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After I saw Bohemian Rhapsody, Walk the Line, Ray, etc - I would download all the music from that artist and listen to it for an entire day, or weeks on end - to see what worked and what didn't. Almost obsessively. To figure out if I liked the artist.
Did that today with Elvis...and something odd happened, which hasn't happened before...I'd have to check my phone to see who it was, was that really Elvis? It sounded different. His voice actually changed. The cadences, the tone, the phrasing.
I'm watching this documentary on HBO Max entitled "Elvis : The Searcher" and it's quite well done. It goes into detail on how he created his brand of music, his influences, and the hard work and drive involved.
( Read more... )
To give you an idea of what he was doing back then?
But what they also point out that with Elvis' voice they could do anything with it. His voice had plenty of space, and he could hit five-six octaves, with a voice that changed from a tenor to a baritone. It went high and very low. And when he was younger - and less self-conscious, it's almost pure sound.
Here's Blue Moon by way of contrast.
And...
Hound Dog. This is amazing, he sings it fast, and then without warning slows it way down, and the band is forced to just follow his lead.
And...to show how versatile he is...
Also...
And finally...
I Can Dream
***
He was controversial - because back then, you didn't blur the lines between the styles. You didn't blend Country and Blues. You didn't cross those segregated lines, and he did it without thinking about it. Also he was so sexual in his movements. He was so unconfined in his movements - and it was in the 1950s. His television appearances were earth-shattering, that bridged black and white music of Southern Worlds that hadn't happened before. They were terrified.
( Read more... )
***
The documentary, much like the film Elvis, delves into how the "music business" - RCA (the major record lables) and the Colonel - manipulate the artist, because they do not care about the music, they cared about the merchandise. The problem with his movies - was he's watered down into a kind of Bobby Darin or Dean Martin or Frankie Avalon. But if you go outside of them, away from that manipulation by the music establishment - what you see is just brilliant.
**
When I mentioned the "Elvis" film to co-workers and Wales, they all brought up Rami Malek who played Freddi Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
I looked up Freddie Mercury - comparing Elvis to Mercury is comparing an orange to an apple. Elvis is a tenor to baritone, Mercury was a tenor to high alto. They couldn't sing each other's music, although Elvis could sing more of Mercury's. Mercury loved Elvis - who died before Queen really took off. He wrote a song as a homage to Elvis. He never compared himself, nor did he think he could, to Elvis.
***
Mother interrupted the documentary to tell me about all the family members coming to my father's funeral. Even several cousins are coming. So we have about thirty family members give or take.
I told her that part of the reason I'm watching this is - Elvis was my father's age.( Read more... )
Did that today with Elvis...and something odd happened, which hasn't happened before...I'd have to check my phone to see who it was, was that really Elvis? It sounded different. His voice actually changed. The cadences, the tone, the phrasing.
I'm watching this documentary on HBO Max entitled "Elvis : The Searcher" and it's quite well done. It goes into detail on how he created his brand of music, his influences, and the hard work and drive involved.
( Read more... )
To give you an idea of what he was doing back then?
But what they also point out that with Elvis' voice they could do anything with it. His voice had plenty of space, and he could hit five-six octaves, with a voice that changed from a tenor to a baritone. It went high and very low. And when he was younger - and less self-conscious, it's almost pure sound.
Here's Blue Moon by way of contrast.
And...
Hound Dog. This is amazing, he sings it fast, and then without warning slows it way down, and the band is forced to just follow his lead.
And...to show how versatile he is...
Also...
And finally...
I Can Dream
***
He was controversial - because back then, you didn't blur the lines between the styles. You didn't blend Country and Blues. You didn't cross those segregated lines, and he did it without thinking about it. Also he was so sexual in his movements. He was so unconfined in his movements - and it was in the 1950s. His television appearances were earth-shattering, that bridged black and white music of Southern Worlds that hadn't happened before. They were terrified.
( Read more... )
***
The documentary, much like the film Elvis, delves into how the "music business" - RCA (the major record lables) and the Colonel - manipulate the artist, because they do not care about the music, they cared about the merchandise. The problem with his movies - was he's watered down into a kind of Bobby Darin or Dean Martin or Frankie Avalon. But if you go outside of them, away from that manipulation by the music establishment - what you see is just brilliant.
**
When I mentioned the "Elvis" film to co-workers and Wales, they all brought up Rami Malek who played Freddi Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
I looked up Freddie Mercury - comparing Elvis to Mercury is comparing an orange to an apple. Elvis is a tenor to baritone, Mercury was a tenor to high alto. They couldn't sing each other's music, although Elvis could sing more of Mercury's. Mercury loved Elvis - who died before Queen really took off. He wrote a song as a homage to Elvis. He never compared himself, nor did he think he could, to Elvis.
***
Mother interrupted the documentary to tell me about all the family members coming to my father's funeral. Even several cousins are coming. So we have about thirty family members give or take.
I told her that part of the reason I'm watching this is - Elvis was my father's age.( Read more... )