Elvis A Civil Rights Pioneer? So Says UF Professor And Rock Music Expert

August 4, 1997

GAINESVILLE — Thousands will come from all over the world, gathering in the sweltering Memphis, Tenn., heat. Some will bring flowers, others will offer teddy bears and many will hold back tears as they make their pilgrimage to the grave of Elvis Aaron Presley.

After all, he wasn’t only the King of Rock n’ Roll. At least one researcher believes Presley played a pivotal role in the American civil rights movement.

“With his very first recording in 1954, Presley did something no one had ever done before. He brought black culture and white culture together on one record,” said William McKeen, a University of Florida journalism professor and co-author of the soon-to-be-released “Norton Book of Rock n’ Roll.”

Aug. 16 will mark the 20th anniversary of Presley’s death of a heart attack at his Graceland mansion. Despite the decades that have passed since the world learned of The King’s affinity for prescription drugs and fatty foods, the Elvis mystique is stronger than ever.

McKeen says Presley should be taken seriously as an historical character. In fact, like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., Elvis should be considered among America’s most influential civil rights figures, said McKeen, who teaches an honors class in rock n’ roll history at UF.

Presley’s first single from Sun Records included the bluegrass standard “Blue Moon of Kentucky” on one side, while a black blues song called “That’s All Right (Mama)” was on the other. That original blend of styles, combining Presley’s love for gospel music and black musicians with country-and-western, came to be called rock n’ roll.

McKeen said Presley should be remembered for what he did both musically and culturally and not for the absurdity many today associate with him, such as overeating, bad movies and an eccentric lifestyle.

“Everyone is aware of Elvis as a character,” McKeen said. “But he is important way beyond the music. He was part of a movement to knock down barriers in society.”

In the 1950s, radio, like most of society, was segregated. McKeen believes Presley’s reinterpretation of rhythm and blues led his listeners to the original sources and opened the door for black artists to reach a wide audience. People who heard Presley’s music wanted to hear more.

“Elvis arrived on the scene during a key moment in popular culture, when Martin Luther King was beginning to be a player and when the Supreme Court outlawed classroom segregation,” McKeen said. “By following this pattern of combining black music with white, Elvis helped to open people’s minds to other cultures.”

As for explaining the Elvis mystique and why, 20 years after his death, Presley shows no sign of fading from the country’s cultural consciousness, scholars seem to agree on one thing: He was a truly American product.

“Elvis was the greatest and the worst this country has to offer,” McKeen said. “On one hand, he was the true American dream, born into horrible poverty and becoming one of the most famous faces on the planet. On the other hand, Elvis squandered his talents and grew more erratic in his later years.”

David Kushner, a professor of music who directs the music history program at UF, agrees that Presley had a unique ability to reinterpret music from a wide variety of styles.

“Elvis was one of the great eclectics of the 20th century,” Kushner said. “He took what was around him at the time and put his own personality to it.”

“In a way, Elvis was of the same ilk as Brahms or even Bach,” he said. “They were artists who melded together a variety of styles and made it better.”

Since Presley’s death, more than 1,400 newspaper stories and 300 books in nine languages have been written about the legendary performer.

“He’s had a great life in the past 20 years,” McKeen said. “But for all the Elvis scholars, tacky souvenirs and sightings, it always goes back to one thing: the music. In 100 years, people will still talk about Elvis Presley.”