|
What
Other
Stars
Had to
say
about
Elvis
Cliff
Richard
I owe
Elvis my
career,
and the
entire
music
business
owes him
it's
lifeline.
Frank
Sinatra,
1977:
There
have
been
many
accolades
uttered
about
Elvis'
talent
and
performances
through
the
years,
all of
which
I agree
with
wholeheartedly.
I shall
miss him
dearly
as a
friend.
He was a
warm,
considerate
and
generous
man
John
Landau,
Review
of Elvis
1968 TV
Special:
"There
is
something
magical
about
watching
a man
who has
lost
himself
find his
way back
home...He
sang
with
the kind
of power
people
no
longer
expect
from
rock ‘n’
roll
singers."
Bill
Clinton:
You
know,
Bush is
always
comparing
me to
Elvis in
sort of
unflattering
ways. I
don’t
think
Bush
would
have
liked
Elvis
very
much,
and
that’s
just
another
thing
that’s
wrong
with
him.
Bob
Dylan:
When I
first
heard
Elvis'
voice I
just
knew
that I
wasn’t
going to
work for
anybody;
and
nobody
was
going to
be my
boss...Hearing
him for
the
first
time was
like
busting
out of
jail.
The
highlight
of my
career?
That's
easy,
Elvis
recording
one of
my songs
Garth
Brooks:
I'm
sitting
in the
drive-through
and I've
got my
three
girls in
the back
and this
station
comes on
and it's
playing
"Jailhouse
Rock,"
the
original
version,
and my
girls
are
jumping
up and
down,
going
nuts.
I'm
looking
around
at
them and
they've
heard
Dad's
music
all the
time and
I don't
see that
out of
them
Cher:
The
first
concert
I
attended
was an
Elvis
concert
when I
was
eleven.
Even at
that age
he made
me
realize
the
tremendous
effect a
performer
could
have on
an
audience
Britney
Spears:
I think
Elvis is
the
sexiest
man to
ever
walk the
earth, I
love
him.
Shania
Twain:
You want
me to
Describe
Elvis,
WOW!
Natalie
Wood:
'Every
morning
when I
woke up
and
looked
out the
window,
there
were at
least
two
hundred
kids
lined
up on
the
sidewalk
outside,
staring
at the
house.
Some of
them
would
stay
there
all day
long,
just
trying
to get
a
glimpse
of him.
And when
he would
go out,
he was
very
sweet to
them. A
lot of
people I
know
would
get
angry,
or
impatient
- but
Elvis is
very
sweet to
the
kids,
very
nice to
them. He
always
spend as
much
time
with
them as
he can,
even
though
it tires
him out'
Bo
Diddley:
'If
Presley
copied
me, I
don't
care.
More
power to
him. I'm
not
starving'
Jim
Morrison:
Elvis is
the best
ever,
the most
original.
He
started
the ball
rolling
for us
all. He
deserves
the
recognition.
Janice
Joplin:
Elvis is
my man!
Glen
Campbell:
'It was
just
incredible
in
Vegas. I
was
kidding
him. He
introduced
me and
said,
"Campbell,
I
understand
you're
doing an
imitation
of me. I
just
want you
to know
it will
always
be an
imitation."
And I
said,
"I'm not
going to
do it no
more, I
got to
gain
some
weight
first."
He
laughed
and the
audience
went,
"Ooh,
hey,
boo." I
said,
"Can't
you take
a joke?"
And
Elvis
said,
"Well,
when
you're
down
here
next,
I'm
coming
down and
I'm
going to
sit in
the
front
row and
read the
newspaper
and
heckle.
" The
audience
laughed
and I
said,
"Elvis,
if I'm
singing
as good
as you
are, I
won't
care."'
Sammy
Davis
Jr.:
'There
was
something
just
bordering
on
rudeness
about
Elvis.
