Sinergy - Return To The Fourth World

Not at all trying to dissociate himself from the Negro community, which he knew from the inside, Presley, despite everything, laid claim to the legacy of rhythm and blues. “Rock and roll has been around for a long time, it’s just called“ rhythm and blues, ”he said and went even further, repeatedly appearing with such stars as BB King, Bobby Bland, Ray Charles, Lowell Falson or Ivory Joe Hunter, whom he hosted at home. Shortly before Christmas in 1956, and then in December 1957, he attended charity concerts organized by the Negro radio station WDIA, watching them from the backstage of the Ellis Concert Hall in Memphis, and tore off a standing ovation. Moreover, in the spring of 1956 he went to the annual fair in Memphis on a day set aside for Negro visitors, despising all taboos, and incurring thunder and lightning from supporters of segregation.