Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by drjohncarpenter »

Originally published as “How Long Will We Care?” -- below is perhaps the single greatest Presley obituary.

Written by Lester Bangs for the Village Voice in August 1977, it's not available on the internet.

At least, not until now.

I have highlighted the final paragraph, it is so eloquent.




LesterBangs.jpg
Rock critic Lester Bangs, New York, circa 1982




"How Long Will We Care?"

By Lester Bangs
Village Voice, August 29, 1977


Where were you when Elvis died? What were you doing and what did it give you an excuse to do with the rest of your day? That's what we'll be talking about in the future when we remember this grand occasion. Like Pearl Harbor or JFK's assassination, it boiled down to individual reminiscences, which is perhaps as it should be, because in spite of his greatness, etc., etc., Elvis had left us each alone as he was; I mean, he wasn't exactly a Man of the People anymore, if you get my drift. If you don't I will drift even further, away from Elvis into contemplation of why all our public heroes seem to reinforce our own solitude.

The ultimate sin of any performer is contempt for the audience. Those who indulge in it will ultimately reap the scorn of those they've dumped on, whether they live forever like Andy Paleface Warhol or die fashionably early like Lenny Bruce, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday. The two things that distinguish those deaths from Elvis's (he and they having drug habits vaguely in common) were that all of them died on the outside looking in and none of them took their audience for granted. Which is why it's just a little bit harder for me to see Elvis as a tragic figure; I see him as being more like the Pentagon, a giant armored institution nobody knows anything about except that its power is legendary.

Obviously we all liked Elvis better than the Pentagon, but look at what a paltry statement that is. In the end, Elvis's scorn for his fans as manifested in "new" albums full of previously released material and one new song to make sure all us suckers would buy it was mirrored in the scorn we all secretly or not so secretly felt for a man who came closer to godhood than Carlos Castaneda until military conscription tamed and revealed him for the dumb lackey he always was in the first place. And ever since, for almost two decades now, we've been waiting for him to get wild again, fools that we are, and he probably knew better than any of us in his heart of hearts that it was never gonna happen again, his heart of hearts so obviously not being our collective heart of hearts, he being so obviously just some poor dumb Southern boy with a Big Daddy manager to screen the world for him and filter out anything which might erode his status as big strapping baby bringing home the bucks, and finally being sort of perversely celebrated at least by rock critics for his utter contempt for whoever cared about him.

And Elvis was perverse; only a true pervert could put out something like "Having Fun with Elvis On Stage", that album released three or so years back which consisted entirely of between-song onstage patter so redundant it would make both Willy Burroughs and Gert Stein blush. Elvis was into marketing boredom when Andy Warhol was still doing shoe ads, but Elvis's sin was his failure to realize that his fans were not perverse - they loved him without qualification, no matter what he dumped on them they loyally lapped it up, and that's why I feel a hell of a lot sorrier for all those poor jerks than for Elvis himself. I mean, who's left they can stand all night in the rain for? Nobody, and the true tragedy is the tragedy of an entire generation which refuses to give up its adolescence even as it feels its menopausal paunch begin to blossom and its hair recede over the horizon - along with Elvis and everything else they once thought they believed in. Will they care in five years what he's been doing for the last twenty?

Sure, Elvis's death is a relatively minor ironic variant on the future-shock mazurka, and perhaps the most significant thing about Elvis's exit is that the entire history of the seventies has been retreads and brutal demystification; three of Elvis's ex-bodyguards recently got together with this hacker from the New York Post and whipped up a book which dosed us with all the dirt we'd yearned for for so long. Elvis was the last of our sacred cows to be publicly mutilated; everybody knows Keith Richard likes his junk, but when Elvis went onstage in a stupor nobody breathed a hint of "Quaalude...." In a way, this was both good and bad, good because Elvis wasn't encouraging other people to think it was cool to be a walking Physicians' Desk Reference, bad because Elvis stood for that Nixonian Secrecy-as-Virtue which was passed off as the essence of Americanism for a few years there. In a sense he could be seen not only as a phenomenon that exploded in the fifties to help shape the psychic jailbreak of the sixties but ultimately as a perfect cultural expression of what the Nixon years were all about. Not that he prospered more then, but that his passion for the privacy of potentates allowed him to get away with almost literal murder, certainly with the symbolic rape of his fans, meaning that we might all do better to think about waving good-bye with one upraised finger.

