Race Music 3
Consider the fact that there were many segregated American neighborhoods at the time of this recording (the 1950s). Furthermore, local stations in Black communities mainly aired music by Black musicians, while clear watt stations catered to White neighborhoods with mostly White musicians. By and large, those in White communities did not hear recordings aired in Black areas, although those in Black neighborhoods heard mainstream music by White artists, as they aired on clear watt stations. In essence, the term "rock and roll' helped to introduce "rhythm and blues" to mainstream America. (This will be musically discussed in greater detail in Lesson 19.)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
This resulted in the wide dissemination of music by White musicians and the accumulation of profits for those White musicians and their record labels while the opposite occurred for Black musicians. Worse, the musical style adopted by the White musicians came directly out of African American musical traditions, from gospel music (such as Rosetta Tharpe) to rhythm and blues, which eventually became rock and roll. Today, we call this cultural appropriation.When mainstream culture adopts the elements or styles of another, often minority, culture. Though the word did not exist in the 1950s and 60s, certainly Black performers understood that White performers who sang their songs and stole their musical and performance style, albeit in a watered-down way, became rich while they couldn't make a living off their music.
Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog"
The lyrics are about the animal "hound dog" and how it's no friend of Presley's because he's often crying, is not high class, and has never caught a rabbit.
Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog"
The lyrics are metaphorically about a "man," Although she refers to him as a hound dog, with lines such as "Daddy I know, you ain't no real cool cat" and "you ain't lookin' for a woman, all you're lookin' for is a home" she is speaking about a man.