What made you a fan and did Elvis lead you to discover other music?

[Jesswade]

When I was 12 years old my grandfather came for a visit and had some Elvis singles with him which he found in a box somewhere. They actually were my mothers bought early 1960's.stuck on you/fame and fortune,little sister/his latest fame... anyway put them on my dad's recordplayer and man that voice, been a fan eversince. I am 44 years old now still have my mom's singles and have off course a big Elvis collection which keeps growing. I still remember the first time I really listened to his voice, it was magical. Anyway my first post hi y'all.

[John]

Welcome Jesswade and thanks for your memories.

[Mountain Mist]

Hi Jesswade.

Welcome.

[eric c]

i was born in '73 and as early as i can remember i've been a unapologetic Elvis fan.
im not sure i can articulate what or why....i think its everything.
his look.
his music.
his incredible voice.
all of it.
his music is woven into the fabric of almost every memory i have.
there's just nothing like it.
and there never will be.
so for a simpler answer....it all goes back to that voice.
that powerful,beautiful,timeless,unassuming,beyond category,amazing voice.

[SpikeRamone]

Great topic!

My first exposure to Elvis was the Aloha special. I vividly remember watching that with my parents. A school friend also had the RCA Special Products LPs that you could order off TV. Seems like that commercial played constantly on UHF channels. It was easy to become a fan after listening to those. I also remember watching a rerun of Tickle Me on TV. The Elvis obsession began with 50,000,000 Elvis Fans, however. I got that album for Christmas and played it constantly. His 1950s albums hit me like a ton of bricks. I had never heard anything like it.

Prior to Elvis, I was a big Dean Martin fan and still am. Elvis opened my eyes to all kinds of music that I wouldn't have heard otherwise like Blues, Country, and Southern Gospel. His music broadened my horizons for sure.

[Wamee]

I became an Elvis fan at the age of 4 when a neighbor boy brought his Elvis records over and played them for me and my sister and brother. I am 60 years old now and still as big if not bigger fan than I was!
He did lead me to discover country and blues. I also love jazz especially jazz singers thanks to my mother and father.

[Colin B]

I became an Elvis fan at the age of 4 when a neighbor boy brought his Elvis records over and played them for me and my sister and brother. I am 60 years old now and still as big if not bigger fan than I was!
He did lead me to discover country and blues. I also love jazz especially jazz singers thanks to my mother and father.

A warm welcome to the forum, Wamee !

Your introduction must have been in 1965 when Elvis was at a low ebb !

Obviously, your neighbour had some older stuff !

[KentuckyCat]

I became a fan as soon as I was old enough to watch his movies and listen to his songs. He was the king of cool and there will never be another. My wife and I just got back from a visit to Graceland and the Guesthouse in December. That was my third visit and my wife's first she loved it and we will be going back again. I think his Gospel songs touch more people than any of them although I love them all.

[davmarin]

My father left an LP of Elvis behind when he left and that gave me an excuse at 6 yrs old to listen to ELvis. Been a fan ever since. Im also a big fan of Mario Lanza and the Beatles amongst many other artists. Music is wonderful and who better than Elvis to show us the way.

[thespookyman]

In the early 1960s, I think the year was autumn 1960, some friends at school played a 7" single for me with Elvis. The disc was It's now or never and I was only 10 years old. And at that time I thought - what a fantastic singer.

A couple of years later I saw the first Elvis movie and bought my first Elvis 12" album - Fun in Acapulco. And at the same time (October 1963) I saw The Beatles LIVE for the first time. It's a matter of fact, Sweden was the first country The Beatles visited performing live after they released She loves you and became famous. What a GREAT year 1963 was - saw my first Elvis movie, bought my first Elvis LP album and saw the Beatles for the first time.

And this starting my GREAT vinyl- och rockmusic collection. From 1963 to the end of 1980 I collected ca 5 tons (25000) vinyl albums (official and bootlegs) and of course also several thousands of CDs to today.
The latest 15 years I have started to digitalize all my vinyl discs (in high resolution 24 bit 192 kHz or 24 bit 96 kHz - lossless of course) so I can store them on hard disk drives in lossless format and rip my old CDs to hard disk drives.

My main collecting artists are of course Elvis AND THE BEATLES!!! But also eg. The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Black Sabbath, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Frank Zappa, Madonna, John Mahavishnu McLaughlin, Bob Dylan to Rammstein and Metallica.

I have visited (probably) up to thousands of concerts and I have also seen Elvis live two times. The first time was in Los Angeles 1970 and the second concert was in New York City 1973.

