Controversy and Rock-Kyle Anderson
There is little doubt that Elvis’ style was outright stolen, or at the very least heavily influenced, from gospel and r&b. In fact, prior to his widespread stardom, many radio listeners thought that Elvis was black. Elvis was really no different than many other black artists of the day, yet he proved to be the catalyst that pushed rock ‘n roll into mainstream America. Racial tension was still high during the time period after WWII and into the Civil Rights Movement. Many saw Elvis as a bridge to help connect the races through music, and indeed Elvis paved the way for many black musicians to follow. While Elvis did make rock ‘n roll mainstream, critics from the African American community criticized the trend that America wanted black music without the black people, and that Elvis was a thief of the music styles of black artists. The larger question, perhaps, is if Elvis would have still been as phenomenally popular had the genre not been so controversial. The fact that parents frowned upon rock ‘n roll music instantly made it infinitely more appealing to kids, in the same manner that parental advisory stickers make CDs more appealing to today’s youth.
The controversy surrounding the genre of rock ‘n roll was further magnified by Elvis’ sexual innuendos and gestures while on stage. As stated in the Bloom article, “young people know that rock has the beat of sexual intercourse.”(pg 73) Parents and adults alike feared the consequences of rock ‘n roll on the youth, envisioning a generation of deviant sexual perverts. Without the controversy generated by the fact that rock was derived from so-called “race music” in addition to the controversy of the sexual liberation accompanying the movement, it is unlikely that rock ‘n roll would have garnered the same cultural explosion in America. The controversial nature of rock ‘n roll was a key factor in its enormous success.