“It sounded so pure”: The rock legend Quentin Tarantino called the voice of the truth
Rock and roll has always been about more than making a few catchy tunes and hoping that people dance to them. The best artists in the world are the ones who know how to capture a feeling better than anyone else, and in only a few minutes, some of the greatest artists can tell pieces of their life stories and get people responding to them in a far more natural way. Even though Quentin Tarantino was an avid fan of all kinds of retro music, he felt that this rock and roll pioneer never minced any of his words whenever he sang.
Then again, it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist for people to see why Tarantino appreciates the rock and roll of days gone by. Only one look at any of his movie soundtracks will tell you that this person thrives off of those evergreen styles and takes pleasure in resurrecting them for the next generation.
Before the genesis of rock and roll, though, people only had the records their parents had on hand around the house. So instead of getting their minds blown listening to Chuck Berry and Little Richard, most kids had to worry about slogging through the smooth stylings of Perry Como or having to put up with yet another soppy ballad from Bing Crosby whenever the record player came on.
But while Berry and Richard may have been considered far too risque for suburban households, no one was prepared for what Elvis Presley would do. In only a few shakes of his hips, Presley had every teenager wrapped around his finger whenever he performed, turning in the kind of raucous performances that left America stunned from the minute that he appeared onscreen.
While no one was hiring him for films based on his superior method of acting, it didn’t matter as long as the tunes held up. No one was worried about Presley playing anyone but himself in the glorified music video for ‘Jailhouse Rock’, and the minute that he got that entire cell block of criminals moving, everyone from The Beatles to Tom Petty had found their calling in making their own brand of music.
However, Tarantino was more interested in what Presley was saying beyond the showmanship on records like The Sun Sessions, saying, “When I was young, I used to think Elvis was the voice of truth. I don’t know what that means, but his voice…shit, man, it sounded so fucking pure. If you grew up loving Elvis, this is it.”
Most would be hard-pressed to find any kind of similarities between Presley’s vanity project films and Tarantino’s masterpieces, but there are a few hints to ‘The King of Rock and Roll’ in how he frames a shot. Looking through some of his greatest films, Tarantino always establishes his lead with a certain type of swagger that Presley carried himself with, whether that’s Django from Django Unchained or establishing shots in Kill Bill.
As much as Tarantino can try to emulate what Presley did, nobody could compete with him once he opened his mouth. That was the first time most people heard the voice of someone completely uninhibited, and as the rest of the rock world followed suit, Presley became the litmus test for what all other frontmen should aspire to be.
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