Talk:Elvis Presley

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This article or part thereof was copied from Hitparadehalloffame.org but the copied text was originally written by me, User:Usmale, (under the name John Rook) and does not include alterations made by others on that site.

This is a bizarre entry. Not a single source is cited, and several of the claims seem doubtful. For instance, his high school is described as liberal and atheistic, which seems unlikely for a Tennessee high school in the 1950s. Also, I disagree with the assumption that he must have been an atheist because he became hooked on drugs and was driven a bit crazy by fame. He recorded a number of gospel songs, which doesn't necessarily prove he was a Christian, but does reveal the influence of Southern Christian culture in his life. The fact that he had personal demons doesn't merit such an attack on him, especially without any backing evidence. Labeling Sun Records as "liberal" -- I can't figure out what that means based on what I know about the company -- shows the weird hostility toward Presley in this article. I plan to revamp this entry. I own a couple of books on him, and I'm sure there's a bevy of online news articles about him. The King deserves better. EthanR, May 13, 2011

The user who made those edits - which also included obsolete and offensive language - was blocked, but it appears this edit of hers wasn't reverted. I've reverted her now. I also fixed the formatting just a little, but you're definitely welcome and encouraged to work on it!--IDuan 19:37, 13 May 2011 (EDT)

I read this and it looked like the work of a liberal parodist. -MejiaS 19:39, 13 May 2011 (EDT)

Citations

Ideally this article should use in-line citations. I'm refraining from using a template since I know it's currently being worked on - but something to keep in mind.--IDuan 11:13, 22 July 2011 (EDT)

Right now, I am acting on prior knowledge and an old book (for certain facts, the filmography, etc.). Before I am done, I will be sure to add some online citations. And thank you for rewording the intro.--JamesWilson 11:16, 22 July 2011 (EDT)

Career section

Consider separating the career section into two subsections - his music and his movies & TV appearances. SharonW 11:26, 22 July 2011 (EDT)

I will once I add more career information. I will also later add sections on his Army service and marriage.--JamesWilson 11:29, 22 July 2011 (EDT)

excellent article!

Seeing this article was a really pleasant surprise. It is well-written, and is free of the relentless bashing of all things liberal that is so common (and was in an earlier version, with its characterization of schools in the South in the 1950's as "atheistic".) The article is carefully nuanced, and manages to describe his tragic death, from lifestyle problems, without preaching. That is really excellent, and I wish more articles would do that.

A couple of questions:

• It seems to say that his first single was "That’s All Right", but later says that his first was "Heartbreak Hotel". Did you mean that "Heartbreak Hotel" was the first to reach #1 on the charts"? That could be made clearer.
• I'm not sure we want to get into all the "conspiracy theory" stuff about supermarket tabloids constantly reporting that Elvis was alive years after his death (that's pretty much died down, hasn't it?), but it may be an interesting sidelight. After all, there is a section on Elvis impersonators, and it's an interesting phenomenon. What do people think? Is that just tabloid trash?

SamHB 00:20, 23 July 2011 (EDT)

I have been working very hard on improving this article and Sharon and Iduan did a few copyedits. It's not finished yet, and I will go a bit more in depth on some areas. And That's All Right was his first professional recording for Sun and Heartbreak Hotel was his first #1 hit. And I am not so sure about going into the hoax stuff. I may do a bit about it, but not discuss it in detail. Glad you like the reworking and expansion of this article!--JamesWilson 00:27, 23 July 2011 (EDT)