They Stole It — Part 4 - The Music - Teacher Resource

They Stole It — Part 4

The Music — Teacher Resources

He Never Wrote A Single Song In His Life. He Still Got The Credit.

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Quiz — They Stole It: Part 4 — The Music

PART A — MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which instrument, central to American country music, has documented origins in West Africa?

B) The banjo.

Students should be able to identify the banjo as an instrument with documented West African origins, brought to the Americas by enslaved people and later adopted into American country and folk music traditions. This is one of the clearest, most concrete examples in the lesson of African origin within a genre — country music — not usually associated with African contribution. Students who answer A, C, or D are selecting instruments without the same documented African lineage discussed in the lesson.

2. Sister Rosetta Tharpe is known by which title, reflecting her role in pioneering rock and roll's sound decades before the genre had a name?

C) The Godmother of Rock and Roll.

Students should be able to identify this specific title and understand what it reflects. Sister Rosetta Tharpe combined gospel vocals with distorted electric guitar beginning in the late 1930s, nearly two decades before rock and roll had a name, and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 as an Early Influence. [1]Guralnick, Peter. Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.[2]Wald, Gayle F. Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Boston: Beacon Press, 2007. Students who answer A, B, or D are selecting titles associated with other artists, not the specific title documented in this lesson for Tharpe.

3. What happened when Elvis Presley recorded Arthur Crudup's song "That's All Right" as his first single in 1954?

B) Crudup was paid for his original recording sessions but received little to no songwriting royalties for decades.

Students should understand the specific and lasting financial consequence for Crudup. He was compensated for the original 1946 recording session but did not receive meaningful songwriting royalties for decades after Presley's 1954 cover became a hit — his family did not receive a substantial back-royalty payment until after his death. [3]"Blues Law: Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup vs. Lester Melrose." American Blues Scene, 2015.[4]"Book explores the African Americans who made Elvis 'the King.'" Mississippi Today, February 18, 2025. Students who answer A, C, or D are selecting outcomes that contradict the documented financial record.

4. Approximately how much did Big Mama Thornton report receiving for her original recording of "Hound Dog," which sold over 500,000 copies?

A) $500.

Students should be able to state this specific figure and understand its significance. Thornton reported receiving a single $500 check and no further royalties, despite her original 1952 recording selling over 500,000 copies and reaching number one on the R&B chart. Elvis Presley's 1956 cover of the same song went on to become one of the best-selling singles in music history. [4]"Book explores the African Americans who made Elvis 'the King.'" Mississippi Today, February 18, 2025.[5]"You Ain't Nothin' But a Revolution: Big Mama Thornton's 'Hound Dog' and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll Attitude." History of Music, n.d. Students who answer B, C, or D are significantly overstating what Thornton reported receiving.

5. What happened when Pat Boone released a cover of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti"?

B) Boone's cover outsold Little Richard's original on the pop charts.

Students should be able to state this specific outcome. Pat Boone's cover version, released months after Little Richard's 1955 original, outsold it on the pop charts — even as Little Richard later described working a dishwashing job at a bus station in Macon, Georgia, while his own record played on the radio without earning him money. Students who answer A, C, or D are selecting outcomes that contradict the documented chart record.

6. What arrangement was Otis Blackwell required to accept in order to have his songs recorded by Elvis Presley?

B) Surrendering a portion of his songwriting royalties and listing Presley as co-writer.

Students should understand both the arrangement and its significance. As a condition of having "Don't Be Cruel," "All Shook Up," and "Paralyzed" recorded by Presley, Blackwell was required to give up a share of his songwriting royalties and credit Presley as co-writer — despite Presley not writing any of the lyrics or music. Elvis Presley himself later admitted plainly that he had never written a song in his life. [6]"Otis Blackwell … Songwriter for Elvis Presley." Elvis History Blog, citing a 1979 Time Barrier Magazine interview.[7]Nashville Songwriters Foundation. "Otis Blackwell" biographical entry, Songwriters Hall of Fame induction records. Students who answer A, C, or D are selecting arrangements that do not match the documented record.

7. According to this lesson, what pattern do the cases of Crudup, Thornton, Little Richard, and Blackwell collectively represent?

C) A systemic pattern of Black originators receiving little credit or compensation while others profited from their work.

Students should be able to identify the central argument of the lesson as a whole. Each case documented here follows a similar structure: a Black originator creates or writes a song, a different artist records or covers it, and the financial or credit outcome favors the second artist rather than the originator. The recurrence of this pattern across multiple separate songs, artists, and years is what elevates it from isolated incident to documented pattern. [8]"On the Underappreciated Achievements of Otis Blackwell." Flypaper / Soundfly, 2023. Students who answer A, B, or D are selecting responses that minimize, mischaracterize, or contradict the documented pattern.

