Matt Croft

Final project
1/17/17
Johnson vs. Elvis

There are thousands of musicians that people can say influenced music but two really

stick out in our class that would be Mr. Robert Johnson and a man simply known as the king,

Elvis Presley. Robert Johnson is known as one of the big names of the delta blues movement

that kick started rock n roll. Yes, yes we all know Elvis as the king of rock n roll, but many who

know about music know where his style came from and can see that Elviss success can be

related back to Johnson in a way. From his growling almost lonesome hurting tones we know

that the basis of rock n roll came from the African American blues men before. In this paper I

will be dissecting some of the differences and similarities between the two of these legends

such as their race and some career obstacles and why those did or did not allow Johnsons

career to be as successful as Elviss.

One major difference between these two artists is their race. Yes Johnson was African

American and Elvis was indeed white, but why did that influence the way they were heard?

Johnson was born in 1911 during a dark time for our nation where people of color were not

treated equally. While this did play apart in the popularity of Johnsons music at the time it did

not stay that way forever. Johnson had a small output only ever recording 29 songs such as

cross road blues and sweet home Chicago. This can also be seen as a reason to why Johnson

didnt quite gain popularity while he was alive. Johnson was what people call rediscovered

sometime in the 1960s where his music became much more popular than it did when it

originally came out, this was not the case for Elvis however.
 Elvis was born in January of 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi just 3 years before it is said that

Robert Johnson had died. He grew up poor and was an only child as his twin brother was still

born at birth. Elvis was influenced musically growing up from the country and pop music that

was popular at the time and not to mention the gospel music he heard at church. However, one

thing we can tell influenced him a lot was the R&B or rhythm and blues music he heard on

Beale Street as a teenager. Elvis was a white male there for receiving a little bit different

treatment than our friend Robert did growing up, still could produce that same pain driven

sound the Johnson once did. This can be seen right away in Elviss career and he happened to

walk into the perfect recording studio to launch his career.

Sam Phillips famously said If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound the

Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars. Elvis was his man even though at first he didnt like

Elviss style. The original track Elvis put down at Sun Studios was for his mothers birthday called

My happiness when he was only 18 years old. Sam wasnt even in the studio that day and his

assistant recorded it and gave Elvis his copy and kept another to show Sam. After some nagging

from Marion, Sams assistant, Elvis was brought in to record another personal song in 1954.

After meeting him, Sam knew there was something different about Elvis noticing that his

insecurity was remarkably like that of the early African American blues singers that had

recorded at Sun Studios as well. While trying to find a song that could fit Elvis and meet Sams

dream, Sam had grown impatient that is until Elvis started singing a song he had remembered

Thats alright, Mama. The fact the Elvis was white and had such a unique sound on classic

songs allowed for him to gain popularity quickly unlike Johnson. After gaining his fame Elvis
strayed away from being that shy insecure boy and became the flashy entertainer that we all

know and love.

One big underlying factor this course in a way looked at was the issue of racism and how

it affected each artist. For Johnson it was a much more known about and clear racism that was

widespread during his life. Elvis faced something a little different because he was the white boy

who could reproduce the black R&B sound. This was seen differently through peoples eyes,

many white people feared what Elvis was doing would help to bridge the gap and lead to equal

rights and racial integration. Many white people didnt like that including a Catholic weekly who

ran the slogan to beware of Elvis. Elvis wasnt seen this way by many fellow musicians

however, James Brown called Elvis a brother because Elvis liked him and James liked Elvis.

Referring to him as a soul brother that he hoped to see in heaven one day.

Throughout the first part of the class while talking about Johnson and other blues

singers one thing was always clear, that these artist were singing from their own experiences.

This pain was largely caused from white Americans and the way they treated many African

Americans predominantly in the south. Even in the movie we watched in class Crossroads

where a white kid was trying to get into the blues scene and was made fun because there is no

way a white male could have played the blues. He had no sadness to sing of because he grew

up facing many different issues than that of a Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters. What really

put this into perspective for me was our trip to the civil rights museum on the trip to Memphis.

While there we learned all about the things that the people that started singing the blues and

their parents before them had to deal with. Thats where the blues truly gets its sound is from

the hardships one faces, and it just so happened that those who started lived in some of the
hardest time imaginable. What separates Johnson and the later artists such as Elvis and many

others is the fact that Johnson was a solo artist and rather shy while it is very clear Elvis was far

from shy.

Throughout Elviss career he played with a band almost always. This could have been

because he wasnt the strongest of guitar players and needed the extra help behind him. This

could also because Elvis didnt write his own music either, often times the song was written for

Elvis and his accompanying band. Elvis had many more songs than Johnson as well which wasnt

hard due to the fact that Johnson only had recorded 29 songs in total compared to Elvis who

had around 784 songs recorded.

One last difference that could have played a role in both these musicians careers is the

media and electronics available in their respective time periods. Elvis was only two years old

when it is believed that Johnson was poisoned so the difference in materials to spread their

sounds was a little different. Johnsons recordings arent very good quality die to the fact that

there just wasnt good recording materials while he was alive. Elvis had the luxury of better

recording studios and also once his career started TV was around, and not to mention more

people had radios than ever.

There are many reasons to why these two musicians careers didnt play out the same

way. One could be because of role racism played in both these musicians lives. Johnson was a

historically good musician that wasnt popular in his own time because he was living in the

south and was an African American male. Elvis had it much easier in those means but that

doesnt mean that he didnt catch some attention from those resisting change.
One other large difference between the two was the fact that Elvis didnt write his own songs,

while Johnson did. Many things can be argued to why these two figures careers didnt follow

the same paths but what can be said is that the affect these to had on the world around them

are still felt today. Music is so pivotal for so many people in our day and age and the sounds

these two musicians made allowed for many to follow in their footsteps and others to find their

own sound.