“Elvis…was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me, you see, straight out racist the sucker was, simple and plain…”
If you mention the words “Elvis Presley” to me, that will probably be the first thing to come to my mind (#2-Michael Jackson married his daughter), for better or for worse. Granted, I don’t *believe* Elvis was a racist, and even Chuck D. has backed off of that statement. It just kinda underlines how much of a non-event Elvis is when it comes to my musical knowledge.
Which is not to understate the impact the man had on popular music. One thing that always irritates me is when someone tries to downplay an artist’s impact on popular culture just because they’re not a fan of said artist (or, like me, are pretty indifferent towards said artist). Whether he started rock ‘n roll or not is irrelevant (and at this point, we all know he didn’t), but the fact is that he was the major conduit towards bringing rock ‘n roll to a mass audience, and he deserves major acknowledgment for that. Besides, the guy could carry a tune and was definitely a showman with few equals. Even restrained, the guy was something to see, as evidenced by the clip below.
Happy birthday Elvis.
