peterchecksfield wrote:Tim in St. Louis wrote: But the question was "most influential" and that has to be Elvis. I mean, when the Bealtes came to America the guy they wanted to meet was Elvis, not JLL, not Chuck, even thought they loved them too.
I think you're confusing "favourite (or most popular) artist" with "most influential", two different things. Yes, Elvis was a hero to The Beatles, but there's no doubt that others (including Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly & The Everly Brothers, as well as the early girl groups such as The Shirelles & The Marvelettes) were bigger influences on their actual music.
Likewise, Jerry Lee Lewis is my favourite artist, but I still don't consider him particularly influential.
I agree with you on which artists most directly influenced the Beatles. Maybe they didn't cover Elvis because they, a) didn't think they could improve on his versions, b) stand up to the comparison (at the time / early 60's), or c) held his music in too much reverance to cover him. I'm just speculating.
On a related note... I'd curious if any conclusions could be drawn regarding "influences" based on what model guitars the 2nd generation of RnR played? For instance, what guitars did Lennon, Harrison, Keith Richards, Pete Townsend, etc. play? The same as Chuck? Scotty? Carl Perkins? Eddie Cochran? That might be a key tip-off.
But as a frontman, isn't Elvis pretty much it? He was the first (white) to incorporate serious sexual movement into his act. Prior to that, it was crooners standing at a mic, right?