CHANCE B - thank you for getting the word out to the world of one the greatest rock and roll and pop music songwriters - of all time - -This has to be known - let them know it , Joe
I hope his record company has paid him his full royalties over the years. I also pray his family have beneefitted from his works. Only found out about him today even though I know all of his compositions. What a talent.
@@phebusphebus1546 The Colonel made sure Elvis got most of it. But Otis did get some. When I worked with him, he was a generally happy man, and a pleasure to spend time with.
@@gregpage117 so bad I Always thought he got 50% and Elvis also 50%.the way you explain it to me seems like Otis got 40 or 30%. You know Mac Davis (the man whom wrote In the ghetto, Memories, little less conversation and don't cry daddy) made lot of money from his song-writing for Elvis. so Maybe Otis Blackwell was discret about his money, but was still millionnaire of almost millionnaire with all the songs he wrote and only for Elvis
@@phebusphebus1546 he openly discussed some bad financial choices. An amazing guy, and an incredible songwriter. It's a shame that more people don't know his name.
@@gregpage117 Oh yeah most people do not know his name. I am desappointed to read those informations on his Elvis songs royalties. but you said bad financial choices
Mr Chancellor you have helped us who listen to you to see and hear this World as it truly is. Otis Blackwell is one of the pillars on which Rock n Roll rests ...the middle one!
One time i was hitching a ride to Halifax to do some surfing.. this guy picks me up and schools me on the Otis Blackwell story.. i shall never forget that day.. Otis is truly the father of modern music, and i do my best to tell the story whenever an Elvis song comes on or what have you. Thanks for this!!!!!!! PS..Hello Michael, a real treat to read your post!
@michaelblackwell49 Hi Michael. Thanks so much for your comment. It was truly an honor to do a story on your Dad. He is the foundation of Rock and Roll. Please tell your brothers and sisters thank you as well. Take care and God bless.
Thanks for shining a light on Otis Blackwell. I’ve always loved the big hits of the 50’s and 60’s. I remembered seeing his name in the songwriting credits of a 45 or two but I didn’t realize that he wrote so many fantastic songs. He is Rock and Roll Royalty. Just minutes before I watched this video today I had the pleasure to watch his terrific performance of Don’t Be Cruel on Late Night with David Letterman.
Thanks so much for this beautiful and informative video! Your writing and delivery are TOP-SHELF! Through an unpredictable string of events, my family and I live in Otis Blackwell’s Nashville home. He passed away just a few feet from where I stand now. Great respect for this talented man!
thank you for posting this video - it is so informative and little known in the music world. if only blacks realize just how much they have contributed to music and this Country as a whole. thanks again
Alot of black writers and Singers paved the way for Rock and Roll but never got credit.Everything was stolen from US and never got the recognition we deserved.
Timmy Thomas jr , that's usually the story for all that is in excistance! Don't believe me.....Take a little historical journey back into Time! Excellent source material "The Moor's In Spain"!
Timmy Thomas jr - The only true art form created in the Americas is jazz, a product of black culture. Rock n Roll was created by black artists. Rhythm and Blues was created by black musicians. Blues was created by black culture . Most popular music ,with the exception of country, had it's foundation in black culture. Everybody on the planet Earth knows this and nobody disputes it. How much recognition do you want? And btw.....of course everyone is aware alot of people got ripped off. We're talking about show business here, probably the most corrupt, dishonest industry anywhere. Coincidentally, the people who NEVER read their contracts were more likely to be taken advantage of especially young entertainers. Chuck Berry never got ripped off because he was knowledgeable about business. Also, not everyone wants to be a star, some like Otis Blackwell and many others are song writers, that is their chosen profession so of course the general public has no idea who they are but musicians certainly do and that's good enough for most.
Good song writer and he deserves the history and credit but Elvis always sang these hits the best... Elvis got the Gold records because he was talented and the best versions and voice... Otis deserves writers royalties but Elvis deserves for his hits and voice versions... So sick of people trying to bash Elvis now that he has passed dont try to tarnish or take away from what he truly deserved... Sad they are both gone and they gave their individual gifts... But the Legacy of Elvis will never die nor the devotion and love his records created...
It should also be noted that Elvis Presley "Don't Be Cruel" went #1 (R&B and Country) on Billboard's Singles Charts along with "Paralyzed" (#59 Pop/#8 United Kingdom), "All Shock Up" (#1 R&B/#1 Country and #1 United Kingdom), "Return To Sender" (#5 R&B/#1 United Kingdom), "One Broken Heart For Sale" (#11 Pop/#21 R&B/#12 United Kingdom), "Easy Question" (#11 Pop/#1 Adult Contemporary)...Little Richard "Ready Teddy" (#8 R&B/#44 Pop), "Rip It Up" (#1 R&B/#17 Pop/#30 United Kingdom), "All Around The World" (#13 R&B) and the list goes on and on and on!!!
Thank you for pointing out that it was Elvis Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who was the one responsible for Elvis getting royalty rights from Blackwell's songs. Because of Tom Parker a lot of people THINK, and assume, Elvis was racist, which Just isn't true. His manager was the one who was racist, not Elvis.
Nice presentation, ¿but was it by chance the Ahmet Ertegun award at the R&R Hall of Fame? You kind of mispronounced the name, correct me if I'm wrong, please. Ahmet Ertegun wrote and produced Ray Charles first hit "Mess Around", and helped a lot of artists subsequently.
There are a number of problems with this video, specifically regarding Elvis recording of "All Shook Up" or rather his co-writing credit, as well as the video itself. Last things first for the wealth of material that Blackwell wrote I fin dit odd that so much focus was placed on "Fever" while so many other songs, esp. the Jerry Lee Lewis classics, were passed over. Surely a snippet of "Fever" would have been sufficient. "Paralyzed" is an interesting song because I always felt it would have charted in America (as it did in England) if it had been named "Hypnotized" instead (the polio scare was just too great in America the time and I suspect the word "paralyzed" turned some off; but even apart from the polio (infantile paralysis) scare, the metaphor was not as benign as "hypnotized" (motorists were already being paralyzed in vehicular accidents and paralyzed by strokes, as indeed Blackwell himself was later to succumb to). As for co-writing credit on "All Shook Up," surely the host should have seen that Elvis does NOT share co-writing credit on other Blackwell songs. Second, if one listens to the David Hill original, the lyrics are exactly the same. Third, what did change was the melody, the key end note on end phrases, such as "what's wrong with ME" and "TREE," etc. That was probably the reason that Elvis requested songwriting co-credit. And if you listen to later covers, they follow Elvis' changes to the melody, not the Hill original. Alec Wilder, author of a classic book on the American Popular Song (and songwriter himself) wrote that he remembered the days when if Frank Sinatra changed a note on a song that he recorded, the next edition of the song (in notation) would include Sinatra's altered pitch, so accurate was Sinatra's ear that apparently even the composer of the song realized they wrote the wrong note down.
