Rock and Roll Cage Match 3: Elvis vs. Johnny Cash

[RevMatt]

Thanks to PeterJ for suggesting this one!

Damn, this is a good match. Don't even know where to begin.

[mwh]

Every last person on this board knows Elvis ain't no Johnny Cash.

(Somebody had to say it)

[RevMatt]

Every last person on this board knows Elvis ain't no Johnny Cash.

(Somebody had to say it)

I don't think Johnny Cash would say it, though.

[mwh]

Every last person on this board knows Elvis ain't no Johnny Cash.

(Somebody had to say it)

I don't think Johnny Cash would say it, though.

You're probably right.

I can't say who was better in their prime, but I don't think Elvis's music has aged as well as JC's. I don't think his music has aged well at all actually.

[RustyBolts]

I'm probably going to get killed for this but I have thought about this for a long time. I truly believe that Elvis is the greatest live performer of all time and only Mick Jagger comes close to being in the same category. That said, because Elvis wasn't a songwriter, he helped to create everything that is wrong about Nashville...in my opinion. I love them both and don't mind singing someone else's songs, but...

[RevMatt]

A good starting point would be their Sun Records sides.

Elvis: That's All Right, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Good Rocking Tonight, I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine, Milk Cow Blues Boogie, You're a Heartbreaker, Baby Let's Play House, I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone, I Forgot to Remember to Forget, Mystery Train

Johnny Cash: Cry, Cry, Cry, So Doggone Lonesome, Folsom Prison Blues, I Walk The Line, Get Rhythm, There You Go, Train of Love, Next in Line, Don't Make Me Go, Home of The Blues, Give My Love To Rose, Ballad of a Teenage Queen, Big River, Guess Things Happen That Way, Come in Stranger, The Ways of a Woman in Love, You're the Nearest Thing to Heaven

Both artists were on Sun for a relatively short time but their recorded output for Sun changed the course of music history. Have to make that a draw. These singles are a national treasure.

[Steve French]

Every last person on this board knows Elvis ain't no Johnny Cash.

(Somebody had to say it)

dang. beat me to it.

[RevMatt]

Iconic Bands:

Elvis -- Rhythm Guitar & vocals, Scotty Moore -- Guitar, Bill Black -- Bass, D.J. Fontana -- Drums
Johnny Cash and the Tennesee Two/Three -- Johnny Cash -- rhythm guitar and vocals, Luther Perkins -- guitar, Marshall Grant -- Bass, W.S. Holland -- Drums

Again, this is a draw.

[Zip City]

Elvis was a great performer

Cash was a great artist

Cash for the win

[dime in the gutter]

boy was a master at whompin.

[Tequila Cowboy]

Elvis was the King but Johnny Cash was The Man in Black.

Both battled personal demons, Johnny survived his and thrived, Elvis died from them.

Elvis may have been "hot" but Johnny epitomized "cool".

It's Johnny for me all the way

[sactochris]

"before Elvis There was nothing"

John Lennon

[Flea]

Gotta throw in with the Man In Black. I could imagine life without ever hearing another Elvis song, but not to hear another by Johnny Cash? That's too damn depressing.

[bovine knievel]

Gotta throw in with the Man In Black. I could imagine life without ever hearing another Elvis song, but not to hear another by Johnny Cash? That's too damn depressing.

I agree 100%

[LBRod]

Cash all the way. Elvis was huge, but Johnny wrote those songs.

[cortez the killer]

Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me...






Coolest motherfucker in the history of country music. FACT.

[Tequila Cowboy]

Coolest motherfucker in the history of country music. FACT.

Quoted for truth.

[Zip City]

[Smitty]

I could live just fine never listening to Public Enemy... but not Elvis, or Johnny Cash.

Tie.

Jerry Lee could probably take 'em both, but he'd fight dirty.

[Swamp]

JC hands down!!!

[Clams]

I'd prefer to listen to Johnny Cash over Elvis any day of the week. It's like someone said about the stones over in the stones vs. Beatles thread, it's not surprising that Johnny Cash beats Elvis on a drive-by truckers message board. That being said, in the larger world, I'm not sure Johnny would exit the cage alive. I think Elvis wins this one.

[Iowan]

Elvis was a great performer

Cash was a great artist

Cash for the win

Yup. Gotta respect what Elvis did, but Cash wrote some amazing songs. That alone gives him the nod in my book.

That's not even bringing the general bad-assery into the picture.

