Lisa Marie strong act in her own right

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Lisa Marie Presley - Photo by David Troedson

Though Lisa Marie Presley has had the public fawning over her since the day she was born, rock 'n' roll's poor little rich girl was never able to tell if people liked her for who she was, or because she is the daughter of the world's biggest rock star ever.

A tabloid princess since birth, Presley steadily fueled the 'freak show factor' with some admittedly wild years, filled with a series of bizarre marriages and erratic behavior.

'Everybody does some stupid things in their life that they look back on with regret', said Presley, referring to among other things, the infamous Michael Jackson kiss on MTV.

'I have done my share. We all have things we'd go back and change, but we can't, so we just put it behind us and move on'.

Lisa Marie Presley - Photo by David Troedson

And move on, she has. With a musical career that has been an uphill climb since the beginning. 'At first they tried to have me doing this pop thing, but that just wasn't me', noted Presley of when she first threw her hat in to the music ring.

To her credit, the tough-talking Lisa Marie is like her famous father in that she has never taken the easy route when it comes to her music, nor has she ever failed to stand her ground.

'It would have been really easy for me to go out and make a pop record, or do R&B, or hook up with some well-known rap producer', she said.

'That's what's selling today and that's what everyone's doing today. But that is not who I am and that is not what I want to do'.

Presley also has staunchly refused the idea of covering famous Elvis tunes, as many people in the music biz world have suggested and encouraged her to do.

'Sure, we'd probably sell a lot of records if I did that, but it's not about just selling records for me', she stated. 'I love those (Elvis) songs, but that's not what I want to do, and I really don't think that is what he (Elvis) would want me to do. I believe that he would want me to do just what I'm doing right now, finding my own sound and my own way'.

Even though she began her musical career late in life, at age 34, with the release of her soul-baring 2003 debut album, 'To Whom It May Concern', Presley still had concerns about the public at large.

Did that album get certified gold because people actually loved the music she made, or did they buy it because they viewed her as some kind of novelty act, because she was Elvis Presley's kid?

After months of touring as a support act behind that album and it's hit single, 'Lights Out', Presley stepped up to give her first real headline show at the famed Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J. It was there she suddenly had an epiphany.

'Up until that point, I didn't know that I really had fans, to be honest', she said.

'But there I was and the place was sold out. I looked out at all these people and they were singing my songs right along with me. They knew the words!'

That Jersey audience convinced Presley that finally giving in to the temptation she'd had her whole life -- to play rock 'n' roll -- had been the right choice to make.

'I've since had people tell me one of my songs helped them through tough times in their lives and that is what it's all about for me', she said.

'When I started doing this, I just wanted to put out music that I hoped people would hear and that maybe it would help someone somewhere, like music has helped me through life'.

The 'sense of awakening' that followed her Stone Pony concert comes through in I'll Figure It Out, the opening number of Presley's 2005 sophomore album, Now What.

Like the first album, Presley's second disc is quite dark, personal and powerful.

Presley's songs are rife with harsh and scathing lyrics, from her own compositions like 'Idiot' and the title track, right down to her fiery treatment of the 23-year-old Don Henley song, Dirty Laundry, which was adopted by ABC-TV in broadcast promos for its 2005 season of 'Desperate Housewives'.

'It's not just a personal thing', said Presley, dismissing thoughts that it addressed the media for their past coverage of her personal life. 'It applies to the general state of affairs, more so now than ever. Look at all these reality shows! We get our entertainment watching the demise and the darkest hours of others. The words of this song are more appropriate now than when Don Henley wrote it'.

Taking nothing away from Presley's fine first effort, 'Now What' is a much better album in terms of the songwriting (some tunes co-authored with Linda Perry), slicker production, and Presley's own spitfire vocal performances.

Yet, 'Now What' has not come close to the level of success that To Whom It May Concern enjoyed.

Presley blames in no small part her label, Capitol Records.

'They didn't drop the ball, they never picked the ball up', she fumed. 'I took it kind of personally because it didn't get marketed worth a crap.'

To be fair, Presley knows that all the fault lies not with her label, but with the musical climate of today and the still prevailing penchant of the business at large for pushing disposable pop.

'I'm still trying to figure out where I fit in, because I'm not a pop act and I don't do certain things to sell myself out. I'm not anything in particular. I'm a singer/songwriter that's female and not in my 20s. There's not a whole lot of places for someone like me to fit out there right now', she explained.

'There are some really good female singer/songwriters in the rock realm out there doing sort of the same thing that I'm doing and they are having a real tough time, too', she continued. 'There's just not a lot of love right now for what we are doing musically. I'm hoping someone is going to break through and make it OK again to do what we do. But right now, it's an R&B- and rap-dominated market'.

Presley plans to ride out the rest of this year touring, eventually turning her attention towards making her third record in the first quarter of 2007.

When asked if her disenchantment with the major label scene and Capitol Records in particular might prompt her to go the indie rock route as so many major artists are doing these days, Presley sidesteps.

'I've got to watch what I say', she laughed.

But her clear-cut disappointment with how 'Now What' was marketed and the lack of label support (Presley had to self-finance her tour) leaves room to speculate that her third album might just be a DIY project.

'I'm doing the songs off both albums at this time', she said of her current live show. 'I'm not doing any brand-new material, although I have been doing a lot of writing. I really just want people to hear the songs that I've got out now'.

Lisa Marie Presley

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Complete Lisa Marie Presley Playboy Interview
Lisa Marie and Elvis Presley duet of In The Ghetto
Lisa Marie's Twin Girls | Finley & Harper
The Presley Women | Priscilla & Lisa Marie Presley
Rolling Stone Interview with Lisa Marie Presley
I Love You Because | Lisa Marie and Elvis Duet at the 35th Anniversary Concert
Lisa Marie and Elvis Presley Duet | I Love You Because
Interview | Lisa Marie Presley Sees Her Father's Spirit in Her Kids
Lisa Marie sells Elvis rights for $100m
Lisa Marie Presley In Concert Australia (2004)
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