Elvis Presley’s entire career was written with someone else’s pen. The king of rock and roll was never the scribe of his stardom as he didn’t craft his own songs but picked his favourites from an endless well of hits passed his way. Amidst that bottomless pile was a track from ‘The Boss’, as Bruce Springsteen sent a song his way.
Presley’s approach to his craft was a strange one, and with each passing year, it seemed to be a system that became more and more abusive. His career was really built on the back of cover songs, taking tracks written and performed first by Black blues and rock artists and translating them to white mainstream audiences. His earliest breakout hits like ‘That’s All Right’ or ‘Hound Dog’, or his covers of works by the likes of Little Richard and Ray Charles, made him a star but also utterly usurped the original artist or writer of the track.
That’s a debate in itself, whether that was right or ethical. However, it got worse when considering Presley’s contractual agreements with other writers and musicians. Despite not writing songs nor helping with any writing, Presley demanded writing credits on the tracks he covered. This was a major reason why Dolly Parton famously refused to let him record ‘I Will Always Love You’, wanting to keep hold of her credits and not offer them out to people who didn’t deserve them.
However, as dodgy as that seems, who wouldn’t want ‘The King’ to sing their song? As one of the most famous names around and a star that reached a level of celebrity the world had never seen before and honestly may never see again, musicians scrambled at the chance to get Presley to take on their song. Presley, for a lot of musicians, was the very essence of rock and roll and the performer who changed the world of music.
While Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Presley don’t feel like two names that should go together, Springsteen was amongst the gaggle totally in awe of the singer and, therefore, hoping to hear his songs sung by that crooning voice. In fact, on one special night, he even broke into Graceland in an attempt to meet his hero. But they nearly collaborated professionally too.
As his career was only just starting to take off, Springsteen found himself penning a piece not for himself but specifically for Presley. “I’d written ‘Fire’ especially for him,” he told American Songwriter. It was during the sessions for Darkness On The Edge Of Town that he found himself lending his lyrical voice to someone else. Leaning further into rockabilly, with simpler lyrics that tell a more traditional Americana story, it’s easy to imagine Presley taking on the track.
After writing it, Springsteen sent it across to Presley’s team, but before he’d ever hear it, ‘The King’ died in August 1977. After that, everything changed, according to ‘The Boss’. “Out went anything that smacked of frivolity or nostalgia,” he said. “The punk revolution had hit and there was some hard music coming out of England. The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Elvis Costello all were pushing the envelope on what pop could be in 1977.”
It seems that after the loss of Presley, the last great star of a distinct era, the only way forward was to move into a whole new one. It would inspire Springsteen to provide the anthems of America’s heartland
“It was a time of great endings and great beginnings,” he continued. “Elvis had died, and his ghost hovered over our sessions.” Throughout the rest of that 1978 album, Presley’s presence can be heard in Springsteen’s crooning vocals, storytelling lyrics and vignettes of distinctly American life.
Sure, that’s the singer’s entire schtick, but on Darkness On The Edge Of Town, he’s going all out as if his hips were swinging and his legs were welly, like Presley up on his earliest stages with a passion that totally redefined music.
