They Stole It — Part 4 - The Music

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They Stole It — Part 4

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

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

  • Identify the African origins of major American music genres — including soul, funk, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, hip hop, and country — and explain the documented African origin of the banjo
  • Describe Sister Rosetta Tharpe's role in pioneering the sound and style of rock and roll and explain why she is rarely credited as the genre's inventor
  • Explain how Elvis Presley's stage performance style was shaped by Black performers he watched on Beale Street and by artists such as Jackie Wilson, and evaluate why Presley became known as the era's most celebrated performer despite this influence
  • Analyze the documented financial outcomes for Arthur Crudup, Big Mama Thornton, and Little Richard compared to the artists who recorded cover versions of their songs, and explain what these cases reveal about the music industry's treatment of Black originators
  • Evaluate Otis Blackwell's role as a forced co-writer on multiple Elvis Presley hit songs and explain the significance of forced co-writing credit as a documented mechanism of theft
  • Assess the argument that the erasure and underpayment of Black musical originators represents a systemic industry pattern rather than a series of isolated incidents

Key Vocabulary

  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe — A gospel singer and guitarist who pioneered electric guitar distortion and the driving rhythmic sound that would define rock and roll, beginning in the late 1930s — nearly two decades before the genre had a name. Known as the "Godmother of Rock and Roll," she 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.
  • Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup — A Mississippi bluesman who wrote and recorded "That's All Right" in 1946. Elvis Presley's 1954 cover became his first single. Crudup was paid for recording sessions but received little to no songwriting royalties for decades; his family did not receive a substantial 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.
  • Big Mama Thornton — A blues singer who first recorded "Hound Dog" in 1952, selling over 500,000 copies and reaching number one on the R&B chart. She reported receiving a single $500 check and no further royalties, even as Elvis Presley's 1956 cover became one of the best-selling singles in 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.
  • Little Richard — A pioneering rock and roll artist who wrote and recorded "Tutti Frutti" in 1955. Pat Boone's cover version outsold Little Richard's original on the pop charts. 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. [6]"Otis Blackwell … Songwriter for Elvis Presley." Elvis History Blog, citing a 1979 Time Barrier Magazine interview.
  • Otis Blackwell — A Brooklyn-born songwriter who wrote "Don't Be Cruel," "All Shook Up," and "Paralyzed" for Elvis Presley. As a condition of having his songs recorded, Blackwell was required to surrender a portion of his songwriting royalties and list Presley as co-writer, despite Presley not writing any of the lyrics or music. [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.
  • Forced Co-Writing Credit — An industry practice in which a performer's management required songwriters to list the performer as a co-writer — and surrender a share of the royalties — as a condition of having a song recorded. This arrangement is directly documented in Otis Blackwell's dealings with Elvis Presley's publishing company. [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.
  • Beale Street — The historic center of Memphis's Black blues and gospel music scene. A teenage Elvis Presley regularly visited Beale Street, watching Black performers there — an influence he and biographers have since documented as central to the development of his own performance style. [1]Guralnick, Peter. Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.
  • Jackie Wilson — A Black performer whose dynamic stage presence, including his signature hip and shoulder movements, has been documented by historians as a direct influence on Elvis Presley's performance style and stage movement.
  • The Banjo — A stringed instrument with documented origins in West Africa, brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans. It was later adopted into American country and folk music traditions, becoming one of the defining instruments of American country music.
  • Cover Version — A newly recorded version of a previously released song, performed by a different artist. In several cases documented in this lesson, cover versions recorded by white artists outsold and outearned the Black artist's original recording of the same song.

The Full Lesson

Part 1 — Africa's Rhythm, America's Music

Before America had music, Africa had rhythm. Every major genre of American music traces back to African roots — soul, funk, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, hip hop, and even country, whose defining instrument, the banjo, is itself a West African instrument brought to the Americas by enslaved people. This is not a matter of influence or inspiration alone. It is documented musical lineage.

Long before rock and roll had a name, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was already playing it. Beginning in the late 1930s, Tharpe combined gospel vocals with a distorted, driving electric guitar sound that historians now recognize as the direct blueprint for rock and roll — nearly two decades before Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, or Little Richard took the stage. Tharpe was not posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 2018. [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.

"Africa had rhythm first."

Part 2 — The True Inventor

Sister Rosetta Tharpe blended gospel and electric guitar two decades before rock and roll had a name. Musicians who came after her — including Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Johnny Cash — have directly credited her as an influence. Elvis Presley's own backing vocalist, Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires, said Presley held "great admiration for Sister Rosetta Tharpe," and that he especially appreciated her guitar playing. [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.

Yet history remembers other names first. Tharpe's own grave went unmarked for decades after her death in 1973, and it was not until 2018 — forty-five years later — that she received formal recognition from the institution built to honor rock and roll's history. The gap between her influence and her recognition is itself part of the story this lesson tells. [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.

"She built the blueprint. It took forty-five years for the credit to catch up."

Part 3 — Elvis Watched, and Learned

It was not only the sound that was borrowed. It was the way performers moved. As a teenager, Elvis Presley regularly visited Beale Street in Memphis, the center of the city's Black blues and gospel scene, watching performers there. Historians have documented that specific elements of Presley's stage movement — his hip and shoulder motion in particular — trace directly to performers he watched, including Jackie Wilson. [1]Guralnick, Peter. Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.