I got the news of Elvis's death while drinking beer with a friend and fellow music journalist on his fire escape on 21st Street in Chelsea. Chelsea is a good neighborhood; in spite of the fact that the insane woman who lives upstairs keeps him awake all night every night with her rants at no one, my friend stays there because he likes the sense of community within diversity in that neighborhood: old-time card-carrying Communists live in his building alongside people of every persuasion popularly lumped as "ethnic." When we heard about Elvis we knew a wake was in order, so I went out to the deli for a case of beer. As I left the building I passed some Latin guys hanging out by the front door. "Heard the news? Elvis is dead!" I told them. They looked at me with contemptuous indifference. So What. Maybe if I had told them Donna Summer was dead I might have gotten a reaction; I do recall walking in this neighborhood wearing a T-shirt that said "Disco Sucks" with a vast unamused muttering in my wake, which only goes to show that not for everyone was Elvis the still-reigning King of Rock 'n' Roll, in fact not for everyone is rock 'n' roll the still-reigning music. By now, each citizen has found his own little obsessive corner to blast his brain in: as the sixties were supremely narcissistic, solipsism's what the seventies have been about, and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the world of "pop" music. And Elvis may have been the greatest solipsist of all.

I asked for two six-packs at the deli and told the guy behind the counter the news. He looked fifty years old, greying, big belly, life still in his eyes, and he said: "Sh.it, that's too bad. I guess our only hope now is if the Beatles get back together."

Fifty years old.

I told him I thought that would be the biggest anticlimax in history and that the best thing the Stones could do now would be to break up and spare us all further embarrassments.

He laughed, and gave me directions to a meat market down the street. There I asked the counterman the same question I had been asking everyone. He was in his fifties too, and he said, "You know what? I don't care that bastard's dead. I took my wife to see him in Vegas in '73, we paid fourteen dollars a ticket, and he came out and sang for twenty minutes. Then he fell down. Then he stood up and sang a couple more songs, then he fell down again. Finally he said, 'well, sh.it, I might as well sing sitting as standing.' So he squatted on the stage and asked the band what song they wanted to do next, but before they could answer he was complaining about the lights. 'They're too bright,' he says. 'They hurt my eyes. Put 'em out or I don't sing a note.' So they do. So me and my wife are sitting in total blackness listening to this guy sing songs we knew and loved, and I ain't just talking about his old goddam songs, but he totally butchered all of 'em. Fu.ck him. I'm not saying I'm glad he's dead, but I know one thing: I got taken when I went to see Elvis Presley."

I got taken too the one time I saw Elvis, but in a totally different way. It was the autumn of 1971, and two tickets to an Elvis show turned up at the offices of Creem magazine, where I was then employed. It was decided that those staff members who had never had the privilege of witnessing Elvis should get the tickets, which was how me and art director Charlie Auringer ended up in nearly the front row of the biggest arena in Detroit. Earlier Charlie had said, "Do you realize how much we could get if we sold these fu.cking things?" I didn't, but how precious they were became totally clear the instant Elvis sauntered onto the stage. He was the only male performer I have ever seen to whom I responded sexually; it wasn't real arousal, rather an erection of the heart, when I looked at him I went mad with desire and envy and worship and self-projection. I mean, Mick Jagger, whom I saw as far back as 1964 and twice in '65, never even came close.

