career swaps

[kamikazeeab2003]

This is obviously just for speculation:

If Colonel Parker had taken a liking to Johnny Cash and Sam sold him to RCA instead of Elvis, and Elvis stayed with SUN until 1960 when he would have moved to Columbia (Which is what Cash did), how would :
1. Elvis career have changed?
2. Johnny Cash's career changed?
3. Music have changed?

Any thoughts.

[Diane]

1. Some other perhaps better for Elvis than the Colonel would have picked him up and maybe his life and career would have been much better.

2. Johnny would have been a marketable commodity just as Elvis was for a time but he would have booted out the Colonel after a while.

3. Elvis would still have influenced the music world no matter who managed him. Nothing there would have changed.

Diane

[ksimms2]

1. Some other perhaps better for Elvis than the Colonel would have picked him up and maybe his life and career would have been much better.

2. Johnny would have been a marketable commodity just as Elvis was for a time but he would have booted out the Colonel after a while.

3. Elvis would still have influenced the music world no matter who managed him. Nothing there would have changed.

Diane

Ditto !

[KPM]

This is obviously just for speculation:

If Colonel Parker had taken a liking to Johnny Cash and Sam sold him to RCA instead of Elvis, and Elvis stayed with SUN until 1960 when he would have moved to Columbia (Which is what Cash did), how would :
1. Elvis career have changed?
2. Johnny Cash's career changed?
3. Music have changed?

Any thoughts.

I don't think Parkers interest in Elvis or Johnny would have anything to do with who he liked. He saw a chance to make big money in Elvis because the big fuss was over Elvis. If Cash had been causing the audience reactions as big as Elvis-he would have chose Cash-but I don't think liking had anything to do with it.

[kamikazeeab2003]

I don't think Parkers interest in Elvis or Johnny would have anything to do with who he liked. He saw a chance to make big money in Elvis because the big fuss was over Elvis. If Cash had been causing the audience reactions as big as Elvis-he would have chose Cash-but I don't think liking had anything to do with it.

Okay, Let's take the Colonel out of the equation. Let's just say that considering the different writers, musicians and thought processes at the 3 labels, how do you think the outcomes would have differed?

[john carpenter]

I believe Johnny Cash would've booted the Colonel out the door. Johnny still would've sang country,and he wouldn't have been as famous as Elvis. Elvis would've still bought Graceland, and went to the Army. His Mother would still die in 58, he would still die in 77.You can't change fate.

[KPM]

Okay, Let's take the Colonel out of the equation. Let's just say that considering the different writers, musicians and thought processes at the 3 labels, how do you think the outcomes would have differed?

Mitch Miller ran Colombia back then and he did not like rock, did not consider it true music and felt it would not last. I think that might give a hint as to what he would have done with Elvis-IMO he would not have given Elvis top treatment (as was done by Steve Sholes at RCA) Steve Sholes saw that rock might just be where the future of music was headed, and he fought hard to get Elvis. Colombia and Miller did not take Rock serious until the early 60s. If I could have chosen the label for Elvis to take back then I think Atlantic would have been a great place to nurture Elvis. They were into blues and jazz-like RCA they saw rock was coming big.
Johnny Cash would have done well at RCA, they had a great country background and had Chet Atkins to help the country artists RCA may have been better for Cash IMO

[kamikazeeab2003]

Mitch Miller ran Colombia back then and he did not like rock, did not consider it true music and felt it would not last. I think that might give a hint as to what he would have done with Elvis-IMO he would not have given Elvis top treatment (as was done by Steve Sholes at RCA) Steve Sholes saw that rock might just be where the future of music was headed, and he fought hard to get Elvis. Colombia and Miller did not take Rock serious until the early 60s. If I could have chosen the label for Elvis to take back then I think Atlantic would have been a great place to nurture Elvis. They were into blues and jazz-like RCA they saw rock was coming big.
Johnny Cash would have done well at RCA, they had a great country background and had Chet Atkins to help the country artists RCA may have been better for Cash IMO

thanks. This is getting to the meat of what I was asking. In addition, I speculated that Elvis completed Johnny Cash's term at Sun. Johnny often mentioned that he felt neglected there because Sam was concentrating on Jerry Lee Lewis. Would Elvis have felt the same. Also, When Johnny did Join Columbia in 1960, Bob Johnson was running the show. Would he have given Elvis space to do his own thing?

[KPM]

thanks. This is getting to the meat of what I was asking. In addition, I speculated that Elvis completed Johnny Cash's term at Sun. Johnny often mentioned that he felt neglected there because Sam was concentrating on Jerry Lee Lewis. Would Elvis have felt the same. Also, When Johnny did Join Columbia in 1960, Bob Johnson was running the show. Would he have given Elvis space to do his own thing?

Its hard to say because Elvis was ELVIS. Johnny was a much more low key artist-more a country artist at heart. As far as Elvis at Colombia , if he had gone to them in 1960-would Rock have been as strong? RCA pushed rock with Elvis- if Cash had gone to RCA in 56 I think he would have been pushed as country by RCA. So without Elvis out front where would rock be in 1960? Colombia got interseted in Rock artists because they saw in the early 60s it was not just a fad-would rock have moved slower if Elvis had stayed at Sun till 1960? Lots of hypotheticals.

[kamikazeeab2003]

This exactly what I'm looking for! (just fyi, I just watched Frequency last night, and it brought to mind how changing one event from the past could change so many events in the future, even if all the remaining variables are intact! I love that premise!)

[kamikazeeab2003]

Mitch Miller ran Colombia back then and he did not like rock, did not consider it true music and felt it would not last. I think that might give a hint as to what he would have done with Elvis-IMO he would not have given Elvis top treatment (as was done by Steve Sholes at RCA) Steve Sholes saw that rock might just be where the future of music was headed, and he fought hard to get Elvis. Colombia and Miller did not take Rock serious until the early 60s. If I could have chosen the label for Elvis to take back then I think Atlantic would have been a great place to nurture Elvis. They were into blues and jazz-like RCA they saw rock was coming big.Johnny Cash would have done well at RCA, they had a great country background and had Chet Atkins to help the country artists RCA may have been better for Cash IMO

Okay, How do you think Atlantic would have affected Elvis' career. I know they had been interested in him, and regularily used a lot of the same writers, such Leiber & Stoller, an Pomus & Schuman. They utilized Strings a lot earlier in Rock & Roll than RCA did.

[KPM]

Well also you have to think the reason Elvis was the one wanted by everyone was because he was "talented and different". So he would have still been "talented and different" no matter where he had gone.
Which brings up another train of thought-it would make no difference for Elvis-being unique he would have got big no matter where he went.

[kamikazeeab2003]

good point.