Elvis really was one of the forefathers and legends of Rock music. You will never have to worry about finding a video or audio of Elvis ever saying something against black people because it never happened. Elvis wasnt even a LITTLE BIT racist. He was just different. If you haven't seen it check out Elvis lifelong friend SAM BELL's interview. He sadly passed right after this interview. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LrFCyNMvZWk.html&t=
Elvis was influenced by blues, r&b - but also equally by country, pop, crooners and most of all Godspel. As a a child he listened to it all. He just happens to grow up in black communites in the otherwise segregated south (because his family was dirt poor) and was exposed to black music more than his white peers.
GREAT job Jona! SUBBED as promised! Muhammad Ali was also very close to Elvis. Ali hung out with no white people besides Howard Cosell. Ali didn't trust any white man, with one exception, Elvis. Even though Ali was ill with Parkinson's Disease, he made it out to Elvis' memorial, something Ali never did, with one exception.... **TRANSCRIBED TEXT FROM MUHAMMAD ALI'S SPEECH at Elvis' Memorial Service - "We black people are kinda funny about music. We aren’t going to follow someone unless they’ve got some Soul. Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Micheal Jackson, but, the only white boy that had soul and could sing as good as ANY of them was Elvis. A lot of great singers who are black, but, one man literally as good as anybody, put all those brothers together there’s none any better than Elvis Presley. Singing ability, he a had everything, and he was pretty, I know. And when it comes to boxing nobody has the class, the style, the wit, the speed and beauty of Ali. And when it comes to singing nobody had everything like Elvis. And the last thing, we must understand, he did lot for poor people, he cared for people, he had a good heart, he just wasn't a person who was great with talent, but he was great in spirit and with God in his heart, and this is great too. I realize how good I am in my profession, I wouldn't praise nobody if he don't deserve it, because I am the greatest of all time in boxing, in boxing. I said boxing ! But I'm telling you, not just you all, the Elvis fans, so naturally you praise Elvis, he's of European race as you are, but I'm Black, I'm a Islamic, I'm 100% different from you. But I’ll tell the world Elvis was the greatest of all time. I'm a Muslim who's black who stands up for what he believes. I don't have to say what I don't feel, I'm not false, I don't have to say this. I have no Bosses. I'm free. He to me, is one of the greatest singers, actors and all round men of all time.” ~ Watch it here Jona: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PO8Kq_3KTyI.html&t=
I was born about 20 miles south of Memphis in Mississippi and lived in Memphis on and off for nearly 50 years. I've actually seen Elvis out once and a while around the area where I lived which was only a few miles from Graceland. All the stuff you hear about him being racist is not true. Of course there was segregation in the 50s and 60s but my family was never racist and most of the people I grew up with were not racist. All of the stuff you hear about Elvis being racist was just a bunch of rumors from people who wish they were as famous as he was. Elvis died in August of 1977 from a heart attack (which has been questioned ever since). But there will never be another entertainer like him.
Concerning Elvis' death at the age of 42, a journalist (after doing a ton of research) wrote a book called "Destined to Die Young". This interview summarizes what she discovered: Sally A. Hoedel - Memphis interview (5:35). There are also many other interviews with her available on RU-vid.
in 1957 a rumor was started that Elvis said (all a black man can do for me is shine my shoes and buy my records) that traveled the world in minutes but the truth never gets told. Major black magazines (the jet and ebony did a very intense investigation) did a lot of interviews with people who worked for Elvis and there response was that it never happened it was a false rumor. unfortunately many people including in the black community either didn't see the results or were influenced by family or other relatives and friends still belive that he was prejudice. do you own research
Please remember that Elvis always said he was not the king of rock and roll......There is only one King and that is Jesus Christ. Also MJ was called the King of pop even though he did not create Pop music. Elvis was born into poverty and he never forgot where he came from. I subbed because you were trying to understand. You were asking how old Elvis was when he joined the black choir. Elvis was born in 1935 and he was in high school when he joined the black choir. thank you
MJ named himself the King of Pop and wanted to be introduced that way. Elvis always said he wasn’t the king of anything. Humble, beautiful, and legend.
