http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1495476/01072005/presley_elvis.jhtml


Elvis Presley's 1954 single "Good Rockin' Tonight" has been certified gold to push his total U.S. single sales past 50 million. Coinciding with the 70th anniversary of Presley's birth, Elvis Presley Enterprises will be presented a special RIAA sales award during a ceremony Saturday (Jan. 8) at the singer's Graceland mansion in Memphis. The latest certification, representing 500,000 in domestic sales, solidifies Presley's status as the artist possessing more certified singles than anyone in music history. In second place is Elton John, who has sold more than 21 million singles. Having sold more than 116 million albums in the U.S., Presley remains the best-selling solo artist in history.

Hmmm...

A -- The RIAA doesn't track sales, just shipments.
B -- There aren't any singles.

Its going to be fun when that lot hits public-domain in Europe soon - and even more in 40years, when the same happens in the US. I anticipate lots of misleading "Failure to extend protection of artists rights will cost the industry billion dollars!" claims.

Generally I never liked Elvis. But an MP3 blog offered "Little Sister" by Elvis the other day, and I downloaded it, because I had only heard the Ry Cooder version. I gotta say Elvis really made this into a fantastic rockabilly tune -- the guitar work is classic. Someday Chris Isaak should cover that song as well. Or maybe Brian Setzer could do a big band version.

I'm not surprised Elton ranked so high. I have more than a couple old singles in my basement as testimony to his popularity in the 1970s. Sadly, Elton today is almost as pathetic as Elvis was just before he died. The guy just can't sing the old songs worth a cuss anymore. And he hasn't written anything worthwhile in 20 years, IMO.

How the mighty have fallen.

Contrast and compare with James Taylor, whose new interpretations of his old tunes have tended to get better and better. Plus, he can still write good songs -- his last album was a solid effort, if not five stars.

Hey, if you like Maria Callas, all her old EMI stuff is going out of copyright in Europe as we speak. Walk down the street with some of that on your boombox -- that'll scare the ruffians away. Probably scare me away, too, for that matter.

Copyright will become permanent long before Presley's work is to go public domain.
Corporations and Associations will make sure of that.

I agree with Fobix that it will certainly be tried at some point. As long as corporations can hold out the tin cup and say, "woo is me" and point to manufactured "The Sky Is Falling" figures they will continue to get all they can. The lengths that copywrite protection extend to in time is obscene. For all practical puposes the time now alloted amounts to forever for those walking the face of the planet today.

We can but pray that such matching figures of extension aren't granted and Europe and that someone comes up with the bright idea here of matching their copywrite terms for length instead of what we have now. While it is still far to long, it would be a step in the right direction.

Elvis is currently at #1 in the UK pop charts with Jailhouse Rock.

This is very suspiscious considering that his copyright is due to expire on some of his works over here in the UK (Because our copyright term is shorter than the US).

I smell a rat!

DeadMan -- Are there actual physical singles for sale? Have you actually seen Jailhouse Rock for sale in a store?

You want suspicion? Some guy just bought the Elvis estate a few weeks ago, promising that he was going to exploit the hell out of the dead dude's name, face and whatever else he could make a buck off of.

"This is very suspiscious considering that his copyright is due to expire on some of his works over here in the UK (Because our copyright term is shorter than the US)."

Maybe you should call Alex Jones. It sounds like a conspiracy to me. (/sarcasm)

Yes, there is a physical single for Jailhouse Rock. Elvis had a hit single here in the US a couple years ago with a remix of "A Little Less Conversation" - it was released as a commercially available single.

"B -- There aren't any singles."

There are still singles released in the US. Just go into a record store and look.

regarding the statements made,

a) The RIAA doesn't track sales, just shipments.
Well, that may be true as of recent, but in this case, this is what happenned. Sometime in 2003, BMG, which now owns RCA, found some 4 tons of paperwork in a New Jersey warehouse, containing loads upon loads of receipts, shipments, from God knows how long ago, and pertaining to the sale of Elvis Presley records.