There was Elvis, dressed up in this ridiculous white suit which looked like some studded Arthurian castle, and he was too fat, and the buckle on his belt was as big as your head except that your head is not made of solid gold, and any lesser man would have been the spittin' image of a Neil Diamond damfool in such a getup, but on Elvis it fit. What didn't? No matter how lousy his records ever got, no matter how intently he pursued mediocrity, there was still some hint, some flash left over from the days when...well, I wasn't there, so I won't presume to comment. But I will say this: Elvis Presley was the man who brought overt blatant vulgar sexual frenzy to the popular arts in America (and thereby to the nation itself, since putting "popular arts" and "America" in the same sentence seems almost redundant). It has been said that he was the first white to sing like a black person, which is untrue in terms of hard facts but totally true in terms of cultural impact. But what's more crucial is that when Elvis started wiggling his hips and Ed Sullivan refused to show it, the entire country went into a paroxysm of sexual frustration leading to abiding discontent which culminated in the explosion of psychedelic-militant folklore which was the sixties.

I mean, don't tell me about Lenny Bruce, man - Lenny Bruce said dirty words in public and obtained a kind of consensual martyrdom. Plus which Lenny Bruce was hip, too goddam hip if you ask me, which was his undoing, whereas Elvis was not hip at all, Elvis was a goddam truck driver who worshipped his mother and would never say sh.it or fu.ck around her, and Elvis alerted America to the fact that it had a groin with imperatives that had been stifled. Lenny Bruce demonstrated how far you could push a society as repressed as ours and how much you could get away with, but Elvis kicked "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window" out the window and replaced it with "Let's fu.ck." The rest of us are still reeling from the impact. Sexual chaos reigns currently, but out of chaos may flow true understanding and harmony, and either way Elvis almost singlehandedly opened the floodgates. That night in Detroit, a night I will never forget, he had but to ever so slightly move one shoulder muscle, not even a shrug, and the girls in the gallery hit by its ray screamed, fainted, howled in heat. Literally, every time this man moved any part of his body the slightest centimeter, tens or tens of thousands of people went berserk. Not Sinatra, not Jagger, not the Beatles, nobody you can come up with ever elicited such hysteria among so many. And this after a decade and a half of crappy records, of making a point of not trying.

If love truly is going out of fashion forever, which I do not believe, then along with our nurtured indifference to each other will be an even more contemptuous indifference to each others' objects of reverence. I thought it was Iggy Stooge, you thought it was Joni Mitchell or whoever else seemed to speak for your own private, entirely circumscribed situation's many pains and few ecstasies. We will continue to fragment in this manner, because solipsism holds all the cards at present; it is a king whose domain engulfs even Elvis's. But I can guarantee you one thing: we will never again agree on anything as we agreed on Elvis. So I won't bother saying good-bye to his corpse. I will say good-bye to you.







If not familiar with the writing of Lester Bangs, read more here:

Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic: Rock 'N' Roll as Literature and Literature as Rock 'N' Roll
https://www.amazon.com/Psychotic-Reactions-Carburetor-Lester-Bangs/dp/039453896X/



If not familiar with Creem magazine, read more here:

CREEM MAGAZINE HOW A REBELLIOUS MAGAZINE FROM DETROIT CHANGED THE FACE OF ROCK 'N' ROLL
https://www.prettygreen.com/news/2020/2/1/creem-magazine-how-a-rebellious-magazine-from-detroit/





BONUS BANGS


Lester_Bangs_CREEM_Magazine.jpg
Photo: Richard Meltzer


FIVE TIMES LESTER BANGS SHOWED HE WAS THE GREATEST MUSIC JOURNALIST EVER
https://www.prettygreen.com/news/2020/2/5/five-times-lester-bangs-showed-he-was-the-greatest-music-journalist-ever-846/
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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by Eivind »

Best Friggin' piece on Elvis I've read in a long, long time! 'nuff said...
Thanks Doc.

Eivind



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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by Joern »

Doc, that's worth a big "thank you"!

