Carefully, examine the information below. Based on your knowledge of Rock history, as well as US History, answer the questions that follow. You will post your answers in the "comments" section below.
Section 1:
While the audience reaction to Elvis’ first single was largely very positive, many people, particularly in positions of authority, were angered by Elvis and his music. Read the two quotes below:
"The big show was provided by Vancouver teenagers, transformed into writhing, frenzied idiots of delight by the savage jungle beat music."
-- Review of an Elvis Presley concert in The Vancouver Sun, September 3, 1957
"When our schools and centers stoop to such things as ‘rock and roll’ tribal rhythms, they are failing seriously in their duty."
-- Letter from Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago, banning Catholic school students from attending Presley concert, Feb. 28, 1957
Questions:
1. What do you think the authors meant by the terms:
- “Savage jungle beat music”?
- “Tribal rhythms”?
2. Why might these authors have used these terms to describe Presley’s music? What do they seem to fear about Presley?
3. Where were these comments made? What conclusions can you draw about racial tension in the mid-1950s in other parts of North America besides the South?
4. Think back to the video from Eyes on the Prize at the beginning of the lesson, and discuss:
- In this historical context, why might it have been more acceptable for some people to hear African-American music from a white artist than from an African-American artist?
- Why might any type of music bearing an African-American influence have been unacceptable to some people in this climate?
- How did Elvis’ first single reflect the racial and social climate in America in 1954?
- Looking ahead, how do you predict Elvis’ embrace of African-American music would influence the way people would come to think about race in the late 1950s?
