When Elvis Met Simon (Sort Of)
Posted May 4th, 2006 by RD Heldenfels
"American Idol" is about to take on Elvis Presley. Or, as the official announcement from Fox says, "Next week, put on your blue suede shoes and don’t leave the building as the remaining four contestants each perform two songs by the original (Hound) Dog – Elvis Presley. To prepare, the finalists will travel to
Graceland
for an Elvis workshop with music mogul Tommy Mottola."
I've been wondering about the songs the performers will choose. Elvis has such a vast catalogue, and crossed so many genres, it should be easy for all of them to find tunes that they are comfortable with. I have no idea what they will pick but can imagine what Chris could do with "Suspicious Minds," say, or Katharine trying "Teddy Bear."
But how would Elvis have handled "American Idol" itself? Pretty well, I suspect. He came to prominence, after all, doing covers of other people's songs — but finding a way to make them his own. He had charisma on television. And he had enough Simon Cowell moments over his career that he would probably think of the "Idol" judge as an insult amateur.
There's the story (told many places, including Peter Guralnick's epic Elvis biography) about a young Elvis auditioning for a musician named Eddie Bond only to be advised — as Elvis later told it — to stick with driving a truck because "you're never going to make it as a singer." Presley confided to friend George Klein that Bond "broke my heart," though not enough to keep him from persisting in his musical dreams. On the train to make the movie of "Jailhouse Rock," Elvis told Klein, "I wonder what Eddie Bond thinks now."
But even when he was famous, Elvis faced the carping of critics who did not cotton to his brand of music. New York Times TV critic Jack Gould, reviewing an Elvis appearance in 1956, wrote: "Mr. Presley has no discernible singing ability. His specialty is rhythm songs which he renders in an undistinguished whine; his phrasing, if it can be called that, consists of the stereotyped variations that go with a beginner's aria in a bathtub. For the ear he is an unutterable bore."
Stack that up against Simon's complaints about karaoke and wedding singers.
May 4th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
True, all four could really do wonders with Elvis' catalogue, in more ways that they could ever imagine. But I would prefer if they stick to songs not so well known to the general public. There is an ocean of material people have no idea Presley recorded, brilliantly by the way.
Can anyone imagine one of the contestants, say, Katherine delighting the 40 plus million TV viewers who are surely going to tune in that night, with an intimate, piano only version of "There's always me"?
And how about any of the three males going, all the way, with their take on what I consider is the nly song in his repertoire which can never be topped, namely "If I can dream" (without being over-the-top about it, I mean…)
May 5th, 2006 at 5:56 am
Hi there
I hope these guys will pick a good song, one of those that people do not even know Elvis recorded, at the time they could critized Elvis, people were used to see singers stand on the stage and do not even move, he did not only revolutionized music with his style he created a diffeent kind of performance. He could take a song and make its own with his own and unique style.
May 5th, 2006 at 9:07 am
This is great idea! Does anybody know that Taylor already sang Elvis's "Something". I would love it if they did some less known EP songs. Elvis was a perfect singer and he did some great ballads that I would for Katherine to do and I think Chris could modernize Suspicious Minds really well. But I don't think that they should be changed too much because well, he was and still is THE KING.
May 5th, 2006 at 11:39 pm
Hi Everybody, This idea sound great to me.
However I've been wondering about the songs the performers will choose. Elvis has such a vast catalogue, and crossed so many genres, it should be easy for all of them to find tunes that they are comfortable with.
Friends through Elvis,
Ton