Elvis never "requested" credit. Ever. But he did have a different story about the idea for the song. Elvis, giving full credit to Blackwell and all the writers in the interview, nonetheless said he woke up from a nightmare all shook up and called a "friend." This would be Blackwell, anxious to place another song with Elvis after "Don't Be Cruel," which made everybody involved truckloads of money. Elvis didn't detail the phone conversation, but if you read some of the lyrics, they DO describe waking up from a nightmare. It had to be about young love, of course, but there in the middle, is an exact corroboration of Elvis's take on the genesis of the song. "Well, my hands are shaky and my knees are weak I can't seem to stand on my own two feet" The rest of the lyrics are converted into "love lyrics." Still, in the interview, after Elvis had already stopped this practice forever, he said he had not written any of the songs. In fact, when he was at Sun Records, he often was more than deserving of writer's credit, such as on "Milkcow Blues Boogie," but asked for none and got none. That song was NOTHING at all like the original Milkcow Blues song from decades before. Carl Perkins, on the other hand took credit for "Matchbox" which really was outright plagiarism. Johnny Cash plagiarized "Fulsom Prison Blues." It was written by a famous orchestral conductor who had worked for Sinatra, Gordon Jenkins. He filed a lawsuit and Cash lost because it really was premeditated plagiarism. He had to pay $75,000 to Jenkins. Elvis never did anything like that. In fact, once he realized what Parker and Hill & Range were doing, he stopped it cold. What he had no control over were the publishing rights. Hill & Range continued to ask writers for half the publishing until the whole thing came to a fight over the great "Suspicious Minds." Elvis desperately wanted to record it, but Mark James was not going to give half the publishing to Hill & Range. So, Elvis brought the RCA suits in, and he was able to record the song because RCA forced Hill & Range to back down. By the late 1960s, professional songwriters had their own publishing companies. And so this was when the battles ensued, over publishing, not writing. The person who lost the most in all this was Elvis Presley because he was forced to turn down so many good songs.
There were black performers, producers and label owners in the music business that played games with songwriters as well. Supposedly pianist Johnny Johnson had significant input into early Chuck Berry songs, such as Memphis and Maybelline--after all, it was the Johnny Johnson Trio that Berry played guitar in during the mid-1950s. Then there's Don Robey, aka D. Malone. He just bought songs for as little as $50. No 50-50 split there....
Chuck ripped off those piano riffs to create his immortal guitar riffs. And his Maybelline is an old country standard. Cultural appropriation in music is the lifeblood of music.
@@dilsherali3594 black people created country music look it up. The point is that whites steal stuff from African ppl n take credit like Elvis did Mr Blackwell
Good job, didn't know the Joe Tex story about "Fever"! But now I'm confused: do we credit "Fever" to Otis? Or to Joe? Your video seems to say that Joe DID write the song....but then you play the full tune, so I'm assuming you believe it WAS written by Otis? It's so wild, because of the songwriter credit, I never knew it was Otis OR Joe! PS: Although the practice of attaching people's names to songs they did not write WAS in practice at the time, I believe Elvis' co-writing credit has to do with his changing the words on "Don't Be Cruel" in the studio ("why should we be apart? I really love you, cross my heart." That's Elvis' line, and it's not exactly a great line! Especially when the first time it goes around, there's no rhyme (no pro songwriter like Otis Blackwell would be inconsistent like that), it's the one clunker lyric in the song, it doesn't even sound right when he sings it so I definitely believe Elvis wrote THAT line). And with "All Shook Up", according to your video, he had the lyrics changed (and might have contributed himself) so although it's a bit of a stretch but they are there, in the studio, working together. It's not the same as Chuck Berry sharing "Maybellene" with a stationary vendor that the Chess brothers owed money to, someone Chuck never met. From what I know, Elvis' name hardly ever came up on songwriter credits, in fact the only other time I can think of is "Heartbreak Hotel". Hey, I've got a guy I'd love for you to do a video on: Lincoln Chase! Another great unhearlded songwriter from that period ("Jim Dandy" by Lavern Baker, "The Nitty Gritty" and "The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis, his wife. And an amazing, wild, weird album from the early 70s called "Lincoln Chase 'n You". The song "Three Hands" is particularly fantastic. Not on UA-cam! Contact me and I'll get it to you if you don't have it. PS: loving your channel! thank you for profiling these fantastic artists! PSS Barbara Lynn, that's another! Maybe you've done a video on her, already.
@ Tic Tic Melody - I need for you to please cite your source for Elvis changing or adding the line - "Why should we be apart? I really love you baby, cross my heart" in Don't Be Cruel. Because in 40 Years of researching that history, along with every biographer of Otis Blackwell, and including dozens of interviews with Otis himself talking about that song, in none of them have I ever seen anyone mention what you wrote above. So if you have a legitimate Source where you got that information please share it here for the rest of us. The other thing I need to point out that I find a bit disturbing about your statements is Otis himself had stated that Elvis recorded the lyrics Just the Way he (Otis) wrote them. So it sounds a bit like you're saying Otis basically was a liar. Either Elvis recorded DONT BE CRUEL just the way Otis wanted him to... or Elvis changed some of the lyrics. Which is it? Also, nobody anywhere from the music world back in that era ever said anything about that lyric sounding off, or not making sense ..Etc ... as you implied above If anything, most people have always said the entire song as Elvis recorded it, the lyrics that Otis wrote were top-notch. In all my years of researching I have never seen one person make a statement like yours above about that part of the song not sounding like it was written by professional songwriter. It sounds fine & makes perfect sense. Now, Really going to need you to give your *proof* that Elvis actually changed that lyric. Thx
Elvis loved everything black EXCEPT the people ; and gave Mr. Blackwell or any other black NO credit for his rise to fame. its better to know than to think these days
Jeez. Evidence for that slander please? All I see is photos of "racist" Elvis with Black artistes all over the place - at a time when a White bloke would find that life threatening, having Black friends as a kid, his parents seeimg every cour as people, quotes about how he loved the Blues, having Black acts in his groups, being supported by Black artists etc. You picked the wrong target here, friend.
No but Elvis Presley's manager Tom Parker was a racist, and stopped Elvis from doing many good deeds he WANTED to do for black people. So it's the principle of claiming something that was Just not true. It's the truth that matters, and black people were always getting a racist deal. And like I said , it had nothing to do with Elvis Presley... It was his racist manager.
