb 25, 2013 12:56 am
Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:36 am
jurasic1968 wrote:I think it's cynical and maybe the author was a Beatles 200% fan and dismissed Elvis after 1958, like many others. But it is interesting to read, in a hystorical point of view, how many critics despised Elvis Presley from 1956 to 1977. I think Elvis was the most criticized man in show biz so every time he "had a mountain to climb"
Mon Feb 25, 2013 7:39 am
Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:55 pm
Mon Feb 25, 2013 7:55 pm
Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:05 pm
jurasic1968 wrote:Sorry, I made a mistake, Doc, because English language is not my native one. I wanted to say that Elvis Presley was far more criticized in his career than The Beatles, just to name the Fab Four. Elvis was criticised by many in his entire career, not all the time, of course.But after I read so many reviews beginning with the 50's (Jack Gould is the star here), comtinuing to his movies evaluation in the 60's and more of his concerts in the 70's (what I read in elvisconcerts.com website) I wonder if ELvis was the most criticized singer in the show biz.
Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:36 am
Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:17 am
Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:16 am
fn2drive wrote:I would take some exception to Doc in that Elvis rec'd a vast amount of criticism that was outsized even given his popularity. In the 50's it was the establishment that savaged him-look no further than the human refuse that was Steve Allen humiliating him and Milton Berle mocking his roots. Later the criticism came because he wasn't hip enough. I have said this before- the disdain heaped on Elvis was the reflected disdain for his fans. Just not cool enough for the Rolling Stone- you know folks with families and jobs and faith- folks that just weren't with it. Frankie Valli contrasted the fan base of the 4 Seasons and the Beatles similarly a few years ago. There was and still is a culture war being fought. Elvis generally found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time culturally. But his fans ignored the geniuses who arbitrated what was good. That his return to NY was so positively rec'd really drives home the point of how truly remarkable he was in 72.
Wed Feb 27, 2013 12:50 pm
drjohncarpenter wrote:fn2drive wrote:I would take some exception to Doc in that Elvis rec'd a vast amount of criticism that was outsized even given his popularity. In the 50's it was the establishment that savaged him-look no further than the human refuse that was Steve Allen humiliating him and Milton Berle mocking his roots. Later the criticism came because he wasn't hip enough. I have said this before- the disdain heaped on Elvis was the reflected disdain for his fans. Just not cool enough for the Rolling Stone- you know folks with families and jobs and faith- folks that just weren't with it. Frankie Valli contrasted the fan base of the 4 Seasons and the Beatles similarly a few years ago. There was and still is a culture war being fought. Elvis generally found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time culturally. But his fans ignored the geniuses who arbitrated what was good. That his return to NY was so positively rec'd really drives home the point of how truly remarkable he was in 72.
Your post is off the mark in several places. Yes, Steve Allen did not show any respect for Elvis' music, but the host was no fan of the genre in general. Many other examples of this may be viewed in archival kinescopes, such as him reading the lyrics to "Be-Bop-A-Lula" as if they were lines of Greek poetry, or having his crew throw chairs back and forth across the stage behind Jerry Lee Lewis, while the rocker pounded out "Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On."
Milton Berle, on the other hand, was no stranger to controversy over a wild TV appearance or behavior. It was how he got to be "Mr. Television." It's clear he innately understood Elvis' popularity, and genuinely enjoyed having the singer on his program. In both the April and June 1956 appearances, Elvis and his group look to be having a terrific time with Berle.
Using Rolling Stone magazine as an example of the culture gap, being "too hip" for Elvis and "arbitrating what was good," is completely misleading and false.
When Rolling Stone launched Issue #1 on November 9, 1967, and for at least a dozen years after, it was clearly the top rock-oriented publication, with sharp, seriously dedicated writing on music, politics, and all manner of popular culture. But the magazine did not neglect Elvis. As soon as Presley began his creative renaissance, he made the cover and granted an interview:
On the Cover of the Rolling Stone --> Elvis' debut!
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=66735
Barely a month later, the editors selected his latest album, From Elvis In Memphis, as the lead review, and it was fulsome in its praise:
From Elvis In Memphis: "And Now The Secret Is Out"
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52806
One might have assumed, as Presley settled into his Vegas engagements in the '70s, the "too hip" editors would have gone after him, but the opposite was true. Perhaps the most positive Elvis concert review ever published in a major magazine appeared in Rolling Stone in 1971:
In Praise Of Elvis Presley (1971) -- Complete!
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50886
The 1972 live album from Madison Square Garden also got a wonderful write-up:
You CAN Always Get What You Want --> RS Rave of MSG '72!
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=66754
Even about a year before Presley died, a honest review of a 1976 gig, with a flattering photo from 1975, could be found in the pages of Rolling Stone:
Gold-Spangled Elvis (1976) -- Complete!
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50887
In the years since Elvis passed away, Rolling Stone has continued to publish some great things about our hero:
Elvis Lives --> Rolling Stone Reviews The 50s Box (1992)
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=53946
Great Southern Masters --> Rolling Stone Reviews The 60s Box
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=54017
TTWII --> One of "The Greatest Albums Ever Made"
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=54133
So perhaps you need to rethink who exactly are the good guys and the bad guys in the "culture war" still being fought.
Wed Feb 27, 2013 3:58 pm
Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:17 pm
Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:27 pm
fn2drive wrote:Doc thanks for the list of articles- years since ive seen many of them,. I wasn't saying that the Rolling Stone dumped on Elvis. I was simply using it as the comparative for general hip-ness. No doubt Rolling Stone itself was more charitable than he deserved at times . i still stand behind my basic point that demeaning Elvis fans was one of the plot devices to demean Elvis eg Dennis Sanders and catwoman, granny etc and the reverse. Thanks again for the list.
Thu Feb 28, 2013 6:49 am
Thu Feb 28, 2013 8:53 am
stevelecher wrote:Doc, there was also a pretty flattering review of the Today album in 1975. It wasn't without criticism, but it was more than fair and the writer was not a hater. Thanks for the other fine articles.
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