Race, Rock, and Elvis, Ch. 4-7

Ch. 4 

How did Elvis differ from other white country or jazz artists in regards to his relation with black music?

What was Elvis’ impact on country music? 

How did the author explain the nature of black/white relations prior to 1950s?

How did Elvis challenge southern society even without speaking publicly about segregation? How did southern whites deal with this supposed threat?

Why does Bertrand argue that rockabilly artists were not the southern equivalent of beatniks and others who repudiated the materialist conformity of the 1950s elsewhere in the US?

Ch. 5

How did the intellectual elite and cultural guardians generally see US society in the postwar period?

Why did the intellectual elite have particular concern for popular culture?

In this context , how did intellectuals meet the challenge that rock n roll supposedly posed to society?

Ch. 6

What kind of resistance did southern white teenagers confront or face as they increasingly favored R&B?

How did radio help subvert or challenge this resistance teenagers faced?

What other activities brought black and white kids together and thus further challenged the racial norms of the South?

Ch. 7

Why do you think the author included a chapter on Elvis’s authenticity?

What myths about Elvis’s music have shaped how public and scholars see Elvis?  What are these significant?

How in fact did Elvis’s personal experiences mirror those of southern blacks?

What evidence does Bertrand offer to support his argument that Elvis’s music and style was authentic and contrived?