The important point is that this wasn't done for the benefit of Elvis Presley. It was a kickback deal for Hill & Range publishing, set up by Elvis Presley's notoriously crooked manager. Elvis wasn't registered to BMI until years after his death. The writing credit thus did not go to him. It was set up by Col. Parker to kick back more money to Hill & Range. Blackwell was also a Hill & Range writer, so he was able to place his songs with Elvis Presley. But the whole arrangement was a kickback deal; Elvis got nothing from it. Simple as that.
Elvis must have got something surely. He may not have got all of it but he got something. Plus, he could see his name as co-writer. Elvis was rich when he died, because he was receiving money from his Vegas shows and royalties from all the past recordings.
@@GRTVO Actually, ALL Elvis Presley's performance royalties through 1973 were sold off for a ridiculously small sum in the infamous 1973 "buyout" deal. It was more collusion, this time between Parker and RCA. At his death, the estate reaped very little from the enormous record sales because of "the buyout." The estate also had to completely create new publishing arrangements several years and even decades after his death, especially for gospel songs that he arranged and adapted from the public domain for which he received nothing. The same for newly discovered studio jams created by Elvis: there was no publishing entity. Blackwell stated on many occasions that he made serious buckets of money in those early days and when Elvis passed on, he recorded two tribute recordings to Elvis. He had no gripe with him whatsoever. Elvis made money from touring after 1974, and from a few more Vegas stints in the few years before his early death. This dried up by 1981, when the estate was in the hole to the IRS. That's why they opened the house to the public. There was no other choice.
@@RobinMarkowitzcoolmedia I didn't know about that. Blackwell may not have had any gripes with the deal but he really didn't have much choice under the circumstances. But thanks for that information much appreciated.
I think Elvis respected and loved black people for their talents and contributions. He never kept it a secret of the influence that blacks had on his style and music. But black or not, Elvis would have risen to the top of the entertainment, because he was a natural performer.
What team???? No one even knew Otis was the real Elvis until Micheal Jackson exposed this to the world. Elvis was one of the biggest frauds in music history .
@@mizzmini45 stop reading propaganda. Otis and Elvis never met in person. Thst was Otis’ superstition. He simply didn’t like to meet the people for whom he wrote. They did talk on the phone often. Said Otis “we had a good thing going” and he didn’t want to change. Elvis was a great singer. Your ears aren’t lying. He made the songs hits. Big hits. And Otis did just fine.
Was it Colonel Tom Parker that said, the only thing a black person can do for him is shine his shoes? Now no one can step on his blue suede shoes or his toes? Don't get it twisted, I liked Elvis, went to see his movies as a teen in the sixties, and I adored him, until I heard that. And I'm not racist, as I have dated a few white men.
Cynthia Culverhouse No one said it. It was an unsourced lie from a white-owned magazine in Texas. It was a lie, and seemingly a malicious one. Jet magazine investigated it, even interviewing Elvis, and after looking under every rock, declared it false.
Do we know the percentage split between Elvis and Mr. Otis Blackwell? Is that why Ray Charles record deals were that he keep his masters? And today the black artist and producer are getting over on their record and music deals right? Poetic justice if they are and replay the above on Blackwell and get a lawyer if you got one of those Jim Crow entertainment contracts even if the record company is own by a African Americans. Don't forget Tina Turner ripped off by Ike. Boy did he get pie in the face when Tina divorced and left the band? You know who those companies and performers singers were and are! Poor Jackie Wilson! Tell the whole and nothing but the truth!
Half the writing, but Blackwell was also a Hill & Range writer, so he got significantly more than if he was with another publisher. Publishing is far more important than writing. But Elvis didn't get anything because he wasn't registered with the appropriate publishing society, which was BMI. So who saw that half? Where did that 50% go? Hill&Range Publishing got a little more icing on their cake. Parker set this up. It was a kickback deal that the very young singer knew nothing about. As soon as he saw his name on a song he didn't write, he stepped up and stopped it immediately. He also told the public in interviews. Any future songs, not Blackwell's or Ken Darby's (a white Hollywood composer), that had his name on them were songs he actually did co-write. And still got no royalties, even for public domain songs he arranged and adapted. This was fixed a number of years *after his death* when they found a new song he wrote in the studio and Elvis wasn't registered to BMI. It took several years to repair things so that the estate saw any royalties. Elvis signed away his performance royalties for peanuts in 1973. Still today, his heirs get no performance royalties for songs recorded prior to 1973.
On the david Letterman Mr. Blackwell stated that he wrote all of his songs himself and elvis just put his name on everything Mr. Blackwell was robbed there a long history of black artists being ripped off by white artists
I have read about Otis Blackwell in a Black History book. Same on Elvis stealing somebody else music, and tried to clain the music as his own. The only thing he is King of is Food and drugs. He died over weigh and high. God doesn't like ungliness.
Janice Bristol Janice Bristol Settle your ASS down. You need some perspective. Just what exactly would you call "stealing"? Elvis ACTUALLY gave credit? Because literally 10's of Millions of people saw Elvis's public acknowledgement to Otis Blackwell as the songwriter every single time they played one of his records... (Otis' name was listed on every record as songwriter). Not to mention Elvis publicly in his interviews gave a lot of credit to his black influences over the years. A guy was on the radio the other day just telling people they can go on internet and research the excerpts from both BB King and James Brown's autobiographies were they both said Elvis was No Thief. Little Richard also defended Elvis against this ridiculous charge over the years. Look, Elvis already had the Soul & Blue note in his voice and was a legit great singer. There were Gospel singers and Blues singers that knew Elvis back then and have even talked about this. BB King, Early Wright & Reverend Herbert Brewster were just a few of those that have spoke of this. The guy who was talking about this the other day on the radio schooling some people about this a talk show dared people to try to research it. As he explained on radio - The myth is Elvis got his singing style from Otis Blackwell, or stole from other black artists, is slander and complete false history. Don't believe the hype. Chuck D himself found this out when BB King, Blues Man Bobby Blue Bland, Ike Turner and James Brown called him out for dissing Elvis years ago on the Fight the Power album. And they explain to him how Elvis grew up as a child in Tupelo singing gospel in the church and came by his singing style honest. They also told Chuck how many of those other Blues & R&B guys had mad respect for Elvis back in the day. That white boy took an awful lot of hate from racist white folks because he was very publicly, and privately, pro-black. I give Chuck credit tho. Since then he has acknowledged Elvis with great respect in various interviews. In a 1981 interview Otis also talked about how right before Elvis died he was making plans to hook up with Elvis and finally meet. And he explained how Elvis's sudden death hit him almost as hard as when his own mother died. Otis said it crushed him emotionally because he had great respect for Elvis. There's also people from the music industry that knew Otis personally and said Otis regretted putting off meeting Elvis for years, and he always spoke nothing but respect. Don't forget Otis got paid crazy big money. People need to stfu & pull the stick out their ass about EP. You're right God doesn't like ugliness. Better work on yours. And to think you said in your other comment people should check his story on the internet. LMAO. Yes I recommend you take some of your own advice on this
J Bristol...You're an idiot. Otis probably made more money on his Elvis covered tunes because they have been released hundreds of times and recorded live on multiple albums from 69-77
The idea that Otis was forced to accept unfair deal because that’s just the way it was, is removing the man’s agency. If he knew his songs were so great he should have put them out himself but he chose to sell his songs to the labels
If we are writing history, let's get the history of "Hound Dog". You are incorrect by giving credit to "Big Momma Thornton" and "Hound Dog". It wasn't hers. It was actually written by two Jewish songwriters, Lieber and Stroller". These guys can be considered the "Lennon-McCartney" of the 1950's before the "Beatles".
