interesting article-Like Elvis, Jackson was a King who died young

[epmoodyblue]

06/26/2009 5:07 AM, AP
Hillel Italie =====Michael Jackson didn't want to be just a superstar. Like the Beatles, he wanted to be the biggest, the king. He wanted to topple the reigning man with the crown, Elvis.

In life and in death, there was Elvis.

"It's just so weird. He even married Elvis' daughter," said author-music critic Greil Marcus, who wrote at length about Presley in his acclaimed cultural history, "Mystery Train."

Elvis Presley overdosed — in his bathroom — on prescription drugs in 1977 at 42, his bloated, glazed middle age a cautionary tale to rock stars and other celebrities. Jackson died Thursday at 50, rushed from his Los Angeles home and pronounced dead at the UCLA Medical Center.

The death shocked more than surprised. While endless fame seemed to inflate Elvis like helium, Jackson's fame seemed to scrub the flesh and wear into his bones until you could almost see him shiver.

Like Elvis, Jackson was once beautiful, outrageous, a revolutionary without politics who shook down the walls between black and white. He had the hits, the style, the ego, the talent. He was the King of Pop and he needed only to fill in the life: He married Elvis' daughter. He bought the rights to some of Elvis' songs. Elvis owned Graceland, its name a symbol for a deliverance the singer prayed for until the end of his life. Jackson had Neverland, a fantasy for a child-man for whom money meant the chance to live in a world of his own.

He did, and did not, want to be like Elvis.

In "Moon Walk," a memoir published in 1988, Jackson insisted Elvis was not important to him growing up and that he was unhappy to learn a song he recorded with his brothers, "Heartbreak Hotel," shared the name of Presley's first national hit.

"I swear that was a phrase that came out of my head and I wasn't thinking of any other song when I wrote it," he wrote. "The record company printed it on the cover as `This Place Hotel,' because of the Elvis Presley connection. As important as he was to music, black as well as white, he just wasn't an influence on me. I guess he was too early for me. Maybe it was timing more than anything else.

"By the time our song had come out, people thought that if I kept living in seclusion the way I was, I might die the way he did. The parallels aren't there as far as I'm concerned and I was never much for scare tactics. Still, the way Elvis destroyed himself interests me, because I don't ever want to walk those grounds myself."

[rocknroll]

06/26/2009 5:07 AM, AP
Hillel Italie =====Michael Jackson didn't want to be just a superstar. Like the Beatles, he wanted to be the biggest, the king. He wanted to topple the reigning man with the crown, Elvis.

In life and in death, there was Elvis.

"It's just so weird. He even married Elvis' daughter," said author-music critic Greil Marcus, who wrote at length about Presley in his acclaimed cultural history, "Mystery Train."

Elvis Presley overdosed — in his bathroom — on prescription drugs in 1977 at 42, his bloated, glazed middle age a cautionary tale to rock stars and other celebrities. Jackson died Thursday at 50, rushed from his Los Angeles home and pronounced dead at the UCLA Medical Center.

The death shocked more than surprised. While endless fame seemed to inflate Elvis like helium, Jackson's fame seemed to scrub the flesh and wear into his bones until you could almost see him shiver.

Like Elvis, Jackson was once beautiful, outrageous, a revolutionary without politics who shook down the walls between black and white. He had the hits, the style, the ego, the talent. He was the King of Pop and he needed only to fill in the life: He married Elvis' daughter. He bought the rights to some of Elvis' songs. Elvis owned Graceland, its name a symbol for a deliverance the singer prayed for until the end of his life. Jackson had Neverland, a fantasy for a child-man for whom money meant the chance to live in a world of his own.

He did, and did not, want to be like Elvis.

In "Moon Walk," a memoir published in 1988, Jackson insisted Elvis was not important to him growing up and that he was unhappy to learn a song he recorded with his brothers, "Heartbreak Hotel," shared the name of Presley's first national hit.

"I swear that was a phrase that came out of my head and I wasn't thinking of any other song when I wrote it," he wrote. "The record company printed it on the cover as `This Place Hotel,' because of the Elvis Presley connection. As important as he was to music, black as well as white, he just wasn't an influence on me. I guess he was too early for me. Maybe it was timing more than anything else.

"By the time our song had come out, people thought that if I kept living in seclusion the way I was, I might die the way he did. The parallels aren't there as far as I'm concerned and I was never much for scare tactics. Still, the way Elvis destroyed himself interests me, because I don't ever want to walk those grounds myself."

It is well known that MJ was no fan of Elvis, and it doesn't matter. 2 totally different universes.

[franny]

Thanks, for posting the article Joe. Interesting to read.
Actually, I didn't know Jackson was not an Elvis fan...

franny

[KPM]

It is well known that MJ was no fan of Elvis, and it doesn't matter. 2 totally different universes.

