I was in high school when “Heartbreak Hotel” was released and we were all blown away by it. But I cooled very quickly when he went on with stuff like “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel”, never thought of mysel as a “fan”. But hist last few songs were pretty nice ballads, “Suspicious minds”, “In the Ghettu”, and the man was a good talented singer.
- My girlfriend was a huge fan and played one of his singles compilations that came out at that time. I was surprised at just how much I liked them. Before that he’d been kind of in the background for me.
I was a teenager when Elvis arrived on the music scene. I was an early fan, but as he was elevated to Demigod status I lost interest. I still like his earliest work, though, and “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” is still one of my favorites of his. By the time he was a star, I was already on into others, mostly in Folk and Jazz. However, the women in my life were more in love with Elvis than with me. Sorta sucked!
I thought he was a piss-poor actor!
FYI, PBS will rebroadcast his famous 1973 Hawaii concert on Feb. 29 - check local listings: PBS Hawai‘i
Elvis had two great periods in my view, his early Sun Records from 1954-1955, and - above all - his 1969 Memphis sessions. Hearing material like “Long Black Limousine” and “I’ll Hold You in My Heart” made me a fan.
Around the time I graduated from high school in '73, due probably to repeated exposure on the part of my mother, who listened **ONLY **to C&W. Just out of curiosity, I watched his comeback special from Hawaii in '73 and thought it was pretty cool.
The first song I remember liking was “Cold Kentucky Rain,” followed by “Promised Land” and “Suspicious Minds.” I finally understood why he had such an enormous and devoted following.
In ***Gone South ***(a great novel that I highly recommend), he’s called “the voice of the American soul,” with which I’m inclined to agree. The only other C&W star I hold in as much esteem is Johnny Cash.