Elvis Presley is a pop culture legend who lives on as the “King of Rock and Roll” and for good reason. He is arguably one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived. When his career took off in the 1950’s, he blended African American genres of blues, gospel and country with his natural charisma and rebel style. His music and rebel persona hit the public with waves of pandemonium and embodied rock and roll. Presley first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956, the live audience became enamoured by his presence. Only a month later, he made his second appearance on the show in October, 1956 performing “Hound Dog” generating pandemonium among the live audience and viewers at home. See the video below of his live performance at the Ed Sullivan Show, noting his hip swings, on-stage charisma, style and the audience erupting.

His rise came in a post-war era of the baby-boomers and a stage of social rebellion coinciding with his persona of a musical rebel. In the 1950s, parents raised their children with a child-centered style being more indulgent and affectionate. This allowed the student to be more engaged and enamoured in music, specifically Elvis Presley’s music.  All the ladies wants to date him and all the men wanted to be like him- figuratively, of course.

Today, many artists take on influences of Elvis and his music- whether directly or indirectly. The Elvisualization  shows the influential music lines beginning with Elvis Presley leading its way to today’s music industry. By examining the lineage presented in the Elvisualization infographic, we will be looking at how the musical line of influence connects Maroon 5- Chart topping band of today- to the 1950’s legend, King of Rock, Elvis Presley (1).

When considering Maroon 5 and their musical influences, the lineage of influence can be linked to Elvis Presley proving his far-reaching influence in music. Maroon 5’s early albums have funk sound along with the lead singer, Adam Levine’s, voice and falsetto. These qualities within their music is comparable to the sound of the Bee Gees (2) from the disco era. In order to catch some of the similarities between these two groups, I have drawn on Maroon 5’s song “Makes Me Wonder” from their second album, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long (2007) and the Bee Gees “Night Fever” from their album, Saturday Night Fever (1977).

The Bee Gees and Maroon 5, alike, sing in falsetto which some professionals consider an act of rebellion in the music industry suggesting that falsetto means ” a false and borrowed voice” (3). During the 1970’s, similar to the Elvis Presley era, was a time of social rebellion and this style could be seen throughout various artists in the music industry. The Bee Gees were no exception and sang in falsetto which later became their signature sound. Arguably, the intention of putting singer, Barry Gibbs falsetto voice was to try diminish the myth that disco music was just a genre performed by black musicians (3). Some specialists will argue that Maroon 5 sings in falsetto to defy the suggestions that only woman performers can alter their voice reach high notes. The beauty of the falsetto is that it does not sound like any one race or gender and can be sang interchangeably (3).

Another thing to consider is both groups are considered musical chameleons meaning that the sound of their music changes throughout their sequence of album releases. In the songs presented above, they both have the electronic music vibe integrated within disco and funk genres. The upbeat dance music, falsetto harmonies and catchy tunes grab the audiences attention in similar ways laying out seamless futures of both bands.

After understanding the connection and similarities between the Bee Gees and Maroon 5, we have to consider the musical path that links Elvis Presley’s influence to the Bee Gees. Its not just their talent, charismatic performances or showmanship, both Presley and the Bee Gees dawned flashy stage outfits that enhanced their performances.

Their music appealed to all manners of audiences and even moreso, to the youth of their musical era. With the Bees Gees fashion and music style, they defined disco the way Elvis defined Rock and Roll. With both taking influence from African American music, they steamrolled the country with they’re unique sounds that challenged the status quo. It is even know that the Bee Gees went on to write songs for Elvis Presley (4). They could sing encapsulating ballads, trendy dance beats and hip-swinging songs that mesmerized the nation.

While Elvis may no longer be at the top of the charts to say, his influence on music and culture is undeniable. He holds onto a crucial title as the “King of Rock and Roll” while still influencing today’s musicians, directly and indirectly. While we explored his influence that streamlined to the popular band today, Maroon 5, you can look further into any other band using the Elvisualization graphic provided to explore the lineage of Elvis’ influence. While Maroon 5’s and the Bee Gees’ achievements speak for themselves, it is clear that it isn’t without influence from the King, himself.

 

 

 

Bibliography

(1) The Elvisualization. Accessed August 8, 2018. http://static.echonest.com/insights/elvis/elvisulization.html.

(2) In Defense of the sellout. Accessed August 8, 2018. http://www.dailycal.org/2017/08/31/in-defense-of-the-sellout-maroon-5/.

