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Credit: Far Out \/ Apple Corps \/ Sony Music Entertainment<\/p>\n
Mon 10 August 2026 1:00, UK <\/p>\n
Just because The Beatles arrived in the 1960s and ushered rock music into a new and more expansive era following on from a decade dominated by Elvis Presley<\/a>\u2018s earth-shaking rock and roll innovations, it doesn\u2019t mean that there could never have been any mutual respect or overlap between their respective styles.<\/p>\n Paul McCartney knew of Elvis\u2019 existence before he\u2019d ever heard a single song of his, largely because his image was plastered everywhere he went during his childhood in Liverpool. A young McCartney would see him printed on copies of NME in the local record shop that he frequented, and because his music wasn\u2019t being played on the radio constantly in 1956, at least to his knowledge, he didn\u2019t actually know what Presley sounded like until curiosity got the better of him.<\/p>\n He eventually found himself to be completely entranced by Elvis\u2019 captivating performance style, which was unlike anything he\u2019d ever heard until that point in his life. It differed significantly from the music he was used to hearing courtesy of family members or on the radio, especially from a lyrical point of view, and his first time hearing \u2018Heartbreak Hotel\u2019 was a truly eye-opening experience.<\/p>\n \u201cElvis is a truly great vocalist<\/a>, and you can hear why on this song,\u201d he would later admit in a 2005 interview with Uncut. \u201cHis phrasing, his use of echo, it\u2019s all so beautiful. It\u2019s the way he sings it, too. As if he\u2019s singing it from the depths of hell. It\u2019s a perfect example of a singer being in command of the song.\u201d<\/p>\n McCartney would continue, arguing that the song also delivers from a musical perspective, with the interplay between the double bass and piano creating an overall atmosphere that has stuck with him since he first heard it. \u201cThe echo is just stunning,\u201d McCartney continued, referring once again to a feature that would eventually rear its head at a most unexpected moment during his time with The Beatles.<\/p>\n The echo that McCartney was so impressed with ended up being a feature that he\u2019d try to incorporate into his own compositions, and although some of the band\u2019s earlier works bear a slight resemblance to what Presley had done a decade before, this influence even appears on some of their more elaborate and adventurous works.<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n