Greil Marcus - Elvis transcends his talent to the point of...

Elvis transcends his talent to the point of dispensing with it altogether.

Biography

Author Profession: Author

Nationality: American

Born: 1945

Links

Find on Amazon: Greil Marcus

Cite this Page: Citation

Related Authors

Mark Twain, Henry David Thoreau, Helen Keller, Zig Ziglar, Frederick Douglass, Joyce Meyer, Leo Buscaglia, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Topics

Altogether, Elvis, His, Point, Talent, Transcends

Quotes to Explore

An obsession with untold stories is a source of energy.

Energy Obsession Source Untold

I tend not to meet the people I write about because I'm not really interested in the people I write about as people. I don't want to know about their family life. I don't want to know about their bad habits or their good deeds. I'm interested in their work.

Life Work Family Good

I'm a fan of Oliver Stone. I like his movies, I like his excess, and I think he has a great capacity for empathy and it comes out more powerfully in this movie than in any of his other films, even the formal 'I'm identifying with the underdog' movies like 'Born on the Fourth of July.'

Great Empathy Think Movies

We make the oldest stories new when we succeed, and we are trapped by the old stories when we fail.

New Succeed Old Trapped

I never find myself even catching lyrics until something in the sound has taken me captive. Thinking about anything else is just the pleasurable byproduct of wow.

Myself Me Thinking Never

Bob Dylan continues to release odd and unsettling records, and to do odd and unsettling things on stage. So the term 'still' seems meaningless to me. But the real answer is simple: I listen to Bob Dylan for pleasure more than I listen to anyone else for pleasure.

Me Simple Real Answer

Patriotism in America, as I understand it, is a matter of suffering, when the country fails to live up to its promises, or actively betrays them.

Patriotism Suffering Promises Live

If 'Mystery Train' is my Nixon book and 'Lipstick Traces' my Reagan book, 'Invisible Republic' is my Bill Clinton book. I really liked Clinton. He made me proud to be part of this country again. For all of his failings, the way he put all that he'd done in jeopardy, I supported him from beginning to end.

Me Book Proud Beginning

I had tremendous fun fooling around with the way people talked about songs, just the way that became another way of understanding the world.

People World Way Fun

I learned that when something just has to be said to move the discussion along, or broaden it or deepen it, if I can just keep my mouth shut for five minutes a student will say it. So for me a lot of teaching is about keeping my mouth shut.

Me I Can Will Mouth

After Chuck Berry died, it seemed web sites popped up like mushrooms to show where he'd taken the guitar introduction to 'Johnny B. Goode' from to prove that his music was nothing new, that it was only ignorance, or vanity, that led his listeners to think that not only was the music different - they might be, too.

Music Guitar Ignorance Think

I think criticism, or a critical engagement with history, has a good deal to do with a willingness to be fooled.

Good History Think Criticism

Buddy Holly had something very different from the other great early rock n' roll stars, whether it was Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Bo Diddley. He came across as so ordinary, as such a nerd. You know, he was a big guy, and he carried a gun. He was anything but a nerd.

Stars You Great Gun

It is a sure sign that a culture has reached a dead end when it is no longer intrigued by its myths.

Culture End Dead Myths

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