Cissy Houston On Elvis.

[Dan_T]

I'd not seen this before so I thought I'd post it.

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[jbnva58]

Thanks Dan,for posting this.

[Rocket88]

I'd not seen this before so I thought I'd post it.

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Nice one Dan.
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I'm not religous at all, in fact I'm an atheist, but I can still appreciate those voices.

[drjohncarpenter]

Here's a nice shot of Elvis and Sweet Inspirations singer Cissy Houston:




Elvis and Cissy Houston - Las Vegas, August 1969


That's her soprano contralto on this infamous live recording:

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Are You Lonesome To-night? - August 26, 1969 MS

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Cissy left the Sweets after this engagement to go solo.

Her daughter Whitney also did well in the music field.

[James27]

I'd not seen this before so I thought I'd post it.

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Wonderful clip, thanks !

[Dan_T]

It is a wonderful tribute she's paying to Elvis.

I wonder if she thought the '69 Run with Elvis was gonna be a one off, because she seemed surprised that once she'd left they still worked with him...also, had the interviewer not interupted her, I wonder if she was going to mention that they still work work with him through "Elvis The Concert" ?

[chris j]

Thanks for posting this, Dan. She speaks so well of him - it's good to hear this kind of thing.

[fg76]

So Cissy did play with Elvis for one gig then?

[drjohncarpenter]

So Cissy did play with Elvis for one gig then?

Yup.

Cissy sang with the Sweet Inspirations from July 31 to August 28, 1969.

[James27]

Someone should send her at least one of the '69 Elvis shows she participated in, I bet she isn't aware of their release on the FTD label and elsewhere. She saw Elvis at his best, what a treat. It must be that Whitney was raised also with these kinds of nice stories about Elvis, as her mother still holds Elvis in high regard. If so, it's too bad Whitney didn't open up her mouth though, when Public Enemy tried to make Elvis look bad in one of their 80s songs, and when more and more lazy critics accused Elvis of being a racist. She could have said to the press what she had learned from her mother. She was extremely popular at her heyday, the 80s and 90s, and millions of people would have listened and believed her, it would have done Elvis' reputation a lot of good.

[rickeap]

Nice links and photos, thanks to all posters.
That Sweet Inspiration song is cool!

[DarrylMac]

Nice to see her, as a respected black musician, openly refute any notion that Elvis may be prejudiced in any way, and that he was an absolute gentleman with them. Thanks so much for sharing that.

[Free Spirit]

Someone should send her at least one of the '69 Elvis shows she participated in, I bet she isn't aware of their release on the FTD label and elsewhere. She saw Elvis at his best, what a treat. It must be that Whitney was raised also with these kinds of nice stories about Elvis, as her mother still holds Elvis in high regard. If so, it's too bad Whitney didn't open up her mouth though, when Public Enemy tried to make Elvis look bad in one of their 80s songs, and when more and more lazy critics accused Elvis of being a racist. She could have said to the press what she had learned from her mother. She was extremely popular at her heyday, the 80s and 90s, and millions of people would have listened and believed her, it would have done Elvis' reputation a lot of good.

very very true. But there are a lot of others who spook out for elvis, such as myrna smith, james brown, jackie wilson, mohammed ali, sammy davi jr., bb king, darlene love (comeback special, change of habit & leathel weapon) and many more. Hell, even jessy jackson spoke nice of elvis.
I have only one negative reminder, it wa that old leftist black poetry woman (wanna be artifart mediocre talented BS vip), I cant think of here name, but she was pretty evil and it was clear that she talked in evny.

[rjm]

Alice Walker now knows the true story of "Hound Dog" and speaks well and seriously about Elvis. She has chosen to concentrate on his Native American ancestry.

{She somehow had to focus on his non-whiteness as if growing up poor and desperate weren't enough. That is certainly taking a more narrow view since one of the things hated about Elvis from the beginnig was that he came from poverty and thus was of "low taste." I think that more socially siginificant.}

The short story was called "1955." The updated rethink is in her "The Temple Of My Familiar" collection. She has also spoken of this updated view at symposiums, etc. It's clear to me that she regrets the original story.

rjm

[Jove]

Thanks for the clip, first time I heard (or read) Cissy talking about Elvis.

[Elvisfan10]

I remember watching that interview and I still wish she was allowed to talk longer.

[drjohncarpenter]

I have only one negative reminder, it wa that old leftist black poetry woman ...

WHAT?

[thefunkyangel]

Dan_T, thankyou for uploading! I wished, just like everyone else, it went on longer! I loved the way she praised Presley!

[Free Spirit]

I have only one negative reminder, it wa that old leftist black poetry woman ...

WHAT?

I forgot that womans name, therfore I tried to discribe her, she is an old woman who does (bad arti-farty) poetry (she wrote a poem for billy boy clinton).
About elvis, she seams to be very bitter, calls elvis an imitation of a black man, gave him no credit for anything whats-o-ever. In her speeches one can clearly see that she is sort of leftist, maybe even a communist, I dont know how else to explain it. I willtry to remember her name.

I have got 2 question for you, one, what exactly do you not understand on my posting and two, do you see what I meant now?

[Free Spirit]

I have only one negative reminder, it wa that old leftist black poetry woman ...

