As the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death approaches, an expert on black popular culture says that Elvis' enduring legacy among fans both black and white has more to do with his display of "unbridled white male sexuality" than his music.
Mark Anthony Neal, an author and professor at Duke University, says some in the black community resented Elvis because he made his fortune popularizing black musical forms and because of a myth that he thought blacks were inferior.
"Elvis, in his own way, attempted to show some sort of respect for the musical forms that he was essentially exploiting," Neal says. "There is no concrete evidence of him being a racist."
Elvis, who died Aug. 16, 1977, enjoyed and was influenced by black music, Neal says.
"He emerged at a time when the practice of covers was very prominent. The black version of a song was marketed to black audiences and the white version was marketed to white audiences.
"Take ‘Hound Dog.' Everyone knows that Big Mama Thornton recorded the song before Elvis did. What Elvis showed was that you could have a white artist who could record black music and be successful with it.
"He was simply the person that helped popularize rhythm and blues, as well as rock-a-billy and country."
Neal says Elvis' popularity, including the proliferation of impersonators and the suggestion that he may still be alive, are about Elvis "the package and the icon" rather than his work as a musician.
"He didn't change the musical landscape. Elvis wasn't an innovator. He didn't bring anything musical to the table. He simply popularized derivatives of R&B and country," Neal says.