8 Other Cases Where Caucasian People ‘Borrowed’ Black Music Without Permission

'Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop' Bebop was well known as a jazz style by 1950, but it had also become associated with rhythm and blues in songs like Lionel Hampton’s 1946 hit “Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop.” The trombone solo in Mustard and Gravy’s (Frank Rice and Ernest W. Stokes) stolen version makes the link to horn-driven Black bands explicit — though the use of saxophones, trumpets and horns was far from uncommon in country music at the time. 'Salty Dog Blues' Country musicians were covering African-American songs long before R&B existed. The Allen Brothers recorded a version of blues performer Papa Charlie Jackson’s “Salty Dog Blues” in 1926. Some Allen Brothers recordings were famously released by their record company in its race series instead of its hillbilly series, much to Austin and Lee Allen’s dismay. The performers wanted to keep their marketing segregated out of racism, but as far as musical style went, there simply wasn’t that much difference between Black and white. 'Milk Cow Blues' The Maddox Brothers' cover of Kokomo Arnold’s 1934 blues hit, “Milk Cow Blues,” made its way firmly into the country repertoire. There are also versions by Bob Willis and, in the modern era, George Strait. The Maddox Brothers continued to cover Black artists, most notably with a great 1955 performance of Ruth Brown’s “Wild, Wild Young Men.” That song was no doubt inspired in part by the fact that the Maddox Brothers had long been influenced by blues, jump blues and African-American styles. 'Well Oh Well' With Henry Glover, a Black producer, The King label was a hotbed of musical integration. Glover was over its country and R&B divisions. Glover would often have white performers cover numbers from the R&B catalog, like “Well Oh Well,” which was initially a hit for Tiny Bradshaw. Glover was especially close friends with Moon Mullican, who always acknowledged the Black influence on his boogie-woogie piano style and who often played with Black performers in live settings. The session for “Well Oh Well” was integrated as well. Eagle Eye Shields was the drummer, and Clarence Mack played bass, as he had on the Bradshaw session. In an interview later in life, Glover said, “Moon had such a great soul. He was just like a Black man to me, you know, like he thought, felt and expressed himself and everything else.” 'Sixty Minute Man' “Sixty Minute Man” was a major pop crossover hit for Billy Ward and the Dominoes in 1951. As such, it inevitably generated covers, such as a country version. As this demonstrates, Elvis didn’t make R&B successful with white audiences; rather, his decision to cover Black artists had to have been influenced by the fact that those artists were already enjoying great popularity with a wide range of listeners. 'I Don't Know' Billy Jack Wills is less well known and successful than Bob Wills, but his band was in many ways as innovative as his brother’s. Where Bob’s music was based in jazz, swing and blues, Billy Jack embraced bop and R&B, as in his cover of Willie Mabon’s “I Don’t Know”— with strutting trumpet and mandolinist Tiny Moore taking a turn on vocals. Interestingly, Mabon's version of the song was also a cover, as the original was written and recorded in 1936 by the great Cripple Clarence Lofton, who Mabon credits in the beginning of his version. 'Night Train' Leon McAuliffe was most famous for his work in Bob Wills’ band. He then formed his own outfit, and while he wasn’t in general as progressive as Billy Jack, he also flirted with R&B, like with Jimmy Forest’s "Night Train"— with the sax replaced by McAuliffe’s surprising gut-bucket steel guitar. 'Hound Dog' “Jack Turner” is a pseudonym for virtuoso country novelty duo Homer and Jethro (Henry D. Haynes and Kenneth C. Burns), who covered (complete with barking) the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller novelty blues hit originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton. Elvis’ 1956 cover version wasn’t an innovation, but rather one in a series of white performers who performed the song.

Related Stories

Lil Wayne Surpasses Elvis with Most Billboard Hits

Singer Usher Belittled In Atlanta For Parking In Handicap Spot

Eric Bana Lands Role of Elvis Presley