Elvis: Not original but unique anyway!

In an earlier Blog (Freddie Bell was no Ding Dong.) about Freddie Bell I mentioned how it was he who introduced Elvis to another way of presenting Mama Thornton’s big hit “Hound Dog.” And thus taking “Black” music over to the wider “White” market. I also mentioned how it is also believed that Elvis copied and perfected Freddie’s’ energetic stage Performance too.

This started me pondering about Elvis, who according to many, but definitely not my brother-in-law, was not really a good singer but rather more of an average “Belter” of songs, when it came to his delivery style – definitely no Sinatra there!

So, my question is, if Elvis was not original with his style of Music, nor his selection of songs, nor his stage delivery, nor even his singing style; what was it that made him so unique and so popular.

Let’s face it, there are many singer’s today touted as the new or latest “King”, The new Elvis” or some such tag, and some at one time or another even touted as greater than Elvis, but are soon now largely forgotten, while Elvis still "Sings” on long after his physical demise, doesn’t he? So again what made/makes Elvis unique, if not his originality?

Whilst Elvis was not the first nor the best, he was able to take all the best from others before him and craft both his weaknesses and strengths into one whole package and present it to the world as his own, even if it wasn’t all original or unique to himself.

What about you today? Can you learn from Elvis? , Can you too, like Elvis observe and adopt, and adapt from others? Can you not also craft both your weaknesses and strengths into one whole working package, and then present it to the world as uniquely your own?

This last is as important to the others. Even when Elvis had his package ready, he still had to market to the world. He still had to get out there and presents it to the World.

I know that it is hard to believe after seeing Elvis on the big stages, that some of his first performances were at fair grounds of the back of a truck, like many before him and many after him and like many today.

So, if you have Dream, Follow that dream, like Elvis did. (Sorry, Pun unintended originally.) Not just follow, but pursue that dream actively & passionately. Get your package together first by all means, but then go out and market it wherever and whenever you can. The markets don’t normally come to you first. You have to go to them first. What say you? What can you do now to present your own particular gifts and talents to the world? Walter