Look up Creole or creole in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Creole may refer to:

Languages[link]

A creole language is a stable, full-fledged language that originated from a pidgin.

Creole languages subgroups may include:

• Arabic-based creole languages
• Dutch-based creole languages
• English-based creole languages
• French-based creole languages
• Singdarin, Chinese-based creole languages
• German-based creole languages
• Malay-based creole languages
• Ngbandi-based creole languages
• Portuguese-based creole languages
• Spanish-based creole languages

Specific creole languages include:

• Haitian Creole language, French-based, an official language of Haiti
• Mauritian Creole, French-based, spoken in Mauritius
• Louisiana Creole French, spoken in Louisiana
• Belizean Kriol language, spoken in Belize
• Cape Verdean Creole, spoken on the islands of Cape Verde
• Krio Dayak language, spoken by Krio Dayak people in West Kalimantan, Indonesia
• Liberian Kreyol language, spoken in Liberia
• Seychellois Creole, French-based, spoken in the Seychelles
• Guinea-Bissau Creole, spoken in Guinea-Bissau
• Negerhollands, a Dutch-based creole, once spoken in the U.S. Virgin Islands
• Bislama, an English-based creole, spoken in Vanuatu
• Llanito, a Spanish- and English-based creole, spoken in Gibraltar
• Bajan or Barbadian Creole, English-based, spoken in Barbados
• Antillean Creole or Créole Martiniquais, French-based, spoken in the Lesser Antilles
• Tok Pisin, an official language of Papua New Guinea
• Torres Strait Creole or Brokan, spoken in far north-east Australia, Torres Strait, and south-west Papua
• Patois, French based, spoken in Saint Lucia
• Nagamese creole, based on Assamese, used in in Nagaland, India

People[link]

Creole peoples – various distinct ethnic groups; mix of culture:

• Louisiana Creole people
• Belizean Kriol people
• Sierra Leone Creole people
• Krio Dayak people, an ethnic group in West Kalimantan, Indonesia
• Mauritian Creole people
• Surinamese Creole people
• Haitian Creole people

Other uses[link]

• Louisiana Creole cuisine, a style of cooking of the New Orleans area, Louisiana that blends many influences.
• "Creole Love Call", a composition by Duke Ellington
• The Creole case, an international dispute about the Creole, a US slave-trade ship.
• Creole Records, a record label
• Creole Pig, a breed of pig from Haiti
• Zydeco, Louisiana Creole folk music
• CREOLE, a component model of the General Architecture for Text Engineering text processing system
• Créolité, a Martinican literary movement
• Creole (markup), a common wiki markup language to be used across different wikis
• Ponce Creole, an architectural style unique to Ponce, Puerto Rico, born in the late eighteenth century
• Creole sheep, a sheep breed
• Creole Queen, a 1,000 passenger sternwheel riverboat
• The Story of Creole, an animated short written by Stephen Cosgrove about a bird-dinosaur-like creature with a big heart and an alligator who couldn't talk straight who find kindred spirits in each other.

See also[link]

• Criollo (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2011)

Charlie Hunter
Hunter performing on February 25, 2006 at SPACE in Portland, Maine.
Background information
Birth name	Charlie Hunter
Born	(1967-05-23) May 23, 1967 (age 45)
Origin	Berkeley, California, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, post-bop, jazz fusion, acid jazz, jazz-funk
Occupations	Guitarist
Instruments	Guitar
Labels	Blue Note Records
Associated acts	The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy The Coalition of the Willing Garage A Trois
Notable instruments
8-string guitar/bass hybrid, custom built by Ralph Novak[1]

Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer and bandleader.

First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter has recorded 17 albums. Hunter plays custom-made seven and eight-string guitars, on which he simultaneously plays basslines, rhythm guitar, and solos. Critic Sean Westergaard^[2] describes Hunter's guitar technique as "mind-boggling ... he's an agile improviser with an ear for great tone, and always has excellent players alongside him in order to make great music, not to show off."

Biography[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

Hunter was born in Rhode Island. When he was four his mom packed him and his younger sister in an old yellow school bus and headed west. After several years living on a commune in Mendocino County they settled in Berkeley, California. Hunter graduated from Berkeley High School and took lessons from famed guitar teacher Joe Satriani. At eighteen he moved to Paris. Returning to the Bay area, Hunter played a seven-string guitar and organ in Michael Franti's political rap group, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. In 1992, they were one of the opening acts for U2's Zoo TV Tour.

Since the debut of his self-titled Charlie Hunter Trio (which included John Ellis on sax and Jay Lane on drums) in 1993, Charlie Hunter has recorded seventeen albums. He co-founded Garage A Trois, a jazz fusion band with Stanton Moore and Skerik. He has collaborated with Bobby Previte for an ongoing project entitled "Groundtruther." He also recorded and toured for Bobby Previte's The Coalition of the Willing in 2006.^[3] He appears on acclaimed jazz bassist Christian McBride's Live At Tonic. On both The Coalition of the Willing and Live at Tonic he plays 6-string guitars. His earliest known released recording without unusual guitars is as a guest bassist for the band Sweet Potato from California's East Bay. The song "Crankshaft" can be found on the Ubiquity Records compilation Mo Cookin from 1994 and the song "Monkey Wrench" can be found on the Ubiquity Records compilation Still Cookin from 1995. He also played guitar on the track "Me and Chuck" from the Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel album, Highball with the Devil, released in 1996.

Charlie played in the band T.J. Kirk active 1990s that merged the music of Thelonious Monk, James Brown, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. T.J Kirk is: Will Bernard - Guitar, John Schott - Guitar, Charlie Hunter - 8-string guitar and Scott Amendola - Drums. Three recordings of the time are called: T.J. Kirk August 8, 1995, If Four Was One September 24, 1996 and Talking Only Makes it Worse released in 2005. Hunter contributed to three songs for D'Angelo's Voodoo (2000), including "The Root".^[4] Hunter has stated that the session for the song was the most challenging session he has worked on.^[4]

In the summer of 2007, Charlie toured with a trio that included New York keyboardist Erik Deutsch and New York/New Orleans drummer Simon Lott. This trio recorded the July, 2007 Fantasy release Mistico. In 2008, Hunter recorded his first self-release, Baboon Strength. Featured on the record are Erik Deutch on keys and Tony Mason on drums. Hunter returned to the studio in Fall of 2009 to record with drummer Eric Kalb.

In 2008, eminent clarinetist and composer Ben Goldberg put together a project entitled "Go Home" with Charlie on guitar(s), Ron Miles (trumpet) and Scott Amendola (drums). The alternately funky, beautiful, spacious and deep compositions showcase all the musicians. The group performed at the Jazz Standard in New York from October 29 to November 1, 2009 with Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, replacing Miles on trumpet.

