ZBetts

Elvis Aaron Presley was an amazing talent in his own right. He took the black sound of the South, which he grew up listening to and singing in Church and made it his own. Elvis was working as a truck driver and went to Sun Studios in Memphis and cut a record for his mother's birthday. Sam Phillips liked Elvis' sound and wanted him to cut more records and Elvis got airtime. Colonel Tom Parker became his business agent and marketer. The Colonel was amazing at his job, although Elvis suffered greatly due to the demands of his touring schedule. It was at this point of his life he was introduced to the uppers to get him through the performances and the downers to sleep.The big question is would Elvis have become "The King" without the guidance of the business savvy and not so caring Colonel? And was it worth it? The extreme fame, the reclusive lifestyle, and the drug use eventually costs Elvis his life.

Great topic. Colonel Tom was a piece of #$@%; Presley was a gift. And thank you for reminding us that Presley's sound was black. I recently bought his complete gospel recordings and there was at least one denial of that fact in the liner notes. When I read that garbage I thought of Sam Phillips' famous quote - "If I could find a white man who sounds black I'd be a billionaire" - and Elvis running home from school to hear Sister Rosetta Tharpe on the radio. Black and white American music have been tied together for a long time. – Tigey 8 years ago
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Sep 17, 2016 ZBetts Fantastic article! Being an avid music lover myself, this article was interesting and informative, when I think of folk music of course Dylan comes to mind, but like in your article, so does Celtic folk singer Loreena McKennit, and all of the Hymns sung at Church that originated from Black spiritual music. Folk music spans the globe. Thank you for your wonderful article.	Folk Music: A Timeless Genre
Sep 17, 2016 ZBetts Very interesting article, and I can see the point you are making about the stereotypical princess, but I would like to point out that these are fairytales and Disney usually stayed true to the story. A fairytale is from days of old, in Europe, when the absolute best thing for an impoverished family would be for someone with a greater social class to wish to marry their daughter. The family would shove her off to a wealthy suitor in a heartbeat. I think two other female characters from the Disney lineup portray feminism in a much stronger light, and I don’t know whether these movies were based off of fairy tales, they are Mulan and Merida too strong warrior/women able to fend for themselves. The very thin waistline goes very far back and I don’t know if Disney can be blamed for that. The modeling industry and Twiggy come to mind more so than a Disney princess. Thanks for the great insight, I enjoyed your article.	Fairytales and Feminism: "I Don't Wanna be Like Cinderella"
Sep 10, 2016 ZBetts “Philadelphia” was a film that needed to be portrayed, even if it was not reality of a gay society. The straight world, when AIDS became a pandemic in the early 80’s, were quite cruel and obnoxious. If you weren’t old enough to have experienced the world back then, being gay or lesbian was not something that was expressed openly (many were still in the closet) and the straight community was perfectly happy with the status quo. As a matter of fact, having very close friends that were gay I specifically remember reaction from anti-gay sympathizers: Its God’s punishment on “them” for the abominations against Him (God). “Philadelphia” served its purpose and allowed main stream America to feel the sorrow that this awful disease afflicted on the people that it had infected. The film gave straight America empathy for the gay community, empathy that was long overdue.	Philadelphia and AIDS: Looking Past the Pedantry