Elvis legacy lasting, liberating
This month we marked the anniversary of the passing of Elvis Presley.?His death in 1977 stunned his legions of fans, in the USA and around the world.?
Like most people I know, I remember vividly where I was when I heard that Elvis had died. I was stationed in Hawaii, a land and people near and dear to Elvis Presley?s heart and soul.?He played concerts there and made movies there. His songs about Hawaii remain among his biggest hits.
In the interest of full disclosure, I confess I am a lifelong fan of Elvis.?I rate him in the top tier of 20th Century entertainers. ?He was born in Mississippi and he died in Tennessee.?From barefoot boy to superstar to precious memory?? ? those lines from ?The Man From Tupelo? capture the essence of his rise from poverty and obscurity to fabulous fortune and world-wide fame.?
Elvis was very talented and very versatile.? He was called the ?King of Rock and Roll,? but he was country, too, as attested to by his many country hits.?His first love, though, was gospel music, and he was a great gospel singer.?When told that he couldn?t sing a gospel song on the Ed Sullivan TV show, he replied that he had promised his mother he would sing one for her, and he insisted on doing so.?His performance of the song that night was magnificent and well-received by audiences around the country.
Twenty-nine years after Elvis Presley?s death, it is hard to fathom all the reasons for his popularity, then and now.?He was bigger than the Beatles and bigger than just about any other popular culture icon I can think of.?He was a charismatic showman and a musical revolutionary in many ways.?
A friend of mine recently told me about the incredible impact Elvis had on young people in Germany, especially in the 1950s and 1960s.?According to her, his music helped liberate German youth from the tyranny of their parents and transported them to new heights of appreciation for liberty and freedom.?
These were the children of World War II, who endured Hitler?s despotism and Germany?s defeat in 1945.?Out of the desperation and despair of post-war German youth came some measure of inspiration and hope from Elvis Presley?s music. ?Many of these Germans, now in their 60s and 70s, still remember and revere Elvis Presley for his liberating gift of music.
The legacy of Elvis lives on in other cultures as well.?For example, when Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the USA recently, his priority place to visit was not Disneyland, but Graceland.?While there, he extolled the virtues of Elvis Presley and even attempted an Elvis song or two.?In doing so, he demonstrated that regardless of whom the president is ? from Eisenhower to Bush ? Elvis is still ?the King? in the hearts and minds of his worldwide fans. ??
His legacy is a lasting reminder that good music can transcend genres, generations, and even cultures, to ?calm the savage beast? and feed the heart and soul. ??
Thomas B. Vaughn is a professor at Motlow College and co-host of the WCPI radio show ?Viewpoints,? which airs on 91.3 FM. ‘?