Hunter was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.^[5]

Charlie Hunter is represented by Tree Lawn Artists, Inc.^[6]

Equipment[link]

Hunter currently plays a custom-made, seven-string guitar made by Jeff Traugott. Previously, Hunter played a custom-made, eight-string guitar made by luthier Ralph Novak of Novax Guitars. He plays the lead guitar on the top five strings (tuned ADGBe) and bass guitar (tuned EAD) on the bottom three strings simultaneously. With the addition of a Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere (a Leslie rotary speaker simulator), his unique style produces a sound similar to that of a Hammond organ -- an instrument he set out to imitate.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Hunter removed the top guitar string and had the neck of his guitar reworked and now plays a modified 7-string on the formerly-8 string body. Hunter has mentioned that because of his small hands, he had to move out of position to make use of the 8th string and thus wasn't using it much. A change in Hunter's style away from the organ sound into a more blues and distortion based sound happened at the same time. After removing the 8th string, Hunter retuned all of the strings up a half step: F-A#-D# on the bass and A#-D#-G#-C on the guitar. As of 2008, he had once again retuned up another whole step: G-C-F on the bass and C-F-A#-D on the guitar.^[7]

He has recently begun using Headstrong amps. Headstrong is based out of Santa Cruz, California.

Discography[link]

• 1993 - Charlie Hunter Trio - Prawn Song
• 1995 - Bing, Bing, Bing! - Blue Note
• 1996 - Ready, Set...Shango! - Blue Note
• 1997 - Natty Dread - Blue Note
• 1998 - Return of the Candyman - Blue Note
• 1998 - All Kooked Out! (Stanton Moore) - Fog City
• 1999 - Duo - Blue Note
• 1999 - Mysteryfunk (Garage a Trois) - Fog City
• 2000 - Voodoo (D'Angelo) – Cheeba Sound
• 2000 - Charlie Hunter - Blue Note
• 2000 - Solo Eight-String Guitar - Contra Punto
• 2001 - Songs from the Analog Playground - Blue Note
• 2003 - Emphasizer (Garage a Trois) - Tone-Cool
• 2003 - Right Now Move - Ropeadope
• 2003 - Come In Red Dog, This is Tango Leader (with Bobby Previte) - Ropeadope
• 2004 - Friends Seen and Unseen - Ropeadope
• 2004 - Latitude (Groundtruther) - Thirsty Ear
• 2005 - Steady Groovin' - Blue Note
• 2005 - Longitude (Groundtruther) - Thirsty Ear
• 2005 - Outre Mer (Garage a Trois) - Telarc
• 2005 - Earth Tones (with Chinna Smith and Ernest Ranglin) - Green Street
• 2006 - The Coalition of the Willing (Bobby Previte) - Ropeadope
• 2006 - Live at Tonic (Christian McBride) - Ropeadope
• 2006 - Copperopolis - Ropeadope
• 2007 - Mistico - Fantasy
• 2007 - Altitude (Groundtruther) - Thirsty Ear
• 2007 - Continuum (In Repair) - John Mayer
• 2008 - Baboon Strength - reapandsow
• 2008 - Fade - (Tim Collins featuring Charlie Hunter & Simon Lott) - Ropeadope
• 2009 - Go Home - (Ben Goldberg, Charlie Hunter, Scott Amendola & Ron Miles) - BAG Production
• 2009 - Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid - Spire Artist Media / reapandsow
• 2010 - Public Domain -

Videography[link]

• 2004 - Right Now Live, Ropeadope Digital (DVD released July 13)
• 2005 - Solo Inventions, Shanachie Entertainment (DVD released September 6)
• 2006 - In Repair: One Song, One Day, playing 8-string with John Mayer, Aware Records (iTunes download)
• 2011 - Solos: the Jazz Sessions, Original Spin Media (DVD released February 22)

Filmography[link]

• SOLOS: the jazz sessions (2004)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1997)
• Rochester, New York Jazz Festival (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

• CharlieHunter.com
• Charlie Hunter collection on the Internet Archive's live music archive

Mos Def
Mos Def at YBCA in San Francisco on December 31, 2008
Background information
Birth name	Dante Terrell Smith
Also known as	Yasiin Bey
Born	(1973-12-11) December 11, 1973 (age 38) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Genres	East Coast hip hop, alternative hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, actor, singer, activist
Years active	1996 – present
Labels	Rawkus, Priority, Geffen, Downtown, GOOD Music, DD172
Associated acts	Soulquarians, Black Star, Talib Kweli, Native Tongues Posse, Kanye West, Gorillaz, Massive Attack, Pharoahe Monch, Eminem, Blakroc, Robert Glasper Experiment

Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973) is an American actor and MC, known by the stage names Mos Def ( /ˌmoʊsˈdɛf/) and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which released the album Black Star in 1998. He was a major force in late 1990s underground hip hop while with Rawkus Records. As a solo artist he has released the albums Black on Both Sides in 1999, The New Danger in 2004, True Magic in 2006, and The Ecstatic in 2009.^[1]

Although he was initially recognized for his musical output, since the early 2000s, Mos Def's screen work has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who has garnered critical acclaim for his acting work. He is well known for his portrayal of Brother Sam in the American drama series Dexter. Mos Def has also been active in several social and political causes.

Early life[link]

He was born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdul Rahman.^[2] He was raised by his mother in Brooklyn; his father lived in New Jersey. While his father was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and later an active member in the community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into mainstream Islam from the Nation, Mos Def was not exposed to Islam until the age of 13. At 19, he took his shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. He is friends with Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest.^[2]

Career[link]

Music[link]

In 1996, Mos Def emerged as a solo artist and worked with De La Soul and Da Bush Babees, before he released his own first single, "Universal Magnetic".

Mos Def in 1999

Mos Def signed with Rawkus Records and formed the group Black Star with Talib Kweli. They released an album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star, in 1998.^[3] Mostly produced by Hi-Tek, the album featured the hit singles, "Respiration" and "Definition", which would go on to be featured in VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip-Hop.^[4] Mos Def released his solo debut album Black on Both Sides in 1999, also through Rawkus.^[5] Around this time he also contributed to the Scritti Politti album Anomie & Bonhomie and Rawkus compilations Lyricist Lounge and Soundbombing.

Def performing at Rock the Bells (New York).

After the collapse of Rawkus, he signed to Interscope/Geffen Records, which released his second solo album The New Danger in 2004.^[6] The New Danger contained a mix of several musical genres, including soul, blues, and rock and roll, performed with his rock band Black Jack Johnson, which contained members of the bands Bad Brains and Living Colour. The singles included "Sex, Love & Money" and the B-side "Ghetto Rock"; the latter went on to receive several Grammy Award nominations in 2004.

Mos Def's final solo album for Geffen Records, True Magic, was released in 2006.

