What I found interesting in both these readings, is how these women occupied spaces that were traditionally dominated by white males. In “Listening for Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton’s Voice”, Mahon writes that even though black women were instrumental in rock and roll history and contributed greatly, they were not written into history unless they advocated for themselves. They created space for themselves through autobiographies, accounting for how their race, gender, and class identities influenced their experiences. Mahon writes about Elvis Presley’s blatant disregard for credit and compensation to Thornton after he used her song and appropriated black sound. Thornton said, “They gave him the right. . . . [N]ow, why do they do that? He makes a million and all this jive because his face is different from mine”. Elvis had increased access to audiences, visibility, and mobility that other artists like Thornton did not. This was why black women needed to create their own space in rock and roll. In Maylei Blackwell’s interview, she speaks to punk rock occupying space in society. Blackwell recalls that mosh pits were traditionally male dominated spaces because as a woman “if you go in the pit you’re asking for it”. Yet this didn’t stop them, there was a comradery between women, they wore different outfits to protect themselves from men in mosh pits and they watched out for each other. In a crowd full of men pushing each other, they were literally and figuratively creating space for themselves.
“Listening for Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton’s Voice” illustrated the importance of women in rock and roll so I included Didn't It Rain by Sister Rosetta Tharpe who was also very influential on rock and roll. Like Thornton, she influenced Elvis Presley and others. My second song is Keep on Knocking by Death, a black rock band that pioneered punk without knowing it. I came across this song after reading Maylei Blackwell's interview and wondering if there were black punk bands in the 70s and 80s and how they influenced the punk scene.
Didn't It Rain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnAQATKRBN0
Keep on Knocking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klCL0krHKqc
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