[cortez the killer]

It's like someone said about the stones over in the stones vs. Beatles thread, it's not surprising that Johnny Cash beats Elvis on a drive-by truckers message board. That being said, in the larger world, I'm not sure Johnny would exit the cage alive. I think Elvis wins this one.

50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong?

[Clams]

[Son of Swamp]

this is a pretty good one. While I respect Elvis a lot for what he did and everything, I'd much rather listen to Johnny Cash.

[RolanK]

Cash is King!

[JimmerDette]

Elvis imo was more important overall to music and its history and evolution etc. However I prefer Cash by a large margin.

[RevMatt]

After a brief time on Sun Records both artists moved onto the majors. Elvis signed with RCA while Cash went with Columbia. While the Sun Recordings were legendary, the major labels were able to make both artists superstars. Elvis was the first rock star and, to an extent, the rock star all others are evaluated against. Cash, on the other hand, was always a barometer of what was great about country music. There are three major things Johnny Cash never lost sight of; who he was as an artist, who his audience is and his place in the great tradition of country music. While Elvis stands alone in his superstardom Johnny Cash proudly shares the pedestal with Jimmy Rodgers, Hank Williams, Bob Wills, The Carter Family, Buck Owens, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams and Mike Cooley. Everytime Nashville strays from the tradition, moving in a crossover or pop direction, Johnny Cash has always been part of that beacon guiding the next generation of American country artists towards the great tradition. Elvis may be The King of Rock and Roll but The Man in Black will always stand in judgement, measuring every artist against what came before. Johnny Cash never had to put out a song bragging about how "country" he was, how big his pick up truck was or how much hell he could raise at the local beer joint. All he ever had to do was step into that spotlight dressed in black and say, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." THAT says it all.

Select Songs From Johnny Cash's Columbia Years late 1950's, early 1960's: Ring of Fire, I'd Still Be There, What Do I Care, I Still Miss Someone, Peace in the Valley, Jackson, I Walk The Line, Understand Your Man, Orange Blossom Special, It Ain't Me Babe, Ballad of Ira Hayes, Don't Take Your Guns to Town, I Got Stripes, Dark as a Dungeon, Busted, The Streets of Laredo,

Select Songs From Elvis' RCA Years, pre-Army: Heartbreak Hotel, Blue Suede Shoes, I Want You, I Need You, I Love You, My Baby Left Me, Don't Be Cruel, Hound Dog, Tutti Frutti, I Got A Woman, Blue Moon, Money Honey, Love Me Tender, Love Me, Too Much, All Shook Up, Teddy Bear, Mean Woman Blues, Jailhouse Rock, Treat Me Right, Don't, Hard Headed Woman

In comparing this two artists' bodies of work during their intial years of stardom Elvis made the biggest impact on the culture. But Johnny Cash's work during this time had staying power.

[RevMatt]

It's like someone said about the stones over in the stones vs. Beatles thread, it's not surprising that Johnny Cash beats Elvis on a drive-by truckers message board. That being said, in the larger world, I'm not sure Johnny would exit the cage alive. I think Elvis wins this one.

50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong?

I would expect Johnny Cash to be more popular on a Drive By Truckers message board. However, people should go back and listen to Elvis. Even if you prefer The Man in Black over The King, Elvis produced a great body of work during his short life.

The biggest knock on Elvis is that once he returned from his two year stint in the Army he had no idea about his identity as an artist. He deferred almost entirely to Colonel Tom Parker. Parker was able to maximize Elvis' earnings. But Parker had zero aesthetic sensibility when it came to music. Yes, Hollywood was where major music stars ended up in the days prior to The Beatles. A crappy movie was a better vehicle for promoting hit singles than an album was pre-Sgt. Pepper. But Elvis and Parker could not tell a good script from a lousy one or a great song from a mediocre one. In the end, the bottom line was all that mattered and Elvis' career from the time he was discharged from the army until the 1968 television special suffered drastically.

However, one thing cannot be taken away from Elvis. His voice. With the possible exception of Roy Orbison, Elvis is the greatest singer in rock history. His range and phrasing were impeccable. Few people could put over as diverse a range of material as Elvis. Whether he was singing old school rockabilly or covering songs already made famous by Frank Sinatra, Elvis had a way of making just about every song he sang his own.

[Iowan]

I'm a little surprised there hasn't been more discussion/focus on songwriting. Maybe just because its incredibly lopsided in Cash's favor, its not really worth mentioning in a debate?