Since we are having the battle of the bands I thought about two things. White artist that sound black - and Blind artists that may be given more credit because of their disability.
On the first - Here is my list in order.
Pheobe Snow - Once won an award from a Black magazine as favorite Black female singer for that year - when she informed that she was white they said oh well keep it anyway.
Teena Marie - Lady T- brought some serious funk.
Diane Schuur - Two time grammy award winner very smooth - and I thought she was from just listening to her music. A good friend of mine always said she was just a white girl that was trying to sound black - and that was her hook which leads me to
Elvis - Much discussion here about the King who - I believe was a period racist (racist because much of the people around him during that time were racist). First the dancing - come on know - nothing at all original about stealing moves from the hood and putting them on stage. Like the movie dirty dancing - no credit at all given to the juke joints they stole those moves from. Second the sound - pretty much Memphis Blues to me - which had to be from - juke joints - which they were. Where Elvis succeeded at becoming a legend was by embracing these things - but homogenizing them just enough for the parents to let their kids listen to - when they may not have let them listen to this music from black entertainers. Just my opinion - oh he had huge talent. It wasn't just lets do the black thing - because others had tried it with various degrees of failure and success - Pat Boone to name one tight ass. But the Black thing was very much a driving force.
Eminem - I don't think Em - is a Vanilla Ice - Who was a straight rip off of Black culture. Em - appears to be someone who embraces his whiteness and doesn't try to be ashamed of it. Slim Shady - seems to be just gigging with the Mike and a feel dominated by Blacks. Em doesn't court the Black appearance or gangsta style too much.
N-Sync - Sucks - Beatles meet motown.
Backstreet Boys - Sucks Beatles meet motown. The white mothers and fathers loved that homogenized stuff.
On the subject of blind musicians getting more credit becasue of their blindness - I don't think so. Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Diane Schuur - seem to me to be as an elite group as you can have. I would groove to their music - and whether they are blind or not is not important to me - and I don't think anyone else.
On the first - Here is my list in order.
Pheobe Snow - Once won an award from a Black magazine as favorite Black female singer for that year - when she informed that she was white they said oh well keep it anyway.
Teena Marie - Lady T- brought some serious funk.
Diane Schuur - Two time grammy award winner very smooth - and I thought she was from just listening to her music. A good friend of mine always said she was just a white girl that was trying to sound black - and that was her hook which leads me to
Elvis - Much discussion here about the King who - I believe was a period racist (racist because much of the people around him during that time were racist). First the dancing - come on know - nothing at all original about stealing moves from the hood and putting them on stage. Like the movie dirty dancing - no credit at all given to the juke joints they stole those moves from. Second the sound - pretty much Memphis Blues to me - which had to be from - juke joints - which they were. Where Elvis succeeded at becoming a legend was by embracing these things - but homogenizing them just enough for the parents to let their kids listen to - when they may not have let them listen to this music from black entertainers. Just my opinion - oh he had huge talent. It wasn't just lets do the black thing - because others had tried it with various degrees of failure and success - Pat Boone to name one tight ass. But the Black thing was very much a driving force.
Eminem - I don't think Em - is a Vanilla Ice - Who was a straight rip off of Black culture. Em - appears to be someone who embraces his whiteness and doesn't try to be ashamed of it. Slim Shady - seems to be just gigging with the Mike and a feel dominated by Blacks. Em doesn't court the Black appearance or gangsta style too much.
N-Sync - Sucks - Beatles meet motown.
Backstreet Boys - Sucks Beatles meet motown. The white mothers and fathers loved that homogenized stuff.
On the subject of blind musicians getting more credit becasue of their blindness - I don't think so. Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Diane Schuur - seem to me to be as an elite group as you can have. I would groove to their music - and whether they are blind or not is not important to me - and I don't think anyone else.
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