Thanks so much for giving Elvis and his music a chance! To go along with what you just saw, I hope you'll read this article and watch the video clips that are included with it: Elvis Presley and the Black Community: Dispelling the Myths. And for a great introduction to his music could you react to: Elvis Presley - Music Evolution (1954-1977) (7:32). This has no copywrite, and you'll see clips of live performances throughout the years.
Elvis got addicted in the army because the brass was afraid Elvis (and other soldiers who had to stand guard in the icy German winters) might fall asleep on watch in the freezing temperatures, so he got his first uppers while serving in the US army. It snowballed after that when he was back in civilian life and showbiz. He had a doctor in every state (and even several cities per state) who would provide him with all the prescription medication he wanted to have and later needed to sort of function. Such a waste of such a fine specimen. He died at 42, but the state of his body/organs was that of an 80-year-old. Very sad. Elvis would sometimes cause an injury or wound to himself to get certain prescription drugs. He had medical books that described all kinds of medications, which to combine with which etc. that he almost knew by heart; he'd made a whole study of it. He did have a genetic link to heart disease, but he undermined and damaged his health by over using prescription drugs for ailments he did not have, thereby causing real medical issues like a blocked colon, hypertension etc. His intestines had been leaking into his abdomen for some considerable time. He wasn't just constipated, his intestines did not work normally anymore because of the massive amounts of prescription drugs he had been abusing for decades. The placebo intervention by Dr Nick was too little, too late. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hRqzwJJyJkg.html As far as I know, there weren't any real rehab centers as we know them today, back then. His immediate circle of family, friends and employees were all afraid and too uneducated (and probably selfish, not wanting to lose their meal ticket, although very short sighted because that attitude killed their meal ticket prematurely) to do something about it. Elvis' finances were in the toilet at the time of his death. The colonel got 50% of what Elvis earned and all personnel was paid out of Elvis' 50%. Add to that that Elvis was way too generous, even to strangers, and there you have it. Also: people usually criticize the bodyguards who wrote the book Elvis What Happened? But they should also realize that Joe Esposito was a big enabler (and covered up the scene after Elvis' death. He has told at least 3 versions of what happened that fateful day) and Jerry Schilling is totally in Priscilla's pocket (which means going along with falsification of many Elvis facts to suit her storyline; they basically rewrote Elvis history on several points).
He didn’t steal anyones music he payed copyrights to all the artists who’s songs he’s covered like everyone does. And because he covered these songs the original artists made a lot of money and where brought to the attention of a much larger audience which made Them bigger.
One song you must watch along this topic is Elvis' MLK tribute. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-u-pP_dCenJA.html If anyone had any doubts about Elvis & racism ... it ended here. Elvis was devastated by the assassination crying at work during the funeral. (He was on a movie set and walked off and to his co-leads trailer and cried on her shoulder hysterically.) Watch his personal tribute to MLK, during the race riots. NBC and Elvis manager did not want to touch it. They wanted a Christmas song. As CLOSE TO GOD as Elvis was, as he was CLOSE, he wanted to speak to the nation. He won the right to end his NBC special with this social justice song. NO RACIST can sing this song, not during 1968. On such a big platform such as ending your NBC network TV special? I just cant see it. Not with all that passion. Impossible. Obviously a GREAT song to react to if you like : )
All big stars suffered "rumours" but to quote Elvis's African American childhood friend, Sam Bell, "Elvis didn't have a racist bone in his body". Haters are gunna hate. 👍🥃
They tried to cancel him. The establisment did not like him and his powers. They tried to label him as a bad person and ridicule him. No reason for that. They still do it.Very bad people.
* * * ONE SIDED Documentary. Although I do appreciate it, what this documentary does not cover is ALL the other influences that Elvis had: Country Music (Hank Williams; Hank Snow; Chet Atkins, Les Paul, etc). Then theres his bluegrass influences (Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe, etc) Then there's POP music ballads singers (which Elvis wanted to be from the beginnign), such as Bing Crosby & Dean Martin, Sinatra, etc. What Elvis did was not copy R&B, he merged Country music with the Blues and got a new sound. Compare the original versions of some of his R&B covers, such as: Junior Parker's Mystery Train which was slow & more bluesy, now compare what Elvis did to it, faster, more rocking. The documentary basically assumes that R&B & Rock music are identical. They are not. Some Country and Blues in the early days crossed over, and overlapped with each other, before anyone knew how to classify it. what Little Richard & that rapper dude are saying is Elvis should not be ALLOWED to record an R&B song. By the way, Elvis always covered an R&B song AFTER the original R&B artist already had their own hit with it.