(3) Maroon 5’s Falsetto Singing: An Act of Cultural Defiance. Accessed August 7, 2018.  https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/09/maroon-5s-falsetto-singing-an-act-of-cultural-defiance/262982/.

(4) Interview with the Bee Gees. Accessed August 8, 2018. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0202/02/lklw.00.html

Joseph Byrd’s article, “Whitewashing Blackface Minstrelsy in American College Textbooks,” digs deeper into the content revolving around the issues of Blackface performances and theatric minstrelsy stating that the harsh racist realities are “tucked away in blandly-titled chapters” (Joseph Byrd, 2009, 77). Byrd provides critiques academic textbooks providing  evidence which suggests that they misconstruing the racism behind the scenes of minstrelsy. This type of entertainment that began to gain American popularity in the 1830s and continues well into the early 20th Century, developed out of England and was considered “comic entertainment” (Joseph Byrd, 2009, 77) of black people and their culture. As minstrel shows surfaced more through America, slavery became a popular theme among this entertainment business. These shows often mocked black people elaborating on certain physical qualities, exaggeration clothing and language used among them on plantations. Byrd presents a valid argument that challenges the racist nature that existed and still does regarding the context provided about blackface minstrelsy.

What really caught my attention was the amount of academic sources that still fail to fully acknowledge the underlying tones of racism, even though some obvious racist tones are presented within the lyrics of this form of entertainment. As someone who is looking to become an educator, I consider it of high importance that the truth of North American, specifically, is taught in its most authentic forms. This would mean looking at and using any resource critically and ensuring that the audience reading from it is aware of anything that has been hidden away behind dissociative titles and negligent facts. This resembles much of the Canadian Indigenous history that was stowed away for years having the truth hidden from many Canadians. Analyzing these sorts of texts is essential in addressing further racial tendencies and repetitions of history. Another point that I found surprising was the lyrics used as evidence by Byrd suggesting that the derogatory implications were very evident when we examine it through an inclusive, non-biased lens. And yet, sources used throughout our education present this vaguely, if at all.

Below I have attached a video of “Old Dan Tucker” written by Dan Emmett in 1843. Byrd talks about how the lyrics used portray racist stereotypes of black people during this time. During this time the shows were based on the ugliest stereotypes of African Americans through songs, jokes, and imitations.

The audience for these shows were the lumpenproletariat: low-class white and irish males who were considered undereducated. This audience is seemingly a target to present exaggerated stereotypes of the African-American slaves in America perhaps because they are more easily influenced and susceptible to such to racial behaviours. Karl Marx describes the lumpenproletariat the “social scum” and undesirables of society. By targeting this audience, racial tensions grew allowing them to infiltrate the multiple levels of socioeconomic and racial statuses. By understanding this audience, we can see that the acceptance among this group spread throughout other social groups further contributing to racial tensions.

Through the rapid spread of blackface minstrel shows came a wave of acceptance towards this type of representation of the African-American people in America. This not only created widespread stereotypes and racist tendencies, but it also contributed to racist laws named after the famous minstrel character Jim Crow and an “insulting lyrics associated with it [1]. Jim Crow laws enforced the segregation of whites from blacks in the 1860s in Southern United States after the release of four million slaves [2] . They outlined when and where they could eat, ride the bus, work, played, how much they were played and even harder punishments and legal sentencing [3].

Byrd presents a great argument acknowledging that society still has a long way to come. With textbooks still avoiding historical facts, it prevents us as a functioning societal whole to move forward and past such injustice. By not acknowledging or representing the history of minstrel shows, we are allowing the American racist truth not be held to any accountability whatsoever. I think that textbooks avoid this information for a number of reasons but none, in my mind, are good enough excuses to misrepresent this history. The truth is that it may be embarrassing in nature to acknowledge such a horrendous past and it may be uncomfortable but it still needs to be talked about an acknowledged. As I mentioned before, this mirrors the history of Canada’s indigenous people, how they were treated by European settlers and how the truth has been and still is avoided. Lack of information creates ignorance and ignorance breeds fear and the creates social injustice and marginalization we see today. If we acknowledge all the facts and not just partial truths, it can hopefully open a gateway that will not allow history to repeat itself. Lack of proper education is only going to feed into this vicious cycle of racism and injustice. While blackface minstrel