@@oyaami1874 Oh sure, now you want to take away the Jewish writers credit also huh. Of course, what if i suggest that the blacks took and stole others ideas as well? How would that sound? I'd sound stupid and some may say racists. You are doing just that. Leiber and Stoller didn't buy their songs...they were true writers and musically gifted. In fact, there is a factual story that a music publisher came to Lieber and Stoller and told them they needed 4 songs for the "Jailhouse Rock" movie Elvis did, and in one day or so, they had written classics songs for Elvis movie, not bought nor stole from someone else. "Jailhouse Rock" "Treat Me Nice" "You're So Square Baby I Don't Care", and "I Want To Be Free". So don't come lying about them buying songs. That's never been provien. They actually wrote one of the biggest hits for Ben King, who did not write that song that made him a star, whiich song? ..."Stand By Me" buddy. So foget about it. Blacks don't have the lock on songwriting, so i don't even know why you are going there. I can tell one group, that will never beaten by any black and/or white group again, they called, "The Beatles", and i'll give you one more, "The Bee Gees', all original guys writing humongous classic hits of all times.
Elvis said the only thing Black ppl can do 4 him is buy his records, and shine his shoes. I think one of his Back ground singers was a Black lady.She was real like skinned women.
Janice Bristol I hope you've evolved a little bit in the last 4 years with your viewpoints Janice. That white boy was probably one of the few if any white people back in the day that was a friend to the black community. This is documented by a tremendously long list of black folks that gave interviews over the years and knew him as a child in Tupelo, as well as black folks that knew him when he was older later in Memphis. "Nonsense. There wasn't a racist bone in Elvis' body. Elvis didn't know how to mistreat somebody! I can attest to that" - Samuel Bell Elvis's black childhood friend from Tupelo, answering the question in an interview about "was Elvis racist?" The fact that Muhammad Ali, BB King and James Brown not only were proud friends of Elvis's... but they actually spoke up Elvis over the years. They all heard some of the nonsense rumors that Elvis was racist. That should be enough to Humble anyone and make them do a little research on it. That white boy took an awful lot of hate from a lot of bigoted white folks back in the day because he was quite publicly (and privately) pro-black in his attitude. Please research it and stop spreading false rumors and lies
STILL... black people were heavily discriminated against. That is the reason why Sam Phillips opened up Sun Studio for blacks who couldn't record at other studios because of racism. It wasn't Just in the music business, segregation was LAW, period. When Joe Louis fought Jimmy Braddock, part of the deal was that Jimmy got 10 % of all Joe's earning for the next 10 years everytime Joe fought. NO. It was racism, and nobody is going to EXCUSE that crime whites practised. Elvis, though, is exempt.
Cj...a lot of these issues are coveted in the Sundance indie film The King. If u aint seen its out in October on DVD. Its astonishing - especially Chuck D's interview.
![Otis Blackwell - Make Me Know It [Demo]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nqDl_S34K5E/mqdefault.jpg)
CHANCE B - thank you for getting the word out to the world of one the greatest rock and roll and pop music songwriters - of all time - -This has to be known - let them know it , Joe
Otis Blackwell is one of the most gifted songwriter's in R&B history!
I hope his record company has paid him his full royalties over the years. I also pray his family have beneefitted from his works. Only found out about him today even though I know all of his compositions. What a talent.
I worked with Otis in the 80's, when we recorded his video of The King's Not Dead. He was a pleasure to work with, and a really great guy!
do you think he got lot of money, from All shook up, Don't be cruel song-writting? beacause those songs have been very successfull
@@phebusphebus1546 The Colonel made sure Elvis got most of it. But Otis did get some. When I worked with him, he was a generally happy man, and a pleasure to spend time with.
@@gregpage117 so bad I Always thought he got 50% and Elvis also 50%.the way you explain it to me seems like Otis got 40 or 30%. You know Mac Davis (the man whom wrote In the ghetto, Memories, little less conversation and don't cry daddy) made lot of money from his song-writing for Elvis. so Maybe Otis Blackwell was discret about his money, but was still millionnaire of almost millionnaire with all the songs he wrote and only for Elvis
@@phebusphebus1546 he openly discussed some bad financial choices. An amazing guy, and an incredible songwriter. It's a shame that more people don't know his name.
@@gregpage117 Oh yeah most people do not know his name. I am desappointed to read those informations on his Elvis songs royalties. but you said bad financial choices
Mr Chancellor you have helped us who listen to you to see and hear this World as it truly is. Otis Blackwell is one of the pillars on which Rock n Roll rests ...the middle one!
What a discover for me!!!❤️❤️❤️
I’m so happy!!!🇧🇫🇲🇱🇳🇪💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿🙏🏿
One time i was hitching a ride to Halifax to do some surfing.. this guy picks me up and schools me on the Otis Blackwell story.. i shall never forget that day.. Otis is truly the father of modern music, and i do my best to tell the story whenever an Elvis song comes on or what have you. Thanks for this!!!!!!! PS..Hello Michael, a real treat to read your post!
He wrote great music and really great lyrics
@michaelblackwell49 Hi Michael. Thanks so much for your comment. It was truly an honor to do a story
on your Dad. He is the foundation of Rock and Roll. Please tell your brothers and sisters thank you
as well. Take care and God bless.
Thank you for the facts...I never knew Otis Blackwell
A very good job on our black Artist's I love it
He is truly unsung
Thanks for shining a light on Otis Blackwell. I’ve always loved the big hits of the 50’s and 60’s. I remembered seeing his name in the songwriting credits of a 45 or two but I didn’t realize that he wrote so many fantastic songs. He is Rock and Roll Royalty. Just minutes before I watched this video today I had the pleasure to watch his terrific performance of Don’t Be Cruel on Late Night with David Letterman.
