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is music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture. His following was immense, and he was a symbol to people the world over of the vitality, rebelliousness, and good humor of his country.

President Jimmy Carter
August 17, 1977

From Wikipedia:

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is commonly known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King“.

From Allmusic (Richie Unterberger):

Elvis Presley may be the single most important figure in American 20th century popular music. Not necessarily the best, and certainly not the most consistent. But no one could argue with the fact that he was the musician most responsible for popularizing rock & roll on an international level. Viewed in cold sales figures, his impact was phenomenal. Dozens upon dozens of international smashes from the mid-’50s to the mid-’70s, as well as the steady sales of his catalog and reissues since his death in 1977, may make him the single highest-selling performer in history.
More important from a music lover’s perspective, however, are his remarkable artistic achievements.Presley was not the very first white man to sing rhythm & blues; Bill Haley predated him in that regard, and there may have been others as well. Elvis was certainly the first, however, to assertively fuse country and blues music into the style known as rockabilly. While rockabilly arrangements were the foundations of his first (and possibly best) recordings, Presley could not have become a mainstream superstar without a much more varied palette that also incorporated pop, gospel, and even some bits of bluegrass and operatic schmaltz here and there. His ’50s recordings established the basic language of rock & roll; his explosive and sexual stage presence set standards for the music’s visual image; his vocals were incredibly powerful and versatile.

Read more @ allmusic.com

Suspicious Mind:

Mystery Train:

If I Can Dream:

Album of the day:

Other August-16:

• Billy Joe Shaver (born August 16, 1939 in Corsicana, Texas) is a Texas country music singer and songwriter. Shaver’s 1973 album Old Five and Dimers Like Me is a classic in the outlaw country genre.
• Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues singer and musician. His landmark recordings from 1936–37 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson’s shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend, including a Faustian myth. As an itinerant performer who played mostly on street corners, in juke joints, and at Saturday night dances, Johnson enjoyed little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime.
• Emily Robison (born Emily Burns Erwin on August 16, 1972) is an American songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and a founding member of the female country band the Dixie Chicks. Robison plays banjo, dobro, guitar, bass, mandolin, accordion, and sitar. Initially in her career with the Dixie Chicks, she limited her singing to harmony with backing vocals, but within her role in the Court Yard Hounds, she has taken on the role of lead vocalist.
• Scott “Rock Action” Asheton (b. August 16, 1949 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band The Stooges. Other than Iggy Pop, Asheton is the only consistent member of the Stooges since the death of his brother, guitarist Ron Asheton, in 2009.

-Egil