Adorno and Bourdieu on Elvis and popular music

Adorno believes that popular music has been taken over by the capital ethos and this makes it a product of total fetishisation.As we listen to popular music such as the music Elvis produced we are distracted from the oppression which capitalist society has over us. Furthermore as we are not required to listen hard to understand popular music we become relaxed and entertained by the sound.
Bourdieu criticised Adorno's view and believed that legitimate music was also repetitive and passively consumed and that the popular music market is so highly competitive that quality must exist.
What Adorno failed to address was that the music was also appropriate for the era when young people were expecting to be able to express their feelings and enjoy the increased capital they had available to spend after WW2. They were also able to use their choice to express themselves within a distinct identity and not as Adorno thought as a mindless choice being forced on them from the bourgeois who were only interested in profit and maintaining their class position.
Finally if this was true would people be still listening to the music of Elvis today?

White America/ Eminem

Eminem

Nick Hasted's book The dark side of Eminem notes the comparison in the rise of Eminem to the rise of Elvis Presley, both young white men from poor neighbourhoods makings lots of money from essentially Black music styles. To quote Eminem " Though im not the first king of controversy/ i am the worst thing since Elvis Presley, to do black music so selfishly /and to use it to make myself wealthy.

MADONNA

The Beatles

ARTISTS INFLUENCED BY ELVIS

Heartbreak Hotel Lyrics

Heartbreak Hotel
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Album: The Number One Hits
Well, since my baby left me,
I found a new place to dwell.
It's down at the end of lonely street
at Heartbreak Hotel.

You make me so lonely baby,
I get so lonely,
I get so lonely I could die.

And although it's always crowded,
you still can find some room.
Where broken hearted lovers
do cry away their gloom.

You make me so lonely baby,
I get so lonely,
I get so lonely I could die.

Well, the Bell hop's tears keep flowin',
and the desk clerk's dressed in black.
Well they been so long on lonely street
They ain't ever gonna look back.

You make me so lonely baby,
I get so lonely,
I get so lonely I could die.

Hey now, if your baby leaves you,
and you got a tale to tell.
Just take a walk down lonely street
to Heartbreak Hotel.
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Ratings [Heartbreak Hotel]

Media,s influence

In 1956 American teenagers were ready for the hip- wriggling gyrations which he became famous for and which earned him the name of Elvis the Pelvis. In Elvis they found the icon they were looking for and which identified with their own teenage rebellion. The fact that he created such a storm of protest by adults only added to his appeal with the American youth who were more defiant, disenchanted and less inhibited than the previous generation. During the Ed Sullivan show in 1956 he was televised only from the waist down to avoid the CBS Network being charged with obscene behaviour. However following his appearance on the show his record label simultaneously released 7 singles which each sold 100,000 copies. The Wall Street Journal recorded sales of Elvis merchandise as having reached 22milllion dollars in just six months. Two years later at the age of just 23 he had achieved 20 separate million selling singles.

Sam Phillips the head of the Sun Records label had been quoted as saying prior to having met Elvis “If I had a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a million dollars”. In Elvis he found what he was searching for. Elvis combined the sound of rhythm and blues and presented it to a new audience who were ready to accept and respect the genre and as a result he opened the door for black performers to gain international success.
The fact that Elvis’s music generated so much money and is still does so many years after his death is testament to musical merchandising and radio plays a significant role in this commercialisation but also to the rapid growth of Americas post war economy.

Heartbreak hotel

ELVIS

ELVIS PRESLEY (1935-1977)


Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi during the depression and was an only child. His childhood was shaped by listening to many musical influences and these influences helped shaped the style which would propel him to international stardom.
Elvis visited the Sun record label in 1953 to record a song as a present to his mother. Sam Phillips the head of the Sun record label then invited Elvis to record a record for commercial release and “That’s all right Mama” was released in 1954. In 1956 he moved to the RCA –Victor label and “Heartbreak Hotel” became his first single to receive international success. His movie career also started in 1956 following the release of “Love me Tender” and he went on to star in over 30 more during his career.