Some will say nothing good ever came out of the South ...

[Bake]

For those, I give you ... The King.

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And no, dammit, he's NOT dead!

Enjoy. And by the way, there will be NO dissing The King on this thread! Please take it elsewhere if you feel you must diss.



Bake

[HopeHoops]

1. No, he's not dead. He's usually at the 7-11 pounding 40 oz Schlitz with MJ and Jesus.

Sometimes Jimmy Hoffa shows up, but he only gets the 16 oz Bud bottles.

[Mnpaul]

28. Bubba Ho-Tep

Living in a nursing home fighting mummies dressed as cowboys with black JFK
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281686/

Someone had access to the good drugs

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

2. If you want to say that something good came out of the South

You will have to do better than a fourth-rate singer who is mainly popular among those who don't know any better.

Stating facts is not "dissing".

[Bake]

3. I SAID, NO DISSING THE KING!

Fourth rate, my ass. Not a fact, an opinion.

For all his flaws, The Voice never failed him to the day he left us. Not bad for a truck driver from Tupelo.

Bake

[pipi_k]

8. My mini-list

of fourth rate singers...

Bruce Springsteen (singer? sounds like he's screaming most of the time. no subtlety at all)

Sheryl Crow

Nora Jones (listening to her puts me to sleep. boorrrrrinnnngggg! zzzzzz.....)

And just about everyone (with just a few exceptions) who claims to be a C & W singer these days.

blech

[Bake]

11. The Boss a fourth rate singer?

Maybe, on your list, at least.

It's not just about the voice. Frank Sinatra had a shitty voice -- OH YES -- but he's considered a great singer. It's about the style.

Screamers? You just dismissed many, if not most, of the great blues singers. You just dismissed Janis Jopin, who was a great blues singer in ANYONE'S book.

Get back to me when you learn something about music ... and soul.

Hell, you probably don't even like Dolly Parton!

Bake

[pipi_k]

15. Well, it's really all about

opinion, though, isn't it.

Yes. I think Springsteen is a hoarse-voiced screecher.

Janis Joplin, as well.

BB King managed to sing the blues without screeching.


No doubt there are some singers I like that others don't. Cool.


As far as your last sentence, it's pretty rude. Music, like art, is subjective. I like what I like, and that doesn't make me less knowledgeable about music than you.


PS...you're right. I don't like Dolly Parton. She couldn't even do her own song right. Whitney Houston did.


PPS...and you said no dissing The King. Nothing at all about dissing other singers.

[Bake]

17. Dolly put more emotion in a single note than Whitney ever did.

Yes, music is more or less all about taste, so that's subjective. There are great opera singers who do nothing for me, although I appreciate their instruments and training.

If music doesn't reach you at your soul, it fails. So I stand by what I said. I'd rather hear a screamer/screecher with soul than a trained opera singer who is technically brilliant but has no soul ANT DAY.

But let's get back to The King! A powerful voice. Emotion, soul, check.

Bake

[pipi_k]

21. Well, there you go...

Dolly doesn't touch my soul.

Janis Joplin didn't touch my soul.

Springsteen doesn't touch my soul.


Judy Collins singing "Farewell to Tarwathie", a cappella, does...


It's not because of lack of knowledge of music. It's because my soul marches to a different drummer, so to speak, than yours does.

I'm not much into trained opera singers either.

But yes...back to the King, and at least that's something we can agree on.

[William769]

38. Theres a reason Dolly doesn't touch your soul.

Not only the queen of Country, but a DIVA to the one's that matter.

[shadowrider]

35. Screamers? Dang, I had this girlfriend once

oops..

wrong screamer..sorry..

[Bake]

9. I'll go so far as to say that without The King

There would be NO rock & roll.

See post below from the Sullivan Show. Elvis took the so-called "race music" and made it acceptable to white audiences, giving birth to mainstream rock & roll.

Bake

[CBGLuthier]

10. He was not a 4th rate singer. He may not have been much of a person but the fucker could sing

and your opinion that he was a 4th rate singer is just an opinion because you would be hard put to find any actual musicians who would say such a silly thing. The man had a great voice and at his best used it incredibly.

[Bake]

12. Tell it, my friend!

Some may not like it, but THAT was a powerful voice! A soulful voice! The likes of which we won't hear again for a very long time!

And that voice never failed him, even when he was in failing health for multiple reasons. The voice never failed.

Bake

[Jetboy]

14. I always thought of Elvis as a kind and generous person.

He was a poor boy from Mississippi who lived the American Dream. I guess nobody's perfect.

[Bake]

19. Yeah, baby!

Not bad for a truck driver from Tupelo!



Bake

[AnneD]

40. My adopted grandmother...

Was from Tupelo and ran into him on more than a few occasions. She, like the king, was what some people might call PWT, but I am a better person for knowing her and the world is a better place for her being her.