The song "Crime & Medicine" is essentially a cover of GZA's 1995 single "Liquid Swords", though it contains different verses. Also, the track "Undeniable" samples a version of the Barrett Strong/Norman Whitfield composition "Message from a Black Man". The song "Dollar Day" uses the same beat as Juvenile's "Nolia Clap".^[7]

On November 7, 2007, Mos Def performed live in San Francisco at a venue called The Mezzanine. This performance was recorded for an upcoming "Live in Concert" DVD. During this performance Mos Def announced that he would be releasing a new album to be called The Ecstatic. He sang a number of new tracks; in later shows, Def previewed tracks produced by Madlib and was rumored to be going to Kanye West for new material. Producer and fellow Def Poet Al Be Back stated that he would be producing as well.^[8] The album was released on June 9, 2009; upon its release, only Madlib's production had made the cut, along with tracks by Preservation, The Neptunes, Mr. Flash, Madlib's brother Oh No, a song by J. Dilla, and Georgia Anne Muldrow.

Mos Def appears alongside Kanye West on the track "Two Words" from The College Dropout album, the track "Drunk And Hot Girls" and the bonus track "Good Night" off West's third major album, Graduation. In 2002, he released the 12" single Fine, which was featured in the Brown Sugar Motion Picture Soundtrack.^[9]

Mos Def also appears on the debut album from fellow New Yorkers Apollo Heights on a track titled, "Concern." In October, he signed a deal with Downtown Records and appeared on a remix to the song "D.A.N.C.E." by Justice.^[10] Mos Def appeared on Stephen Marley's debut album Mind Control on the song "Hey Baby." In 2009, Mos Def worked together with Somali rapper K'naan to produce the track "America" for K'naan's album Troubadour.^[11]

In April 2008 he appeared on the title track for a new album by The Roots entitled Rising Down. The new single, Life In Marvelous Times, was made officially available through iTunes on November 4, 2008, and is available for stream on the Roots' website Okayplayer.

April 2009 saw him traveling to South Africa for the first time where he performed accompanied by The Robert Glasper Experiment at the renowned Cape Town International Jazz Festival. He enticed his bemused African following with an encore introduced by his own rendition of John Coltrane's "Love Supreme" followed by a sneak preview of the track "M.D. (Doctor)", much to the delight of the fans.^[12]

Mos Def also designed two pairs of limited edition Converse shoes. The shoes were released to Foot Locker stores on August 1, 2009 in very limited amounts.^[13]

In late 2009, Mos Def created a brand of clothing line with UNDRCRWN called the "Mos Def Cut & Sew Collection." All clothing items will be sold in select stores located around the U.S. and almost exclusively on the UNDRCRWN website.^[14] 2009 also found Mos Def among the MCs collaborating with the Black Keys on the first Blakroc album, a project headed by the Black Keys and Damon Dash. Mos Def appeared with Jim Jones and the Black Keys on the Late Show with David Letterman to perform the Blakroc track "Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)".

In March 2010, Mos Def's song Quiet Dog Bite Hard was featured in Palm's "Life moves fast. Don't miss a thing." campaign.^[15]

Mos Def features on the first single, "Stylo", from the third Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach, alongside soul legend Bobby Womack. He also appears on the track titled "Sweepstakes".

In September 2010, after appearing on Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Friday track "Lord Lord Lord", Mos Def confirmed his signing with GOOD Music.^[16]

Mos Def has been an active contributor to the recovery of the oil spill in the Gulf, performing concerts and raising money towards the repair of the damages. In June 2010, he recorded a cover of the classic New Orleans song originally by Smokey Johnson, "It Ain't My Fault" with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Lenny Kravitz and Trombone Shorty.

In September 2011, Mos Def announced that he planned to use the name Yasiin instead of Mos Def beginning in 2012.^[17]

In January 2012, it was reported that Mos Def and Talib Kweli had begun "to resurrect" Black Star.^[18]

Acting[link]

He began his professional acting career at the age of fourteen, appearing in the TV movie God Bless the Child, starring Mare Winningham. He then played the oldest child in the short-lived family sitcom, You Take the Kids, starring Nell Carter and Roger E. Mosley. His most notable acting role before his music career was that of Bill Cosby's sidekick on the short-lived detective show, The Cosby Mysteries. He also starred in a 1996 Visa check card commercial featuring Deion Sanders. In 1997 he had a small role alongside Michael Jackson in his short film and music video "Ghosts".

After brief appearances in Bamboozled^[19] and Monster's Ball,^[20] Mos re-invigorated his acting career with his performance as a talented rapper who is reluctant to sign to a major label in Brown Sugar.^[21] He was nominated for an Image Award and a Teen Choice Award.^[22]

In 2001, he took a supporting role to Beyoncé Knowles and Mehki Phifer in the MTV movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera as Lt. Miller, a crooked cop.

In 2002, he played the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog, a Tony-nominated and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play. He and co-star Jeffrey Wright won a Special Award from the Outer Critics Circle Award for their joint performance.^[23] He also received positive notices as the quirky Left Ear in the blockbuster hit, The Italian Job in 2003.^[24] He also appeared in 2003 in the music video You Don't Know My Name of the song by Alicia Keys.

In television, Mos Def has appeared on NYPD Blue,^[25] on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show,^[26] and has hosted the award-winning HBO spoken word show, Def Poetry since its inception.^[27] The show's sixth season aired in 2007. He also appeared on the sitcom My Wife And Kids as the disabled friend of Michael Kyle (Damon Wayans).

Mos Def won Best Actor, Independent Movie at the 2005 Black Reel Awards for his portrayal of Detective Sgt. Lucas in The Woodsman.^[28] For his portrayal of Vivien Thomas in HBO's film Something the Lord Made,^[29] he was nominated for an Emmy Award^[30] and a Golden Globe, and won the Image Award. He also played a bandleader in HBO's Lackawanna Blues. He then landed the role of Ford Prefect in the 2005 movie adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.^[31]

Def and Bruce Willis on the set of 16 Blocks, filmed on location in Chinatown, Manhattan on Pell Street.

In 2006, Mos Def appeared in Dave Chappelle's Block Party alongside fellow Black Star companion Talib Kweli, while also contributing to the film's soundtrack.^[32] Also, Mos Def was featured as the black banjo player in the infamous "Pixie Sketch" from Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes. He was later edited out of it on the DVD. Additionally, Mos Def starred in the action film 16 Blocks alongside Bruce Willis and David Morse.^[33] He has a recurring guest role on Boondocks, starring as "Gangstalicious". He is also set to be in Toussaint, a film about Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, opposite Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes. He made a cameo appearance — playing himself — in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.^[34]

In 2007, Mos Def narrated the PBS-broadcast documentary Prince Among Slaves.

In 2008, Mos Def starred in the Michel Gondry movie Be Kind Rewind, playing a video rental store employee whose best friend is played by co-star Jack Black.^[35] He also portrayed Chuck Berry in the film Cadillac Records,^[36] for which he was nominated for a Black Reel Award and an Image Award.

