To Elvis Aaron Presley, who woulda been 71 today. He still 'ain't nothin' but a hounddog'!
Elvis Presley was the first real rock and roll star. A white southerner who, singing blues laced with country and country tinged with gospel, brought together music from both sides of the color line. Presley performed this music with a natural hip swiveling sexuality that made him a teen idol and a role model for generations of cool rebels. Presley was repeatedly dismissed as vulgar, incompetent and a bad influence. However the force of his music and image signaled to the mainstream culture it was time for a change.
This post is for my mother, who is old enough to remember when The Ed Sullivan Show blacked out the bottom of the TV screen, so as not to corrupt young viewers.
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