Joern



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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by drjohncarpenter »

Eivind wrote:Best Friggin' piece on Elvis I've read in a long, long time! 'nuff said...
Thanks Doc.
Joern wrote:Doc, that's worth a big "thank you"!
Eivind, Joern, you are the reason I make the effort to share this stuff.

Lester Bangs was an incredibly gifted, and very funny, critic. He influenced rock criticism like no other, and at the end of the day it's his passion and single-minded clarity that I really enjoy.

Thank you.


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by billyblues »

It was a good read, though Elvis fallin' down in '73 twice and a "too fat" Elvis in a "giant gold belt" in '71 are two things that, as far as I'm concerned, never happened. Was he serious?

Thanks, Doc!


Thank you, Blue River. Thank you, rjm. Thank you, Ken.


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by scottngeorgia »

WTF?

SNG ::rocks


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by Eivind »

billyblues wrote:It was a good read, though Elvis fallin' down in '73 twice and a "too fat" Elvis in a "giant gold belt" in '71 are two things that, as far as I'm concerned, never happened. Was he serious?

Thanks, Doc!
The guy probably tried to really underline the disapointment of seeing his hero..so give him some slack. But instead of spending time on that probale inaccuracy; check up on mr. Bangs. He certainly wrote some of the classic rock articles of the 60's and 70's. One of the best rock and most influential rock journalists ever.

Eivind
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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by drjohncarpenter »

billyblues wrote:It was a good read, though Elvis fallin' down in '73 twice and a "too fat" Elvis in a "giant gold belt" in '71 are two things that, as far as I'm concerned, never happened. Was he serious?
Sure he was.

The first example is what somewhat told him. With hindsight we know that person was talking about the August '75 engagement, the one where Elvis sat on the stage, gave short sets and left after a couple of days.

The second is from the Detroit '72 show, and Elvis did wear an outlandish, oversize belt.

720406_Detroit_Presley.JPG
Elvis - "Polk Salad Annie," Thursday, April 6, 1972, Detroit, MI


[corrected show reference from Boston to Detroit]
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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by billyblues »

drjohncarpenter wrote:
billyblues wrote:It was a good read, though Elvis fallin' down in '73 twice and a "too fat" Elvis in a "giant gold belt" in '71 are two things that, as far as I'm concerned, never happened. Was he serious?
Sure he was.

The first example is what somewhat told him. With hindsight we know that person was talking about the August '75 engagement, the one where Elvis sat on the stage, gave short sets and left after a couple of days.

The second is from the Boston '71 show, and Elvis did wear that outlandish "Gold Award" belt given to him by the International in 1969, the same one that drew a huge laugh when he joked about it during his New York press conference in 1972.
Thanks for the reply, Doc. I wasn't criticizing the guy, I was just trying to understand how could Elvis be "too fat" in 1971. I would like to add that my "was he serious?" question was related to this. Disappointed or not at seeing Elvis (I'm not sure he was the guy's "hero", Eivind), there are other ways to express it than claiming someone is "too fat" when they're not...Maybe he wasn't talking about 1971 and was a similar mistake as the '73 one from the other person? After all, he mentioned:
which was how me and art director Charlie Auringer ended up in nearly the front row of the biggest arena in Detroit.
Hell, music nowadays is too fat! It gets me disappointed all the time.


Thank you, Blue River. Thank you, rjm. Thank you, Ken.


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by scottngeorgia »

billyblues wrote:
drjohncarpenter wrote:
billyblues wrote:It was a good read, though Elvis fallin' down in '73 twice and a "too fat" Elvis in a "giant gold belt" in '71 are two things that, as far as I'm concerned, never happened. Was he serious?
Sure he was.

The first example is what somewhat told him. With hindsight we know that person was talking about the August '75 engagement, the one where Elvis sat on the stage, gave short sets and left after a couple of days.

