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Essay The Elvis Craze

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The Elvis Craze The public made Elvis Presley larger than life, better known than Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and in some cases God Himself. I cannot quite understand the Elvis craze. I don't think he was a handsome man, I don't enjoy his music, I won't waste my time trying to sit through one of his boring, talentless movies, and if, God forbid, I end up on my deathbed with some horrible, incurable disease, I certainly won't make a pilgrimage to Graceland to be miraculously healed. Jack Gould conveyed some of my feeling in the essay TV: New Phenomenon when he wrote, "Mr. Presley has no discernible singing ability." Although he gave away cars, cash, and gifts to friends, family, and sometimes, strangers, I can't think of any of his …show more content…

In his teen years, Elvis absorbed the cultural aspects and musical style of Country, Gospel, and Rhythm & Blues. He lived in the South, where Country music was most prevalent, it was sort of a "given" for him for him to adopt the country music style. His parents were devout churchgoers, and Elvis frequently attended the all night revivals, where he enjoyed jumping around and singing the gospel. It is also known that Elvis spent quite a bit of time on Memphis's Beale Street, known for its Rhythm & Blues clubs. When Elvis did unoriginal songs that had been sung previously by other artists, he added his own flavor that was made up of his mixed Gospel, Country, and R & B background. His style drew diverse crowds, and songs such as "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" went to #1 in the Country, R & B and Pop charts. None of this justifies the deification of Elvis. After a brief stint in the US Army, Elvis started concentrating more on movies. He made a wide variety of movies, GI Blues, Blue Hawaii, Viva Las Vegas, and Fun in Acapulco to name a few. Although the movies were basically glorified music videos, as they contained no real plot and a lot of singing, these movies and their songs made millions. I honestly think that if the "Elvis myth" that is discussed in Griel Marcus's essay, Presliad, had not already been put in place by Elvis's fans, the movies would not have grossed half the money,

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