In 2009, he appeared in the House episode entitled "Locked In" as a patient suffering from locked-in syndrome. His performance was well-received, with E! saying that Mos Def "delivers an Emmy-worthy performance."^[37] He was also in the 2009 film Next Day Air.

In 2010, he appeared on the children's show Yo Gabba Gabba! as Super Mr. Superhero. He also appeared in A Free Man of Color, John Guare's play at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.^[38]

In 2011, he began a multi-episode appearance on the Showtime television series Dexter. He played Brother Sam, an ex-con who has supposedly found religion despite finding himself in violent situations.^[39]

Social and political views[link]

In 2000, Mos Def performed a benefit concert for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal.^[40]

In September 2005, Mos Def released the single "Katrina Clap," renamed "Dollar Day" for True Magic, (utilizing the instrumental for New Orleans rappers UTP's "Nolia Clap"). The song is a criticism of the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. On the night of the MTV Video Music Awards, Mos Def pulled up in front of Radio City Music Hall on a flatbed truck and began performing the "Katrina Clap" single in front of a crowd that quickly gathered around him. He was subsequently arrested despite having a public performance permit in his possession.^[41]

On September 7, 2007, Mos Def appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher where he spoke about racism against African Americans, citing the government response to Hurricane Katrina, the Jena Six and the murder conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal. He appeared on Real Time again on March 27, 2009, and spoke about the risk of nuclear weapons.^[42] Mos Def said that he did not listen to any of Osama Bin Laden's messages because he did not trust the translations.^[43]

Personal life[link]

In 1996, Def married Maria Yepes. After having two daughters, Chandani and Jauhara Smith, he filed for divorce in 2005.^[44]

In October 2006 Mos Def appeared on 4Real, a documentary television series.^[45] Appearing in the episode "City of God," he and the 4Real crew traveled to City of God, a slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to meet Brazilian MC MV Bill and learn about the crime and social problems of the community.^[46]

Nominations[link]

• Black Movie Awards
  • 2006 Source Awards
• Black Reel Awards
  • 2008, Best Supporting Actor: Cadillac Records
  • 2003, Best Actor- Independent: Civil Brand
  • 2004, Best Supporting Actor: The Italian Job
  • 2005, Best Actor TV Movie/Mini-Series: Something the Lord Made
  • 2005, Best Indie Actor: The Woodsman (won)
• Emmy Award
  • 2004, Best Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: Something the Lord Made
• Golden Globes
  • 2005, Best Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: Something the Lord Made
• Grammy Awards
  • 2005, Best Urban/Alternative Performance: "Sex, Love & Money"
  • 2006, Best Urban/Alternative Performance: "Ghetto Rock"
  • 2007, Best Rap Solo Performance: "Undeniable"
  • 2010, Best Rap Solo Performance: "Casa Bey"
  • 2010, Best Rap Album: "The Ecstatic"
  • 2011, Best Short Form Music Video: "Stylo" (with Bobby Womack and Gorillaz)
• Image Awards
  • 2009, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Cadillac Records
  • 2003, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Brown Sugar
  • 2005, Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: Something the Lord Made

Discography[link]

• Black on Both Sides (1999)
• The New Danger (2004)
• True Magic (2006)
• The Ecstatic (2009)
• Yasiin Bey Presents (TBA)^[47]

Collaborations

• Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star (1998) (with Talib Kweli as Black Star)
• Black Star Aretha (2012) (with Talib Kweli as Black Star)^[47]
• Cruel Summer (2012) (with GOOD Music)^[48]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mos Def

• Mos Def / Dante Smith discographies at Discogs.
• Mos Def at Geffen Records.
• Mos Def at MTV
• Mos Def at the Internet Movie Database
• Mos Def at Emmys.com

Mississippi John Hurt
Hurt making a recording for the Library of Congress in 1964.
Background information
Birth name	John Smith Hurt
Born	(1893-07-03)July 3, 1893 or (1892-03-08)March 8, 1892 Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi, United States
Origin	Avalon, Mississippi
Died	November 2, 1966(1966-11-02) Grenada, Mississippi
Genres	Country blues, Delta blues, Folk
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Sharecropper, Farm hand
Instruments	Guitar, Vocals
Years active	1928, 1963 – 1966
Labels	Okeh Vanguard
Associated acts	Shell Smith Willie Narmour
Notable instruments
Guild F-30NT

John Smith Hurt, better known as Mississippi John Hurt (July 3, 1893^[1][2] or March 8, 1892^[3] — November 2, 1966) was an American country blues singer and guitarist.^[4]

Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine. Singing in a loud whisper, to a melodious finger-picked accompaniment,^[5] he began to play local dances and parties while working as a sharecropper. He first recorded for Okeh Records in 1928, but these were commercial failures, and Hurt drifted out of the recording scene, where he continued his work as a farmer. After a man discovered a copy of one of his recordings, "Avalon Blues", which gave the location of his hometown, there became increased interest in his whereabouts. Tom Hoskins, a blues enthusiast, would be the first to locate Hurt in 1963. He convinced Hurt to relocate to Washington, D.C., where he was recorded by the Library of Congress in 1964. This rediscovery helped further the American folk music revival, which had led to the rediscovery of many other bluesmen of Hurt's era. Hurt entered the same university and coffeehouse concert circuit as his contemporaries, as well as other Delta blues musicians brought out of retirement. As well as playing concerts, he recorded several studio albums for Vanguard Records.

He died in Grenada, Mississippi. Material recorded by Hurt has been re-released by many record labels over the years (see discography); and his influence has extended over many generations of guitarists. Songs recorded by Hurt have been covered by Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Beck, Doc Watson, John McCutcheon, Taj Mahal, Bruce Cockburn, David Johansen, Bill Morrissey and Guthrie Thomas.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Born John Smith Hurt in Teoc,^[6] Carroll County, Mississippi and raised in Avalon, Mississippi, he learned to play guitar at age nine. He was completely self-taught, playing his mother's boyfriend's guitar whenever he stayed over at her house. His style was not reminiscent of any other style being played at the time; it was the way Hurt "thought the guitar should sound". He spent much of his youth playing old time music for friends and dances, earning a living as a farmhand into the 1920s.^[7] His fast, highly syncopated style of playing made his music adept for dancing. On occasion, a medicine show would come through the area; Hurt recalls being wanted by one of them. "One of them wanted me, but I said no because I just never wanted to get away from home."^[6] In 1923 he partnered with the fiddle player Willie Narmour as a substitute for his regular partner Shell Smith.^[7]

First recordings[link]