Then, the Estate of Elvis Presley, who recorded for RCA, and whose CD`s and singles are now issued by BMG, requested that the documents be sent to the RIAA. The first record whose sale was fuly accounted for, to the tune of 500,000 copies ( probably reached sometime in the early sixties, when that record was still available, as a 45 r.p.m, was his first single for SUN, which was also re-issued by RCA, in 1956, called That`s all right, Mama, and the second, was Good Rocking tonight, also a SUN release re-issued, in 1956, by RCA.

There are, my dear friends, 102 Elvis singles still to be certified, and the only way they can be initially certfied, then added to the total is if 500,000 copies of each single are accounted for, as sold. Even if Mystery Train, the next single to be certified is found to have sold 499,999, it will not add to the tally, until the 500,00-th copy is audited, as sold. The RIAA has already certified 53 of his singles, all Gold, 27 of which are Platinum (1 million), and 8 of which as Multi-platinum ( over two million).

B -- There aren't any singles

Wrong, there are still singles, but they represent maybe 5 percent of sales. It ised to be the other way around when rock started. In 1956, Elvis sold 10 million records, representiong half of the entitre sale of records by RCA, then the biggest record company in the world. iOf these, he sold 9 million singles and 1 million albums. By 1970, he was selling an equal amount of singles and albums yearly (4m of each). By 1990, he was selling 5 million albums and 100,000 singles, also yearly. Only in 2002, percetntages of his output changed. He sold 12 million albums worldwide, and 4 million singles (that`s what A little less conversation sold, after hitting # 1 in 22 countries and territories). This year, Elvis will sell about 4 million albums and about a half a million singles, the latter mostly in Britain.

Hope that clarifies the matter

Ji Burrows

I forgot to say that when I mentioned that Evis Presley will sell, this year, 4 million albums, I am referring to purchases of his entire catalog, comprising in excess of 260 DIFFERENT albums. A little bit here, a little bit there, a lot here ( new releases, usually compilations by theme, and a real lot there
( for example, as in Second to None, released last year,which sold 1 million plus copies in America, alone). With 700 songs recorded, and about 350 live concerts, also recorded by RCA and still unreleased out of the 1,200 concerts he gave in the seventies, (soundboards of great quality, mostly), as well as endless numbers of alternate takes showing what a perfectionist he was, from the start till the end, and with a peerless, visual variable in his favour, the result of him being the most photographed man in history, as well as his 33 films, 2 movie concerts, also filmed, let alone his TV presentations, all filmed, there is no end to what Sillerman can do, as the main stockholder of the new company he now splits with Lisa Marie, who has 15 percent control. Sillerman has pledged to go really global, without going to extremes. Let[s se if he delivers on that promise.

Finally, a word about the visual aids. Contemplate, if you will, what multiple-billionaire F.X Sillerman could do, if he was already in command at Elvis Presley enterprises, which he isn`t. BMG is re-releasing all of Elvis` UK # 1 records, right? Of the 18, there are no visual aids ( footage of Elvis doing those songs) for 7 of them.

For the other 11, there is footage of him performing those songs in each of his three decades as an entertainer. With the advent of technology, he can be made to sing, visually, to these songs, his voice isolated out of the original filmed footage and, aided by a live band, made to sound exactly as one, today, would expect an entertainer of his stature to sound like for say, a video clip in supposrt of a particular single. It is mindboggling...

"There are still singles released in the US. Just go into a record store and look."

Record store?

"Wrong, there are still singles, but they represent maybe 5 percent of sales."

Not in the U.S. they don't.

If you are talking in terms of units, singles have been less than 4% of the market since 2000. In 2002, it was about 1 percent.

In terms of sales, which means dollars to me, singles haven't been above 5% of the U.S. market since before 1990. And that's using the RIAA's number which are, of course, inaccurate.

"Sometime in 2003, BMG, which now owns RCA, found some 4 tons of paperwork in a New Jersey warehouse, containing loads upon loads of receipts, shipments, from God knows how long ago, and pertaining to the sale of Elvis Presley records."

This is interesting. 4 tons of paperwork. Lost for a minimum of years. Found just in time to further exploit a dead artist and far, far too late to do the artist any good.

Sometimes the very best thing a musician can do for his career is die.

It is indeed, mindboggling.

Lost for a minimum of 26 years.

