elvis

The song which I selected from this era for the assignment is “Blue Suede Shoes” by Elvis Presley. Released in 1956, the song can be found on Elvis' debut album which was self-titled. Originally the song was performed and written by well known “rockabilly” artist Carl Perkins, who had written and recorded his own version a year earlier. Therefore, technically the song is considered a cover, although a well known one.

As mentioned above, the song was written and first performed by artist Carl Perkins, who played music primarily in what is considered the “rockabilly” genre. Rockabilly found its origins in the 1950's, combining the sounds of western music such as “hillbilly” or country with the sounds of what was considered at the time rhythm and blues. Rockabilly eventually “evolved” in a sense into what can be considered the earliest rock n' roll music, such as Elvis Presley. This was also one of the songs that helped further propel Elvis towards stardom.

As the song was originally written by a rockabilly artist in Carl Perkins, the song derives much of its music influence from that style. There are twangy elements of country guitar, combined with some traces and elements of rhythm and blues guitar in the mix as well. Like many rock songs, the song is composed in 4/4 timing. However, the drummer utilizes an upbeat jazz stylized drum pattern that adds a lot of energy to the feel of the song. This is done with the utilization of ghost notes and triplets on the ride cymbal (as far as I can tell from my ear).

Overall though, dynamically I would say that both the drums and bass are low in the mix, which is not uncommon of musical recordings of that era due to technical limitations (although, the version I listened to was also a l...

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...s with a number of different painful or humiliating experiences which Elvis would rather endure than have his blue suede shoes stepped on. Somewhat benign but that's besides the point.

This song uses the formula of verse-chorus-verse- chorus-bridge-verse-chorus which is used in many popular songs, even today. The formula of alternating between verses and a catchy chorus is a goal of many musical artists who wish to be successful sales-wise.

One final note which I'd like to make is the fact that the song is pretty short by average standards, coming in at just over two minutes.

Overall, although the song was written by Carl Perkins, Elvis' cover of the song is often considered more recognizable, and helped launch the career of the “King” of Rock n' Roll, a title which he is still given to this day which says something about his staying power as an icon in music.