❤🎉❤🎉 I love Elvis and I love oldest Blackwell❤🎉❤🎉
I love his music....what a great songwriter.
Otis Blackwell 🎹🎶🌎👏👏👏👏👏 Classic Lyrical King Rock 😎 Roll
Now run and tell dat!
I was searching for Otis Blackwell... and found YOU! :-)
Thanks so much for this beautiful and informative video! Your writing and delivery are TOP-SHELF! Through an unpredictable string of events, my family and I live in Otis Blackwell’s Nashville home. He passed away just a few feet from where I stand now. Great respect for this talented man!
Typical
Thank you. Truth about our legacy and huge contribution to this society in America before during and after slavery! Lawd ham marcy!
thank you for posting this video - it is so informative and little known in the music world. if only blacks realize just how much they have contributed to music and this Country as a whole. thanks again
I collect 45's and there are so many written by "O. Blackwell". All are favorites of mine. He was one gifted guy. Thanks for the story.
Otis Blackwell is one of the greatest songwriters of all-time
Thank you for sharing this. And that fever song! Man! Quality! It did give me fever. Salute from the UK
Alot of black writers and Singers paved the way for Rock and Roll but never got credit.Everything was stolen from US and never got the recognition we deserved.
Timmy Thomas jr , that's usually the story for all that is in excistance! Don't believe me.....Take a little historical journey back into Time! Excellent source material "The Moor's In Spain"!
Elvis gave credit to the R&B and Gospel singers his entire life...And paid the hefty hospital bills for Jackie Wilson when Wilson had a stroke...
@@michaelhandy8848 not talking about Elvis Presley we talking about mainstream media
Timmy Thomas jr - The only true art form created in the Americas is jazz, a product of black culture. Rock n Roll was created by black artists. Rhythm and Blues was created by black musicians. Blues was created by black culture . Most popular music ,with the exception of country, had it's foundation in black culture. Everybody on the planet Earth knows this and nobody disputes it. How much recognition do you want? And btw.....of course everyone is aware alot of people got ripped off. We're talking about show business here, probably the most corrupt, dishonest industry anywhere. Coincidentally, the people who NEVER read their contracts were more likely to be taken advantage of especially young entertainers. Chuck Berry never got ripped off because he was knowledgeable about business. Also, not everyone wants to be a star, some like Otis Blackwell and many others are song writers, that is their chosen profession so of course the general public has no idea who they are but musicians certainly do and that's good enough for most.
even inventions
Now that's who Estelle Brown and the Sweet Inspirations and all of Memphis, Tennessee and Graceland should Love 💘 and be thankful 🙏 for 😁😎😎😎😎
Good video. Otis sang it all better. What a talented man!
Otis really rocked!
One of the fathers of modern music.
RIP OB😓
WOW he is a genius
Change B I like to see you do more on more artists. I like when you give story's to these artists.
Wow! as per usual =
Great piece!
Beautiful. Thanks so much.
Good song writer and he deserves the history and credit but Elvis always sang these hits the best... Elvis got the Gold records because he was talented and the best versions and voice... Otis deserves writers royalties but Elvis deserves for his hits and voice versions... So sick of people trying to bash Elvis now that he has passed dont try to tarnish or take away from what he truly deserved... Sad they are both gone and they gave their individual gifts... But the Legacy of Elvis will never die nor the devotion and love his records created...
Thank you fh346!
I remember this!!!
It should also be noted that Elvis Presley "Don't Be Cruel" went #1 (R&B and Country) on Billboard's Singles Charts along with "Paralyzed" (#59 Pop/#8 United Kingdom), "All Shock Up" (#1 R&B/#1 Country and #1 United Kingdom), "Return To Sender" (#5 R&B/#1 United Kingdom), "One Broken Heart For Sale" (#11 Pop/#21 R&B/#12 United Kingdom), "Easy Question" (#11 Pop/#1 Adult Contemporary)...Little Richard "Ready Teddy" (#8 R&B/#44 Pop), "Rip It Up" (#1 R&B/#17 Pop/#30 United Kingdom), "All Around The World" (#13 R&B) and the list goes on and on and on!!!
hey , Oprah, put some money into making a movie about these singers who created rock and roll but was really rhythm and blues
Nice!
Little Willie John Blows!
It’s sad black Americans created Rock and Roll and never got the credit they much deserved.
"Such an easy question".... is the jam....
07:11 I said HUh in amazement myself 😂
just a little look around. digging into music... a better lesson on why... the right way to live
Thank you for pointing out that it was Elvis Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who was the one responsible for Elvis getting royalty rights from Blackwell's songs. Because of Tom Parker a lot of people THINK, and assume, Elvis was racist, which Just isn't true. His manager was the one who was racist, not Elvis.
cj original Elvis found out about the extra 50% and stopped it immediately.
It was Parker's 50% split publishing set up that killed Elvis creatively too. The bastard only cared for his share of the millions.
Tom Parker basically destroyed Elvis.
Nice presentation, ¿but was it by chance the Ahmet Ertegun award at the R&R Hall of Fame? You kind of mispronounced the name, correct me if I'm wrong, please. Ahmet Ertegun wrote and produced Ray Charles first hit "Mess Around", and helped a lot of artists subsequently.
There are a number of problems with this video, specifically regarding Elvis recording of "All Shook Up" or rather his co-writing credit, as well as the video itself. Last things first for the wealth of material that Blackwell wrote I fin dit odd that so much focus was placed on "Fever" while so many other songs, esp. the Jerry Lee Lewis classics, were passed over. Surely a snippet of "Fever" would have been sufficient.
"Paralyzed" is an interesting song because I always felt it would have charted in America (as it did in England) if it had been named "Hypnotized" instead (the polio scare was just too great in America the time and I suspect the word "paralyzed" turned some off; but even apart from the polio (infantile paralysis) scare, the metaphor was not as benign as "hypnotized" (motorists were already being paralyzed in vehicular accidents and paralyzed by strokes, as indeed Blackwell himself was later to succumb to).
As for co-writing credit on "All Shook Up," surely the host should have seen that Elvis does NOT share co-writing credit on other Blackwell songs. Second, if one listens to the David Hill original, the lyrics are exactly the same. Third, what did change was the melody, the key end note on end phrases, such as "what's wrong with ME" and "TREE," etc. That was probably the reason that Elvis requested songwriting co-credit. And if you listen to later covers, they follow Elvis' changes to the melody, not the Hill original. Alec Wilder, author of a classic book on the American Popular Song (and songwriter himself) wrote that he remembered the days when if Frank Sinatra changed a note on a song that he recorded, the next edition of the song (in notation) would include Sinatra's altered pitch, so accurate was Sinatra's ear that apparently even the composer of the song realized they wrote the wrong note down.