When Narmour got a chance to record for Okeh Records as a prize for winning first place in a 1928 fiddle contest, he recommended Hurt to Okeh Records producer Tommy Rockwell. After auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his home, he took part in two recording sessions, in Memphis and New York City (see Discography below).^[7] While in Memphis, Hurt recalled seeing "many, many blues singers ... Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bessie Smith, and lots, lots more."^[6] Hurt described his first recording session as such:

... a great big hall with only the three of us in it: me, the man [Rockwell], and the engineer. It was really something. I sat on a chair, and they pushed the microphone right up to my mouth and told me that I couldn't move after they had found the right position. I had to keep my head absolutely still. Oh, I was nervous, and my neck was sore for days after.^[6]

Hurt attempted further negotiations with OKeh to record again, but after the commercial failure of the resulting records, and Okeh Records going out of business during the Great Depression, Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity, working as a sharecropper and playing local parties and dances.^[5]

Rediscovery[link]

After Hurt's renditions of "Frankie" and "Spike Driver Blues" were included in The Anthology of American Folk Music in 1952, and an Australian man discovered a copy of "Avalon Blues", there became increased interest in finding Hurt himself.^[8] In 1963, a folk musicologist, Tom Hoskins, supervised by Richard Spottswood, was able to locate Hurt near Avalon, Mississippi using the lyrics of "Avalon Blues":^[8]

Avalon, my home town, always on my mind/Avalon, my home town.

While in Avalon, Hoskins convinced an apprehensive Hurt to perform several songs for him, to ensure that he was genuine.^[8] Hoskins was convinced, and seeing that Hurt's guitar playing skills were still intact, Hoskins encouraged him to move to Washington, D.C., and begin performing on a wider stage. His performance at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival saw his star rise amongst the new folk revival audience.^[5] Before his death he played extensively in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses and also on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, as well as recording three further albums for Vanguard Records.^[5] Much of his repertoire was recorded for the Library of Congress, also. His fans particularly liked the ragtime songs "Salty Dog" and "Candy Man", and the blues ballads "Spike Driver Blues" (a variant of "John Henry") and "Frankie".^[5]

Hurt's influence spanned several music genres including blues, country, bluegrass, folk and contemporary rock and roll. A soft-spoken man, his nature was reflected in the work, which consisted of a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music.^[7]

Hurt died of a heart attack in Grenada, Mississippi.^[9]

Style[link]

Hurt incorporated a fast, pick-less, syncopated fingerpicking style that he taught himself. He was influenced by very few people; but does recall an elderly, unrecorded, blues singer from that area, Rufus Hanks, who played twelve-string guitar and harmonica.^[6] He also recalls listening to the country singer Jimmie Rodgers. Many of his songs were in very basic keys (C, G, D, F, etc.), his fingers picking notes within the chords. On occasion, Hurt would use an open tuning and a slide, as he did in his arrangement of "The Ballad of Casey Jones".^[8][6]

Tributes[link]

There is now a memorial in Avalon, Mississippi for Mississippi John Hurt. It is parallel to RR2, the rural road on which he grew up.

American singer-songwriter Tom Paxton, who met Hurt and played on the same bill as him at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village around 1963, wrote and recorded a song about him in 1977 entitled "Did You Hear John Hurt?" Paxton still frequently plays this song at his live performances.

The first track of John Fahey's 1968 solo acoustic guitar album Requia is entitled "Requiem For John Hurt". Fahey's posthumous live album The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick also features a version of the piece, there entitled "Requiem For Mississippi John Hurt".

British folk/blues artist Wizz Jones recorded a tribute song called "Mississippi John" for his 1977 album Magical Flight.

Discography[link]

NOTE: Sources for this section are as follows:^{[10][11][12][13]}

78 rpm releases[link]

• "Frankie"/"Nobody's Dirty Business" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8560) (1928)
• "Stack O' Lee"/"Candy Man Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8654) (1928)
• "Blessed Be the Name"/"Praying on the Old Camp Ground" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8666) (1928)
• "Blue Harvest Blues"/"Spike Driver Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8692) (1928)
• "Louis Collins"/"Got the Blues (Can't Be Satisfied)" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8724) (1928)
• "Ain't No Tellin'"/"Avalon Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8759) (1928)

Albums[link]

• Folk Songs and Blues [live recordings] (Piedmont Records, PLP 13757) (1963)
• Worried Blues (Piedmont Records, PLP 13161) (1964)
• Today! (Vanguard Records, VSD-79220) (1966)
• The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt (Vanguard Records, VSD-79248) (1967)
• The Best of Mississippi John Hurt [live recordings] (Vanguard Records, VSD-19/20) (1970)
• Last Sessions (Vanguard Records, VSD-79327) (1972)
• Volume One of a Legacy [live recordings] (Piedmont Records, CLPS 1068) (1975)
• Monday Morning Blues: The Library of Congress Recordings – Volume One (Flyright Records, FLYLP 553) (1980)
• Avalon Blues: The Library of Congress Recordings – Volume Two (Heritage Records, HT-301) (1982)
• Satisfied [live recordings] (Quicksilver Intermedia, QS 5007) (1982)
• The Candy Man [live recordings] (Quicksilver Intermedia, QS 5042) (1982)
• Sacred and Secular: The Library of Congress Recordings – Volume Three (Heritage Records, HT-320) (1988)
• Avalon Blues (Flyright Records, FLYCD 06) (1989)
• Memorial Anthology [live recordings] (Genes Records, GCD 9906/7) (1993)

Selected compilation albums[link]

• The Original 1928 Recordings (Spokane Records, SPL 1001) (1971)
• 1928: Stack O' Lee Blues – His First Recordings (Biograph Records, BLP C4) (1972)
• 1928 Sessions (Yazoo Records, L 1065) (1979)
• Satisfying Blues (Collectables Records, VCL 5529) (1995)
• Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings (Columbia Records, CK64986) (1996)
• Rediscovered (Vanguard Records, CD 79519) (1998)
• The Complete Recordings (Vanguard Records, CD 70181-2) (1998)
• Candy Man Blues: The Complete 1928 Sessions (Snapper Music, SBLUECD 010) (2004)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mississippi John Hurt

• Mississippi John Hurt Museum Includes a link to a discussion forum regarding Mississippi John Hurt with substantive participation by grand nephew, Fred Bolden.
• Mississippi John Hurt News Website run by Hurt's grand nephew, Fred Bolden. Has several forums and discussions open to the public.
• Illustrated Mississippi John Hurt discography
• Available recordings at The Internet Archive
• Allmusic
• Mississippi John Hurt's Stackolee Recording, sheet music and guitar tab.

Further reading[link]

• Ratcliffe, Philip R., (2011) Mississippi John Hurt: His Life, His Times, His Blues. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.

Elvis Presley
Publicity photo for Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Background information
Birth name	Elvis Aaron Presley
Born	(1935-01-08)January 8, 1935 Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	August 16, 1977(1977-08-16) (aged 42) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Rock and roll, pop, rockabilly, country, blues, gospel, R&B
Occupations	Musician, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1953–77
Labels	Sun, RCA Victor
Associated acts	The Blue Moon Boys, The Jordanaires, The Imperials
Website	elvis.com

Elvis Aaron Presley^a (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".

Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family at the age of 13. He began his career there in 1954, working with Sun Records owner Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African American music to a wider audience. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was the most important popularizer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country and rhythm and blues. RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage the singer for over two decades. Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", released in January 1956, was a number one hit. He became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll with a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records. His energized interpretations of songs, many from African American sources, and his uninhibited performance style made him enormously popular—and controversial. In November 1956, he made his film debut in Love Me Tender.

Conscripted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He staged few concerts however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood movies and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. In 1968, after seven years away from the stage, he returned to live performance in a celebrated comeback television special that led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of profitable tours. In 1973 Presley staged the first concert broadcast globally via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii, seen by approximately 1.5 billion viewers. Prescription drug abuse severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at the age of 42.

Presley is regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture. He had a versatile voice and unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including country, pop ballads, gospel, and blues. He is the best-selling solo artist in the history of popular music.^[1][2][3][4] Nominated for 14 competitive Grammys, he won three, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36. He has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame.

Life and career[link]

Early years (1935–53)[link]

Childhood in Tupelo[link]

Presley's birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi

Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to 18-year-old Vernon Elvis and 22-year-old Gladys Love Presley.^[5] In the two-room shotgun house built by his father in readiness for the birth, Jesse Garon Presley, his identical twin brother, was delivered 35 minutes before him, stillborn. As an only child, Presley became close to both parents and formed an unusually tight bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God church where he found his initial musical inspiration.^[6]

Presley's ancestry was primarily a Western European mix: On his mother's side, he was Scots-Irish, with some French Norman; one of Gladys's great-great-grandmothers was Cherokee.^[7]b His father's forebears were of Scottish^[8] or German^[9] origin. Gladys was regarded by relatives and friends as the dominant member of the small family. Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, evidencing little ambition.^[10][11] The family often relied on help from neighbors and government food assistance. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of altering a check written by the landowner. He was jailed for eight months, and Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives.^[12]

In September 1941, Presley entered first grade at East Tupelo Consolidated, where his instructors regarded him as "average".^[13] He was encouraged to enter a singing contest after impressing his schoolteacher with a rendition of Red Foley's country song "Old Shep" during morning prayers. The contest, held at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on October 3, 1945, saw his first public performance: dressed as a cowboy, the ten-year-old Presley stood on a chair to reach the microphone and sang "Old Shep". He recalled placing fifth.^[14] A few months later, Presley received his first guitar for his birthday; he had hoped for something else—by different accounts, either a bicycle or a rifle.^[15][16] Over the following year, he received basic guitar lessons from two of his uncles and the new pastor at the family's church. Presley recalled, "I took the guitar, and I watched people, and I learned to play a little bit. But I would never sing in public. I was very shy about it."^[17]

Entering a new school, Milam, for sixth grade in September 1946, Presley was regarded as a loner. The following year, he began bringing his guitar in on a daily basis. He played and sang during lunchtime, and was often teased as a "trashy" kid who played hillbilly music. The family was by then living in a largely African American neighborhood.^[18] A devotee of Mississippi Slim's show on the Tupelo radio station WELO, Presley was described as "crazy about music" by Slim's younger brother, a classmate of Presley's, who often took him in to the station. Slim supplemented Presley's guitar tuition by demonstrating chord techniques.^[19] When his protégé was 12 years old, Slim scheduled him for two on-air performances. Presley was overcome by stage fright the first time, but succeeded in performing the following week.^[20]

Teenage life in Memphis[link]

In November 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. After residing for nearly a year in rooming houses, they were granted a two-bedroom apartment in the public housing complex known as the Courts.^[21] Enrolled at Humes High School, Presley received only a C in music in eighth grade. When his music teacher told him he had no aptitude for singing, he brought in his guitar the next day and sang a recent hit, "Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me", in an effort to prove otherwise. A classmate later recalled that the teacher "agreed that Elvis was right when he said that she didn't appreciate his kind of singing."^[22] He was generally too shy to perform openly, and was occasionally bullied by classmates who viewed him as a "mama's boy".^[23] In 1950, he began practicing guitar regularly under the tutelage of Jesse Lee Denson, a neighbor two-and-a-half years his senior. They and three other boys—including two future rockabilly pioneers, brothers Dorsey and Johnny Burnette—formed a loose musical collective that played frequently around the Courts.^[24] That September, he began ushering at Loew's State Theater.^[25] Other jobs followed during his school years: Precision Tool, Loew's again, and MARL Metal Products.^[26]

During his junior year, Presley began to stand out more among his classmates, largely because of his appearance: he grew out his sideburns and styled his hair with rose oil and Vaseline. On his own time, he would head down to Beale Street, the heart of Memphis's thriving blues scene, and gaze longingly at the wild, flashy clothes in the windows of Lansky Brothers. By his senior year, he was wearing them.^[27] Overcoming his reticence about performing outside the Courts, he competed in Humes's Annual "Minstrel" show in April 1953. Singing and playing guitar, he opened with "Till I Waltz Again with You", a recent hit for Teresa Brewer. Presley recalled that the performance did much for his reputation: "I wasn't popular in school ... I failed music—only thing I ever failed. And then they entered me in this talent show ... when I came onstage I heard people kind of rumbling and whispering and so forth, 'cause nobody knew I even sang. It was amazing how popular I became after that."^[28]

Presley, who never received formal music training or learned to read music, studied and played by ear. He frequented record stores with jukeboxes and listening booths. He knew all of Hank Snow's songs^[29] and he loved records by other country singers such as Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Ted Daffan, Jimmie Rodgers, Jimmie Davis, and Bob Wills.^[30] The Southern Gospel singer Jake Hess, one of his favorite performers, was a significant influence on his ballad-singing style.^[31][32] He was a regular audience member at the monthly All-Night Singings downtown, where many of the white gospel groups that performed reflected the influence of African American spiritual music.^[33] He adored the music of black gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.^[30] Like some of his peers, he may have attended blues venues—of necessity, in the segregated South, only on nights designated for exclusively white audiences.^[34] He certainly listened to the regional radio stations that played "race records": spirituals, blues, and the modern, backbeat-heavy sound of rhythm and blues.^[35] Many of his future recordings were inspired by local African American musicians such as Arthur Crudup and Rufus Thomas.^[36][37] B.B. King recalled that he knew Presley before he was popular when they both used to frequent Beale Street.^[38] By the time he graduated high school in June 1953, Presley had already singled out music as his future.^[39][40]

First recordings (1953–55)[link]

Presley in a Sun Records promotional photograph, 1954

Sam Phillips and Sun Records[link]

