By 2011, there's so much fog surrounding Elvis Presley. So much gets lost in the stories about his rise, decline, return and death, his movies and his jumpsuit-wearing comeback, and worst of all, his place in the origins of Rock n' Roll and the complicated nature of his music's relationship to earlier black performers, and with all the imitations and put-ons, that people forget exactly what he sounded like.
"Heartbreak Hotel" was a pretty singular fucking song. Rock & Roll in the 50's was largely characterized by charging bass lines or rolling pianos or strumming guitars. This is where rock stops rolling for a minute. It puts the accent on "blues" in rhythm and blues. But even as Elvis' voice sounds miserable and dejected, it still sounds dangerous and sexy. And that short staccato guitar break, courtesy of Scotty Moore, cuts everything else shreds, despite not being the fastest or the showiest.
The recorded version mistakenly drenches the song in echo to make it sound even lonelier. The result is hollow and a bit unassuming. On his next single, Elvis (producing himself!) wisely ditched the effect. Performing the song live, you hear the rawness, the "fuck you" of the song that underlies most great rock.
So keep on rockin'
-Scotto
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