The second is from the Boston '71 show, and Elvis did wear that outlandish "Gold Award" belt given to him by the International in 1969, the same one that drew a huge laugh when he joked about it during his New York press conference in 1972.
Thanks for the reply, Doc. I wasn't criticizing the guy, I was just trying to understand how could Elvis be "too fat" in 1971. I would like to add that my "was he serious?" question was related to this. Disappointed or not at seeing Elvis (I'm not sure he was the guy's "hero", Eivind), there are other ways to express it than claiming someone is "too fat" when they're not...Maybe he wasn't talking about 1971 and was a similar mistake as the '73 one from the other person? After all, he mentioned:
which was how me and art director Charlie Auringer ended up in nearly the front row of the biggest arena in Detroit.
Hell, music nowadays is too fat! It gets me disappointed all the time.
+1


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by drjohncarpenter »

billyblues wrote:Thanks for the reply, Doc. I wasn't criticizing the guy, I was just trying to understand how could Elvis be "too fat" in 1971. I would like to add that my "was he serious?" question was related to this.


When you read someone as profound as Lester Bangs, you have to think outside the box a bit. It's not like checking out another internet review on an Elvis website. That said, I corrected my earlier post.

Although Creem published a great review of the Boston '71 show in early 1972, it was written by Stu Werbin, not Lester.


720300_Creem magazine.jpg
Stu Werbin, "Elvis and the A-Bomb," Creem magazine, March 1972
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=44903&p=614027#p614027
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=44903&p=614030#p614030



Creem's offices were based in Detroit, and my guess is Bangs remembered the date Creem sent Werbin to catch Elvis in Boston in "autumn of 1971," and the subsequent review, rather than the fact he actually caught the show at Olympia Stadium in April 1972.
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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by Good Time Charlie »

When somebody starts remarking that Elvis was fat when he saw him in 1971 it is clear he's talking rubbish.

As for the rest of it, It didn't strike any sort of resonance with me. He doesn't even come close to writing the greatest Presley obituary.


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by drjohncarpenter »

Good Time Charlie wrote:... It didn't strike any sort of resonance with me. He doesn't even come close to writing the greatest Presley obituary.
Too bad for you. It is a well-regarded and influential essay.


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by Good Time Charlie »

drjohncarpenter wrote:
Good Time Charlie wrote:... It didn't strike any sort of resonance with me. He doesn't even come close to writing the greatest Presley obituary.
Too bad for you. It is a well-regarded and influential essay.
Hmm. He hasn't really invested any time in evaluating Elvis' career in any proper context. He seems to categorize the past 20 years into one big lump of uncreativity and that Elvis never cared about anything. He is simply glazing over everything Elvis did outside the 1950s as if none of it was ever relevant. He says we've been waiting since the 50's for Elvis to get wild again. Maybe he missed the 1968 TV Special. Or never witnessed the two Movie Documentaries on Elvis in the early 70's. Or never researched his stunning concerts in Vegas in 1969.

Elvis showed contempt for his fans and the public? Comments like this are ridiculous. He hasn't even grasped the depth of the Elvis Presley story, and the inner workings of his life and career.

Meanwhile, Lester Bangs, if he is still around, will be shunning the 20 years of work from Elvis Presley between 1958-1977. I, on the other hand, will continue to enjoy Films such as "King Creole", "That's the Way It Is" and "Elvis On Tour". The monumental NBC-TV Special of 1968, and classic albums such as "Elvis Is Back!", "From Elvis In Memphis" etc. and the raft of incredible Single releases.


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by jeanno »

Thanks for the article, Doc!
Thank you very much.

Wonderful reading.



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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by FMCSIMMONS »

Good Time Charlie wrote:
drjohncarpenter wrote:
Good Time Charlie wrote:.
Meanwhile, Lester Bangs, if he is still around
He is not.
Bangs died in New York on April 30, 1982, of an overdose of Darvon, Valium and Nyquil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Bangs#Death



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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by drjohncarpenter »

jeanno wrote:Thanks for the article, Doc!
Thank you very much.

