Who had a more profound effect on society?
What I mean is for you to think in the terms of trendsetting (i.e. dress, hairstyle, mannerisms, ideals).
Did The Beatles impact society more or did Elvis?
As we all know, both artists are in the top 3 selling musicians of all time along with Michael Jackson.
Elvis helped create youth culture. And he brough rock music to the masses. His sucess and impact is hard to measure, because he had so many ups and downs in his career. And he didn’t exactly go out on top. As far as influence, in a bigger picture, to quote John Lennon, “without Elvis there would have been no Beatles.”
The Beatles were one of the first acts in popular mucic to write and preform their own material. Not only that, they achived phenominal popular and critical sucess rivaled by no other act in second half of the 20th century. And they were one of the first acts ever to express opinions about the way of world at the hight of their popularity.
While the music of Elvis and his talent are still greatly admired, The Beatles still remain popular (almost in a timeless way). Every decade since their breakup they still sell records. And the respect for their music is appreciated by people of all ages.
I know Elvis is 'The King", but edge to The Beatles.
Moderator’s Note: Elvis has left the building…
But I spotted him over in Cafe Society.
Musically, I like them both. Good Elvis is just as good as Good Beatles, but there is more Good Beatles to be had in my opinion.
Culturally, that’s hard to tell. A lot of Elvis fans grew out of his music or just quit listening to music altogether. Music wasn’t as important to that generation.
Beatles fans never stopped being Beatles fans, though, and teenagers are still discovering them and wearing their shirts to school as I type this. Maybe they made music important to their generation and that’s what sets my dad (Beatles fan) apart from my grandmother (former Elvis fanatic.)
Edge: Beatles, but long live The King.
Why is this not a debate? There are too many moderators here with too many opinions. If this isn’t a debate, I don’t know what is. I’m getting tired of my shit being moved all over this website. I’m sorry, I’m a paying customer, I have a right to speak my mind if you don’t like it.
Maybe if you read the forum descriptions your shit wouldn’t be moved all over the website. In fact, your post I’m quoting isn’t even in the right forum.
As to your question, I’d have to say The Beatles had a much stronger/longer-lasting impact on society.
Did you read the rules that you’re required to read before becoming a paying member (not “customer”)?
Elvis, no contest, link. Don’t still call him The King for nothing.
Selling records is probably not the best way to judge this. I bet Rod Stewart has sold more records than Jimi Hendrix (no cite, I’m guessing) but who do you think had the bigger cultural impact?
Hendrix in a landslide, of course.
Elvis. He was the right person at the right place at the right time. In many ways, he “created” rock and roll; at the very least, to mainstream America (and the world), it was his image that all others who followed would be measured against. And no less a personage than Leonard Bernstein called Elvis the greatest cultural force of the 20th century.
I grew up in the North East, and Elvis never seemed to have any impact. I was born in '55, so Elvis’s prime was a little before my prime, but he was always just a cheesey singer and bad actor to me. Maybe it was a regional thing.
The Beatles on the other hand, were huge. Two guitars, bass, and drum became the standard. Long hair became in style and everything from England was cool.
No offense, but isn’t this just a factor of your age? If you were born too late to experience Elvis at his peak, but just in time for Beatle-mania, of course you’re going to think the Beatles were bigger.
I have no idea who had the bigger impact; just saying you’ve got to take the bigger view of this kind of thing.
Well, that’s why I mentioned my age. There was a lot of overap between Elvis and the Beatles and Elvis continued to perform long after the Beatles broke up.
I never got how Elvis was the father of Rock and Roll, he always seemed more country to me. Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, and Buddy Holley seemed to me to be more influential in Rock. In addituion there were all the Black blues and R&B musicians who influenced everyone.
One of the differences the Beatles made was the importance of the group vs a singer with a backup band.
True true.
I would have to say Elvis, because IMO if there was no Elvis, there would probably have been no Beatles.
Ther are several types of impact; Elvis has the edge on some things, since he was first. He definitely wins the “cult of personality” contest.
Elvis, however, didn’t dress or sound all that different from his contemporaries; there was music like Elvis’s already happening. What he did was bring incredible star power to the table. In fact, I don’t think anybody has ever had the kind of impact he has in that area.
The Beatles, however, were the catalyst for many social/musical changes:
Long hair
Writing their own songs and pushing the envelope as to what rock could be.
Having the whole group be stars. They pretty much provided the blueprint for rock groups that is still in use today.
Beatles. If Elvis hadn’t been the first big star, it’d have been one of his contemporaries like JL Lewis or Holly.
With due respect to the opinion of Lennon, I think the Beatles owe a lot more to skiffle, black bluesmen and Chuck Berry than they do to Elvis. I think Lennon was more referring to the notion of stardom.
He was the “right” person, in that he was white. When one of the biggest thing leading to your success is the color of your skin, it’s hard for me to give you credit. As he said: ""The colored folks been singing it and playing it just like I’m doin’ now, man, for more years than I know. They played it like that in their shanties and in their juke joints and nobody paid it no mind 'til I goosed it up. I got it from them. Down in Tupelo, Mississippi, I used to hear old Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do now and I said if I ever got to a place I could feel all old Arthur felt, I’d be a music man like nobody ever saw. "
As Hamlet pointed out, Elvia was an imitater. The Beatles would have happened, Elvis or no Elvis, but a lot of groups wouldn’t have happened without The Beatles.
I think that the Beatles were more influential. Elvis was the biggest, most famous example of an existing archetype. The Beatles created their own archetype that everyone else followed.