Big Bill Broonzy
Posted on 08/16/2002 5:43:35 AM PDT by 2banana
Edited on 08/16/2002 6:24:22 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
As we pause from our busy lives to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, it must be noted that as creative and influential as this brilliant-but-tragic man was, he does not deserve to be called, as he is by so many, the King.
Sure, Elvis was a figure of transcendent influence in pop music. He was, at least in his earlier years, an electrifying performer. He is known for the ability he had to combine disparate elements of black and white Southern music (country, blues, rockabilly) into a driving, compelling and, most of all, popular style.
You said:
"blacks create, and whites discover, rob, buy or steal, then market and profit from the creations."
Since whites persons and non black people have created and discovered things like electricity, the transistor, the computer, the LP, the 8 track, the cassette player, the CD, (all the technology needed to mass market music), I am assuming you will one day write an editorial on how blacks have robbed and stolen these products and profited by them with out duly compensating the inventors.
You could titled it "Michael Jackson led the way in copying white technology"
Maybe one day you will be able see past the color of people skins and see the content of their character.
Regards,
It has nothing to do with whether the influences were from black hands or white hands. Innovative artists are so because they take existing musical styles and add an interpretation to them that is unique and compelling. All musicians have influences, but artists take their influences and create something unique. Bill Monroe took mountain music and traditional Celtic music places they may not have gone, but that doesn't mean bluegrass music is a copy of that music, and a theft of the form from its true creators.
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.
You're wrong, it's very deniable. What kind of skill does it take to chant in a Mary Had a Little Lamb cadence over a disco beat?
Black Culture Good
White Devils Bad.
Big Bill Broonzy
This is pretty funny. He starts off his tirade going on how Elvis "copied" black music(and everyone at the time knew he was a white man playing "that jungle musice" as many called it), but that was bad somehow. But in this paragraph, he excuses the outright lazy theft of musice and ideas because he see's it as "fresh", and aslong as their is recognition and compensation. What strikes me as funny is that the author is so full of hate and vile that he can not even begin to see the difference between forwarding a style of music and the direct copying of anothers work, adding a few beats, and calling it "your work".
The fact that he was capable of delivering in such a manner that the audience outside of Memphis couldn't tell the difference was Elvis' major contribution to American pop culture for which would always be famous had he never signed with RCA or made a single movie.
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