Elvis Presliad Greil Previs Analysis

In Elvis: Presliad Greil Marcus the American rock and roll critique writes about Elvis Presley. Marcus begins with mentioning Elvis in concert but from his tone one can’t tell if its dripping with sarcasm or if he means the inflated digs at Presley. He writes “"Elvis Presley is a supreme figure in American life, one whose presence, no matter how banal or predictable, brooks no real comparisons.” He places Elvis on a pedestal, something that the rest of America still seem him have him on. That Elvis personifies everything about being an American, he just also had the flashy pink Cadillac to boot. Marcus makes observations about Elvis’ fans that night, the ones that would die happy knowing they were even in the same arena and The King. It was
The story goes that after a day of jamming the lads had felt they hadn’t solidified a hit but were about to call it a night; when Elvis started playing around with his guitar. Playing around with a 1940s R&B track by Arthur Crudup, he took the original and made it his own. He changes it to sound more pop like, shortening the lyrics with a croon, added a walking and slap bass along with a jazz-like guitar. Pulling from country, pop and putting it together with an R&B track that had traditional soul lyrics, showed Phillips a hodgepodge of something he had never heard before and the rest was history. Sam Philips at this time was the perfect person to put try to sell his record; having boasted about cultivating unique talent with unique production style. He wanted to mass market an artist that could sell black music but appeal to white folk as well. He had finally found his cash cow. It also helped that people originally did think Elvis was
His new record label RCA Records would continue to pump out unreleased music while he was away; Elvis would not come back a rockabilly artist. Elvis had much more artistic freedom than before. Marcus writes “Two things did happen that lead to the collapse of Elvis’ music. His multiplicity […] but his eagerness to prove it […] destroyed his ability to focus his talent.” This meant that he did not have the direction that Philips had once given him honing him in into what he wanted to sell. But it was all up to Elvis now. While Elvis was no longer a person but a figure his music was something that changed history, race relation, and inspired. He had to become this figure head. It would not be crazy to speculate that he himself knew this. This is where once could start to agree with Marcus’ myth of Elvis. This could be the point where we see him accepting this role presented before him and immersed in it. So, he did what he though America wanted, he made music he thought could cause the same impact that he had once made. But nothing would ever reach his outbreak success. This would take a took a toll on