Robert Johnson: What Is Wrong With This Picture?: "Christgau also observed that Elvis had many male acolytes, while Cooke was simply a 'heartthrob.' Indeed he was that, but he was also the biggest influence on his genre: All the soul men tried to sing like him. Out of such blithe error and dialectical conceit flows the received wisdom. That is, until an Elijah Wald simply looks at the music on its own terms, judging it by its own criteria. "