Skip to main content

TL;DR:

  • John Lennon really liked one Elvis Presley song but he didn’t think Elvis invented rock ‘n’ roll.
  • He discussed how rock ‘n’ roll became popular in England.
  • The song John liked so much became a hit four different times.

John Lennon was hugely impacted by one of Elvis Presley’s songs. He said it wasn’t the first rock song the heard, but it was he first one that deeply connected with him. Notably, the Elvis song in question charted in the United Kingdom during several different decades.

John Lennon said he liked 1 Elvis Presley song more than Bill Haley’s ‘Rock Around the Clock’

In the 1980 interview from the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John said he didn’t think of music as a “way of life” until he heard rock ‘n’ roll. Subsequently, he was asked what got him interested in that genre.

“I think it was ‘Rock Around the Clock,'” he said. “I enjoyed Bill Haley, but I wasn’t overwhelmed by him. It wasn’t until ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ that I really got into it.” For context, “Heartbreak Hotel” was originally performed by Elvis, even though it was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden.

John Lennon discussed the thorny question of when rock ‘n’ roll started

Subsequently, John discussed the role of race in rock ‘n’ roll history. “I know Fats Domino was makin’ records in ’48, and there was lots of stuff called rhythm’ n’ blues you could’ve called rock’ n’ roll, but it was hard to get in England,” he said. “Rock ‘n’ roll only came into our consciousness when white people did
it. I think it was a euphemism for f****** the actual expression meaning being in bed and rocking and rolling.” For context, Domino actually released his first record, “The Fat Man,” in 1949.

“So this bit about, ‘When did rock start?’ really means ‘When did the honkies start noticing it?’ ‘When did we know it was something strong and powerful and beautiful?'” he said. “So it doesn’t matter when; it’s what it did to us that matters — that it changed our lives when we heard it.”

Related

The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’: Paul McCartney Reacted to Elvis Presley Changing the Lyrics

Elvis Presley’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ became a hit in 4 different decades in the United Kingdom

The Official Charts Company says “Heartbreak Hotel” became huge in John’s native United Kingdom. The tune reached No. 2 in 1956, staying on the chart for a total of 22 weeks.

In 1971, a rerelease of “Heartbreak Hotel” with the song “Hound Dog” peaked at No. 10 and remained on the chart for 12 weeks. In 1996, another rerelease of the track alongside “I Was the One” reached No. 45 and lasted on the chart for a pair of weeks. Finally, the track peaked at No. 14 in 2007 and spent two weeks on the chart. It feels like nobody embraced a song quite like the way the Brits embraced “Heartbreak Hotel.” Despite this, it never topped the U.K. chart!

“Heartbreak Hotel” was huge for John and it connected with the U.K. public for decades.

Best in Entertainment