(Elvis never did play outside of North America and Hawaii, possibly because Colonel Parker, it was later revealed, was an illegal alien who could have faced serious problems if he traveled abroad.) Hollywood was history, but studio and live albums were generated at a rapid pace, usually selling reasonably well, although Presley never had a Top Ten hit after 1972's 'Burning Love.In 1992, the U.S. This was followed by national tours that proved him still capable of being an excellent live entertainer, even if the exercises often reeked of show-biz extravaganza. But Elvis' voice did sound good, and he returned to live performing in 1969, breaking in with weeks of shows in Las Vegas. Arguably, it's been overrated by critics, who were so glad to have him singing rock again that they weren't about to carp about the slickness of some of the production, or the mediocrity of some of the songwriting.
This material, and 1969 hits like 'Suspicious Minds' and 'In the Ghetto,' returned him to the top of the charts. The 1968 album Elvis in Memphis was the first LP in nearly a decade in which Presley seemed cognizant of current trends, as he updated his sounds with contemporary compositions and touches of soul to create some reasonably gutsy late-'60s pop/rock. The continued speculation about his incredible career has sustained interest in his life, and supported a large tourist/entertainment industry that may last indefinitely, even if the fascination is fueled more by his celebrity than his music.Ī 1968 television special gave Presley the opportunity he needed to reinvent himself as an all-out leather-coated rocker, still capable of magnetizing an audience, and eager to revisit his blues and country roots. By the time of his death, he'd become more a symbol of gross Americana than of cultural innovation. Innumerable bad Hollywood movies, increasingly caricatured records and mannerisms, and a personal life that became steadily more sheltered from real-world concerns (and steadily more bizarre) gave his story a somewhat mythic status. Unfortunately, to much of the public, Elvis is more icon than artist. His '50s recordings established the basic language of rock & roll his explosive and sexual stage presence set standards for the music's visual image his vocals were incredibly powerful and versatile. While rockabilly arrangements were the foundations of his first (and possibly best) recordings, Presley could not have become a mainstream superstar without a much more varied palette that also incorporated pop, gospel, and even some bits of bluegrass and operatic schmaltz here and there. Elvis was certainly the first, however, to assertively fuse country and blues music into the style known as rockabilly.
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