Ends and Odds: The Ravings of An Old Man By Dave Jaffe Elvis the Pelvis; Chapter Five. Part Two

    Elvis the Pelvis. Part Two.




      No one in the U.S. of A. needed to worry about Elvis Presley's politics. He was as clean as they come. he loved America, didn't do drugs, at first anyway, was polite to nearly everybody and posed no danger at all. He even paved the way for African American singers to appear. Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Fats Domino started to make real money after Elvis became famous. They were just as wild on stage as Elvis was.
    White imitators soon popped up in England like Cliff Richards and Johnny Halliday became a famous French rock'n roller. Yet neither of these two or more watered down American imitators like Fabian or Ricky Nelson could match Elvis's raw sex appeal. The British group of Bill Hailey and his Comets made an impact but still weren't in Presley's league.
   Millions of young men now grew their hair long, just like Elvis and combed it backwards into what was called 'a duck's tail', exactly like Elvis did. Others set up quartets to copy or sing Presley type songs. Rock and roll now started to sweep the world, outside that is of communist countries where the youth longed to hear it but couldn't.
     What Elvis Aaron Presley did was in some ways incredible.He had helped create a new music and a new industry based on rock music. Neither he nor his very clever manager had asked for government subsidies like the energy industry or some NGO's do to-day. Presley just sang music, like rock'n roll but also gospel music, Christian hymns, country music and even operatic arias. His music helped push the recording industry to new heights.
   Of course Presley couldn't have done this alone. The aforementioned record industry was part of the 1950's infrastructure that helped him. Also out there in 1950's America was radio, television. the phonograph, newspapers and magazines. Nearly all these parts of the mass media were thriving. Without these building blocks, Presley's career would never have taken off as it did. With  their help, Presley became a super star who sent rock'n roll all over the non-communist world.
    "He was a genius," one Vancouver musician said about Presley many years later. "He was 'The King' who sold over 20 million records." In fact Presley may have sold over a billion records. Even to-day fifty years after his death, Presley remains an American icon and deservedly so.