Then who is? Mr Presley denied it, with good reason. My candidate for the true king of rock'n'roll is Link Wray, as we wouldn't have fuzz tone or power chords without him. He practically invented garage with "Rumble".

A two-seated throne for Bo Diddley and Little Richard.

Of course Link Wray would be a mighty Prince in this kingdom !

 

 

Elvis Presley is The King of Rock'n'Roll , Chuck Berry is The King of Rock'n'Roll , Little Richard is The King of Rock 'n' Roll , Jerry Lee Lewis is The King of Rock'n'Roll , Bill Haley is The King of Rock'n'Roll , Bo Diddley is The King of Rock'n'Roll , Fats Domino is The King of Rock'n'Roll , Buddy Holly is The King of Rock'n' Roll , Carl Perkins is The King of Rock 'n'Roll , Eddie Cochran is The King of Rock'n'Roll ,  Gene Vincent is The King of Rock'n'Roll.

Wanda Jackson, God Save The Queen. 

 

BTW , anyone who knows me I THINK LINK , and did , long before POOP Fiction and all that other stuff he made no money offa...But , to me , he's King of HIS world....Maybe not one of the Top 12 artists I'd consider Kings of R'n'R , BUT NOT TAKING ANYTHING AWAY FROM HIM , EITHER....

Link , Duane Eddy , Davie Allan, Travis Wammack , Scotty Moore , Mickey Baker , Mick Green , Nokie Edwards , Larry Collins , James Burton , Hank Marvin , Steve Cropper , Roland Janes , Cliff Gallup  , Johnny Meeks.... (Pre - British Invasion Guitar Gods Wing of The REAL Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.).

AND Dick Dale. His egotism , and mistaken notion that he can really sing ,  drives me up the wall , but , he was on FIRE when he made his first comeback bid in the early '90s.

I'd say Carl Perkins. He wrote some of the greatest rockabilly/rock n roll songs, played a mean, mean, MEAN guitar. Plus that VOICE. DAMN. His sphere of influence spreads far and wide. Hell, Gene Vincent said that Elvis' sound wasn't anything new but was already around thanks to "especially" Carl Perkins (can't remember exactly where I read that. sorry haha). And though I'm not a big fan, he was heavily influential on the Beatles, bringin that Dixie-Fried sound to England and back again.

Plus, he was a rowdy rebel. In his autobiography, Johnny Cash talks about the Perkins brothers being mean barroom brawlers back in the day. Sure you don't have to be mean to be a rock n roller, but I think Carl had that little bit of crazy in the back of his head (mixed with an undeniable coolness) that makes for great music.

That's my rant haha. Carl Perkins was one of the first rock n rollers I ever heard outside of Elvis and he blew me away. Link Wray, too. I agree with him being the prince. It astounds me that artists like Aerosmith are in the Hall of Fame, but not LINK WRAY! Even though I don't think much of the Hall, I still can't BELIEVE Wray's not in it.

The Screamin' Soul Preacher said:

A two-seated throne for Bo Diddley and Little Richard.

Of course Link Wray would be a mighty Prince in this kingdom !

 

I'd agree with this statement. Little Richard is also the king of punk in my opinion. 

 

 

 

Carl Perkins' sphere of influence is immeasurable , that is true . I'd say he and Elvis hit on virtually the same thing within a very short time of each other. Elvis got signed to Sun , first , and Carl was quickly informed that "There's a kid on the radio that sounds like y'all !". He knew he was destined to work for Sam Phillips , but , Phillips took his sweet time promoting Perkins , even bringing him to play studio Guitar on an abortive Presley session (Which , thankfully , survived.). Elvis spoke very highly of Gene Vincent , and , of course , Perkins , whom he was friendly with. Likewise , Vincent said "Elvis has been one of the greatest people I've known since I've been in the business. He helped me a lot when I was getting started.".He praised Perkins , as any sensible performer would do. It seems there was a lot more cameraderie in those days. 

Perkins famously said , "Elvis' look really helped the rest of us . Here he was , all pretty ,  and here we were , lookin' like MR. ED !!!".      Of course , most people would'nt say that of Billy Lee Riley , Johnny Cash or even  Jerry Lee Lewis , but there were some BOILERS on that label. Seen any pictures of Ray Harris?

No , looks were'nt as important in those days , but Elvis did , as Perkins maintained , provide an acceptable face for the new emerging sounds at Sun Records.

 

John Battles said:

Carl Perkins' sphere of influence is immeasurable , that is true . I'd say he and Elvis hit on virtually the same thing within a very short time of each other. Elvis got signed to Sun , first , and Carl was quickly informed that "There's a kid on the radio that sounds like y'all !". He knew he was destined to work for Sam Phillips , but , Phillips took his sweet time promoting Perkins , even bringing him to play studio Guitar on an abortive Presley session (Which , thankfully , survived.). Elvis spoke very highly of Gene Vincent , and , of course , Perkins , whom he was friendly with. Likewise , Vincent said "Elvis has been one of the greatest people I've known since I've been in the business. He helped me a lot when I was getting started.".He praised Perkins , as any sensible performer would do. It seems there was a lot more cameraderie in those days. 

Perkins famously said , "Elvis' look really helped the rest of us . Here he was , all pretty ,  and here we were , lookin' like MR. ED !!!".      Of course , most people would'nt say that of Billy Lee Riley , Johnny Cash or even  Jerry Lee Lewis , but there were some BOILERS on that label. Seen any pictures of Ray Harris?

No , looks were'nt as important in those days , but Elvis did , as Perkins maintained , provide an acceptable face for the new emerging sounds at Sun Records.

 

hahahaha you speak the truth, JB. Elvis was no doubt "THE FACE" as much as he was "THE PELVIS." And no matter who anyone thinks is "The King," Sam Phillips was the man with the plan makin' all sorts of Machiavellian magic happen behind the scenes.

 

Thank you , Space Case......Phillips and Sun Records was like the NASA of Rock'n'Roll. With a set up that would register below quaint by today's depressing standards , Sam Phillips took it into unknown dimensions. If he heard something in his head, that he could get out of a recording artist , he'd strike while the iron was HOT (Famously telling Gene Simmons "Wrap that fiddle around a goddamn tree , and come back with a hot guitar , boy !". Simmons , incidentally ,once told me he was later edited from some background scenes in an Elvis movie "Because I was so damn  UGLEEHHH!! By the way, I don't mean the OTHER Gene Simmons who's SOOOOOOOO GAAAAAHHHHHHH -  DAMN UUUUUUUHHHH - GLEEEHHHHH!!!!!!).....

BUT , WHEN SAM MOVED HIS OPERATIONS TO SAM PHILLIPS STUDIOS , He had it all decorated in a White Trash Vision of a Sci - Fi future, realized. i have'nt been able to go there , when I've been to Memphis , but , I hear some of the original fixtures are still  there !