In August 1953, Presley walked into the offices of Sun Records. He aimed to pay for a few minutes of studio time to record a two-sided acetate disc: "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". He would later claim he intended the record as a gift for his mother, or was merely interested in what he "sounded like", though there was a much cheaper, amateur record-making service at a nearby general store. Biographer Peter Guralnick argues that he chose Sun in the hope of being discovered. Asked by receptionist Marion Keisker what kind of singer he was, Presley responded, "I sing all kinds." When she pressed him on whom he sounded like, he repeatedly answered, "I don't sound like nobody." After he recorded, Sun boss Sam Phillips asked Keisker to note down the young man's name, which she did along with her own commentary: "Good ballad singer. Hold."^[41] Presley cut a second acetate in January 1954—"I'll Never Stand In Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You"—but again nothing came of it.^[42]

Not long after, he failed an audition for a local vocal quartet, the Songfellows. He explained to his father, "They told me I couldn't sing."^[43] Songfellow Jim Hamill later claimed that he was turned down because he did not demonstrate an ear for harmony at the time.^[44] In April, Presley began working for the Crown Electric company as a truck driver.^[45] His friend Ronnie Smith, after playing a few local gigs with him, suggested he contact Eddie Bond, leader of Smith's professional band, which had an opening for a vocalist. Bond rejected him after a tryout, advising Presley to stick to truck driving "because you're never going to make it as a singer."^[46]

Phillips, meanwhile, was always on the lookout for someone who could bring the sound of the black musicians on whom Sun focused to a broader audience. As Keisker reported, "Over and over I remember Sam saying, 'If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.'"^[47] In June, he acquired a demo recording of a ballad, "Without You", that he thought might suit the teenaged singer. Presley came by the studio, but was unable to do it justice. Despite this, Phillips asked Presley to sing as many numbers as he knew. He was sufficiently affected by what he heard to invite two local musicians, guitarist Winfield "Scotty" Moore and upright bass player Bill Black, to work something up with Presley for a recording session.^[48]

	"That's All Right" noicon Presley transformed not only the sound but the emotion of the song, turning what had been written as a "lament for a lost love into a satisfied declaration of independence."[49]
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

The session, held the evening of July 5, proved entirely unfruitful until late in the night. As they were about to give up and go home, Presley took his guitar and launched into a 1946 blues number, Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right". Moore recalled, "All of a sudden, Elvis just started singing this song, jumping around and acting the fool, and then Bill picked up his bass, and he started acting the fool, too, and I started playing with them. Sam, I think, had the door to the control booth open ... he stuck his head out and said, 'What are you doing?' And we said, 'We don't know.' 'Well, back up,' he said, 'try to find a place to start, and do it again.'" Phillips quickly began taping; this was the sound he had been looking for.^[50] Three days later, popular Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips played "That's All Right" on his Red, Hot, and Blue show.^[51] Listeners began phoning in, eager to find out who the singer was. The interest was such that Phillips played the record repeatedly during the last two hours of his show. Interviewing Presley on-air, Phillips asked him what high school he attended in order to clarify his color for the many callers who had assumed he was black.^[52] During the next few days the trio recorded a bluegrass number, Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky", again in a distinctive style and employing a jury-rigged echo effect that Sam Phillips dubbed "slapback". A single was pressed with "That's All Right" on the A side and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" on the reverse.^[53]

Early live performances and signing to RCA[link]

The trio played publicly for the first time on July 17 at the Bon Air club—Presley still sporting his child-size guitar.^[54] At the end of the month, they appeared at the Overton Park Shell, with Slim Whitman headlining. A combination of his strong response to rhythm and nervousness at playing before a large crowd led Presley to shake his legs as he performed: his wide-cut pants emphasized his movements, causing young women in the audience to start screaming.^[55] Moore recalled, "During the instrumental parts he would back off from the mike and be playing and shaking, and the crowd would just go wild".^[56] Black, a natural showman, whooped and rode his bass, hitting double licks that Presley would later remember as "really a wild sound, like a jungle drum or something".^[56] Soon after, Moore and Black quit their old band to play with Presley regularly, and DJ and promoter Bob Neal became the trio's manager. From August through October, they played frequently at the Eagle's Nest club and returned to Sun Studio for more recording sessions,^[57] and Presley quickly grew more confident on stage. According to Moore, "His movement was a natural thing, but he was also very conscious of what got a reaction. He'd do something one time and then he would expand on it real quick."^[58] Presley made what would be his only appearance on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry on October 2; after a polite audience response, Opry manager Jim Denny told Phillips that his singer was "not bad" but did not suit the program.^[59] Two weeks later, Presley was booked on Louisiana Hayride, the Opry's chief, and more adventurous, rival. The Shreveport-based show was broadcast to 198 radio stations in 28 states. Presley had another attack of nerves during the first set, which drew a muted reaction. A more composed and energetic second set inspired an enthusiastic response.^[60] House drummer D.J. Fontana brought a new element, complementing Presley's movements with accented beats that he had mastered playing in strip clubs.^[61] Soon after the show, the Hayride engaged Presley for a year's worth of Saturday-night appearances. Trading in his old guitar for $8 (and seeing it promptly dispatched to the garbage), he purchased a Martin instrument for $175, and his trio began playing in new locales including Houston, Texas, and Texarkana, Arkansas.^[62]

By early 1955, Presley's regular Hayride appearances, constant touring, and well-received record releases had made him a substantial regional star, from Tennessee to West Texas. In January, Neal signed a formal management contract with Presley and brought the singer to the attention of Colonel Tom Parker, whom he considered the best promoter in the music business. Parker—Dutch-born, though he claimed to be from West Virginia—had acquired an honorary colonel's commission from country singer turned Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis. Having successfully managed top country star Eddy Arnold, he was now working with the new number one country singer, Hank Snow. Parker booked Presley on Snow's February tour.^[63][64] When the tour reached Odessa, Texas, a 19-year-old Roy Orbison saw Presley for the first time: "His energy was incredible, his instinct was just amazing. ... I just didn't know what to make of it. There was just no reference point in the culture to compare it."^[29] Presley made his television debut on March 3 on the KSLA-TV broadcast of Louisiana Hayride. Soon after, he failed an audition for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts on the CBS television network. By August, Sun had released ten sides credited to "Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill"; on the latest recordings, the trio were joined by a drummer. Some of the songs, like "That's All Right", were in what one Memphis journalist described as the "R&B idiom of negro field jazz"; others, like "Blue Moon of Kentucky", were "more in the country field", "but there was a curious blending of the two different musics in both".^[65] This blend of styles made it difficult for Presley's music to find radio airplay. According to Neal, many country music disc jockeys would not play it because he sounded too much like a black artist and none of the rhythm and blues stations would touch him because "he sounded too much like a hillbilly."^[66] The blend came to be known as rockabilly. At the time, Presley was variously billed as "The King of Western Bop", "The Hillbilly Cat", and "The Memphis Flash".^[67]

