Essay Instructions: This paper is on elvis presley. someone from this site has already made an outline, a 2 page intorduction and a bibliogrpagy for this paper. I will copy and past all of that below. It was a great outline so the paper can be based directly off of that. Citations are very important, things shoudl be cited a lot. another thing that needs to be added to this paper which isnt in the outline is footnotes. If more sources are used it would be helpfu it you woudl send a new bibiography if you use more sources. below im goign to paste the 2 page introduction, the outline and the bibliography.
Introduction thus far: Celebration of Elvis’s music has become a national pastime as he has become an enduring legacy of our past and the beginning of Rock and Roll. However this musical celebration and cult following may have been heavily influenced by African American musical traditions. Many black historians claim that Elvis’s “theft” of their musical tradition is an epitome of the racism inherent within that era. “Elvis signifies the foul way so many black writers and performers, such as Little Richard, were treated by the music industry. The enduring image of Elvis is a constant reflection of society’s then refusal to accept anything other than the non-threatening and subservient Negro” (Kolawole, npg). The legacy of Elvis as “King of Rock and Roll” has to be re-examined in the wake of criticism upon the origins of Rock and Roll. These origins claimed by many stem from deep African American musical traditions in blues and gospel music. Elvis himself has admitted that his music is heavily influenced by the gospel of his childhood. In order to examine the roots of Elvis’s music and the connection to African American musical traditions, several areas must be thoroughly examined. First a closer look at the black musical tradition within Elvis’s time period. Second, an examination of musical blending that was occurring within Elvis’s lifetime. Third, a detailed understanding of Elvis’s childhood and the influence of black musical traditions upon his future music. Finally, an analysis of his actual musical traditions. Elvis’s music has strong roots within African American musical tradition that was prevalent in the south. Significant musical blending throughout his musical era, combined with his upbringing caused Elvis’s music to be rooted within the tradition of Blues and Gospel music.
At the time of Elvis’s rise and climb to fame, black rights were still at the fringes of public discourse with no real solutions or movements present. Segregation occurred in all social mediums including the institution of churches, which became a strong impetus for why Gospel music was not popular within white culture while flourishing within African American communities. The segregation of the period was one of the primary reasons for musical separation as African Americans formed their own communities that were autonomous from traditionally white communities. “At the time, African American communities were still relegated to the status of inferior status. The caste system within the south was deeply ingrained into the fabric of socially acceptable segregation” (Bertrand, 18). The birth of Rock and Roll in the 1940s to 50s was also mirrored by the birth of the civil rights movement. Many argue that Rock and Roll, especially in relationship to Elvis helped the movement persist strongly and influenced better relationships between white and black social integration. “On the issue of race, Elvis rode the tide of the civil rights movement. By blending black and white music, he helped legitimate black culture during a time when African Americans were breaking into mainstream music and entertainment culture, sports, and more broadly U.S. society as a result of the civil rights movement” (Kellner, 2). Rock and Roll became the means to provide grassroots support for the civil rights movement. Thus the blending of musical traditions was not only inadvertent but encouraged as a method to spread black music to the mainstream. Musical segregation at the time was still a consistent and popular theme.“By the 1920s much of the entertainment music played by white American musicians, was clearly influenced by black music, but black and white music scenes were still segregated: black musicians played their songs for black audiences, white played their music for all white audiences” (Kloosterman and Quispel, 151).
Outline:
1. Introduction:
a. Celebration of Elvis’s music has become a national pastime as he has become an enduring legacy of our past and the beginning of Rock and Roll
b. However this musical celebration and cult following may have been heavily influenced by African American musical traditions
i. Many black historians claim that Elvis’s “theft” of their musical tradition is an epitome of the racism inherent within that era
ii. “Elvis signifies the foul way so many black writers and performers, such as Little Richard, were treated by the music industry. The enduring image of Elvis is a constant reflection of society’s then refusal to accept anything other than the non-threatening and subservient negro” (Kolawole, npg)
c. The legacy of Elvis as “King of Rock and Roll” has to be re-examined in the wake of criticism upon the origins of Rock and Roll.
i. These origins claimed by many stem from deep African American musical traditions in blues and gospel music.
ii. Elvis himself has admitted that his music is heavily influenced by the gospel of his childhood
d. In order to examine the roots of Elvis’s music and the connection to African American musical traditions, several areas must be thoroughly examined.
i. First a closer look at the black musical tradition within Elvis’s time period
ii. Second, an examination of musical blending that was occurring within Elvis’s lifetime
iii. Third, a detailed understanding of Elvis’s childhood and the influence of black musical traditions upon his future music.
iv. Finally, an analysis of his actual musical traditions
2. Thesis Statement
a. Elvis’s music has strong roots within African American musical tradition that was prevalent in the south. Significant musical blending throughout his musical era, combined with his upbringing caused Elvis’s music to be rooted within the tradition of Blues and Gospel music.
