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Essay / Rock 'n' Roll and 1950s America: Elvis Presley
"He (Elvis) was already doing what the civil rights movement demanded: breaking down barriers. You don't think of Elvis as political, but that’s politics: changing the way people see the world” – Bono. The younger generation of the 50s was ready for this: the baby boomers were ready to break down the barriers built on racist foundations. Elvis was the ideal neutral ground for the younger generation to share as an idol and, in turn, helped start a revolution that forced different races to coexist Say No to Plagiarism Get a custom essay on. “Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned”? Get the original essay It was a generation for rebels, the perfect time for kids to do what they wanted to do Despite their parents' wishes, kids. White people went to black clubs to listen to music. Music was the gateway to a desegregated society and the younger baby boom generation was the key. Children of the 1950s were known for rejecting their parents' styles and finding their own stylistic influences. Elvis was huge with teenagers in the 50s because of his new style which parents hated – their parents hating him meant they loved him. (Baughman)Elvis was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in a two-room cabin where no one expected anything of him, no one thought he would ever make it. His school teachers all said he wasn't going anywhere in life - until they heard him sing. At the age of 19, he began recording his music. Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records, had been looking for a white kid to sing black music for some time. Elvis walked into his recording studio and signed after recording a few songs. The same year, he went on tour with various famous musicians. The fact that a white man was singing black music was very controversial, but it was the start of a revolution of good music, full of teenagers celebrating life, regardless of the color of their children's skin. friends. Elvis' style of music was not well received by adults. They didn't like the fact that a white man was playing "black music" and dressing like a black man, while dancing in a very sexual way. It was a new type of music that scared most adults, mainly because their children listened to it and it strongly influenced them in ways that parents didn't like. The kids of the 1950s were ready for a revolution and Elvis, "...the pioneer of rock'n'roll became an idol for an entire generation of music enthusiasts" (Biography in Context). Music is a Mechanism powerful and when in the hands of an idol that appealed to the entire baby boomer generation, the biggest generation of teenagers to date, you get kids who don't care about race or gender. origin of a person They had the right idea and Elvis helped them express it through music You would think that Elvis sang and preached equality and freedom, but no! of whites, went to an all-white school and even his musical influences were primarily white. He didn't intend to influence the civil rights movement the way he did, he influenced it by doing so. which he loved to do Even during interviews, when Elvis was asked a question about anything political, he would respectfully decline. He kept all his political opinions to himself. This allowed the generation to speak for itself rather than having a leader tell them to desegregate. In 1954, the.