f**k Elvis

[Beachbrat]

“Stolen music” means someone took your song and then passed it off as their own.

If you decide to play the flute in your song that is a little faster paced, that doesn’t bar anyone else from ever using a flute without that meaning they stole your shit.

Not talking about that at all... Im talking about actual songs.

Mhm. And I’m sure you considered it stealing when he recorded Hound Dog due to the fact that he was sold the rights to sing it BY THE SONGWRITER... because it had been sung before by Big Mama Thornton, right?

Damn those evil white people again.

Are we going to call out Whitney Houston for stealing Dolly Parton’s song? Or is this another sin that only white people can commit?

We can call them all out if you would like. I have no issues with that. I'm not huge into music so I'm not really that invested. I was simply commenting on something i knew. We can call out vanilla ice for stealing a queen and David Bowie beat too and everyone else. Wrong is wrong. No matter what color honestly.

[SummerDream]

Elvis has been dead for how long, now. And people are just now bitching about what he may or may not have done while alive.

[SummerDream]

Elvis has been dead for how long, now. And people are just now bitching about what he may or may not have done while alive.

[Anonymous 11]

He also stole music from black musicians and passed it as his own.

If this is true. He isn’t the only who has done it, and it isn’t just “black” musicians who get robbed. Also, back then many “black” musicians sold/gave their music to others to gain exposure.

[SallyMae]

Actually I disagree that musicians must be called out for "stealing." Music is naturally in the public domain. Rules originally meant to let artists profit from their creations, now mainly funnel money to a few at the top of a vast entertainment-industrial complex. This makes no sense. Music is a human transcendence, and spreading musical memes is a form of communication. It belongs to us all.

I also don't agree that it was necessarily racist of Sam Phillips via Elvis to appropriate the new sound. The racism was baked into the edges. Sam realized that as great as this music was, it was unacceptable to mainstream white America at the time because it was made by black people. That's racist. With Elvis, Rock and Roll became as American as Apple Pie, but the long development of African American musical styles that led to it were unacknowledged and unknown to most fans. That's racist. And, black musicians could travel the country playing music, but were often prohibited by law from staying in the hotels whose clubs they frequented. Systemic apartheid is racist to the core.

I think we will only worry about who invented what music until the apartheid is gone. Then we can really sing together.

[Momto2boys973]

Gee, why do you have to make everything about evil white guys stepping on black people? IF he stole music (and that’s a big “if”) he stole it from musicians.

He also stole music from black musicians and passed it as his own.

[moviestar]

this has been known for decades, why does everyone suddenly care this week?

[Momto2boys973]

Yes. But being inspired is very different from “stealing”. And the fact that he popularized that style of music to mainstream America also paved the way for many Black musicians to be able to be accepted.

There. I made the statement a little less racist for ya.

He also stole music from black musicians and passed it as his own.

It’s well known that Elvis was inspired by Black blues artists.

[SouthernIslander]

Yes. But being inspired is very different from “stealing”. And the fact that he popularized that style of music to mainstream America also paved the way for many Black musicians to be able to be accepted.

There. I made the statement a little less racist for ya.

It’s well known that Elvis was inspired by Black blues artists.

I wouldn’t say that Elvis paved the way to that extent, there were many doors broken by many people when it came to Blues and Southern Black gospel.

But I mentioned in another comment that I felt Elvis was more so inspired by artists vs. stealing. So I didn’t think it was the same thing.

[SouthernIslander]

I agree. And I believe he truly was very inspired by them.

There. I made the statement a little less racist for ya.

It’s well known that Elvis was inspired by Black blues artists.

Yes but I don’t think her comment was racist since the artists were indeed Black. It’s just if he was inspired or actually stole it is the part that is up for debate.

I think inspired is fair from what I’ve read. Just didn’t strike me as someone who stole the genre and passed it off as his own.