Ep. 29 - Beale Street Roots in ELVIS
Austin Butler (Elvis) and Kelvin Harrison Jr. (B.B. King) in ELVIS (2022). Photo credit: Warner Bros.
In Ep. 29 we talk about the Baz Luhrmann film ELVIS with Gayle Wald, George Washington University professor of American Studies and author of Shout Sister Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Our conversation extends to Black musicians and music traditions that shaped Elvis Presley’s music and how that aspect of Elvis’s story is dramatized in this 2022 biopic that is nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Austin Butler who plays Elvis Presley. The conversation was recorded 2/13/23.
Elvis didn't talk about…he didn't do things to elevate the Black musicians who were his heroes. And there's kind of no amount of love that could kind of contravene that fact. The fact is that the historical Elvis…is silent, a little silent on these issues.
Gayle Wald
Guest: Gayle Wald
GAYLE WALD is author of Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, which is being released in a revised second edition from Beacon Press. Wald’s book was the basis of the 2011 BBC documentary Godmother of Rock, and has been adapted as a musical, Shout Sister Shout!, with book by Cheryl L. West opening in March 2023 at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC.
Wald's other books include It's Been Beautiful: Soul! and Black Power Television (Duke Univ. Press, 2015), about the groundbreaking public television program produced by Ellis Haizlip. She is currently working on a biography of the "First Lady of Children's Music" Ella Jenkins, titled This Is Rhythm. Gayle Wald has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and she is Professor of American Studies at George Washington University.
SHOP THE PODCAST
“Rosetta Tharpe was one of my first influences, one of the first people I heard sing. I’m glad Gayle Wald has done a book on her because people need to know.”
—Isaac Hayes
Buy Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe and other books mentioned on this and past podcasts from the MBGLtd affiliate page on bookshop.org. Your book purchases support independent booksellers and a small commission supports Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters.
ELVIS
Elvis (Austin Butler) visits Club Handy to enjoy the nightlife on Beale Street with B.B. King (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), Little Richard (Alston Mason) & Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Yola).
In Baz Lurhmann’s ELVIS, Elvis Presley’s (Austin Butler) story is told through the prism of the iconic rock and roller’s relationship with his dubious manager, Colonel Tom Parker (played by Tom Hanks). Narrated by Colonel Parker, the film delves into the complex dynamic between the two men spanning over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his stardom, set against the backdrop of the evolving cultural and social landscape in America from the 1950s through the late 1960s.
The film also highlights Elvis’s relationship with Black musicians and music traditions from the gospel revivals of his childhood to the Beale Street blues of Memphis, as well as his admiration for musicians like B.B. King. These musicians not only shaped Elvis’s music but the future of rock and roll.
In addition to Butler (who won the BAFTA for best actor for his portrayal of Elvis Presley) and Hanks, the cast includes Olivia DeJonge (Pricilla Presley), Helen Thompson (Gladys Presley), Richard Roxburgh (Vernon Presley), Yola (Sister Rosetta Tharpe), Kelvin Harrison Jr. (B.B. King), Shonka Dukureh (Big Mama Thornton), and Alton Mason (Little Richard).
REAL LIFE and REEL Beale Street Musicians in ELVIS
Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1919 - 1973); Singer Yola as Sister Rosetta Tharpe in ELVIS (right)
Little Richard (1932 - 2020) and Alton Mason as Little Richard (right) in ELVIS
B.B. King (1925 - 2015) and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as B.B. King (right) in ELVIS
Big Mama Thornton (1926 - 1984), and Shonka Dukureh (1977-2022) as Big Mama Thornton in ELVIS.