[nolabear]

22. Baby. "Rating" is done by people. People nicknamed him The King.

Btw "Facts" means derived empirically. Doesn't even apply where singers are concerned. Although I will allow that some people can make the dogs sob out loud.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

32. People called Mussolini a great leader

It was just as much PR as Elvis' nickname.

And I will admit I probably should not have called him a fourth rate singer. He was a second rate singer.

Ever seen the movie Amadeus? It's about a extremely popular and successful composer, Antonio Salieri and his reaction to a not very successful composer, Mozart. Now, Salieri is essentially forgotten, and Mozart is hailed as a genius. That Elvis was popular does not not mean he was good.

[crunch60]

36. And millions of Elvis fan's around the world, will disagree with "your facts". Elvis

had something you can never hope to have, a beautiful voice that will live on for generations. he is the

[bamacrat]

4. Dead or not he is great.

I am not a die hard Elvis fan, but I like most of his music. Favorite would be either Suspicious Minds or Satisfy Me..

[ohiosmith]

5. Oh yeah! What about Moon Pies and RC Cola?

[Bake]

7. That's pronounced "R-O-C-Co-Cola and a Moon Pie"

At least that's how we said it in West Tennessee when I was a kid.

Also, never fall for the imitation "Lunar Pie."



Bake

[nolabear]

23. "COLER", Bake. You know beter than that.

[Bake]

25. Damn! My bad!

Too long in the "Midwest!". Louisville, that is!

Bake

[MiddleFingerMom]

27. Don't make me Moon Pie!!! You wouldn't LIKE me Moon Pie!!!

[Jetboy]

6. GO CAT GO!

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[pipi_k]

13. I like most of his songs but...

this one has to be one of my very favorites...

I have a few photos of my dad, who passed away in 2002, that shows his smile so very similar to Elvis's smile. He had black hair and a similar nose as well. The only big difference was my dad had brown eyes. Other than that, they could have been brothers.

[Xyzse]

16. I give to you the King!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_B_King

B.B. King comes from Mississippi...
There are a lot of great things that come from the South!

[Bake]

18. I loves me some BB!!

Although SOME will say he's not much of a singer ... but what do they know?

The thrill is gone!



Bake

[Jetboy]

24. Here's both of the Kings!

[frogmarch]

20. I was 12, going on 13,

when I first heard of Elvis. It was love at first sight and sound for me. For my 13th birthday, my parents bought tickets for all my friends and me to see Love Me Tender, which was playing at our local movie theater. My parents thought it was a movie starring Edmund Purdom, who was the star of The Student Prince. Mario Lanza was the actual singer in that movie, but not everyone knew that then, including my parents. So they thought Love Me Tender starred Edmund Purdom singing just like Mario Lanza.

In my book, Elvis was, will forever be, The King!

[nolabear]

26. I came out of the South. I could make a list for you if you like.

I'm actually not a huge Elvis fan but he has moments that leave me openmouthed and his brilliance can't be denied.

Ever been to Graceland? In the McMansion age it's not that big. The kitsch factor is fabulous. And that little group of graves in the Grotto is interesting and impressive and sad all at once.

I like early Elvis. King Creole is very cool.

But I'm a Fats, Muddy, Koko, Emma, Hot 8, Rebirth, etc. gal myself.

[Dr. Strange]

29. Alex, Geddy, and Neil come from the south part of Ontario.

[Bake]

30. This thread is about The King, dammit!

Not some helium-voiced "singer" from Canada, dammit!



Bake

[Dr. Strange]

31. Yeah, but I figured it would make sense...

to talk about, you know, real music.

[Arugula Latte]

33. This guy is from South Carolina:

[In_The_Wind]

34. I was born in Atlanta, Ga.

so there ~ [img][/img]

[AsahinaKimi]

37. I ALWAYS thought this was good...

[kwassa]

39. King? Oh, you must mean B.B. King, or Freddie King, or Earl King, or Albert King ....

All from the South.

[bluesbassman]

42. +1

Good point kwassa.

BTW Bake, I like me some Elvis too. I was playing some music with my buddies in the rec hall at Merrell Barracks in Nürnberg when they announced The King had died. I'll never forget that day.

[madinmaryland]

41. I'm sorry, but the best voice out of teh south is...

THE BIG DAWG!!

[kentauros]

43. Not to mention the great Rev. Billy C. Wirtz and Elvis fan

[Are_grits_groceries]

44. If you read about some of the early rock & roll groups & people,

THEY cite Elvis as a major influence. Among them are The Beatles. So I'll take their word for an evaluation. His Vegas work is unfortunately all many remember, but in his earlier years he was the best!
As for the evaluation of country singers all being 4th rate,I'll put Patsy Cline up against anybody, anytime singing anything. In addition you don't know jack!
Dolly is a master and has her style. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean she is 4th rate. In addition, she is in the Songwriters' Hall Of Fame. That is the HOF for all types not just country. She could retire on her royalties and I would like to own her catalogue.

Fun facts:
The only other singer that worried Elvis was Roy Orbison. He had a remarkable voice, but not the looks.
Cissy Houston sang backup for Elvis.