meanSpleen

Revolutionary artists are rarely legendary artists. Revolutions come from the underground, until someone picks up on it and turns it into a marketing focus.

You referenced Elvis, and what you already know is that he is just a cover artist. Delta blues, Jump swing, and (for lack of a better term) black mans Rock n Roll, did all the same songs before him, and probably did it better. Elvis become legendary because he was cute, white, and shook his ass. Oh yeah, somewhere in there is charisma.

He's not the only one though. The one that sticks out the most in my mind is The Chords versus the CrewCuts. The Chords were the first to record "Sh-Boom", and they were black. THe song was amazingly popular in their home region, but it wasn't until the Crew Cuts covered it that it went national. The Crew Cuts were a white band. Does anyone remember the Chords? No, because the Crew Cuts practically stole the song from him.

If "Sh-boom" doesn't mean anything to you, although it should (listen to it), the Crew Cuts also stole "Earth Angel" from the Penguins. Everyone knows "Earth Angel"

So what is it with legendary musicians? they happen to hit the right people at the right time. They come in during a time of music-anarchy, when everything is stale and people want something new. Then, as the years progress, they change, and continue changing. They HAVE to attract new fans, or they will die with the original ones. Thats the only way to become legendary

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