I just talked with Elvis. He says the RIAA sucks, Man.

Also, he's jonesing for some fried peanut butter and banana "sammiches"

"Maybe you should call Alex Jones."

Alex Jones RULEZ mroop.

PS...there have been many conspiracies over time.
The Third Reich was a conspiracy.

oh and mroop...check out:
http://www.infowars.com
http://www.prisonplanet.com
http://www.arnoldexposed.com

Your comment This is interesting. 4 tons of paperwork. Lost for a minimum of years. Found just in time to further exploit a dead artist and far, far too late to do the artist any good.

My comment Lost for a maximum of years, actually since 1977, I believe. But who cares?

In fact, it was not found just in time to exploit anyone, but actually to put things right, as far as the artist is concerned. By the time they read, count, and audit every record not certified, it would be to the artist` advantage, in every sense you can imagine.

Contemplate the following. Elvis had forfeited any rights to songs recorded prior to 1973, so if the find yields convincing evidence about those post 1973 sales, especially those lost sales in 1977 ( he sold 100 million albums from late August 1977 until late August 1978, but RCA has only acknowledged that a fraction of it actually happened), then even if his estate doesn`t get a single penny out of it, in back rights, his stature as the world`s biggest recording artist will surely be enhanced, certifications wise, and his stature as the world`s greatest recording artist can never, again, be questioned.

One has to remember, though, that Elvis performed in an era when performers weren't pre-packaged. Yeah, a lot of what he did were covers of other songs, but he didn't let anyone tell him exactly how to sing it, much like they do when they get someone like Britney Spears to cover a Rolling Stones song.

"By the time they read, count, and audit every record not certified, it would be to the artist` advantage, in every sense you can imagine."

Unless they have already died, in which case it does the artist no good whatsoever.

"his stature as the world`s greatest recording artist can never, again, be questioned."

Oh pulleeeeeeze. The only thing that cannot be questioned is that Elvis was the first rocker to sell out completely. The number of records you sell does not determine how great you are, no matter what NARAS (National Academy of Recording Advertising and Sales) says.

If it were otherwise, Alvin and the Chipmunks would never have received a Grammy.

Sillerman has gobs to invest in all sorts of ventures, and he could slap Elvis on mugs, T-shirts and souvenir mini-bowling balls from here to Okinawa. Lots of Presley partisans will salute this international product rollout, and anything else that raises the profile of their hero. But that alone won’t explain the silence that greeted the size of the King’s ransom. No, to understand that you need to know this: Elvis is the greatest sellout in American history.

Not just in the history of rock ’n’ roll, mind you. He’s the greatest sellout, period. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who sold out more, sold out earlier, sold out with greater regularity. Elvis started selling out almost as soon as he caught on, and he didn’t stop until - well, he never stopped actually. Which is why the Sillerman purchase never raised anyone’s dander. It makes perfect sense in the context of Elvis’s entire life.

Actually, it makes perfect sense in the context of American history. We’ve always been a little ambivalent about selling out; we do it more often and more grandly than any nation on Earth. The first recorded use of the phrase, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, referred to “the proposed sell-out of the State of North Dakota to the infamous Louisiana Lottery Company.” We can only imagine what that must have been about. The year was 1890.

The classic sellout, of course, involves trading your ideals for money, which Presley did. He was a celestial, once-in-a-century talent. Nonetheless, he ended up squandering his gifts singing cheesy bossa novas, acting in lousy movies and taking the easy money. While Presley was occasionally disgusted by the dreck he was asked to sing in the studio, and while he resented hack scripts like “Harum Scarum,” perhaps the worst of his many movies, he was never bothered enough to make a fuss, at least not a fuss that would improve his material.

If your only goal is to sell, quality be damned, you have lots to sell and nothing to sell out. That’s an ethos with legs, as it happens. If you want to understand Snoop Dogg or 50 Cent or any number of rap stars, you need to understand Elvis. Those guys owe the man.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35712-2004Dec29.html

"There are still singles released in the US. Just go into a record store and look."