Wonderful reading.
My pleasure. Writers like Bangs were rare then, scarce now.


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by Bella »

Hey thanks for that.

That article transports me back to when I was a 14 year old music-obssessed schoolgirl with no money to buy Creem, NME and all the other great magazines with great writing that were coming out at that time (everything I had went on buying the actual music) Over several days I'd read them from cover to cover while trying to avoid the glare of the annoyed shop assistant! Here in New Zealand we had to wait 3 months for the latest issues to arrive by sea, but it was worth the wait.

I read anything I could get my hands on by Lester Bangs who's writing I particularly loved, and the other great writers at the time: Greil Marcus, Dave Marsh, Peter Guralnick, Jon Landau, etc. From the UK I loved Nik Cohn who's book 'Awopbopaloobopalopbamboom' I think still stands as one of the best books written about rock n roll; certainly one of the most irreverent and entertaining.

It was a great education about the music I loved. I was just getting into Elvis at the time and I loved how these guys were able to capture and articulate the energy and excitement of Elvis' music into the written word on the page. It was a reflection back to you of how you felt about the music. That was important because at that time in the 70's there was a lot of emphasis on musical virtuosity: endless long boring guitar solos exhibiting all technique and no feeling. Thank God for the Ramones!!

That triggered a few memories. :cheers:


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by drjohncarpenter »

Bella wrote:Hey thanks for that.

That article transports me back to when I was a 14 year old music-obssessed schoolgirl with no money to buy Creem, NME and all the other great magazines with great writing that were coming out at that time (everything I had went on buying the actual music) Over several days I'd read them from cover to cover while trying to avoid the glare of the annoyed shop assistant! Here in New Zealand we had to wait 3 months for the latest issues to arrive by sea, but it was worth the wait.

I read anything I could get my hands on by Lester Bangs who's writing I particularly loved, and the other great writers at the time: Greil Marcus, Dave Marsh, Peter Guralnick, Jon Landau, etc. From the UK I loved Nik Cohn who's book 'Awopbopaloobopalopbamboom' I think still stands as one of the best books written about rock n roll; certainly one of the most irreverent and entertaining.

It was a great education about the music I loved. I was just getting into Elvis at the time and I loved how these guys were able to capture and articulate the energy and excitement of Elvis' music into the written word on the page. It was a reflection back to you of how you felt about the music. That was important because at that time in the 70's there was a lot of emphasis on musical virtuosity: endless long boring guitar solos exhibiting all technique and no feeling. Thank God for the Ramones!!

That triggered a few memories. :cheers:
Thank you for a wonderful, wonderful reply!

We are kindred spirits.


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Bella
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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

#846198

Post by Bella »

Kewl! : :shock:


Foodie fa fa faaaaa....

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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

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Post by KingOfTheJungle »

I enjoy Lester Bangs writings, and this piece in particular. If you think he's harsh in this, I would just say it's part and parcel of his writing. He's also been as irreverent when discussing the Beatles and Dylan. (Particularly in a review of Dylan's "Desire" album). I think he tries to break down the myth around his subject to study an aspect of the essence of their greatness. In this case, Elvis as sexual liberator/someone who united the broader populace around the cultural movement we know as Rock N' Roll .
Bella wrote:Hey thanks for that.

That article transports me back to when I was a 14 year old music-obssessed schoolgirl with no money to buy Creem, NME and all the other great magazines with great writing that were coming out at that time (everything I had went on buying the actual music) Over several days I'd read them from cover to cover while trying to avoid the glare of the annoyed shop assistant! Here in New Zealand we had to wait 3 months for the latest issues to arrive by sea, but it was worth the wait.

I read anything I could get my hands on by Lester Bangs who's writing I particularly loved, and the other great writers at the time: Greil Marcus, Dave Marsh, Peter Guralnick, Jon Landau, etc. From the UK I loved Nik Cohn who's book 'Awopbopaloobopalopbamboom' I think still stands as one of the best books written about rock n roll; certainly one of the most irreverent and entertaining.