He never
actually
did
anything
rude,
but he
always
seemed
as if he
was just
going
to. On a
scale of
one to
ten, I
would
rate him
eleven.'
George
Bush:
'You
Memphis
politicians
had
better
watch
out if
Elvis
Presley
ever
decides
to enter
politics.'
Margaret
Thatcher
(former
British
prime
minister)
I love
his
music
because
he was
my
generation.
But then
again,
Elvis is
everyone's
generation,
and he
always
will be.
Ronald
Reagan:
He
epitomized
America,
and for
that we
shall be
eternally
grateful.
There
will
never be
anyone
else
like
him.
Let's
all
rejoice
in his
music
Jimmy
Carter:
'Elvis
Presley's
death
deprives
our
country
of a
part of
itself.
His
music
and his
personality,
fusing
the
styles
of white
country
and
black
rhythm
and
blues,
permanently
changed
the face
of
American
popular
culture.
His
following
was
immense
and he
was a
symbol
to the
people
the
world
over of
the
vitality,
rebelliousness
and good
humor of
this
country.
He burst
upon the
scene
more
than
twenty
years
ago with
an
impact
that was
unprecedented
and will
probably
never be
equaled.'
Bruce
Springsteen:
'He was
as big
as the
whole
country
itself,
as big
as the
whole
dream.
He just
embodied
the
essence
of it
and he
was in
mortal
combat
with the
thing.
Nothing
will
ever
take the
place of
that
guy. It
was like
he came
along
and
whispered
some
dream in
everybody’s
ear, and
somehow
we all
dreamed
it.
There
have
been a
lots of
tough
guys.
He had
more
talent
in his
toe nail
than
most, if
not all,
of
today's
so
called
stars.
There
have
been
pretenders.
And
there
have
been
contenders.
But
there is
only one
king."
Mick
Jagger,
Rolling
Stones:
No-one,
but
no-one,
is his
equal,
or ever
will be.
He was,
and is
supreme.
Ursula
Andress:
'He's a
very
well-mannered
and
sensitive
person -
just
like
me.'
Chuck
Berry:
Blacks
didn't
have the
air-waves
Elvis
had. He
delivered
what he
obtained
beautifully.
There
just
aren't
no words
to
describe
him.
Elvis
was the
greatest
who ever
was, is
or ever
will be.
Little
Richard:
Elvis
was
God-given,
there's
no other
explanation.
A
Messiah
comes
around
every
few
thousand
years,
and
Elvis
was it
this
time.
'He was
an
integrator,
Elvis
was a
blessing.
They
wouldn't
let
black
music
through.
He
opened
the door
for
black
music.'
Chet
Atkins:
'He was
white,
but he
sang
black.
It
wasn't
socially
acceptable
for
white
kids to
buy
black
records
at the
time.
Elvis
filled a
void.'
Joe
Cocker:
'Elvis
is the
greatest
blues
singer
in the
world
today.'
Pat
Boone:
'There's
no way
to
measure
his
impact
on
society
or the
void
that he
leaves.
He will
always
be the
King of
rock 'n'
roll.'
Rod
Stewart:
'People
like
myself,
Mick
Jagger
and the
others
only
really
followed
in his
footsteps.'
Bing
Crosby:
'What he
did was
a part
of
history.'
Buddy
Holly:
'None of
us could
have
made it
without
Elvis.'
Mark
Knopfler:
'Elvis
Presley
was a
beautiful
young
person,
right,
whose
recordings
were
just
colossally
great.
But
basically
the best
stuff he
ever did
was on
the Sun
record
label.
And then
he got
involved
with
Colonel
Parker
and went
to RCA
and then
went the
Hollywood
way. The
whole
thing
became
completely
ruined.'
Carl
Perkins:
'Even
back
then,
when
people
would
laugh at
his
sideburns
and his
pink
coat and
call him
'sissy'
- he had
a pretty
hard
road to
go. In
some
areas
motorcycle
gangs
would
come to
the
shows.
