Perhaps it's an age-old truth that the older generation doesn't understand the music of the youth. I don't know whether the kids of Mozart's age caught the same kind of flak from their parents for listening to his music, but there's no doubt that rockabilly and early rock and roll music stirred up a hornet's nest of parental disapproval among the parents of the 1950s! And rockabilly artists were particularly despised because of their rebel attitude and appearance.
No one quite knew what to make of Elvis in 1954 after the release of his first few Sun Records sides, starting with "That's All Right" backed by a hepped-up version of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky." They didn't know where to put this kid because he was a little bit of a lot of things. They tried to stick him into the country category and indeed he soon started racking up the hits on the country charts.
But the country establishment didn't really want him. He did appear on the Grand Ole Opry a time or two, but soon was banned from performing there again because his salacious moves and raw sensuality offended the powers that be in country music. They were happy to ride his hit-making machine in order to share in the profits; they just didn't want to be seen with him!
Perhaps they thought about calling him rhythm and blues since he was also pulling from the R&B catalog for songs like "Mystery Train" and "Hound Dog" and had a very R&B performance attitude. And in fact, Elvis also saw unprecedented success on the R&B charts. But there was no getting around it: he was white. And a white boy couldn't really be an R&B performer.
Of course, Elvis was also a smash sensation on the pop charts, which is where he eventually landed. So that was it--Elvis would be a pop star. But the adults were not much more excited to see him there than anywhere else. Those kinds of moves, that "raunchy" attitude, well that was pretty much what "decent" white folks from the racist America of the 1950s could expect from those "race musicians" who were singing that "awful" R&B music. But it was totally improper behavior for any respectable white boy. And completely out of the question for white teenaged fans.
Of course, all of these narrow-minded attitudes only fueled the rockabilly flame. Soon it wasn't just Elvis who was crossing these barriers of music and manners. Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Sleepy LaBeef, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, and so many others kept pushing the boundaries and taking the music--and the fans--to new heights of frenzy.
Rock and roll was here to stay. Many people tried to kill it. Others, like Dick Clark, tried to tame it and tone it down with mushy manufactured artists singing much more polite material. The establishment wanted their nice, ordered world of teenagers back. But they couldn't hold the music. They couldn't hold the personalities. And they couldn't hold their kids. And they still can't!
No one quite knew what to make of Elvis in 1954 after the release of his first few Sun Records sides, starting with "That's All Right" backed by a hepped-up version of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky." They didn't know where to put this kid because he was a little bit of a lot of things. They tried to stick him into the country category and indeed he soon started racking up the hits on the country charts.
But the country establishment didn't really want him. He did appear on the Grand Ole Opry a time or two, but soon was banned from performing there again because his salacious moves and raw sensuality offended the powers that be in country music. They were happy to ride his hit-making machine in order to share in the profits; they just didn't want to be seen with him!
Perhaps they thought about calling him rhythm and blues since he was also pulling from the R&B catalog for songs like "Mystery Train" and "Hound Dog" and had a very R&B performance attitude. And in fact, Elvis also saw unprecedented success on the R&B charts. But there was no getting around it: he was white. And a white boy couldn't really be an R&B performer.
Of course, Elvis was also a smash sensation on the pop charts, which is where he eventually landed. So that was it--Elvis would be a pop star. But the adults were not much more excited to see him there than anywhere else. Those kinds of moves, that "raunchy" attitude, well that was pretty much what "decent" white folks from the racist America of the 1950s could expect from those "race musicians" who were singing that "awful" R&B music. But it was totally improper behavior for any respectable white boy. And completely out of the question for white teenaged fans.
Of course, all of these narrow-minded attitudes only fueled the rockabilly flame. Soon it wasn't just Elvis who was crossing these barriers of music and manners. Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Sleepy LaBeef, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, and so many others kept pushing the boundaries and taking the music--and the fans--to new heights of frenzy.
Rock and roll was here to stay. Many people tried to kill it. Others, like Dick Clark, tried to tame it and tone it down with mushy manufactured artists singing much more polite material. The establishment wanted their nice, ordered world of teenagers back. But they couldn't hold the music. They couldn't hold the personalities. And they couldn't hold their kids. And they still can't!