3. Overall landscape of black musical tradition
a. At the time of Elvis’s rise and climb to fame, black rights were still at the fringes of public discourse with no real solutions or movements present.
i. Segregation occurred in all social mediums including the institution of churches, which became a strong impetus for why Gospel music was not popular within white culture while flourishing within African American communities.
ii. The segregation of the period was one of the primary reasons for musical separation as African Americans formed their own communities that were autonomous from traditionally white communities.
iii. “At the time, African American communities were still relegated to the status of inferior status. The caste system within the south was deeply ingrained into the fabric of socially acceptable segregation” (Bertrand, 18).
b. The birth of Rock and Roll in the 1940s to 50s was also mirrored by the birth of the civil rights movement. Many argue that Rock and Roll, especially in relationship to Elvis helped the movement persist strongly and influenced better relationships between white and black social integration.
i. “On the issue of race, Elvis rode the tide of the civil rights movement. By blending black and white music, he helped legitimate black culture during a time when African Americans were breaking into mainstream music and entertainment culture, sports, and more broadly U.S. society as a result of the civil rights movement” (Kellner, 2).
ii. Rock and Roll became the means to provide grassroots support for the civil rights movement. Thus the blending of musical traditions was not only inadvertent but encouraged as a method to spread black music to the mainstream.
c. Musical segregation at the time was still a consistent and popular theme.
i. “By the 1920s much of the entertainment music played by white American musicians, was clearly influenced by black music, but black and white music scenes were still segregated: black musicians played their songs for black audiences, white played their music for all white audiences” (Kloosterman and Quispel, 151).
ii. “In the 1930s, the influence of black musicians was not yet great enough to induce whites to incorporate black composition in their repertoire” (Kloosterman and Quispel, 151).
iii. The musical tradition of the times clearly reflects this deficiency and lends credence to the popular theories surrounding white “theft” of the black musical tradition.
d. Black musical tradition of the period was rooted within two basic modules, Gospel music and Blues music. These two musical traditions were segregated within the African American domain with few exceptions.
i. Blues music has its traditional roots within African American musical tradition as evidenced by the long string of musically talented artists within that genre.
1. Blues music however did not cross racial lines with the majority of famous blues musicians residing in New Orleans and other prominently black cultural hotbeds.
2. Blues music was a blending of black musical traditions that has a history of over one hundred and fifty years (North, npg).
3. “Sammy Davies Jnr and Nat King Cole, who are notably recognized as founders of the Rock and Roll genre played a heavy influence upon Elvis” (Kolawole, npg)
ii. Gospel music has been an African American church tradition with influences from traditional African music and especially prevalent during the slavery era
1. Gospel music was strongly discouraged within mainstream society and actively suppressed.
2. Primary sources show that black musical revival in gospel music was not integrated into mainstream society because of burgeoning suppression from slave-owners and religious suppression.
3. Many see similarities between Gospel music and Rock and Roll, and even Elvis notes that his early childhood influences within this genre cultivated his later music
4. The Blending of Musical Traditions in the South
a. The blending of Southern musical traditions was not started by Elvis and is deeply rooted in the integration of musical traditions.
i. Bill Ivey, while Director of the Country Music Foundation, pointed out that the American South has always been a uniquely musical region, drawing inspiration from its variety of folk sources and constantly melding them into new combinations, be they called blues, jazz, rock and roll, or country (Ivey, 289)
ii. “[Elvis is] not the first time such interracial cultural cross-fertilization had occurred within popular musical traditions” (Kloosterman and Quispel, 152).
b. Within the era of Rock and Roll, segregation of music into differing racial markets was a common theme among the music industry.
i. Primarily for misguided marketing purposes, the recording industry divided southern music along racial lines, “into two very general categories, with black performances being issued on "race" records and white performances as "hillbilly" series, no matter how inept and inaccurate such a racial labeling and bifurcation of the music itself was (North, npg).
