How Did Elvis Presley's Impact On American Culture

Elvis Aaron Presley was born to a poor family in Tupelo, Mississippi in the year of 1935. Years later, he became one of the most influential musicians in modern American History. John Lennon once stated, “Before Elvis there was nothing” (qtd.in Meacham). With that being said, the effect Elvis Presley had on music is apparent in many ways in the past and present. Elvis impacted the music industry through changing the ethnic culture of music, making a new style of music, and influencing other musicians. Traditionally, Blues was a type of music usually sung by black men; however, blacks were not fully accepted as musicians yet, so Blues was not a popular genre in the music world. Presley gave listeners a new perspective on the Blues. His music

Elvis was not just a white man singing black blues. He took the blues to another level with the use of a new rhythm and his unique voice, promoting Rock ’N’ Roll (Welch). The forming of Rock ’N’ Roll led to a culture of blacks and whites performing as equals. Whites began to respect black performers and vise versa (Welch). A huge population of America heard Elvis, and regardless of whether they cherished or detested him, they were left with an impression (Hampton 14). To this day, many say there is no one who sounds like Elvis Presley. His style is sung by musicians daily, but not one of them can bring out the blues as Elvis once did. Elvis rewrote the music he knew and turned it into something new and exciting (Cocks). Leonard Bernstein, a New York Philharmonic composer,claimed that, Elvis “introduced the beat to everything and he changed everything—music, language, clothes, it’s a whole new social revolution—the ‘60s come from it” (qtd. in Meecham). Through the style he portrayed in his music, Elvis will live on as a legend in Rock’N’ Roll. He set an example for what Rock ’N’ Roll should be

Around the time Elvis started performing, musicians only stood in front of the microphone and sang. Understated rules dictated what could be done and not done, but Elvis Presley had a rebellious attitude and ignored society’s rules. People were stunned when they witnessed Elvis’ new way of performing. His dance moves and the way he sang was considered “sexual”. Elvis led the way for risky performances and set an example for other artists who followed his style. When Elvis first started performing, audiences were not expecting something so risque. This may be why he was so popular. He was unexpected. In response to Elvis’ inappropriate and racy dance moves, television cameras on the Ed Sullivan Show only filmed Elvis from the waist up. Many other modern artists have since been sexually suggestive on stage, following the example of the “King” (Peterson). The suggestive stage presence of Elvis also caught the attention of teenagers who in their often rebellious nature, were drawn to him(Welch). Elvis became the influence he was through crossing the boundaries of society and deifying the barriers separating music and eventually, other musicians followed (Denenburg