Pros and cons with Elvis and his recording company.

The pros
Elvis is the greatest (pop- and rock) lead singer in the world. Completely OUTSTANDING!!!

The cons
I really DO NOT like all these re-releases by RCA, SONY BMG and the price for the FTD releases are to high. The FTDs are NO "limited editions" and will probably NEVER be "collectors items" but the profit for SONY BMG will be enormous. It's a shame for the serious record collector!
And of cource... it's a shame that Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk aka Thomas Andrew Parker didn't allowed Elvis to preform overseas eg. in Europe. Of course, all Elvis fans know the main reason why he didn't allowd Elvis to go overseas... but anyway... it's a shame.

Elvis, Rest In Peace... your voice and music will always be listen to by millions millions millions of music lovers... FOREVER!

[markengland]

I was given the Album 40 Greatestest hits for my 15th Birthday..It was a double vinyl budget price by KTEL. At the time everyone was listening to the British GLAM ROCKERS but hearing Elvis sing Wild in the Country...and My Baby Left Me, I did not really believe this was the same singer...his voice was so sincere...and the faster tunes just made me want to dance. In those days there was no internet, as a young boy I saved my pocket money, and bought as much of Elvis,s music as I could...every weekend going to second hand record shops and markets...occasionally buying a new album...I like to paint and one saturday morning in the record shop window was the album welcome to my world. There was a portrait painting on the front cover . I Washed cars all weekend to get the money for that album.Nobody sings a country song like Elvis to this day its my favourite album. I became a real fan aged 15...48 years later I Still play at least 3 Elvis albums every single day. He really has become a big part of my life...the music never seems old or dated...it will still be listened to in another 100 years time . Thank you Elvis for everything you gave to the world. TCB Always

[Freddy63]

I was 14 years old and staying with my uncle and aunt , and my niece borrowed the Elvis Forever album from a friend. And I nicked it and played and played the hell out of it. Never heard anything like it before.I became a fan for life! And yes Elvis did lead me to other music. From Frank Sinatra to Guns and Roses and everything in between.

[Lonely Summer]

My uncle Ron was a huge Elvis fan. He bought every 45, EP and album as they were released in the 50s 60s 70s. Saw him in concert several times - at least twice in the 50s, a couple times in the 60s. His love of Elvis rubbed off on the rest of the family, so I heard his music all through my childhood. My parents were not record collectors like my uncle, though. Mom bought me a couple of the Camden albums cause they were cheap. We watched his movies on tv in the 70's/80's, and when I started buying my own records, I got all the Elvis I could find. That, in turn, got me curious about Carl Perkins and other early rock and roll artists. As time goes on, I've gone even further back, to some of the country and r&b artists that inspired Elvis.

[John]

My uncle Ron was a huge Elvis fan. He bought every 45, EP and album as they were released in the 50s 60s 70s. Saw him in concert several times - at least twice in the 50s, a couple times in the 60s. His love of Elvis rubbed off on the rest of the family, so I heard his music all through my childhood. My parents were not record collectors like my uncle, though. Mom bought me a couple of the Camden albums cause they were cheap. We watched his movies on tv in the 70's/80's, and when I started buying my own records, I got all the Elvis I could find. That, in turn, got me curious about Carl Perkins and other early rock and roll artists. As time goes on, I've gone even further back, to some of the country and r&b artists that inspired Elvis.

Thanks for the mini bio Lonely Summer. Did uncle Ron record that opening night in 1969, or the 1961 shows? Oh, if only.

I wouldn't be surprised if Elvis wasn't responsible for many of us discovering and exploring other genres of music and other artists.

Looking forward to more of your posts on here.

[Richard]

I became a fan after hearing Rags To Riches on the radio in 1971. I was 10. At that point I had already been listening to music and buying (mostly second hand) records for a few years, but that was the first Elvis song I'd heard where I'd put a name to it. Before that I was crazy about Lonnie Donegan (and I'm still a fan now) and was just starting to listen to The Beatles. My mum and dad bought me the Beatles 'Oldies but Goldies' LP. But Elvis took hold of me like nobody else ever did, and I became completely obsessive.

He didn't lead me to other music, though. I was a Cliff and The Shadows nut, and that was down to a radio program about them. I liked Gerry & The Pacemakers, but only because I saw their film and knew they were from Liverpool like the Beatles. I don't think I've ever become interested in anyone as a result of being an Elvis fan, and I'm not sure how that would work in any case.