ii. The division between music traditions played a strong role in why black musical traditions were excluded from mainstream music. However, it still grew into a very mature industry based almost exclusively on grassroots and underground interest.
c. The integration of black and white music has a deep historical tradition
i. “musical interweaving of black and white elements in American music, tracing these mutual influences as far back as the forced arrival of black people to the New World in the early 1600s.” (Lewis, npg).
ii. “the tones of these black and white fiddle bands "are plain proof of a century of cultural seepage..., a century of windings and flowing that spilled onto the lap of the 1920s; both Henry Sims and the Mississippi Possum Hunters" (172).
iii. The integration of black musical traditions within country music has been recognized by Nashville and now has a fixed place within the historical context of country’s development
5. Elvis and his musical education within Black musical traditions
a. Elvis’s childhood was in one of the poorest sectors of the Southern political sphere, therefore, a strong root and cultural influence of traditional Gospel music and blues music was added to his musical tradition early in childhood
i. He was born and raised in Tupelo, MS, a poor white community that bordered upon many segregated black communities
ii. He attended the Assembly of God church in a neighboring African American church and was introduced to gospel music at this early period within his life
iii. “era, as well as being the most dramatic example of a celebrity transformed into a cult deity by a pill-popping mama's boy hillbilly from Tupelo, Elvis Aaron Presley was the first musical megastar of the rock and roll a premature death” (NNDB, npg).
iv. Elvis’s parents were a truck driver by the name of Vernon Presley and his seamstress wife Gladys Smith. “Raised in poverty, Elvis developed his singing talents at the family’s Pentecostal church, and by the age of ten managed to win second prize at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show with a version of the song Old” (NNDB, npg).
b. Elvis’s move to Memphis as a teen heavily influenced his strong attraction towards blues and R&B.
i. “In 1948 his family moved him to Memphis, and it was here that Elvis fell under the influence of black R&B performers such as B. B. King by way of the thriving music scene centered around the city's Beale Street clubs” (NOTATION).
ii. Elvis attended many R&B performances and even practices with traditional blues players within noted Memphis nightclubs, winning regional level accolades through his rendition of black R&B.
iii. Elvis’s first recording session was with Sam Philip’s Sun Records, which thought that although he was personally unpleased with Elvis’s “black” music, had strong potential if carefully articulated and modified
c. Elvis’s music was strongly influenced by Gospel music which is prevalent through much of his music
i. An analysis of his music within “Mystery Train” reveals that Elvis used Gospel style lyrics throughout his first two albums as well as the popular expansion of musical tradition within this genre.
ii. Michael Bane makes a similar claim within his book “White Boy Sings the Blues”, in which he argues that Elvis used the lyrics of blues musicians in conjunction with Gospel musical traditions in his most popular songs.
iii. The combination of these factors strongly influenced Elvis’s music which was strongly influenced by black musical traditions in relationship to his childhood and his teenage education in blues and gospel.
d. Many contend that Elvis was in fact a racist who intentionally subverted black musical traditions to his own commercial success
i. He was quoted as saying, “The only thing black people can do for me is shine my shoes and buy my music" (NOTATION).
ii. Helen Kolawole contends that Elvis’s racism is brought about by his impoverished upbringing in the backcountry of the south, in which racism was a prevalent form of social caste systems and racial segregation.
iii. “Whether we remember him as an obese, drug-addled misogynist or a hip-swinging rebel, let's call him what he is - the all-conquering great white hope - and demand the entertainment industry never again makes such a deceitful claim” (Kolawole, npg).
e. However, an equal amount of advocates argue that Elvis’s position and his cross-cultural musical tradition were in fact extremely helpful for the black empowerment movement
i. Careful review of literature and cultural texts so that the beginning of Elvis’s career were within R&B communities. Tens of thousands of rural white youths embraced R&B music as well as the later rock and roll venues. Elvis was among these individuals who overtly fell in love with R&B, many times praising King and other strong influences for their role in his music.
ii. It can be argued that the overt participation and the activity within musical culture among white youths was part of the grassroots movement towards greater rights for African Americans.
iii. “On the one hand, Elvis Presley's enormous popularity with young, white southerners in the mid-1950s affirmed that, indeed, a civil rights movement was under way. On the other hand, the disgust with which many of these youngsters' parents greeted Elvis Presley's popularity signified that, despite this movement, large segments of the southern white population would never be moved” (Bertrand, 120).
iv. Experts such as Professor Bertrand argue that Elvis was the epitome not of southern racism, but rather the rise of a revolutionized race relations within the United States.
v. Elvis’s popularity allowed large numbers of southern, white, working class youths to use the revolutionary cultural and musical changes to institute a transformation of the racial “caste” system within the south.