@kahlildopeboi dopeboimagic I seen you at the other video arguing with me about Elvis. I guess you don't like Elvis then.
Elvis never "requested" credit. Ever. But he did have a different story about the idea for the song. Elvis, giving full credit to Blackwell and all the writers in the interview, nonetheless said he woke up from a nightmare all shook up and called a "friend." This would be Blackwell, anxious to place another song with Elvis after "Don't Be Cruel," which made everybody involved truckloads of money. Elvis didn't detail the phone conversation, but if you read some of the lyrics, they DO describe waking up from a nightmare. It had to be about young love, of course, but there in the middle, is an exact corroboration of Elvis's take on the genesis of the song.
"Well, my hands are shaky and my knees are weak
I can't seem to stand on my own two feet"
The rest of the lyrics are converted into "love lyrics."
Still, in the interview, after Elvis had already stopped this practice forever, he said he had not written any of the songs.
In fact, when he was at Sun Records, he often was more than deserving of writer's credit, such as on "Milkcow Blues Boogie," but asked for none and got none. That song was NOTHING at all like the original Milkcow Blues song from decades before.
Carl Perkins, on the other hand took credit for "Matchbox" which really was outright plagiarism. Johnny Cash plagiarized "Fulsom Prison Blues." It was written by a famous orchestral conductor who had worked for Sinatra, Gordon Jenkins. He filed a lawsuit and Cash lost because it really was premeditated plagiarism. He had to pay $75,000 to Jenkins.
Elvis never did anything like that. In fact, once he realized what Parker and Hill & Range were doing, he stopped it cold. What he had no control over were the publishing rights. Hill & Range continued to ask writers for half the publishing until the whole thing came to a fight over the great "Suspicious Minds." Elvis desperately wanted to record it, but Mark James was not going to give half the publishing to Hill & Range. So, Elvis brought the RCA suits in, and he was able to record the song because RCA forced Hill & Range to back down. By the late 1960s, professional songwriters had their own publishing companies. And so this was when the battles ensued, over publishing, not writing.
The person who lost the most in all this was Elvis Presley because he was forced to turn down so many good songs.
Died at 70, so sad.
If Elvis had not recorded DBC, how much would Blackwell have made off it? Seems like a win-win deal that has nothing to do with racism.
Strandwolf....
Sadly true. Ask Little "Thank God for Elvis Presley" Richard.
Get the fuck out of here with that bullshit elvis robbed that man only giving him $25 elvis is a thief and a fraud fuck elvis
Rubbish,Elvis wasn't original,stealing Blackwells style
Shut up dummy
Stfu he robbed this man. Elvis was the king of theft. Otis was the king of rock and roll.
Do you have any video on johnny ace?
He should have told Col. Tom Peckerwood to kick rocks and took his songs over to Sam Cooke or whoever! He didn't need them!!!
There were black performers, producers and label owners in the music business that played games with songwriters as well. Supposedly pianist Johnny Johnson had significant input into early Chuck Berry songs, such as Memphis and Maybelline--after all, it was the Johnny Johnson Trio that Berry played guitar in during the mid-1950s. Then there's Don Robey, aka D. Malone. He just bought songs for as little as $50. No 50-50 split there....
Chuck ripped off those piano riffs to create his immortal guitar riffs. And his Maybelline is an old country standard. Cultural appropriation in music is the lifeblood of music.
So what's your point this is about exploration of BLACK music by whites. Stealing n claiming what is not theirs
@@dilsherali3594 black people created country music look it up. The point is that whites steal stuff from African ppl n take credit like Elvis did Mr Blackwell
Good job, didn't know the Joe Tex story about "Fever"! But now I'm confused: do we credit "Fever" to Otis? Or to Joe? Your video seems to say that Joe DID write the song....but then you play the full tune, so I'm assuming you believe it WAS written by Otis? It's so wild, because of the songwriter credit, I never knew it was Otis OR Joe! PS: Although the practice of attaching people's names to songs they did not write WAS in practice at the time, I believe Elvis' co-writing credit has to do with his changing the words on "Don't Be Cruel" in the studio ("why should we be apart? I really love you, cross my heart." That's Elvis' line, and it's not exactly a great line! Especially when the first time it goes around, there's no rhyme (no pro songwriter like Otis Blackwell would be inconsistent like that), it's the one clunker lyric in the song, it doesn't even sound right when he sings it so I definitely believe Elvis wrote THAT line). And with "All Shook Up", according to your video, he had the lyrics changed (and might have contributed himself) so although it's a bit of a stretch but they are there, in the studio, working together. It's not the same as Chuck Berry sharing "Maybellene" with a stationary vendor that the Chess brothers owed money to, someone Chuck never met. From what I know, Elvis' name hardly ever came up on songwriter credits, in fact the only other time I can think of is "Heartbreak Hotel". Hey, I've got a guy I'd love for you to do a video on: Lincoln Chase! Another great unhearlded songwriter from that period ("Jim Dandy" by Lavern Baker, "The Nitty Gritty" and "The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis, his wife. And an amazing, wild, weird album from the early 70s called "Lincoln Chase 'n You". The song "Three Hands" is particularly fantastic. Not on UA-cam! Contact me and I'll get it to you if you don't have it. PS: loving your channel! thank you for profiling these fantastic artists! PSS Barbara Lynn, that's another! Maybe you've done a video on her, already.
@ Tic Tic Melody - I need for you to please cite your source for Elvis changing or adding the line - "Why should we be apart? I really love you baby, cross my heart" in Don't Be Cruel.
Because in 40 Years of researching that history, along with every biographer of Otis Blackwell, and including dozens of interviews with Otis himself talking about that song, in none of them have I ever seen anyone mention what you wrote above.
So if you have a legitimate Source where you got that information please share it here for the rest of us.
The other thing I need to point out that I find a bit disturbing about your statements is Otis himself had stated that Elvis recorded the lyrics Just the Way he (Otis) wrote them.
So it sounds a bit like you're saying Otis basically was a liar.
Either Elvis recorded DONT BE CRUEL just the way Otis wanted him to... or Elvis changed some of the lyrics.
Which is it?
Also, nobody anywhere from the music world back in that era ever said anything about that lyric sounding off, or not making sense ..Etc ... as you implied above
If anything, most people have always said the entire song as Elvis recorded it, the lyrics that Otis wrote were top-notch.
