ELVIS PRESLEY - ONE OF THE LAST WHITE BLUESMEN?

Early Elvis Presley is often listed as a 'rock 'n' roll
singer today.However,going on the connotations that that
term conjures up today,the music of early Presley was
in facts worlds apart from that genre.
Born in 1935 in Tupelo Mississippi,Elvis like many of
his contemporaries and indeed his influences grew up
listening to a mixture of gospel,blues,country (bluegrass
& Western swing) and oldtime pop.Listening to such artists
as bluesman Arthur Crudup belt out "My baby left me",
"So glad you are mine" and "That's alright Mama" on the
streets of Tupelo was what Elvis spent much of his spare
time doing.At night,he heard the Grand Ol' Opry and the
Louisiana Hayride (at this time,these shows were soaked
with the blues - a fact that would change later on).In
the 1940s and 1950s,such programmes featured such blues
artists as Moon Mullican,Bill Monroe,Hank Williams and
The Delmore Brothers.By the time Presley heard these,he
had made up his mind to be a white blues singer.
Gladys (Elvis' mother) was a huge Jimmie Rodgers fan
and her favorite song was "Jimmie's mean Mama blues".
Elvis would later record a similar song called "Mean
woman blues",which echoes some of the similarity between
Rodgers and early Presley.Moon Mullican and Ernest Tubb
also had versions of this theme out - both under the name
of "Mean Mama blues".
The gospel music of the local church was another huge
influence and perhaps gospel music was Elvis' first love
in music,too.
The R&B of the 1940s and 1950s was Elvis' last big
contributing influence to his style.Such artists as
Lowell Fulson ("Reconsider baby") or Jesse Stone or
Big Joe Turner were permeating Elvis' soul during this
time.
When Elvis began recording formally in for Sun 1954,what he
recorded was the blues.His first single collected "That's
alright Mama",the old Arthur Crudup blues & "Blue moon of
Kentucky",a Bill Monroe bluegrass classic.Elvis' version
is probably the second best interpretation of the song -
after only Mr. Monroe's interpretation.Next single featured
"I don't care if the sun don't shine",a fine piece of
bluesy jazz-type country.It remains the closest Elvis
ever came to pure Western swing.The A side of the single,
"Good rockin' tonight",was a Roy Brown song Elvis learned
off Wynonie Harris.It was a lot more like rock 'n' roll
than blues so it lacked the Delta blues affinity Elvis
had with "That's alright" and later singles.
The next singles by Elvis revealed that Elvis was the
'new Moon Mullican' or the 'new Jimmie Rodgers'."Milk
cow blues",a fine piece of Delta blues/Western swing blues,
was as standout a piece of music of its time you could
get.The b-side,"You're a heartbreaker",was also superb
and had a Hank Williams flavour."Let's play house" and
"Mystery train" were old blues and country standards
for decade and Elvis is perfectly at home defining and
refining his style of blues.The more country songs from
these singles like "I forgot to remember to forget" or
"I'm left you're right she's gone" were not nearly as
essential and reveals that Elvis never cared for bluesless
country that much.A comparison between the excellent,
unreleased blues version of "I'm left you're right she's
gone" and the released country version reveal that
important blues feeling has got to be present on any
song.
When Elvis left Sun in 1955 and sign to RCA,he had
already become a Southern phenomenon.His rise to world
wide fame in 1956 was meteoric.But,it has to be remembered
that while Elvis would later become a true pop artist,it
was not pop music that Presley made it by: in fact,it was
out and out blues.Hit after hit came in 1956 and most of
these were blues: "Heartbreak hotel",an original,was a
blues shuffle that was complete with sincere singing and
eery blues piano.It had shades of Moon Mullican all over
it and again further reveals the similarity between
these 2 artists."Hound dog blues" was a tough 12 bar
blues from Big Mama Thornton (I won't get into the debate
about who wrote it!),while "Blue suede shoes" was a
superior version of C&W singer Carl Perkins' composition.
"Don't be cruel" or "Love me tender" were hardly blues
but still they were sincere and friendly in style.The R&B
pop of tracks like "I got stung" or "Big hunk of love"
further displayed his versatility while "A fool such as
I" revealed a blues version of a country song from Hank
Snow (who was also a blues based singer).Less familiar
songs such as excellent versions of Arthur Crudup's
"My baby left me" & "So glad you're mine",Ray Charles'
"I got a woman",Jesse Stone's "Money honey" or the
original "Hard headed woman" further displays Elvis'
master of the blues.
By and large,early Elvis Presley was the best of his
time at what he did.He was to the '50s what Moon Mullican
or Bill Monroe were to both Western swing and bluegrass,
respectively or what Jimmie Rodgers was to the 1920s and
1930s or what Hank Williams was to pure blues based
country.
Post-army Elvis was a different matter.Tom Parker and
others were controlling his career and making him star
in silly movies.Soon,Elvis lost interest in his career
and seemed to sing anything handed to him without question.
Songs like "Good luck charm" or "Wooden heart" are hardly
prime Presley and are most definitely not the blues.
But,it must be always remembered that when Presley did
do a blues,it was a blues and he did it as it should be
done.Therefore,if you wade through all the ballad,film
and pop work of the 1960-77 Elvis,you will find such
classic gutbucket blues as "Reconsider baby","Stranger
in my own home town","Tiger man blues","Steamroller blues"
and "Merry Christmas baby".
Elvis may have wasted much of his career and no doubt
that he could have been an even greater artist but
nevertheless he did do his fair share of the blues.
Along with Moon Mullican,Bill Monroe,Jimmie Rodgers,
Hank Williams,Jerry Lee Lewis and the Delmore Brothers,early Presley was a prolific blues singer.He was never a rockabilly,not
really a rock 'n' roller (despite the myth) and never
a straight country singer.If Elvis was to label his music
- which he never did - it would be R&B,blues and gospel.
Patrick Wall,
1st February, 2000.

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