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PART B — SHORT ANSWER KEY POINTS

Question 8. Sister Rosetta Tharpe pioneered the sound and style of rock and roll nearly two decades before the genre had a name, yet was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 2018. Using specific details from the lesson, explain what this reveals about how music history credits its originators.

A strong answer should include:

• At least two specific details: Tharpe began combining gospel vocals with distorted electric guitar in the late 1930s, nearly two decades before rock and roll had a name; she was not posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 2018, forty-five years after her death in 1973 [1]Guralnick, Peter. Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.[2]Wald, Gayle F. Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Boston: Beacon Press, 2007.
• What this reveals about how music history credits originators: recognition can lag decades behind actual influence — the artists who most directly shaped a genre's sound are not always the ones remembered as its inventors
• Why this matters: musicians who came after Tharpe, including Elvis Presley, directly credited her as an influence, meaning the industry and its own artists knew of her role even while formal historical credit lagged far behind
• Strong answers will connect: Tharpe's delayed recognition to the broader pattern in this lesson — that credit and financial reward in American music history have not consistently followed who actually originated the music

Question 9. Choose two artists from this lesson — Arthur Crudup, Big Mama Thornton, Little Richard, or Otis Blackwell — and explain what financial or credit loss each of them documentedly experienced, and what happened to the recording or artist that benefited instead.

A strong answer should include:

• Two specific examples: Arthur Crudup wrote and recorded "That's All Right" in 1946 and received little to no songwriting royalties for decades after Elvis Presley's 1954 cover became his first single [3]"Blues Law: Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup vs. Lester Melrose." American Blues Scene, 2015.; Big Mama Thornton first recorded "Hound Dog" in 1952 and reported receiving a single $500 check, while Presley's 1956 cover became one of the best-selling singles in history [5]"You Ain't Nothin' But a Revolution: Big Mama Thornton's 'Hound Dog' and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll Attitude." History of Music, n.d.
• Additional valid examples: Little Richard wrote and recorded "Tutti Frutti" in 1955, but Pat Boone's cover outsold the original on the pop charts; Otis Blackwell was required to surrender a share of his songwriting royalties and list Presley as co-writer on songs Presley did not write [6]"Otis Blackwell … Songwriter for Elvis Presley." Elvis History Blog, citing a 1979 Time Barrier Magazine interview.
• What is common across these cases: in each one, the documented financial or credit benefit shifted away from the Black originator and toward the artist who recorded a cover version or received forced co-writing credit
• Strong answers will note: these are not simply stories of an artist being more successful — they involve documented, specific redirection of money or credit away from the person who created the work

Question 10. The lesson argues that the underpayment and uncredited influence documented across multiple artists represents a systemic pattern rather than isolated incidents. Using at least two specific examples from the lesson, explain what evidence supports calling this a pattern.

A strong answer should include:

• At least two specific examples: Arthur Crudup's decades-long absence of songwriting royalties; Big Mama Thornton's single $500 payment; Little Richard's cover being outsold despite writing the original; Otis Blackwell's forced co-writing arrangement on three separate songs [7]Nashville Songwriters Foundation. "Otis Blackwell" biographical entry, Songwriters Hall of Fame induction records.[8]"On the Underappreciated Achievements of Otis Blackwell." Flypaper / Soundfly, 2023.
• What makes it a pattern rather than isolated events: the same basic structure repeats across different songs, different years, and different specific mechanisms — royalty withholding, outselling covers, and forced co-writing credit are three distinct methods that all produce the same outcome
• What Elvis Presley's own quote adds as evidence: Presley's statement that he never wrote a song and that credit "makes me look smarter than I am" is a direct admission from the party who benefited, confirming the arrangement was known and acknowledged rather than accidental
• Strong answers will connect: the pattern in this lesson to the broader "They Stole It" series — the same structure of taking, renaming or recrediting, profiting, and erasing that operates in fashion, hairstyles, and body standards also operates in music

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Sources & Footnotes

1. [1] Guralnick, Peter. Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.
2. [2] Wald, Gayle F. Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Boston: Beacon Press, 2007.
3. [3] "Blues Law: Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup vs. Lester Melrose." American Blues Scene, 2015.
4. [4] "Book explores the African Americans who made Elvis 'the King.'" Mississippi Today, February 18, 2025.
5. [5] "You Ain't Nothin' But a Revolution: Big Mama Thornton's 'Hound Dog' and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll Attitude." History of Music, n.d.
6. [6] "Otis Blackwell … Songwriter for Elvis Presley." Elvis History Blog, citing a 1979 Time Barrier Magazine interview with Otis Blackwell.
7. [7] Nashville Songwriters Foundation. "Otis Blackwell" biographical entry, Songwriters Hall of Fame induction records.
8. [8] "On the Underappreciated Achievements of Otis Blackwell." Flypaper / Soundfly, 2023.

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