6. A closer examination of Elvis’s music reveals strong influences of black musical traditions.
a. Early music produced by Elvis was rejected on the basis of their “too similar” nature to black R&B music.
i. Elvis’s first songs that he recorded himself were called My Happiness and that’s When Your Heartaches Begin. These two songs were not well received by record companies within the area due to their “coarse and inappropriate nature” that inevitably led to their rejection.
ii. His second attempt which resulted in “A Casual Lover Affair” and “I’ll Never Stand in Your Way” were recorded with Sun Records and its owner Phillips. Although these songs were more polished and showed potential, they still were regarded as too “black” for white audiences.
iii. In order to increase the social acceptability of Elvis’s music, Philips had to hire a backing band featuring a guitarist and bassist in order to deviate the music away from its R&B similarities. Thus producing the soundtracks “I Love you because”, “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and “That’s All Right”. All three of which, especially “Blue Moon”, were to become Elvis’s first hit singles.
iv. The struggle for Elvis to find a venue for his music in these early years demonstrated how closely he was following the R&B style of the black musical tradition. All of these songs had such strong similarities to R&B that Sun Records was hesitant to approve them for broadcasting.
b. Elvis’s later music and especially his dance style are imitations of R&B performances, closely linking his own music with its black musical traditions.
i. Elvis’s popularity did not reach manic levels until his live TV performances were he provided, what was then considered “inappropriate and scandalous” gyrations. These musical traditions were actually already part of black musical culture. Elvis’s impersonation of this style shows a direct imitation of black musical culture at the time.
ii. RCA released Heartbreak Hotel, which is considered one of Elvis’s most celebrated singles, is strongly rooted within black musical culture in both its similarity to R&B as well as gospel music. Experts argue that this rendition in fact has strong roots in similar King music that heavily influenced Elvis.
iii. The last two albums of Elvis’s career, Suspicious Minds and Change of Habit, were both less dramatic and slower than his earlier albums. They exhibit far more than his other albums the gospel roots of his music.
7. Conclusion:
a. Elvis is considered one of America’s greatest musical icons. His home in Graceland is now a national park, and there is still a cult following those results from both his image and his music.
b. It is evident that Elvis was strongly influenced by the black musical tradition.
i. He was raised within an environment where he was constantly exposed to black musical tradition in the form of gospel music. This had a strong influence in developing his music core and understanding of rhythm.
ii. His early teenage infatuation in R&B was the foundation of much of his early works and brought black musical tradition into mainstream society through his blending.
c. Elvis did have a significant impact upon the civil rights movement because he brought the black musical tradition fully into mainstream America at a period where the civil rights movement was at its highest peak. Therefore his influence is profound upon American culture and even more upon the acceptance of black culture within mainstream society.
Bibliogrpahy: Epstein, D. 1977. Sinful Tunes and Spirituals (Chicago)
Pennington, J. 1849. The Fugitive Blacksmith (London)
Russel, T. 1970. Blacks, Whites and Blues (New York)
Southern, E. 1971. The Music of Black Americans (New York)
Kloosterman, Simon and Quispel, Lee. "Not just the Same Old Show on my Radio: An analysis of the role of radio in the diffusion of black music among whites in the south of the United States of America, 1920 to 1960" (Popular music 92) pg 148-162.
Nemerov, Bruce. Elvis's Influence, by Popular Music © 1991 Cambridge University Press
Emery, Ralph. The View from Nashville. New York: Morrow, 1998.
Foster, Pamela. My Country. Nashville, TN: Private Printing, 1998.
Green, Doug. Country Roots. New York: Hawthorn, 1976.
Elvis: A Biography, 1971, BY: Jerry Hopkins
Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, 1994, BY: Peter Guralnick
Elvis Presley: The Man. The Life. The Legend., 2004, BY: Pamela Clarke Keogh
Race, Rock, and Elvis Michael T. Bertrand U of Illinois P, Urbana, IL, 2000
Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia, 1995, BY: Alanna Nash
African American Musical Tradition. (1998, June 9). Retrieved January 9, 2007,
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