In all my years of researching I have never seen one person make a statement like yours above about that part of the song not sounding like it was written by professional songwriter.
It sounds fine & makes perfect sense.
Now, Really going to need you to give your *proof* that Elvis actually changed that lyric.
Thx
It's crazy that Elvis presley got praised for a sound he imitate but the originator didn't smh
It’s Steve Sholes.
Elvis loved everything black EXCEPT the people ; and gave Mr. Blackwell or any other black NO credit for his rise to fame. its better to know than to think these days
allen wood facebook.com/groups/197327014069344/
Jeez. Evidence for that slander please? All I see is photos of "racist" Elvis with Black artistes all over the place - at a time when a White bloke would find that life threatening, having Black friends as a kid, his parents seeimg every cour as people, quotes about how he loved the Blues, having Black acts in his groups, being supported by Black artists etc. You picked the wrong target here, friend.
That's right
@allen wood.........you are F.O.S...........and there is no way to put in words how wrong you are, bubba!
No but Elvis Presley's manager Tom Parker was a racist, and stopped Elvis from doing many good deeds he WANTED to do for black people. So it's the principle of claiming something that was Just not true. It's the truth that matters, and black people were always getting a racist deal. And like I said , it had nothing to do with Elvis Presley... It was his racist manager.
The important point is that this wasn't done for the benefit of Elvis Presley. It was a kickback deal for Hill & Range publishing, set up by Elvis Presley's notoriously crooked manager. Elvis wasn't registered to BMI until years after his death. The writing credit thus did not go to him. It was set up by Col. Parker to kick back more money to Hill & Range. Blackwell was also a Hill & Range writer, so he was able to place his songs with Elvis Presley.
But the whole arrangement was a kickback deal; Elvis got nothing from it.
Simple as that.
Elvis must have got something surely. He may not have got all of it but he got something. Plus, he could see his name as co-writer. Elvis was rich when he died, because he was receiving money from his Vegas shows and royalties from all the past recordings.
@@GRTVO Actually, ALL Elvis Presley's performance royalties through 1973 were sold off for a ridiculously small sum in the infamous 1973 "buyout" deal. It was more collusion, this time between Parker and RCA. At his death, the estate reaped very little from the enormous record sales because of "the buyout."
The estate also had to completely create new publishing arrangements several years and even decades after his death, especially for gospel songs that he arranged and adapted from the public domain for which he received nothing. The same for newly discovered studio jams created by Elvis: there was no publishing entity.
Blackwell stated on many occasions that he made serious buckets of money in those early days and when Elvis passed on, he recorded two tribute recordings to Elvis. He had no gripe with him whatsoever.
Elvis made money from touring after 1974, and from a few more Vegas stints in the few years before his early death. This dried up by 1981, when the estate was in the hole to the IRS. That's why they opened the house to the public. There was no other choice.
@@RobinMarkowitzcoolmedia I didn't know about that. Blackwell may not have had any gripes with the deal but he really didn't have much choice under the circumstances. But thanks for that information much appreciated.
I think Elvis respected and loved black people for their talents and contributions. He never kept it a secret of the influence that blacks had on his style and music. But black or not, Elvis would have risen to the top of the entertainment, because he was a natural performer.
maybe as a pure actor but music highly unlikely
He wouldn't be as famous if it wasn't for Otis Blackwell,he stole his style
Can I shared in my webradio in brazil?
Elvis wouldn't be nothing without black writers Elvis was no creator of music.
What you didn't know.
ua-cam.com/video/bNeVoIxfa4A/v-deo.htmlsi=EoByuI94F7BwUabk
Otis - The Kings Not Dead
Otis and Elvis were a great team. Otis did very by Elvis which is why he kept on writing for him
otis died poor with little recognition. That is not a team.
@@jamesway not really true. Otis had a good time.
What team???? No one even knew Otis was the real Elvis until Micheal Jackson exposed this to the world. Elvis was one of the biggest frauds in music history .
@@mizzmini45 stop reading propaganda. Otis and Elvis never met in person. Thst was Otis’ superstition. He simply didn’t like to meet the people for whom he wrote. They did talk on the phone often. Said Otis “we had a good thing going” and he didn’t want to change. Elvis was a great singer. Your ears aren’t lying. He made the songs hits. Big hits. And Otis did just fine.
Elvis never got the writer royalties because they weren't properly registered with BMI/Ascap
Was it Colonel Tom Parker that said, the only thing a black person can do for him is shine his shoes? Now no one can step on his blue suede shoes or his toes? Don't get it twisted, I liked Elvis, went to see his movies as a teen in the sixties, and I adored him, until I heard that. And I'm not racist, as I have dated a few white men.
Elvis never said that though.
Cynthia Culverhouse No one said it. It was an unsourced lie from a white-owned magazine in Texas.
It was a lie, and seemingly a malicious one. Jet magazine investigated it, even interviewing Elvis, and after looking under every rock, declared it false.
Do we know the percentage split between Elvis and Mr. Otis Blackwell? Is that why Ray Charles record deals were that he keep his masters? And today the black artist and producer are getting over on their record and music deals right? Poetic justice if they are and replay the above on Blackwell and get a lawyer if you got one of those Jim Crow entertainment contracts even if the record company is own by a African Americans. Don't forget Tina Turner ripped off by Ike. Boy did he get pie in the face when Tina divorced and left the band? You know who those companies and performers singers were and are! Poor Jackie Wilson! Tell the whole and nothing but the truth!
Half the writing, but Blackwell was also a Hill & Range writer, so he got significantly more than if he was with another publisher. Publishing is far more important than writing. But Elvis didn't get anything because he wasn't registered with the appropriate publishing society, which was BMI. So who saw that half? Where did that 50% go? Hill&Range Publishing got a little more icing on their cake. Parker set this up. It was a kickback deal that the very young singer knew nothing about. As soon as he saw his name on a song he didn't write, he stepped up and stopped it immediately. He also told the public in interviews. Any future songs, not Blackwell's or Ken Darby's (a white Hollywood composer), that had his name on them were songs he actually did co-write. And still got no royalties, even for public domain songs he arranged and adapted. This was fixed a number of years *after his death* when they found a new song he wrote in the studio and Elvis wasn't registered to BMI. It took several years to repair things so that the estate saw any royalties. Elvis signed away his performance royalties for peanuts in 1973. Still today, his heirs get no performance royalties for songs recorded prior to 1973.
Jackie Wilson wasn't a writer. But he wasn't treated well by Berry Gordy, who wrote his early songs and then did not bring him to Motown records.
