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Aerosmith Guitarist On Elvis

January 15, 2006 | People
The January edition of Goldmine magazine features an interview with Aerosmith guitarist, Joe Perry. In the interview, Perry is asked about any favourite music artists that he has and below is his reply:

"Jimi Hendrix and Elvis. I love Elvis. It's not just the music, it's what he accomplished and what he did. Probably the most important thing he did was bring black music to white ears. I think that some of what he contributed to our culture and music gets lost in his later years, in the stereotypes. Most of the impersonators are doing the white jumpsuit [look] because he was such a caricature of himself, but he was so important in those early years that it's just a drag that it gets lost. People think about the glasses and the jumpsuit, but if it wasn't for him there is so much music that we wouldn't have heard.

He was the right voice at the right time, and it precipitated that whole social change in the '60s, bringing all that music and breaking down that barrier because black music was so taboo. It existed, but to break through that into the white stronghold on music, somebody had to do it, and he did it. He had the voice.

There were certainly other rockers, but they sounded white. That's why he scared the sh** out of people when he was coming around. People were expecting to see a black dude singing. Like I said, the right voice at the right time to do that.

You can't say enough about what he contributed. He laid the groundwork for breaking out, and the rest is history."
Source:Goldmine
tigerpawl wrote on January 17, 2006
Its good to hear a rocker like Joe Perry give Elvis so much credit. Bout time.
see see rider wrote on February 18, 2006
In my opinion, Elvis started the evolution and got the ball rolling when you talk about Rock n' Roll. So without him, there would have been no Jimi Hendrix or Aerosmith or anybody else for that matter. Of course this is my opinion..you can agree or disagree but I think Mr. Perry hit the nail on the head.