Was schreiben andere Stars über Elvis

Da ich heute frei habe, fing ich an in einem Buch zu lesen, welches Interviews mit Billy Wilder über seine Filme enthält. Überraschenderweise bin ich sogar auf eine kurzen Abschnitt gestoßen, in welchem Wilder über Elvis spricht, was mich dazu veranlasst, diesen Thread zu eröffnen, den ich lange schon mal anfangen wollte. Ich liebe Autobiographien von Künstlern, die mich interessieren und nicht selten stößt man bei der Lektüre auf Zitate über Elvis. Manche schmeichelhaft, mache weniger nett.

Lange Rede, kurzer Sinn: hier sollen Zitate über Elvis rein – am besten mit Quellenangabe.

Billy Wilder -> Regisseur

Noch ein Hinweis vorne weg: Wilder erzählt vorher, dass er weder mit Rock’n’Roll, Hip-Hop, MTV usw. etwas anfangen kann.

Frage: Did you ever meet Elvis Presley, working in those studios?

Wilder: Presley, no, Presley was working then, I think it was a picture at Paramount, but I did not like Presley. However, nowadays, I am forced to remember that great icon. [A humorous look of resignation from Mr. Wilder]

Quelle: Conversation with Wilder von Cameron Crowe


Gene Simmons -> Kiss

I was oblivious to Elvis. I never saw him on television, so in some sense he didn’t really exist for me, and while I was vaguely aware of him as a recording artist, I didn’t think much of him. He was just another one of those guys who sang, and besides “Hound dog” and “Jailhouse rock” it really wasn’t the kind of music I was interested in. It was crooning and it was too smooth.

I had read that Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had actually banned Elvis’s hips from television. It wasn’t the network that did that – it was Parker. Because he wanted people to make a to-do about it, he manipulated the media and the audience. We were trying something similar.

Quelle: Kiss and make-up von Gene Simmons


Andy Summers -> The Police

Sometimes I go over to Carl Hollings’s house. Carl is an Elvis fan, and that is the only music he will play or listen to, anyone who doesn’t like Presley gets a bloody nose for lack of respect. I prefer to stay on Carls’s good side, and we sprawl on a fake fur rag […] and croak along with the El, singing “Teddy bear” or “Heartbreak hotel”. Other times, in a more pensive mood or depressed by homework, we get serious and play his EP “Peace in the valley”, El’s spiritual side coming through in the old-style-hymns he sings with such sincerity.

1980. Buffalo, […] Memphis. Being rock historians, we [Sting, Copeland, Summers] know that Elvis was born just down the road from Memphis in Tupelo, Mississippi, and we have to pay homage. We rent a car and drive south to Tupelo. As you enter the small township, it is as if you have come to a weird religious site. Signs, pictures, and messages line the side of the road with the kind of devotion to El that normally is reserved for Jesus. […] There are arrows pointing to the birthplace of the King just down the road apiece, and in three minutes flat we are outside the miniscule shack where he was born. […] It can truly be described as humble, but knowing that from this small patch arose greatness we are reverent. We stand in silence for a few minutes and feel the vibes – my mind drifts back to the shag rug of Carl Hollings’s mum, and the King crooning “Teddy bear” – there’s a lot of love in the shack. Sighing, we leave and begin the drive back into Memphis without speaking, just pulling over once to get burger or six in honor of the King.

Quelle: One train later von Andy Summers


George Harrison -> The Beatles

We had felt cocky and certain but when Epstein [Beatles Manager] said “you’re going to be bigger than Elvis”, we thought “[…] I doubt that”. That seemed outrageous yet he did have the right attitude.

Within music I was fortunate enough to meet […] and know Elvis and Little Richard and Fats Domino, and it’s always been a case of meeting the people who are the best in their own field […].

Quelle: I – Me – Mine von George Harrison


Paul McCartney -> The Beatles

Elvis was top of the list, he was the ultimate groove. We didn’t know he was taking it off blues, we thought it was him. We just heard Elvis singing “Love me tender”, didn’t know anyone else had ever done it. Or “That’s alright mama”, or “Hound dog”. It just added to his legend: How does he think of these things! And he was a great looking guy with sideburns. We fell in love with him. Not in any sexual way, just pure…religious more than sexual. He was brilliant. Until he went in the army.[…] He went into films and I never got off on him again. But that first period is etched in my mind. I love all the records before the army

Noch ein Hinweis vorne weg: McCartney spricht hier über den Remix von Little less conversation.

I start off by digging my heels in saying: “Oh you should never do that to Elvis or the Beatles or the Stones. They’re pure and should remain like that”. But there’s an argument that the young kids coming up […] and go “Who’s that? It was Elvis? Who is he? It sounds incredible but there are young people who don’t know who Elvis is and who the Beatles are […].The point being, you could argue it’s a good thing, just to get people introduced.

Quelle: Conversations with McCartney von Paul Du Noyer


Marlon Brando -> Schauspieler

Ich finde es lächerlich, dass unsere Regierung eine Briefmarke mit dem Konterfei von Elvis Presley herausgebracht hat, obwohl er an einer Überdosis gestorben ist. Seine Fans erwähnen das nie, weil sie den Mythos nicht zerstören wollen. Sie ignorieren die Tatsache, dass er drogenabhängig war, und behaupten, er hätte den Rock’n’Roll erfunden, während er ihn in Wirklichkeit von der schwarzen Kultur übernommen hat; die Schwarzen haben schon lange so gesungen, bevor er auftauchte, ihre Musik kopierte und ein Star wurde.