On the david Letterman Mr. Blackwell stated that he wrote all of his songs himself and elvis just put his name on everything Mr. Blackwell was robbed there a long history of black artists being ripped off by white artists
I have read about Otis Blackwell in a Black History book. Same on Elvis stealing somebody else music, and tried to clain the music as his own. The only thing he is King of is Food and drugs. He died over weigh and high. God doesn't like ungliness.
not at all true
It's true. Check his story on the internet.
Janice Bristol Janice Bristol Settle your ASS down. You need some perspective.
Just what exactly would you call "stealing"? Elvis ACTUALLY gave credit? Because literally 10's of Millions of people saw Elvis's public acknowledgement to Otis Blackwell as the songwriter every single time they played one of his records... (Otis' name was listed on every record as songwriter).
Not to mention Elvis publicly in his interviews gave a lot of credit to his black influences over the years. A guy was on the radio the other day just telling people they can go on internet and research the excerpts from both BB King and James Brown's autobiographies were they both said Elvis was No Thief.
Little Richard also defended Elvis against this ridiculous charge over the years.
Look, Elvis already had the Soul & Blue note in his voice and was a legit great singer.
There were Gospel singers and Blues singers that knew Elvis back then and have even talked about this.
BB King, Early Wright & Reverend Herbert Brewster were just a few of those that have spoke of this.
The guy who was talking about this the other day on the radio schooling some people about this a talk show dared people to try to research it.
As he explained on radio - The myth is Elvis got his singing style from Otis Blackwell, or stole from other black artists, is slander and complete false history. Don't believe the hype.
Chuck D himself found this out when BB King, Blues Man Bobby Blue Bland, Ike Turner and James Brown called him out for dissing Elvis years ago on the Fight the Power album. And they explain to him how Elvis grew up as a child in Tupelo singing gospel in the church and came by his singing style honest.
They also told Chuck how many of those other Blues & R&B guys had mad respect for Elvis back in the day. That white boy took an awful lot of hate from racist white folks because he was very publicly, and privately, pro-black.
I give Chuck credit tho. Since then he has acknowledged Elvis with great respect in various interviews.
In a 1981 interview Otis also talked about how right before Elvis died he was making plans to hook up with Elvis and finally meet. And he explained how Elvis's sudden death hit him almost as hard as when his own mother died. Otis said it crushed him emotionally because he had great respect for Elvis.
There's also people from the music industry that knew Otis personally and said Otis regretted putting off meeting Elvis for years, and he always spoke nothing but respect.
Don't forget Otis got paid crazy big money.
People need to stfu & pull the stick out their ass about EP.
You're right God doesn't like ugliness. Better work on yours.
And to think you said in your other comment people should check his story on the internet.
LMAO. Yes I recommend you take some of your own advice on this
As soon as Elvis discovered that this was going on, he stopped it immediately.
J Bristol...You're an idiot. Otis probably made more money on his Elvis covered tunes because they have been released hundreds of times and recorded live on multiple albums from 69-77
The idea that Otis was forced to accept unfair deal because that’s just the way it was, is removing the man’s agency.
If he knew his songs were so great he should have put them out himself but he chose to sell his songs to the labels
ELVIS WAS A THIEF.
Ok tis blackwell was the real genius not elvis not tom parker nor any artist he wrote for.
Elvis wasn't a creatorr he imitated theost to me. Elvis didn't have a brain to write songs he stole that is alright too.
If we are writing history, let's get the history of "Hound Dog". You are incorrect by giving credit to "Big Momma Thornton" and "Hound Dog". It wasn't hers. It was actually written by two Jewish songwriters, Lieber and Stroller". These guys can be considered the "Lennon-McCartney" of the 1950's before the "Beatles".
It was standard practice at the time for jewish publishers to buy songs from black writers and copyright them.
@@oyaami1874 Oh sure, now you want to take away the Jewish writers credit also huh. Of course, what if i suggest that the blacks took and stole others ideas as well? How would that sound? I'd sound stupid and some may say racists. You are doing just that. Leiber and Stoller didn't buy their songs...they were true writers and musically gifted. In fact, there is a factual story that a music publisher came to Lieber and Stoller and told them they needed 4 songs for the "Jailhouse Rock" movie Elvis did, and in one day or so, they had written classics songs for Elvis movie, not bought nor stole from someone else. "Jailhouse Rock" "Treat Me Nice" "You're So Square Baby I Don't Care", and "I Want To Be Free". So don't come lying about them buying songs. That's never been provien. They actually wrote one of the biggest hits for Ben King, who did not write that song that made him a star, whiich song? ..."Stand By Me" buddy. So foget about it. Blacks don't have the lock on songwriting, so i don't even know why you are going there. I can tell one group, that will never beaten by any black and/or white group again, they called, "The Beatles", and i'll give you one more, "The Bee Gees', all original guys writing humongous classic hits of all times.
Elvis said the only thing Black ppl can do 4 him is buy his records, and shine his shoes. I think one of his Back ground singers was a Black lady.She was real like skinned women.
Janice Bristol I hope you've evolved a little bit in the last 4 years with your viewpoints Janice.
That white boy was probably one of the few if any white people back in the day that was a friend to the black community. This is documented by a tremendously long list of black folks that gave interviews over the years and knew him as a child in Tupelo, as well as black folks that knew him when he was older later in Memphis.
"Nonsense. There wasn't a racist bone in Elvis' body. Elvis didn't know how to mistreat somebody! I can attest to that" - Samuel Bell Elvis's black childhood friend from Tupelo, answering the question in an interview about "was Elvis racist?"
The fact that Muhammad Ali, BB King and James Brown not only were proud friends of Elvis's... but they actually spoke up Elvis over the years. They all heard some of the nonsense rumors that Elvis was racist. That should be enough to Humble anyone and make them do a little research on it.
That white boy took an awful lot of hate from a lot of bigoted white folks back in the day because he was quite publicly (and privately) pro-black in his attitude.
Please research it and stop spreading false rumors and lies
Janice Bristol That is false.
@Janice Bristol..........you ought to be ashamed of yourself for crap like that!
STILL... black people were heavily discriminated against. That is the reason why Sam Phillips opened up Sun Studio for blacks who couldn't record at other studios because of racism. It wasn't Just in the music business, segregation was LAW, period. When Joe Louis fought Jimmy Braddock, part of the deal was that Jimmy got 10 % of all Joe's earning for the next 10 years everytime Joe fought. NO. It was racism, and nobody is going to EXCUSE that crime whites practised. Elvis, though, is exempt.
Cj...a lot of these issues are coveted in the Sundance indie film The King. If u aint seen its out in October on DVD. Its astonishing - especially Chuck D's interview.
exempt huh? Go look up elvis quote that a black man couldnt do anything for him but shine his shoes.
AND DIED BROKE