Elvis Presley – the revolutionary who betrayed his own revolution

Neue Zürcher Zeitung Germany Elvis Presley – the revolutionary who betrayed his own revolution Jean-Martin Büttner • 3 hours • 4 minutes reading time Elvis Presley eroticized the music of white people and outlined the music of black people. John Lennon, who as an Englishman tended towards irony and as a human being towards the absolute, summed up the contradiction of his idol in two sentences: "Before Elvis there was nothing," said the Beatle, who had been shocked by the young American. And when Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, Lennon commented with the same laconicism: "Elvis died the day he joined the army." The biography and character of the singer from Tupelo, Mississippi, are torn apart by their contradictions. Elvis was both: a revolutionary who electrified American culture and his own counter-revolutionary who allowed himself to be tamed by Hollywood and Las Vegas. And at the age of 42 he died in his villa in Graceland from the pills he had been prescribed. The autopsy revealed stimulants, tranquilizers, opiates and all kinds of medication to counteract the side effects of the drugs. His body weighed over 120 kilos. The handsome young man with the sensual mouth and heavy eyelids had started so well. Under the brilliant producer Sam Phillips, who was equally keen on black and white musicians, Elvis Presley managed to create a mixture of blues and country, black sensuality and white melancholy in the mid-fifties. A white man who could sing like a black man: Sam Phillips had been looking for such a musician for a long time. Rock'n'roll was the name given to the explosive mixture of styles and cultures - black slang for sex. As a musician, Presley still managed to create great interpretations in the sixties, but also ones that were far below his artistic value. It happened during a break at Sun Studio in Memphis. Phillips had spent the whole day trying out songs and styles with Presley and his band. The young man could sing, no question about it; but nothing he performed sounded more than well-rehearsed. When the producer asked the exhausted musicians to pause, Elvis picked up his guitar and carelessly sang a song he really liked: a sped-up version of "That's Alright" by the black bluesman Arthur Crudup. The original was seven years old and sounded heavy and dark, Elvis' interpretation seemed relaxed and light-hearted. Sam Phillips suddenly appeared in the recording room; he couldn't believe that Elvis even knew the song: "What are you doing?" he asked. "I don't know," said Elvis. Phillips: "Do that again, we'll record it." That was on July 4, 1954, a Monday; With these two minutes, the 19-year-old truck driver was to change the 20th century. Elvis Presley eroticized the music of white people and defined the music of black people. He sounded black and white, seemed masculine and feminine at the same time, sang with passion and humor, he was of Protestant and Jewish, African-American and indigenous descent. Elvis was a charismatic man who sang like no other. And he danced with a lascivious elegance that Puritan America had never seen before. Elvis danced with a lascivious elegance that Puritan America had never seen before. Fatal tendency towards submissiveness But it was also Elvis who was to betray his own rebellion against white conventions. The naive young man tended to be submissive towards authority, to the point of devotion - and to narcissistic outbursts of anger when his wish was denied. His dual character is often explained by Elvis' stillborn twin Jesse, with whom the survivor had imaginary conversations throughout his life. It was fitting for his devotion that after he had made some great recordings thanks to Sam Phillips, Elvis Presley allowed himself to be blinded by an imposter who offered to be his manager. His name was Tom Parker and he promised the boy, who had grown up in bitter poverty, that he would make him a millionaire. And himself too, of course. Under the authoritarian leadership of his manipulative mentor, Elvis Presley first went to Germany as an occupation soldier, where he developed an addiction to amphetamines and tranquilizers. In 1958, the King of Rock'n'Roll came to Germany via Bremerhaven to do his military service. After his return, he moved from Memphis to Hollywood. There he played a caricature of himself in almost three dozen financially successful but artistically worthless films. As a musician he still managed to produce great interpretations in the sixties ("Fever", "Long Black Limousine"), but he also produced songs that were far below his artistic value ("Aloha Oe"). In his final years the singer wasted away in Graceland in the company of his cronies.