Elvis Presley's early concerts, like a lot of other music artists of the 1950, had segregated audiences. But the fans liked Elvis Presley's music so much, the fans, both black and white, would knock down the cordoned/fenced areas in the music halls, and try to get as close to the stage as possible to see him. Others simply just wanted to dance to the Rock music, unencumbered by imposed racial barriers set up to prevent race riots. To see an example of this, check out a scene when Chuck Berry is performing in concert in a segregated music hall in the film, "Cadillac Records" The scene from the movie should be available for viewing here on RU-vid.
Elvis was NOT a racist. The Black Community accused him of stealing their music. Not true. He grew up with black peoples in Tupelo ghetto. He didn’t even have electricity or indoor plumbing. He grew up in Black Gospel churches.
How could he not be influenced by black music culture when he was surrounded by it. He also had other influences such as Country and Spiritual music as well as classical. He was anti racist and there are many stories of him standing up for black people as per this story from Myra Smith from The Sweet Inspirations that you just saw in the video. Yes, you're right as other people have mentioned below - it was a malicious rumour which in some ways he's never been able to fully shake off. Think jealousy and racism was at play but not by Elvis. Unfortunately he became a pawn for racist white people in the early days and they tried to bring him down. Good on you for searching for the truth. He really doesn't deserve to have nasty lies spoken about him when he cannot defend himself any longer.
He was brought up with black people as a child and had many friends who were black. He just soaked up any music he listened to and had to let it out in song.
In his original Sun recordings, he went through a wide range of music until he sang the R and B single Thats Allright. The studio owner had the foresight to grab onto this and run with it. I truly believe Elvis would have ran with gospel music if that was what sold. There indeed are traces of R and B in some of his performances. However, he does not do pure R and B or else it would be R and B. What gets thrown out in these conversations is how important country, southern gospel, blue grass, and the crooners of the day are. Its as if he is an R and B singer only when it is clearly not the same sound. Its Now or Never has zero traces of R and B. It would be highly debatable if Don't Be Cruel and Teddy Bear have any either.
Wow 1000 times. Elvis Presley on behalf of all the lies that were told to many millennial children told to dislike and be sheltered from your history we also were deprived of a good soul, friend, and dare I type brother. Like many lies that were told to white children of them being smarter from a skin tone us later generations are incredibly thankful to the interviews and your unchanged heart to still be kind to your humble beginnings to give back to those whom you recognized as family within the black people community in Memphis. May Memphis be the city of great men who just couldn't get over the demons trying to push them down. God always bless the good men who fight everyday to embody your spiritual nature. R.I.P. Elvis Presley-I'm sorry for ever not researching the truth before now. I'm glad it was all wrong
Elvis Presley can certainly be counted among the great singers, if not the greatest singer of the American songbook. However, what makes him extra special is that fact that he was a humanitarian and the least racial person who ever lived, especially for coming from where he was born. He's also the greatest selling gospel singer in history let alone the greatest selling individual artist by a mil with the most gold and platinum records which isn't even close, either.. And, he introduced karate to America and was very much a worldwide superman based upon introducing karate to America (being in the Karate Hall of Fame, also) and the stories about him, related to how he would wake up and read the paper and then personally deliver wheel chairs to people speaks to the heart of the man. While, personally, I don't think if you don't have a huge heart like him, you (meaning he) would ever be able to sing like he did with the greatest sincerity of anyone, ever!!!
