The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder for April 07, 2011

Oh,how true!

Like maybe, Al Jolson? Comments there, too of interest…

In some cases. For Elvis, surely he’s right, but not for Pat Boone.

No. He means like The Rascals, Elvis, Dave Brubeck, you know, real white folks with talent they borrowed

Someone’s misreading this, certainly… but when did Pat Boone ever try to act/sing/look black? Am I missing something, there?

tedcoop,

Back in the day, Pat Boone often sang songs that were originally recorded by Black artists to make them palatable to White audiences. Check out Boone’s Wikipedia entry. It’s mentioned in the very first paragraph.

Remember, the country was still segregated for the most part back then, and it wasn’t acceptable in many communities for Whites to purchase and listen to Black music.

White audiences bought Pat Boone’s records by the million, but his versions lacked the soul and funkiness of the Black originals by most folks’ reckoning.

Elvis, on the other hand, copied Black styles and sang some songs that were originally Black hits, e.g., “Hound Dog,” but at least he had a sense of soul and rhythm.

Stones, Clapton, Zep, etc., re-introduced American blues to American whites.

Pat Boone was a product of the record industry brought about in an effort to combat Chuck Barry and Little Richard. Remember, this was a time when Doris Day was considered Pop.