They
would
come to
get
Elvis,
but he
never
worried
about
it. He
went
right
out and
did his
thing
and
before
the show
was
over,
they
were
standing
in line
to get
his
autograph
too.'
Mary
Tyler
Moore:
'I
thought
anyone
who had
been the
center
of all
that
insanity
for so
long
would
have
some of
it rub
off on
him.
But,
after
working
in
Change
of habit
with
him, I
realized
I'd
never
worked
with a
more
gentlemanly,
kinder
man.
He's
gorgeous.'
Mick
Fleetwood:
'I was a
real
little
toddler
when I
first
heard
'Hound
dog'. I
learned
to play
drums
listening
to him -
beating
on
tin cans
to his
records.
I'm sure
his
measurable
effect
on
culture
and
music
was even
greater
in
England
than in
the
States.
People
there
are
still
really,
really
fanatical
about
Elvis.
The news
came
over
like a
ton of
bricks.
I was
driving
back
from the
mountains
and I
had the
radio
on. They
were
playing
an Elvis
medley
and I
thought
"Great".
And then
they
came
back
with the
news.'
BB King:
I
remember
Elvis as
a young
man
hanging
around
the Sun
studios.
Even
then, I
knew
this kid
had a
tremendous
talent.
He was a
dynamic
young
boy. His
phraseology,
his way
of
looking
at a
song,
was as
unique
as
Sinatra's.
I was a
tremendous
fan, and
had
Elvis
lived,
there
would
have
been no
end to
his
inventiveness.
Jimmy
Saville:
'God
must
have
been
impatient
for some
rock'n'roll
in
heaven.'
Paul
Simon:
'The
first
time I
heard
his
music,
back in
'54 or
'55, I
was in a
car and
I heard
the
announcer
say,
"Here's
a guy
who,
when he
appears
on stage
in the
South,
the
girls
scream
and rush
the
stage".
Then he
played
'That's
all
right,
mama'. I
thought
his name
was
about
the
weirdest
I'd ever
heard.
I
thought
for sure
he was a
Black
guy.
Later on
I grew
my hair
like
him,
imitated
his
stage
act -
once I
went
all over
New York
looking
for a
lavender
shirt
like the
one he
wore on
one of
his
albums.
I felt
wonderful
when he
sang
'Bridge
over
troubled
water',
even
though
it was a
touch on
the
dramatic
side -
but so
was the
song.
When I
first
heard
Elvis
perform
"Bridge
Over
Trouble
Water"
It was
unbelievable
,and I
thought
to
myself,
how the
hell can
I
compete
with
that?"
Liberace:
'A truly
good man
who
never
forgot
his
friends
or his
fans.'
Paul
McCartney:
'It was
a real
thrill
sitting
there
with the
King. I
mean he
was
always
one of
my
favorites.
I always
knew
that
no
matter
how I
felt, if
I played
an Elvis
record
it would
make me
happy.
I've
always
dreamed
of
producing
an
album
for
Elvis.'
John
Lennon:
'There's
only one
person
in the
United
States
that we
have
ever
wanted
to
meet....
not that
he
wanted
to meet
us.
And we
met him
last
night.
We can't
tell you
how we
felt. We
just
idolized
him so
much.
When we
first
came to
town,
these
guys
like
Dean
Martin
and
Frank
Sinatra
and all
these
people
wanted
to come
over and
hang
around
with us
at night
simply
because
we had
all the
women,
all the
chicks.
We don't
want to
meet
those
people.
They
don't
really
like us.
We don't
really
admire
or like
them.
The only
person
that we
wanted
to meet
in the
United
States
of
America
was
Elvis
Presley.
We can't
tell you
what a
thrill
that was
last
night.'
'Nothing
really
affected
me until
I heard
Elvis.
If there
hadn't
been an
Elvis,
there
wouldn't
have
been the
Beatles.'
Before
Elvis
there
was
nothing
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