Just as it is difficult for me having been a young boy in the late 1960s and early 70s to understand Jim Crow culture before that and then slavery before that, I think it's difficult for people to understand now what it was like when I was a kid. You saw some of it in that documentary people openly used the n-word and of course the segregation and everything and Elvis had to fight battles against that to bring his black singers along. But one of my best friends and great school was a black boy that lived around the corner from me and I can't tell you how many times I got called the n-word lover and even beat up because there was just such a divided at the time. It's difficult to explain. We still have all these problems today sadly.
Hey great reaction . There was no mixing in the south . This is why elvis got so much crap from the older generation . He was banned from cities in the south ect . Now as I said before the crap came after he died with songs by Chuck D. Or the line The only thing a black man can do is buy my fecords and shine my shoes . It was totally disproved . Then he didn't give credit to black artists . Another lie he always gave credit and paid the songwriters black and white too. Now the best 1 is he stole black music but he only sang what he heared . By doing that he opened the door for white kids to learn about black artists . Lastly No major record label in the south would never have a black artist in 1956. Elvis changed that perception
Elvis didn't steal music and he wasn't a "culture vulture" any more that Michael Jackson was a pop music culture vulture ... and keep in mind that all American music is rooted in country music.
The story that Elvis was a racist came about because a magazine article in the 1950s said that Elvis had said that a black man was only fit to polish his shoes or something along those lines but when and where he was supposed to of said it , Elvis was not even there and was obviously for headlines and to discredit Elvis but unfortunately rumors stick....Elvis was influenced by black culture, black music, black churches and he never tried to hide that fact...his style was a crossover with black music and country music...he never stole black music, he never discredited black artists and he never called himself The King...that was a title given to him and his retort was that there is only one King and that is Jesus Christ....he actually opened up the music he was influenced by to a wider white audience and helped those artists, indirectly....music wouldn't be like it is today if not for Elvis but unfortunately people do not do the research and are not aware of the relationship he had with black culture and what he had to endure from both sides...white people not liking him for singing black music and black artists thinking he was stealing from them..nice review
He was brought up amongst black people in Tupelo and Memphis. And he frequented BB Kings Blues club on Beale Street as a 16 year old. What other kind of music do you suppose he's going to sing if he became a singer? And as a side note, a racist dosent take his black house keeper "house shopping".
There is a part 2 of this video. Elvis passed away after having a heart attack at the age of 42. Those were all horrible rumors of Elvis being a racist. Elvis loved everyone . He loved everyone.
I enjoyed your reaction to this video. I have seen several RU-vidrs react to this video. Most went into the video with preconceived ideas. People start a rumor. It is passed from generation to generation and eventually just accept for fact. Doing your own research is important to know the truth. See the movie if you haven’t already. It mainly focuses on his career not his personal life. Though there are a few inaccuracies, I thought it was great. I have seen it multiple times. If I can make a suggestion. It was hard to follow everything as you often talked over the video. It would be easier to follow if you paused the video when you talked. Thanks for opening your mind to the world of Elvis.
Thanks for the video. The infamous racist rumour originated from a white-owned tabloid magazine for African-Americans called "Sepia" in 1957. It's explained here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-34LrCW2djCk.html Elvis grew up in a black community in Tupelo, Mississippi (where he regularly attended black gospel church revivals). Here's one of his friends from that area being interviewed: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LrFCyNMvZWk.html
It's funny you mentioned hip hop, a lot of samples that's used are written by none blacks, yet a lot of none blacks gets called culture vultures for doing hip hop. So, let's share, with respect for each other, and just enjoy food music no matter what skin color, religion or sexual orientation.
So why don’t they call it stealing now? How about sampling and covering? He was NOT racist. You can still say maybe he was even after watching this? I give up!!
Elvis HATED being called the King. He would quickly correct anyone calling him that stating that there is only one King, Jesus Christ. If you haven't listened to any of his gospel music, please give yourself a wonderful present and do so. Also like most people, Elvis was most comfortable with what he had grown up with ,which was gospel and a heavy influence of black music but he was always quick to give credit where due. James Brown was one of his best friends and he asked the family for some time with Elvis the night before his funeral and sat alone by the coffin for several hours grieving.