It was a great education about the music I loved. I was just getting into Elvis at the time and I loved how these guys were able to capture and articulate the energy and excitement of Elvis' music into the written word on the page. It was a reflection back to you of how you felt about the music. That was important because at that time in the 70's there was a lot of emphasis on musical virtuosity: endless long boring guitar solos exhibiting all technique and no feeling. Thank God for the Ramones!!

That triggered a few memories. :cheers:
Agreed. Nik Cohn also wrote one of my favorite pieces on Elvis, about his Nassau 75 show.
For those who haven't read it yet (particularly 70's fans) do yourself a favor. READ IT. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1994457,00.html


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

#846229

Post by drjohncarpenter »

KingOfTheJungle wrote:I enjoy Lester Bangs writings, and this piece in particular. If you think he's harsh in this, I would just say it's part and parcel of his writing. He's also been as irreverent when discussing the Beatles and Dylan. (Particularly in a review of Dylan's "Desire" album). I think he tries to break down the myth around his subject to study an aspect of the essence of their greatness. In this case, Elvis as sexual liberator/someone who united the broader populace around the cultural movement we know as Rock N' Roll .
Very nice! Thank you.


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Stop, look and listen, baby <<--->> that's my philosophy!

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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

#846231

Post by Frankie Teardrop »

Good Time Charlie wrote:When somebody starts remarking that Elvis was fat when he saw him in 1971 it is clear he's talking rubbish.

As for the rest of it, It didn't strike any sort of resonance with me. He doesn't even come close to writing the greatest Presley obituary.

Not only do I think it is the greatest piece on Presley, it is one of my favourite pieces of writing, full stop.


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

#846244

Post by Good Time Charlie »

Frankie Teardrop wrote:
Good Time Charlie wrote:When somebody starts remarking that Elvis was fat when he saw him in 1971 it is clear he's talking rubbish.

As for the rest of it, It didn't strike any sort of resonance with me. He doesn't even come close to writing the greatest Presley obituary.

Not only do I think it is the greatest piece on Presley, it is one of my favourite pieces of writing, full stop.
That's a shame.


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Re: Lester Bangs - "How Long Will We Care?" August 1977

#846252

Post by Z0S0 »

It is an interesting piece and certainly very very good, i dont think i personnaly rate it as EXCELLENT tho,
or the greatest Presley obituary. I prefer the writing(s) of Guralnick !

Lester was a very good writer & HONEST tho, no fakery or ass-kissing which counts for a lot tho i spose his style
could be seen as harsh and i guess his work is the kind you either really dig or cant stand ?
Kinda ironic how he died & only 5 yrs later !

i believe i have read that Before, certain parts of it certainly seem familiar ! he makes some good points
though i have to disagree about his recollection of his detroit show re: elvis fatness - im sure everyone on this board
would have loved, if not killed to have seen elvis in late 71 (or early 72) - his face may have been drug-addled & very puffy , certainly not CHISSLED but he wasnt FAT - a long way from 76/77 fat!
(though you probably wouldnt have seen that from the audience - front row or not )
but his body & waistline were extremely lean & in very good physical shape !
how LEAN was lester at the time ???? (the belt was obviously very big tho)
I imagine this was more a distorted memory , influenced by the general perception of elvis as being fat IN THE 70's


" Never was so Influential a Man so poorly prepared for his fate - nor so ineptly schooled for its Consequences"

"There was a reason they nicknamed him the King of Rock + Roll, !!!
THIS is the way ELVIS should be remembered! This is true greatness in the churchillian sense:
swaggering, daring, Proud yet humble, beaten yet never truly down,
MAGNIFICENT when victorious and always unforgettable! "

( Q magazine review 'Artist Of The Century' Dec 1999 )

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