What if Elvis wasn?t drafted to do his army service?

[Raised on Rock]

Do you think the 60's would have been something diferent for Elvis if the Army didnt happened? do you think a '59 world tour could have been posilbe? What direction do you think Elvis carrer have taken if he wasnt drafted? Dou you think things would have been very diferent for him concerning not only his carrer but even his life style for the rest of his life? do you think his personality changed after the army for good?

[goodniteliz]

I personally think that there is no way to really answer this question... while Elvis was in the army, when he came back, he was on top of his game and very in demand, but who is to say that if he had never been out of the public view while serving his time in the army, his career wouldn't have slowly winded down? I think one of the things that helped Elvis was the fact that while he was in the army, he (and Parker) had time to re-evaluate his career and then there is that old saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." In the end, it doesn't matter- Elvis served his country, and then he came back and served his fans.... that's why he's the King.

[Raised on Rock]

Yes, I like your answer goodniteliz... Thi thread born because of the coment ELvis made on an interview about he and the Colonel planing a tour in Europe, I think that happening in '58 could have been like the hugest thing ever, bigger than the Beatles arriving in America in '64 for sure.

I also love his army nashville session, just love the sound of those track, I was thinking about how his material could have evolved durin '59 till finally get the early 1960 sound. BUt yes you could be right, maybe Elvis carrer could have slowly faded like did happend with almost all of the '50 rockers, and the Army absence was actually something good to happend, like Dylan?s motorcycle accident, helped to change and redefine his carrer direction.

Anyway another thing that came to my mind doing this thread is the fact that Elvis drug habit started in the Army, so well thats a low point, I also peronally think that the army stifted a little bit his ways, dont know how to explain it...

[goodniteliz]

I agree that some negative habits did come from Elvis' army stint.... but you know, he could have never gone into the army and still gotten into drugs like so many other muscians around his time..... and plus, without the army... how would we see Elvis? He is always been seen as so patriotic, he loves his country, but if he never served, would we still think of him as the patriotic character he was? Just throwing some thoughts out here.....

[Tommy]

There would have been no Pricilla!

[carolynlm]

I think he would have been just as popular, but in a different way....the way I see it, is that tom parker wasn't really sure how things would go after Elvis' army stint, so the movie deals were set up......We still would have seen Elvis in the movies, but I think the roles would have been entirely the opposite to what they ended up being.....After King Creole, I think the movie producers may have seen an element of acting ability in Elvis and cast him in more of the same type of movie. But they weren't given that opportunity. Instead we got GI Blues, which is a good movie, but they went pretty much downhill from there, with the exception of probably Follow That Dream, which showcases Elvis' comic acting ability perfectly.
Not so many movies, and the chance for Elvis to tour overseas, if tom parker had allowed it of course......and that's the million dollar question......