Originally Posted by
StuBass1
Some of this stuff appears quite foreign to me...Growing up in Detroit, my earliest memory of live entertainment was our parents taking us into a huge tent at the Michigan State Fair in the late 50's to see a group called the Royal Jokers...a forerunner to many of the local Detroit male R&B groups that came along later...I have no doubt that there were those, particularly in the South, that didn't accept blacks on television, and I recall discussions when shows like Nat King Cole's variety show or even when the Julia sitcom came along and the foreseen risks by television executives based on those shows being shown in certain parts of the country...Growing up in Detroit and having records in our house by Sammy Davis Jr, Little Richard, and other black and white artists, I recall us having a great deal of pride, particularly in Detroit whenever Motown artists appeared on shows like Ed Sullivan and others...I actually recall Sullivan referring to The Supremes as the "three negro girls from Detroit" in his introduction... As for the Beatles...neither the Beatles nor the Supremes had the cultural impact as Elvis, in that rock&roll was quite controversial at that time and even body movement and exposure in rock&roll performances became an issue by television executives when Elvis was first exposed to the public...The Beatles, like many other British Invasion bands to come along later...true, were big Motown followers of particularly of Four Tops and the Miracles and the Motown musicians and sound in particular, influenced and branded a new style of music, somewhat copied from US R&B, performed with British accents and throw in unique clothing and hairstyles, and a cultural phenomenon occurred...I think America was beginning to get a bit bored with mainstream R&R and The Beatles were able to take advantage of that void and create quite a stir...
Bookmarks