Elvis Presley's Influence On American Culture

Culturally and socially Elvis’ music was particularly associated with topics such as sex, race, and class which contributed to important culture changes in America. "That's All Right Mama," was the first single Elvis released. It was played perpetually on his home-town Memphis station and quickly became a local and national hit. Elvis immediately scored big on the radio once he started making his records. Elvis was fascinated with radio and loved to talk live on the radio with broadcasters and fans. His rich tone leant itself to radio which became a major factor in making him an international performer which allowed the building of the relationship between Elvis and his fans. The radio and constant air play of Elvis’ sun recordings were central …show more content…
The lyrics of this song added to the provocative undertone. Elvis sings: "Baby, Baby, Baby, Come back baby, I want to play house with you." His way of murmuring "baby, baby, baby" with his recognisable timbre promises erotic bliss, he insinuates that playing house will be something special this time, and that he really wants to play! The song is a plea from the singer to his girlfriend to return to him because he wants to "play house" with her, an informal term for a couple who are just dating or sleeping together. Despite the singer's actions, he offers an ultimatum telling his girl, "I'd rather see you dead than with another man." Many of the singles sing of loss, of the blues, imperfect blues, of rejection and despair due to loneliness, as in ‘Milkcow Blues Boogie’ and ‘Mystery Train’. For example the song "You're a heartbreaker," where Elvis …show more content…
In my opinion I feel he expressed the rebellious and repressed energies that had been bottled by the conformist during the 1950s, especially during his live performances of these recordings. It also suggests that Elvis himself was obviously sexually repressed, longing for romance and love, and these needs and energies were accentuated through his stage presence and on stage mannerisms. Within these singles he also experimented with the genre of R&B, where he powerfully expressed his desires for liberation in a culture of conformity where people felt trepidations about expressing themselves in public. As well as breaking repression, Elvis broke racial barriers by acting as the middleman and connecting musical genres of the time. A big part the discrimination against Elvis and the reason for him understanding discrimination he witnessed for not singing and performing white was the fact that he was also quite a poor southern, achieving fame the wrong way and not rising through the traditional routes taken by many songwriters and performers such as Tin Pan Alley route. He was seen as a sexual threat from the south so much so that Hillbilly music today remains a freely used pejorative word and genre of music. His Sun recordings were mainly R&B and gospel songs recorded with a country mix. When Elvis was first touring in 1954 and 55 he played the country music circuit with