WHAT?

I got it now, her name is Maya Angelou, actually not, her real name is Marguerite Johnson, I guess she hates her "slave name" or so, as i said she is weird.

Oh yeah and here is her "talk" about elvis, try to exchange black with white and elvis with jackie wilson and you#ll see who stupid her entire evny talk is.



and here is jessy jackson on elvis:

[Juan Luis]

Thanks Dan_T!

[bquick]

Lol Maya Angelou is certainly not a communist. We may disagree with her opinion of Elvis, but she is a brilliant and accomplished poet.

I have only one negative reminder, it wa that old leftist black poetry woman ...

WHAT?

I got it now, her name is Maya Angelou, actually not, her real name is Marguerite Johnson, I guess she hates her "slave name" or so, as i said she is weird.

Oh yeah and here is her "talk" about elvis, try to exchange black with white and elvis with jackie wilson and you#ll see who stupid her entire evny talk is.



and here is jessy jackson on elvis:

[Free Spirit]

Lol Maya Angelou is certainly not a communist. We may disagree with her opinion of Elvis, but she is a brilliant and accomplished poet.

I have only one negative reminder, it wa that old leftist black poetry woman ...

WHAT?

I got it now, her name is Maya Angelou, actually not, her real name is Marguerite Johnson, I guess she hates her "slave name" or so, as i said she is weird.

Oh yeah and here is her "talk" about elvis, try to exchange black with white and elvis with jackie wilson and you#ll see who stupid her entire evny talk is.



and here is jessy jackson on elvis:

I never said she was a communist, I said "maybe" + I said she is a leftist which is a fact, but she is for sure a racist and that is very clear in that interview and I have no tolerance for racism, whether it comes from whites, balcks or asians, it is all the same, it is wrong!
If you think she is not a racist, than exchange elvis with ray charles and compare charles country career with elvis's r&b/rock career, according to Maya Angelou logic, Ray Charles imitated the white male in order to cash in lots of money, which worked out, after all he did some fine country stuff, and his country connection were essential & very helpful for his career!
Which ever way one looks at it, Maya Angelou is an old racist hag and I heard one of her "peoetry" and it is absolute rubbish, arty-farty wanna be smart crap, if you care for good poetry read Goethe, Schiller, Shakespeare, Lessing, Heine etc. now thats poetry which also made sense, most of the time at least.

PS. Some thoughts about so called "black music" belonging only to blacks, one, Music belongs to everybody, just like education and knowledge, its like saying blacks & asians are not allowed to use electricty, because it is soley based on white research/work, it is a white accomplishment and blacks who plugged in their fender guitar in the early 1950's to play the blues had no right to do so, after all they were using the whites man property and with that we come to number two, without white influance there would be no jazz, no spiritual, no gospel, no blues, no r&b, not even rap!
The afroamerican music only came about because of the melting pot situation in the usa, plus because of access to european instruments (brass & strings etc.) and modern technology such as e-guitars, computer samplying and so on and on and the fact that blacks in africa never came up with anything close to american "black music" proves my point beyond the shaddow of a doubt.
Because if blacks just by themselfs came up with jazz, blues, r&b etc., why did they not come with that long time ago in africa?
BTW I am german/cuban, which means I have basically all races in my gens, that means I can say the n word, the j-word, the c-word and I am always on the save side, nonetherless I dont use 'em anyways.

[Hasil]

You have every right not to appreciate her work, but Maya Angelou is a one of America's great poets and writers. Just because she doesn't like Elvis and did get her facts terribly wrong in this interview doesn't mean you call her a "hag" or "talentless". She is neither. If she liked Elvis would she be "that wonderful older lady"?

I'm sure Ms Angelou couldn't care two hoots what is said about her on an Elvis Presley message board, but I and others care if she is attacked in this personal way. Play the opinion not the person. Her opinion is dead wrong and can be easily shown to be. It doesn't need an attack on her or her work. Too many times I have seen on this board a celebrity, usually black, will be quoted along the lines of "I don't get Elvis". Then it starts, "they have no talent", "they're sh@t", "who do they think they are". It doesn't reflect well on Board or the critical thinking ability of members of the Board.

Please don't abuse me for this message, I hold Maya Angelou in very high regard and I found the comments on this thread unessecary and offensive.

[drjohncarpenter]

You have every right not to appreciate her work, but Maya Angelou is a one of America's great poets and writers. Just because she doesn't like Elvis and did get her facts terribly wrong in this interview doesn't mean you call her a "hag" or "talentless". She is neither. If she liked Elvis would she be "that wonderful older lady"?

I'm sure Ms Angelou couldn't care two hoots what is said about her on an Elvis Presley message board, but I and others care if she is attacked in this personal way. Play the opinion not the person. Her opinion is dead wrong and can be easily shown to be. It doesn't need an attack on her or her work. Too many times I have seen on this board a celebrity, usually black, will be quoted along the lines of "I don't get Elvis". Then it starts, "they have no talent", "they're sh@t", "who do they think they are". It doesn't reflect well on Board or the critical thinking ability of members of the Board.

Please don't abuse me for this message, I hold Maya Angelou in very high regard and I found the comments on this thread unnecessary and offensive.

Thank you for capturing my feelings so eloquently in your post.