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schooloftuneage · 2 years ago

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SCHOOL OF TUNEAGE: LESSON ONE. IN THE BEGINNING...

CLASS IS IN SESSION.

Good evening, my fellow freaks, fillies, and other assorted friends. I'm your deejay for the evening, Zee, and I'll be starting out this blog, this course, and this whole damn mission with a statement that some would consider to be moderately controversial.

Rock music is innately Black music.

Now, yes, we've had our share of crackers in the biz (myself included) but the FOUNDATIONS OF ROCK MUSIC, AND THE SONGS THAT MADE ROCK MUSIC WHAT IT IS, are primarily from Black artists.

Don't believe me? Let's delve in.

Early Rock and Roll was, at its core, a danceable, high-octane (for the time) fusion of Rhythm and Blues and Country. Now, I don't have to tell you how very Black-dominated R&B was, even at the time.

Consider this: Jimmy Preston's "Rock The Joint", from 1949.

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Or, from 1946, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right".

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BUT rock `n roll got passed off to the public vis-a-vis an acceptable, lilly-white proxy… Elvis Presley. Consider this, his seminal hit, 'You Ain't Nothin' But A Hound Dog'.

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Now, do you want to see something really awesome?

Elvis' version was a cover. A cover that he (and the recording industry) tried to pretend wasn't a cover.

Here's our first track of the week… the original.

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That's BIG MAMA THORNTON, blues singer, the woman responsible for the trope codifier for rock `n roll… and, you will note, a woman singing quite a different song from Elvis' version. Big Mama's was a song of Black female empowerment, a song about telling a freeloading gigolo to hit the road, while Elvis' was sanitized into almost a Kidz Bop version. Hell, he sanitized it MORE than Kidz Bop sanitized "Lips of an Angel" (and more on THAT debacle another day).

And this was far from the only offense in Presley's resume.

Otis Blackwell was a prolific songwriter who originally sang many, many early rock songs. These included Jerry Lee Lewis' 'Great Balls of Fire', as well as Elvis' 'All Shook Up', 'Don't Be Cruel', and 'Return to Sender'. And these last three are probably the most damning indictment of the whitewashing of rock `n roll. Why?

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That's why. Give that a close listen.

Elvis seemed to take his entire way of singing - his delivery, his inflection, everything - from Otis Blackwell. As you can see from Otis' album title there, "These are my songs!", he was at least able to attempt to claw back some recognition in later years, but - in the opinion of this berk - it was definitely a case of too little, too late.

We know now. History is damn clear on the topic. But for years, the industry hid behind the Great White Hype of Elvis, pretended he was an innovator instead of a repackager, and shut out the real innovators from their rightful recognition.

Perhaps it is ironic that in years to come - particularly in the late sixties and seventies - there would be a rising 'damn the man' rebellion baked into rock and roll. Or perhaps it would just be karma, ensuring that the sanitization of an inherently rebellious music made by an oppressed people would still carry their spirit.

For tonight, I leave you with another early rock track - what some people say is the first real rock song. Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm - Rocket 88.

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Class dismissed.

And now we go to open conversation - we've got a survey out right now, check down the page. If you fill it out, I'll have a better idea of what topics everyone wants to cover. And of course, if you want to keep talking about what I covered above... please do.

#School of Tuneage #Lesson 1 #Music #Rock and Roll #Ike Turner #Big Mama Thornton #Otis Blackwell #Arthur Crudup #Jimmy Preston #Elvis Presley #Early Rock #Proto-rock #R&B #Videos #Youtube

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kulturegroupie · 4 months ago

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