I agree Rick; the early stuff is what counts. I've only come to appreciate him in later years by virtue of a friend who's a bigger Elvis fan than me. We played at the pub last night so we thought some mention would be appropriate. To prepare, I went to Elvis.com which provides a whole lotta info.

Although Fat Karate Kicking Vegas singers aren't my style, he was indeed terribly important musically. Here's some quotes from the site:

"Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it's a whole new social revolution - the 60's comes from it."

Leonard Bernstein, 1960's.

"A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man's music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis."

Jackie Wilson

"When I first heard Elvis' voice I just knew that I wasn't going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss...Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail."

Bob Dylan

Another aspect I find fascinating is the number of Elvis impersonators and how he keeps popping up in the strangest places. What a subculture!

Anyway, the King is dead; Long live the King!