Sure there are singles. Only if the song manages to reach the "Top 40". Of the hundreds of thousands of songs released every year, making only "Top 40" songs available on a single release is barely tapping into the singles market. Otherwise, good luck finding a single that you might be interested in, unless you are lucky enough to run into an "Import" single. Of course, you'll pay $10 for that single too. Otherwise, finding singles for the last 5 years has been hit or miss at best.

I've seen this with my own eyes! I have visited many record stores for many years, usually at least once a week. For the last 5 or more years, it has been almost impossible to get a "single" of anything I might really be interested in. The RIAA deliberately reduced the amount of singles released to the public.

A good example is what happened to John Mellencamp. He signed with a new label around 1998. Since signing with his new label, the amount of "singles" released has been substantially reduced. While this could be attributable to his reduced stature as an artist, most of the singles the label did release were promotional, or just to provide an opportunity for him to win a Grammy (such as the single release of the song "Peaceful World. It was released on very limited quantities on 45rpm vinyl, just to open the door for consideration for a Grammy). This is just one small example of what the RIAA labels have done to singles.

The RIAA wanted to eliminate singles. So they raised the price of them unreasonably, and reduced how many were manufactured and released, reduced the number of formats available for single release, just to get more people to buy the whole CD, not just a single. People didn't want to pay $15 for a CD with one good song on it, so they decided to figure out other ways to get their "single" music. Thus, P2P was created. So the record labels GREED created their OWN problems. Why should our government bail them out with more copyright legislation??

Erm. doesn't ITunes et al count as "singles"?????

No...Itunes et al are compressed lossy drm infested crap they are getting pinheads to fork over a buck each for. The RIAA probably will soon be insisting that a minimum of 18 songs only be allowed to be downloaded from any of it's slaves--oops artists. Also any sampling to hear what a song sounds like will be expressly forbidden.

Good point pinemikey!

to gdZiemann. Your remonstrations notwithstanding, about Elvis being a sellout ( as quoted from an article in the Wsahington Post), the fact remains that both the writer of that article, as well as yourself, for one, are being forced by the power of Elvis Presley to waste your time (it is a waste, let me assure you...), trying to convince both the discriminating and undisctiminating public that because of this, or because of that, that Elvis was somoene NOT WORTHY, as a human being, as an artist, as whatever, of the awesome accolades he`s received throughout the last, say, 50 years. No matter how may times somoene mentions Elvis` lack (zero, actually), of his songwriting abilities, or his having robbed R&B artists of what they deem is theirs, and theirs alone, or his acting abilities, or his tumultuous personal life, his dying in the bathroom, his terrible movies, his sellout to RCA, Colonel Parker, Hollywood, no matter what people can claim to have been Elvis` many shortcomings, what trasnpires from these accusations, unlike Michael Jackson, for instrance), is tat his legend keeps overshadowing whatever is trown at him. Think about this, and keep dreaming. Long after 99% of current and past artists are long forgotten, there will be Elvis, and thankfully for me, you`ll have only yourself to blame for it...

Here`s Theodore F. MacManus timeless piece, entitled

The Penalty of Leadership

In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction.

When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be merely mediocre, he will be left severely alone - if he achieve a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass or to slander you, unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius.

Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountebank, long after the big world had acclaimed him its greatest genius.

Multitudes flocked to worship at the shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could not build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river to see his boat steam by.

The leader is assailed because he is the leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy - but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant.

There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as the human passions - envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing.

If the leader truly leads, he remains - the leader. Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages.

That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live - lives.

Forgot to mention the year in which this article was published, by the Saturday Evening Post.

That was the year 1915, a full twenty years before Elvis was even born. Yet, it describes, almost to the point, the tremendous backlash which he received, the moment he became known as a household world in America, then ther world, and that was the year 1956.

His singling out a person, or a product, rather than a group of people, or a group of products, as the subjects of unjustified backlash is a clear reminder that the negative features, accusations, envy, and fear, are almost exclusively directed against a person, be it a woman, or a man, the reasons for that being as ancient, as life itself. When, on the rare ocassion, a group is the subject of such lambasting, it is, invariably the leader of the group who gets creamed unjustly. If there is no leader amongst them, or if there are two, or three amongst it then the unfair criticism subsides proportionally.