says Sathnam Sanghera in today's Times (£), differing from the criticism of the recent MOBO awards, in which the likes of Adele, who is white, won. Sanghera quotes Elvis Presley from 1956, talking to a journalist, and I thought it was worth reproducing here:
"The coloured folks been singing it and playing it just like I'm doin' now, for more years than I know. They played it like that in the shanties and in their juke joints, and nobody paid it no mind till I goosed it up. I got it from them. Down in Tupelo, Mississippi, I used to hear old Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do now, and I said if I ever got to the place where I could feel like old Arthur felt, I'd be a music man like nobody ever saw."
9 comments:
blues, rock n roll, soul, rnb, reggae, rap but what did the romans ever do for us.
My comment isn’t about this post, but the text under your header. I don’t think I’ve read it before and have to say it’s so funny. Not that they said that to you, but the fact that you put it right at the top of your blog (bring on the haters).
Nice one - very funny.
According to Livy, the musicians in Rome formed a guild to protect themselves from exploitation, and in 311 BCE they went on strike. This is not only one of the first recorded examples of working class collective action to protect terms and conditions, but also shows the Musicians Union has far more venerable roots than these upstarts like Unite, GMB and Unison.
I don't think there's enough space here to answer that.
L9
yeah, but unfortunately a great deal of 'black' music today is gun-toting misogynistic, homophobic violent crap.
If they were Nazi skinhead bands saying the same you'd quite correctly hate them, but I expect you can find a reason to excuse it, no?
Why is today's left so apologetic for some awful things? A fascist is a fascist is a fascist, brown , white or yellow.
Dicky - when they say those things what else would I do? It makes me laugh too. Anon 1116 examples please. My favourite rappers at present are Eminem, whom I have been listening to for 10 years, variable but brilliant and hilarious, and yes I know he's white, so what, Kanye West, who is a poet, French rap collective Sexion d'Assaut, dark and gentle poetic humour, Colonel Reyel, also French, who is a rhyming storyteller, B.O.B. for his delivery, and I'm sorry that French rapper Diam's has stopped rhyming, she is great, but there, have it your own way. I would like to see some examples though. Please.
anon 1116
What a dim generalisation. I will not apologise for fascists. There is vulgarity and childishness across all genres of music.
Check your head and listen to some of the suggestions below. If you want new soul music with a social conscious and a warm heart have a listen to Charles Bradley, Aloe Blacc and Sharon Jones.
EB
Didn't the Romans invent the road rap?
REM - thanks for the memories - specifically Losing My Religion.
Thats me in the corner etc etc.
Tony Blair will no doubt shed a tear. His favourite record of all time is Midnight Swimemrs -- and quite a good pick too.
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