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so was it true?

GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
edited June 2005 in Strut Central
Y'all know the Chuck D. Line "Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me cause he's straight out racist..."

so I've always been curious was Elvis known to be really racist, or was this just a lyric set up to show that white guy was doing black music and that was considered racist?
and I'd like proof too. I don't wanna call Chuck D a liar but I can't remember hearing much about Elvis being racist matter of fact I thought he had a strong relationship with the black community in Memphis

enlighten me
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  Comments

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    According to the legendary quote that's attributed to him ("Black man is only good to shine my shoes and buy my records" - or SOMETHING like that) I would assume so, but honestly I don't know.
  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    Y'all know the Chuck D. Line "Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me cause he's straight out racist..."



    so I've always been curious was Elvis known to be really racist, or was this just a lyric set up to show that white guy was doing black music and that was considered racist?



    enlighten me




  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    Hey, I have that ladder.

    Guzzo, this thread is designed to start shit, isn't it?

    For shame!
  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    no, I wanted to ask for a long time and I'm bored here at work so I figured it might be time to ask.

    I do realize that a lot of race posts here get bad and if this starts shit I apologize ahead of time. But I think this is going to be pretty tame (At least I hope it will be)

  • dayday 9,611 Posts
    Y'all know the Chuck D. Line "Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me cause he's straight out racist..."

    so I've always been curious was Elvis known to be really racist, or was this just a lyric set up to show that white guy was doing black music and that was considered racist?

    enlighten me


    that thing looks dangerous
  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    Just fucking with you, son.

    But for real I do not know. Not a big Elvis fan, honestly I'm rather indifferent to him.
  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    That ladder is the shit.
  • anthonypearsonanthonypearson 2,442 Posts
    elvis is a conflicted wanna be black man r&b singer. ok now take it from there kids...
  • ElectrodeElectrode Los Angeles 3,130 Posts
    Maybe, maybe not, but theres this...

    http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/presley1.asp
  • prof_rockwellprof_rockwell 2,867 Posts
    Whew! Thanks Electrode, now I can rock "Guitar Man" in full confidence....

  • alieNDNalieNDN 2,181 Posts


    seems multicultural to me
  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    LONG LIVE ELVIS!!!!!!!!!!
  • MangomanMangoman 549 Posts
    I actually wondered that also matter of fact I was thinking about that a few days ago... Freaking Weird.... Another question I was think was:

    If Elvis never took R&B from the African American would R&B be as big? I'm sure some other caucation would have but who would it have been? Maybe in the skeme of things it helped out African Americans in the long run? I mean you never know, if not for Elvis maybe we as a society would have been set back 5-10 years, things happen for a reason... Just my thoughts....
  • Phill_MostPhill_Most 4,594 Posts
    Elvis was dope, although I never would've shined his shoes (I did buy a few copies of his "A Little Less Conversation" and the other one with the braek too, though).
    But I'm not really concerned about that underage girl banger right now. I am intrigued by that ladder. Tell us more about it, what it dew?
  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    Elvis was dope, although I never would've shined his shoes (I did buy a few copies of his "A Little Less Conversation" and the other one with the braek too, though).
    But I'm not really concerned about that underage girl banger right now. I am intrigued by that ladder. Tell us more about it, what it dew?

    It's a telescopic ladder that goes up to like 16 feet! It's incredible. Costs a couple hundred, but that was when it came out. You can cop them at Home Depot.

    Seriously like, keep one of these in the trunk of your car, just in case you have to climb something. That's what I used to do.
  • anthonypearsonanthonypearson 2,442 Posts
    telescopic ladders are the hottest shit out there.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    The cats who ran and hung out at Sun Studios in the early 50s were way ahead of their time. Flip Phillips, the owners brother, was spinning R&B records on the radio right next to white pop, very radical. Sam Phillips was not known for cheating his artists, even the Black ones. [Ike Turner and a few others might beef, but Sam rates way higher than say Bahari Bros at RPMCrownUnitedKent, or the Chess Bros, or even the folks at Atlantic.] Elvis and other White Sun rockers were known to hang ambiable with Black Memphis artists like JR Parker and Bobby Bland.

    So the beef comes down to the fact that Elvis' co-opting of R&B makes more money today decades after his death than any original artists from the 50s ever made.

    Trivia: The Sweet Inspirations backed him during his comeback phase.
  • DJPrestigeDJPrestige 1,710 Posts
    anyone ever see the comeback special where he falls off a stool and rips his pants on camera? he also was riding a tandem bike with someone on a movie lot all charged up on prescrition pills....now that's funny right there.
  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    telescopic ladders are the hottest shit out there.