Elvis was born in a 1 room shack of a house his dad built with money he borrowed from his boss on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi. That's how dirt poor they were. He was one half of identical twins; the other boy - Jesse Garon - was stillborn. They were so poor, that Jesse Garon was buried in a shoebox in an unmarked grave. At Graceland they have a plaque with his name on it in his memory. He always got along with the black community and learned a lot about music from his friends of color. Also, according to the one drop rule, Elvis would not be considered white, since he has Cherokee ancestors on both the Smith (his mother) and the Presley (his father) sides of the family. His paternal grandfather was not happy that his two sons, Elvis' father Vernon and his brother Vester, married two sisters, Gladys and Clettes who were known to have Cherokee blood in their family tree. But he was in denial about the Cherokee blood in his own family tree. Elvis wanted to be more open about it, but his manager "colonel" Tom Parker (real name Andreas van Kuijk) was against it because he was afraid it might cost Elvis fans (and himself money). They did have Elvis play characters in his movies though where he had Native American blood (Flaming Star, G.I. Blues, Stay Away Joe). Once Elvis had his own (apprentice) job learning to be an electrician, he saved up his money and bought his clothes in the same style that many of his friends of color wore. He was called a (forgive me, just stating facts here) "n-lover" and got beaten up several times too. Later, when he was an established star, he would not perform at places where the members of color of his back-up band/orchestra weren't allowed.
My question is that if he grew up around black people his whole childhood, what is he supposed to do about that? I don't get it. So he's not supposed to be who he was? If he grew up around white people and had no experience with the black culture I could understand but how is it appropriation if that's how he grew up? Someone has to explain that to me.
The truth is, Elvis is put down by a certain percentage of the black community, because it is true that members of the black community sang Elviis' type music before him, obviously, and were not treated that well. But, Elvis also sang other kind of music, too, it should be remembered and his first huge hit, not regional like That's alright, was Heartbreak Hotel written by a white country woman. However, the truth is, too, as BB King, Jackie Wilson, and Rufus Thomas even say in this video (actually Jackie Wilson is not in it), is that Elvis simply had a better voice. As his voice was phenomenal and because he was both the first to break through (and that was because of racism), yet he was the best as is shown by his chart success, amazing range, and the test of time, a lot of people like to put him dow, sadly. As I wish racism would go away so, so bad, as we are all one race and that is human my friend!!! God bless you!!!.
Elvis wasn't imitating anyone. He didn't 'borrow' black music. He simply played music reflective of where he grew up. It was simply a part of him. It's quite interesting that he put his entire career on line in those days by insisting to have the black backupsingers with him or he would refuse to play....
The biggest Star ever Elvis Presley.racist Elvis 🤣🤣🤣🤣.must be Michael Jackson fans who Say that.elvis did open All The Doors fore The Black like The White.elvis was one of a kind Like da vinci.we never in The Short Life we Have see this in many 100 years.but yes The Media call Justin Bieber The New king.it Crazy 🎺🎺🎺🎺😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣.im 65 years old and i never Saw one Like Elvis.today they use autotune if you cant sing.its very sad.talent is rare and Elvis Presley had IT all and Envy people All arround
Envy is a bad thing.i know its Michael Jackson fans who said this bad things about Elvis.michael Jackson even copy Elvis close in Stage and merry Elvis stupid daughter.elvis was Out of this World and we not see this in many many years to come Like Mozart and da Vinci
Elvis was born in 1935 and became famous around 1955 and died in 1977. You should do your research about Elvis. Elvis was amazing and he wasn't a racist! Sammy Davis Jr was right Elvis was the first artist that people would come to see his concerts around the world. That's true, he was the first to have people come to his concerts from all over the world. You need to learn your history in music. Elvis brought black music to the main stream and it wouldn't have never happened in the 1950's with a black artist because the races were separated.
Elivs coming out of an recording seen a black couple admiring his cadilac he gave them the keys!!! people have too stop with this stealing ,racist BS hes the king and his legend will live on!!
Elvis was born and raised in predominantly poor, black communities. Of course he absorbed this black culture ! The hate comes from performers not even alive while Elvis was alive. In his day, it was common to sing the songs of others. Elvis sung songs from white & black performers. He sang them in his style! Where’s the evidence of racism ? There is none !