Presley renewed Neal's management contract in August 1955, simultaneously appointing Parker as his special adviser.^[68] The group maintained an extensive touring schedule throughout the second half of the year.^[69] Neal recalled, "It was almost frightening, the reaction that came to Elvis from the teenaged boys. So many of them, through some sort of jealousy, would practically hate him. There were occasions in some towns in Texas when we'd have to be sure to have a police guard because somebody'd always try to take a crack at him. They'd get a gang and try to waylay him or something."^[70] The trio became a quartet when Hayride drummer Fontana joined as a full member. In mid-October, they played a few shows in support of Bill Haley, whose "Rock Around the Clock" had been a number one hit the previous year. Haley observed that Presley had a natural feel for rhythm, and advised him to sing fewer ballads.^[71]

At the Country Disc Jockey Convention in early November, Presley was voted the year's most promising male artist.^[72] Several record companies had by now shown interest in signing him. After three major labels made offers of up to $25,000, Parker and Phillips struck a deal with RCA Victor on November 21 to acquire Presley's Sun contract for an unprecedented $40,000.^[73]c Presley, at 20, was still a minor, so his father signed the contract.^[74] Parker arranged with the owners of Hill and Range Publishing, Jean and Julian Aberbach, to create two entities, Elvis Presley Music and Gladys Music, to handle all of the new material recorded by Presley. Songwriters were obliged to forego one third of their customary royalties in exchange for having him perform their compositions.^[75]d By December, RCA had begun to heavily promote its new singer, and before month's end had reissued many of his Sun recordings.^[76]

Commercial breakout and controversy (1956–58)[link]

First national TV appearances and debut album[link]

On January 10, 1956, Presley made his first recordings for RCA in Nashville.^[79] Extending the singer's by now customary backup of Moore, Black, and Fontana, RCA enlisted pianist Floyd Cramer, guitarist Chet Atkins, and three background singers, including Gordon Stoker of the popular Jordanaires quartet, to fill out the sound.^[80] The session produced the moody, unusual "Heartbreak Hotel", released as a single on January 27.^[79] Parker finally brought Presley to national television, booking him on CBS's Stage Show for six appearances over two months. The program, produced in New York, was hosted on alternate weeks by big band leaders and brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. After his first appearance, on January 28, Presley stayed in town to record at RCA's New York studio. The sessions yielded eight songs, including a cover of Carl Perkins' rockabilly anthem "Blue Suede Shoes". In February, Presley's "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", a Sun recording initially released the previous August, reached the top of the Billboard country chart.^[81] Neal's contract was terminated and, on March 2, Parker became Presley's manager.^[82]

	"Blue Suede Shoes" noicon Presley exhorts guitarist Scotty Moore during his break. "Let's go, cat!" was in the Perkins original. "Aw, walk the dog!" is all Elvis.
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RCA Victor released Presley's self-titled debut album on March 23. Joined by five previously unreleased Sun recordings, its seven recently recorded tracks were of a broad variety. There were two country songs and a bouncy pop tune. The others would centrally define the evolving sound of rock and roll: "Blue Suede Shoes"—"an improvement over Perkins' in almost every way", according to critic Robert Hilburn—and three R&B numbers that had been part of Presley's stage repertoire for some time, covers of Little Richard, Ray Charles, and The Drifters. As described by Hilburn, these "were the most revealing of all. Unlike many white artists ... who watered down the gritty edges of the original R&B versions of songs in the '50s, Presley reshaped them. He not only injected the tunes with his own vocal character but also made guitar, not piano, the lead instrument in all three cases."^[83] It became the first rock and roll album to top the Billboard chart, a position it held for 10 weeks.^[79] While Presley was not an innovative instrumentalist like Moore or contemporary African American rockers Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, cultural historian Gilbert B. Rodman argues that the album's cover image, "of Elvis having the time of his life on stage with a guitar in his hands played a crucial role in positioning the guitar...as the instrument that best captured the style and spirit of this new music."^[84]

[edit] Milton Berle Show and "Hound Dog"

Presley made the first of two appearances on NBC's Milton Berle Show on April 3. His performance, on the deck of the USS Hancock in San Diego, prompted cheers and screams from an audience of sailors and their dates.^[85] A few days later, a flight taking Presley and his band to Nashville for a recording session left all three badly shaken when an engine died and the plane almost went down over Arkansas.^[86] Twelve weeks after its original release, "Heartbreak Hotel" became Presley's first number one pop hit. In late April, Presley began a two-week residency at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The shows were poorly received by the conservative, middle-aged hotel guests—"like a jug of corn liquor at a champagne party", wrote a critic for Newsweek.^[87] Amid his Vegas tenure, Presley, who had serious acting ambitions, signed a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures.^[88] He began a tour of the Midwest in mid-May, taking in 15 cities in as many days.^[89] He had attended several shows by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys in Vegas, and was struck by their cover of "Hound Dog", a hit in 1953 for blues singer Big Mama Thornton by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It became the new closing number of his act.^[90] After a show in La Crosse, Wisconsin, an urgent message on the letterhead of the local Catholic diocese's newspaper was sent to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. It warned that "Presley is a definite danger to the security of the United States. ... [His] actions and motions were such as to rouse the sexual passions of teenaged youth. ... After the show, more than 1,000 teenagers tried to gang into Presley's room at the auditorium. ... Indications of the harm Presley did just in La Crosse were the two high school girls ... whose abdomen and thigh had Presley's autograph."^[91]

The second Milton Berle Show appearance came on June 5 at NBC's Hollywood studio, amid another hectic tour. Berle persuaded the singer to leave his guitar backstage, advising, "Let 'em see you, son."^[92] During the performance, Presley abruptly halted an uptempo rendition of "Hound Dog" with a wave of his arm and launched into a slow, grinding version accentuated with energetic, exaggerated body movements.^[92] Presley's gyrations created a storm of controversy.^[93] Television critics were outraged: Jack Gould of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Presley has no discernible singing ability. ... His phrasing, if it can be called that, consists of the stereotyped variations that go with a beginner's aria in a bathtub. ... His one specialty is an accented movement of the body ... primarily identified with the repertoire of the blond bombshells of the burlesque runway."^[94] Ben Gross of the New York Daily News opined that popular music "has reached its lowest depths in the 'grunt and groin' antics of one Elvis Presley. ... Elvis, who rotates his pelvis ... gave an exhibition that was suggestive and vulgar, tinged with the kind of animalism that should be confined to dives and bordellos".^[95] Ed Sullivan, whose own variety show was the nation's most popular, declared him "unfit for family viewing".^[96] To Presley's displeasure, he soon found himself being referred to as "Elvis the Pelvis", which he called "one of the most childish expressions I ever heard, comin' from an adult."^[97]