    Brother you don't even know the HALF.
  • peacefulrotationpeacefulrotation 3,481 Posts
    telescopic ladders are the hottest shit out there.

    Brother you don't even know the HALF.

    whoah, does this tie into that CRAZY uninhibited night you once had after that big gig?
  • prof_rockwellprof_rockwell 2,867 Posts
    I'm sure some other caucation would have but who would it have been?

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    telescopic ladders are the hottest shit out there.

    Brother you don't even know the HALF.

    whoah, does this tie into that CRAZY uninhibited night you once had after that big gig?

    Which one dude? Seriously though...
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    The cats who ran and hung out at Sun Studios in the early 50s were way ahead of their time. Flip Phillips, the owners brother, was spinning R&B records on the radio right next to white pop, very radical. Sam Phillips was not known for cheating his artists, even the Black ones. [Ike Turner and a few others might beef, but Sam rates way higher than say Bahari Bros at RPMCrownUnitedKent, or the Chess Bros, or even the folks at Atlantic.] Elvis and other White Sun rockers were known to hang ambiable with Black Memphis artists like JR Parker and Bobby Bland.

    So the beef comes down to the fact that Elvis' co-opting of R&B makes more money today decades after his death than any original artists from the 50s ever made.

    Trivia: The Sweet Inspirations backed him during his comeback phase.

    The Memphis DJ was Dewey Phillips (Flip Phillips was a jazz saxophonist), who was not Sam Phillips brother.
  • FatbackFatback 6,746 Posts
    elvis is a conflicted wanna be black man r&b singer. ok now take it from there kids...

    you mean was.






    or do you?




  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts


    While Elvis-bashing goes in and out of fashion(was he racist? was he a fraud?), I for one will always be a big Elvis fan. No one is the be-all-end-all, and Presley himself, a complex but fairly soft-spoken,polite dude, would have been the first to say that he was really just a kid from Tupelo who loved to entertain, end of story. He may have bit a lot of cats style, White and Black, but it's how he blended all that diffuse shit together that made it his own and made him phenomenally successful. Timing is everything, and Elvis had timing on his side most of his career.

    Let the haters hate, Elvis needs no apologists.
  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    I just wish the Sun studio tourists would stay the fuck out of the middle of the street to take pictures of the place, I almost run some tourist over every damn day.


    I like Elvis, even the over-exposure that one undoubtedly encounters here doesnt affect my liking him at all. cop this:


    its a double LP comp of the 1969 American Studio sessions, the session that spawned "In the Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds", and other hits. But it has a version of Percy Mayfield's "Stranger in my own hometown" that kills. It came out in the 80s and is easy to cop for cheap..along with the Sun studio stuff, it is my favorite Elvis era. Good shit.
  • soulmarcosasoulmarcosa 4,296 Posts
    In the the Stax article in WAX POETICS (part 2, issue #11 I think), one of the African-American Stax dudes (forgot which one, sorry) was talking about how he used to go to Elvis' house for dinner and how The King was nothing but friendly and cordial, not racist at all as far as he could tell.

    Someone dig up that mag and post the quote plaese.
  • Phill_MostPhill_Most 4,594 Posts
    telescopic ladders are the hottest shit out there.

    I really need one of these.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    The cats who ran and hung out at Sun Studios in the early 50s were way ahead of their time. Flip Phillips, the owners brother, was spinning R&B records on the radio right next to white pop, very radical. Sam Phillips was not known for cheating his artists, even the Black ones. [Ike Turner and a few others might beef, but Sam rates way higher than say Bahari Bros at RPMCrownUnitedKent, or the Chess Bros, or even the folks at Atlantic.] Elvis and other White Sun rockers were known to hang ambiable with Black Memphis artists like JR Parker and Bobby Bland.

    So the beef comes down to the fact that Elvis' co-opting of R&B makes more money today decades after his death than any original artists from the 50s ever made.

    Trivia: The Sweet Inspirations backed him during his comeback phase.

    The Memphis DJ was Dewey Phillips (Flip Phillips was a jazz saxophonist), who was not Sam Phillips brother.


  • FatbackFatback 6,746 Posts
    telescopic ladders are the hottest shit out there.

    I really need one of these.

    i don't get it though. how's it work? seems like it would collapse as you clim.
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