MJ seemed to worry about Elvis's place in history being seen as bigger than his own.-if I recall the Taraborrelli bio correctly. He also claimed untruely that Elvis took songs from Otis Blackwell and did not pay him properly and that Blackwell died in poverty partly because of this. Blackwell many times said he was very happy with his arrangement with Elvis and that he had made good money from it.
1977 Blackwell was inspired to record The No. 1 King Of Rock'n'Roll as a tribute to Elvis on his own Fever label. Thats testimont I think to his feelings on the relationship and association to Elvis.

[rocknroll]

Michael Jackson - The King of Pop. What a flippin' joke. He is the "self proclaimed king of pop". That, to me, is an embarrasment and speaks to one of MJ's many paranoia's.

Even after half a century, Elvis is the undisputed King of rock and roll because of his influence on an entire music form that changed the world.

There is only one King in the music world, and that is Elvis.

[epmoodyblue]

Michael Jackson - The King of Pop. What a flippin' joke. He is the "self proclaimed king of pop". That, to me, is an embarrasment and speaks to one of MJ's many paranoia's.

Even after half a century, Elvis is the undisputed King of rock and roll because of his influence on an entire music form that changed the world.

There is only one King in the music world, and that is Elvis.

[Brian]

06/26/2009 5:07 AM, AP
.


. As important as he was to music, black as well as white, he just wasn't an influence on me. I guess he was too early for me. Maybe it was timing more than anything else.

":

B.S.

I'm sure James Brown and Jackie Wilson were much bigger influences on him but to say Elvis wasn't an influence on him at all is untrue.


look at when Elvis was performing on the Milton Berle show and when he pulls his collar up bends down and steps up on his tip toes

look at the Billie Jean video where Michael Jackson pulls up his collar spins around and steps up on his tip toes.

[Unchained Melody]

Excellent point Brian.

All the MJ haters out there currently, sure seem to think they know what they are talking about.

[mislulu]

Michael Jackson - The King of Pop. What a flippin' joke. He is the "self proclaimed king of pop". That, to me, is an embarrasment and speaks to one of MJ's many paranoia's.

Even after half a century, Elvis is the undisputed King of rock and roll because of his influence on an entire music form that changed the world.

There is only one King in the music world, and that is Elvis.

I agree and its not pop as in music but pop as in PEPSI. Don't get me wrong I like his music and thought he was very talented but.......

[Awickedreigndrop]

B.S.

I'm sure James Brown and Jackie Wilson were much bigger influences on him but to say Elvis wasn't an influence on him at all is untrue.


look at when Elvis was performing on the Milton Berle show and when he pulls his collar up bends down and steps up on his tip toes

look at the Billie Jean video where Michael Jackson pulls up his collar spins around and steps up on his tip toes.

Like this?



Sorry,though I'm a fan of Michael's I don't like when people tries to discredit Elvis. I'm an Elvis Presley fan first

[Teddy]

Yep! Just like that!

[john carpenter]

But didn't Elvis allow Lisa to see the Jackson 5 in concert. That is the first time she met Michael? Back on topic....There are simularities in their career,s and probably in death also. Except Elvis owned Graceland, and Michael was renting his home.

[Tony Trout]

Michael Jackson - The King of Pop. What a flippin' joke. He is the "self proclaimed king of pop". That, to me, is an embarrasment and speaks to one of MJ's many paranoia's.

Even after half a century, Elvis is the undisputed King of rock and roll because of his influence on an entire music form that changed the world.

There is only one King in the music world, and that is Elvis.

Very well said. By Jackson proclaiming himself as the "King Of Pop" says a lot about his ego. Elvis never called himself the "King" of anything.....it was just a name that he got stuck with and absolutely hated up until the day he died.

It's been five days since Michael's passing and I'm already getting tired of the endless news coverage of his pasing....

Michael Jackson was only a small blip on the radar of music history as to what Elvis was. Elvis will always be #1 in my heart and mind.

[Brian]

Like this?



Sorry,though I'm a fan of Michael's I don't like when people tries to discredit Elvis. I'm an Elvis Presley fan first

well yeah, but I was speaking of the Milton Berle show the influence is more clear.

Michael Jackson's self proclaimed nickname the King of Pop also was clearly inspired by Elvis.

[STUD]

It seems to me that Michael might have had kind of a love-hate feeling for Elvis. Some of his career moves and ways of life mirror those of Elvis (perhaps intentionally), but it seems he may have been jealous of Elvis and his success. His marriage to Lisa along with his desire to buy Graceland indicated he wanted to get deeper into Elvis' world. Seems he was mystified by Elvis.

I've always suspected MJ was an egomaniac. That along with his other questionable character issues is why I can never connect with him as a person as I do with Elvis. I love MJ's music, but that is it.

MJ will always have the "King of Pop" title because of his fans, media hype, and because it just sounds cool. Whether he deserves it or not is another story. I feel the same way about the Beatles. I believe they are overhyped. I feel the Rolling Stones deserve just as many accolades and just as much credit for introducing a new style of rock music, but that's for another thread I guess.....