Presley went on to be remembered as one of the most electrifying performers of his generation — celebrated specifically for a physical stage presence that, by the documented record, he studied and absorbed from Black performers who received none of the same recognition for originating it.

"He watched. He studied. He copied."

Part 4 — The Songs They Wrote, The Money They Never Saw

Arthur Crudup wrote and recorded "That's All Right" in 1946. It became Elvis Presley's first single in 1954. Crudup was paid for his recording sessions but received little to no songwriting royalties for decades — 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.

Big Mama Thornton first recorded "Hound Dog" in 1952. It sold more than 500,000 copies and reached number one on the R&B chart. She reported receiving a single $500 check and no further royalties. Elvis Presley's 1956 cover of the same song became 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.

Little Richard wrote and recorded "Tutti Frutti" in 1955. Pat Boone's cover version, released months later, outsold Little Richard's original on the pop charts. Richard later described working a dishwashing job at a bus station in Macon, Georgia, while his own record played on the radio — earning him nothing. [6]"Otis Blackwell … Songwriter for Elvis Presley." Elvis History Blog, citing a 1979 Time Barrier Magazine interview.

"She made $500. He made a fortune."

Part 5 — Worse Than Covering It

A cover version outselling the original is one form of erasure. What happened next was worse. Otis Blackwell, a songwriter from Brooklyn, wrote "Don't Be Cruel" for Elvis Presley in 1956. As a condition of having the song recorded, Blackwell was required to surrender a portion of his songwriting royalties and list Presley as co-writer — despite Presley not writing any of the lyrics or music. Blackwell later wrote "All Shook Up," the biggest hit of Presley's career, and "Paralyzed," under the same forced arrangement. [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.

Elvis Presley himself admitted it plainly. In a documented interview, Presley said: "I've never written a song in my life. It's all a big hoax. I get one third of the credit for recording it. It makes me look smarter than I am." He never wrote a single song in his life — not "Hound Dog," not "Heartbreak Hotel," not any of them. But his name sits on the credits. The songwriters who actually wrote the music received a flat fee, a forced co-writer split, or nothing at all. [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.

"It makes me look smarter than I am."

Part 6 — They Took the Signature

They did not just take the sound. They took the signature — the actual credit line on the actual songs, redirected from the people who wrote them to the person who recorded them. Arthur Crudup, Big Mama Thornton, Little Richard, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe could not be erased from the record entirely. Their names survive in the documented history of the music they built. But the credit, the royalties, and the popular memory of who invented American music went somewhere else for decades. [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.[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.[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]"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.[8]"On the Underappreciated Achievements of Otis Blackwell." Flypaper / Soundfly, 2023.

They could not destroy what these artists built. So the industry dismissed it instead — routed the money and the recognition elsewhere, and left the artists who actually wrote and originated this music to watch someone else get called a genius for it.

"They couldn't destroy it. So they dismissed it."

Critical Thinking Discussion Questions

  1. Sister Rosetta Tharpe pioneered the sound 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 — forty-five years after her death. [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 does this gap between influence and recognition reveal about how music history gets written, and who gets left out?
  2. Elvis Presley's stage movements have been documented as directly influenced by Black performers he watched on Beale Street, including Jackie Wilson. [1]Guralnick, Peter. Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994. Presley became famous specifically for his stage presence. What does it mean when a performer is celebrated for a style they documentedly absorbed from artists who received none of the same recognition?
  3. Big Mama Thornton reportedly received a single $500 check for "Hound Dog," while Elvis Presley's cover of the same song became one of the best-selling singles in 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. What does this financial gap reveal about how the music industry valued Black originators versus the artists who covered their work?
  4. Otis Blackwell was required to give up a share of his songwriting royalties and list Elvis Presley as co-writer on songs Presley did not write. [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. Why do you think this arrangement was so common in the music industry at the time, and what does Presley's own quote about it — "it makes me look smarter than I am" — reveal about how even the beneficiary understood the arrangement?
  5. This lesson documents multiple separate cases — Crudup, Thornton, Little Richard, Blackwell — each involving a different song and a different form of financial or credit loss. [1]Guralnick, Peter. Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.[3]"Blues Law: Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup vs. Lester Melrose." American Blues Scene, 2015.[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.[7]Nashville Songwriters Foundation. "Otis Blackwell" biographical entry, Songwriters Hall of Fame induction records. What evidence would you point to in order to argue these cases represent a systemic pattern rather than a series of unrelated, isolated incidents?

Quiz — They Stole It — Part 4 — The Music

Part A: Select the best answer and check your work instantly. Part B: Write in complete sentences.

Part A — Multiple Choice

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

Part B — Short Answer

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.

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.

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.

Extension Activity

Trace the Origin: Research one additional case not covered in this lesson where a Black musician's song, sound, or performance style was covered, adapted, or credited to another artist without proportional recognition or compensation. Describe: (1) who the original artist was and what they created, (2) how the song or style was adapted or covered, (3) what happened to the credit and compensation. Then write two to three sentences explaining how your case fits — or challenges — the pattern described in this lesson.

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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