Quelle: Mein Leben von Marlon Brando


Ronnie Spector -> The Ronettes

Hinweis: Ronnie Spector war mit Phil Spector verheiratet und sie beschreibt die Ehe mit ihm als eine schreckliche Erfahrung.

In 1969, Phil [Spector] flew me to Las Vegas to see Elvis Presley for my 26th birthday. Elvis was still in good shape then. He was making a comeback after doing shitty movies for about ten years, so he really cared about his stage act. I thought it was a great show, and I wanted to tell him so. But when Elvis invited us backstage afterwards, Phil hardly let me near the guy. Phil left me stranded in the hallway with his bodyguard while he pushed his way through the crowd to see Elvis. I was standing there, trying to peek through a crack in the dressing room door, when this beautiful young girl pops out […] I knew she had to be Priscilla Presley. “Oh hi,” she said, talking like we were old friends. “what are you doing out there? Come on in, Elvis is dying to meet you” She grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd. I could tell she was shy, but Priscilla didn’t seem to have any trouble talking to me. “You know,” she said […] “ you are really pretty.” I was really touched. I don’t know why she was so sweet to me, but I’ve never forgotten it. Priscilla dragged me right up past Phil to Elvis, who seemed even more shy than she was. “I’m pleased to meet you” he said, and that was all I heard before Phil grabbed my arm and started dragging me away. I guess Elvis had looked at me a second or two longer than Phil thought was proper.

I still remember the day we did that song – August 16, 1977 – because that was the day Elvis died right down the road in Memphis. […] I was in the studio with Chips Moman and a lot of other musicians who’d works with Elvis. But no one even told us what happened until after the session. […] then Steven gave me a ride back to my hotel. That’s when he told me Elvis had been found dead[…] I would have told you sooner”, he said “But a lot of those guys in the studio knew Elvis, and I wasn’t sure how the’d take the news.[…] Steve was right. Everyone was pretty shaken up – even me.

Quelle: Be my baby von Ronnie Spector

Dean Martin -> Schauspieler

Hinweis: Deana Martin, aus deren Autobiografie die folgenden Auszüge stammen, ist eine der Töchter von Dean Martin.

A few years later in Las Vegas, I had the pleasure of speaking candidly with Elvis. As a young lady, I was thrilled when he told me: “I love your dad. You know, they call me the King of Rock’n’Roll, but your dad…he’s the King of cool. Some of the most precious mementos are the cute telegrams and letters that Elvis sent to dad.

[Everybody loves somebody sometimes] went straight to the top of the charts, knocking the Beatles “A hard days night” off the number one spot. When dad heard the news of its success, he sent Elvis Presley a telegram that read, “If you can’t handle the Beatles, I’ll do it for you, pally”

Quelle: Dean Martin through his daughters eyes von Deana Martin

Schöne Thread-Idee.

Es war Parker nicht Ed, der Elvis im TV von der Hüfte aufwärts filmen ließ?

Gewiss konnte Parker den TV Verantwortlichen nichts vorschreiben, aber nur weil ein Prominenter irgend etwas glaubt, muss es ja auch nicht stimmen, zumal die Informationen nicht selten aus Zeitungen von bescheidener Qualität stammen dürften oder man hat irgend etwas falsch in Erinnerung. Die hier aufgeführten Stars kannten Elvis nicht persönlich oder nur oberflächlich.

Ich glaube nicht, dass es Parker war. Ich meine, mich zu erinnern, dass die Auflage von den TV-Verantwortlichen kam und zur Bedingung gemacht wurde. Wahrscheinlich war Parker damit einverstanden und hat es unterstützt, weil der ganze Auftritt sonst gecancelt worden wäre. Aber der erste Anstoß kam von Sullivan.

Weiterhin finde ich das Zitat von Brando shice. Elvis hat ihn so verehrt. Er ist vor Ehrfurcht fast ohnmächtig geworden, als er ihm in Hollywood persönlich begegnete - in einer Kantine zum Mittagessen. Und Brando hat sich dort auch anerkennend und höflich gezeigt.
Im Nachhinein sich an so einem Blödsinn hoch zu ziehen, das hat schon was.

Ich bewerte solche Aussagen nicht über, denn letztendlich sind die Wertungen, die diese Stars vornehmen auch nicht mehr wert als meine Meinung.

Das stimmt schon, aber die Meinung eines Promis wird in der Öffentlichkeit eher wahrgenommen. Und ein Marlon Brando war sicherlich in der Lage, Meinungen zu machen. Promis sollten ihren Einfluss nicht unterschätzen.

Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass Komplimente zwischen Künstlern auch heute noch nicht zwingend der tatsächlichen Meinung entsprechen. Im Film "This Is Elvis" hören wir, Elvis und der Col. hätten den Beatles für die US-Tour alles Gute gewünscht. Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass unser Mann nicht frei von Eifersucht auf den Beatles-Erfolg war. Und Ringo macht sich über Elvis lustig wie auch schon Johnny Cash.

Keith Richards und Elvis

Diese Zeile, „since my baby left me“, diese paar Takte – das war die Initialzündung. Der erste Rock’n’Roll meines Lebens. Eine radikal neue Art, einen Song zu singen und zu spielen, ein radikal neuer Sound. Ein karger, roher Klang ohne Kinkerlitzchen, ohne Geigen und Damenchor und Schmalz. Absolut beispiellos. Hier gab es nichts Überflüssiges, hier lagen die Wurzeln offen, die man immer irgendwie gespürt, aber nie gehört hatte. Dafür ziehe ich den Hut vor Elvis.
Zitat aus: Keith Richards: Life. Aus dem Englischen von Willi Winkler, Ulrich Thiele und Wolfgang Müller. Heyne Verlag, München. 736 Seiten