16. From Song to Sound

We lost two superstars in 1977. Neither man's admirers have been able to understand the success of the other one. And this tells us something of the difference between the generations that the two singers represent.

There were similarities between Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley. Both reached fame while quite young and became very rich. Although neither one had any musical education, both developed their own musical styles—styles which were at first scorned by the critics and later studied as new forms in the art of popular song. Both men had successful movie careers despite a total lack of acting ability.

Both were creations of the microphone, which made it possible for singers with weak voices to be heard beyond the third row. With Bing the microphone was usually hidden; but Elvis brought it to the stage, took it from its support, stroked it, pressed it to his lips.

The difference between the two men reflects the changing values in American life. Crosby's music was soothing; Presley's was disturbing. Crosby was singing to wartime America. His audiences had all the disturbances they could handle in their private lives; they did not want to buy more at the record shop and the movie theater.

Crosby's admirers always said how "relaxed" he was, how "natural and easy-going." When Presley began his career, the whole country had become relaxed and easy-going. Its young people, who had no memory of troubled times, found it boring. They were hungry for excitement. They welcomed Elvis, who was not soothing, and who was certainly not the kind of young man their parents would admire. Presley was loud, gaudy, vulgar—and he was bringing something new and exciting.

It is probably too simple to explain each man in terms of changes in the economic and political situation. Something in the culture was also changing. Crosby's songs were saying something; their "message" was as important to the audience as the music. The words were often sweet and sentimental; ordinary, perhaps, but Crosby—and Frank Sinatra after him—gave them life and meaning. People remembered them, sang them, and thought of them as true to life. Although many of Presley's songs were, in fact, quite sentimental too, it was mostly the sound that moved the audiences. Rock'n'roll was a "sound" event. Songs stopped being songs and turned into noise.

The Crosby generation has trouble with rock'n'roll because it makes the mistake of trying to understand the words. The Presley generation has trouble with Crosby because it finds the music unexciting and the words empty. The mutual lack of understanding may be a sign of how far we have come from troubled times, and how deeply we now distrust the value of words.