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Elvis’s life before fame featured repeated experiences with humiliation, but he also experienced something else characteristic of the South and the United States in general: the wages of Whiteness. An effort to place Elvis more accurately in history doesn’t just require a recognition that he saw his indebtedness to Black musicians. It also means
... See moreImani Perry • South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
Elvis Presley, the category king of rock and roll.
Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, • Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets
Aretha and Elvis are both one-name icons. They call him the King of Rock and Roll because Beale Street infused his White body. They called Aretha the Queen of Soul because her voice refused a choice between the secular and the sacred. She was exacting, precise, disciplined in her song, and also knew how to shout heartache, grief, and exultation,
... See moreImani Perry • South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley and the Partnership that Rocked the World
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(Another view of Elvis, from Billboard magazine in 1958, stated, “In one aspect of America’s cultural life, integration has already taken place.”)
Rebecca Solnit • The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness
Elvis Presley didn’t set out to “disrupt” jazz. He set out to create rock and roll—a product that came from his soul.