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Knowing the dubious reputation of Sepia, Louie Robinson, the black associate editor of the black-owned JET magazine, decided to investigate the authenticity of the alleged statement and report to his readers. “Tracing the rumored racial slur to its source was like running a gopher to earth,” Robinson later wrote. “No matter what hole it dived back in, it popped out of another one.”

Running down Elvis was easier. In the summer of 1957, Robinson interviewed the star in his Hollywood dressing room on the set of Jailhouse Rock. Presley categorically denied making the statement. “I never said anything like that,” he declared, “and people who know me know I wouldn’t have said it.”

Robinson then talked with some blacks who knew Elvis and included their remarks in his JET article. “He faces everybody as a man,” said Dudley Brooks, a Los Angeles piano player who worked on Presley recording sessions. “I never heard of the remark, but even so I can’t imagine Presley saying that, not knowing him the way I do.”

Back in Tupelo, Dr. W.A. Zuber told Robinson, “I knew him when he was a kid. He used to play the guitar and go around with quartets and to Negro ‘sanctified’ meetings. He lived near the colored section, and people around here say he’s one of the nicest boys they ever knew. He just doesn’t impress me as the type of person who would say a thing like that.

Indeed, in heavily segregated Memphis of that day, Presley was regularly seen at black-only events. In June 1956, a Memphis newspaper reported that Elvis had attended the Memphis Fairgrounds amusement park on a designated “colored night.” The next month, he attended black radio station WDIA’s charity event, featuring all-black talent, including Ray Charles, B. B. King, the Moonglows, and DJ Rufus Thomas.

B. B. King defends Elvis

In a Sepia article, B. B. King supported Elvis. “What most people don’t know,” stated King, “is that this boy is serious about what he’s doing. He’s carried away by it. When I was in Memphis with my band, he used to stand in the wings and watch us perform. As for fading away, rock and roll is here to stay and so, I believe, is Elvis. He’s been a shot in the arm to the business and all I can say is ‘that’s my man’.”

In his 1957 investigative article in JET, Louie Robinson concluded that not only did blacks know Presley; he also knew blacks. “I always wanted to sing like Billy Kenny of the Ink Spots,” Robinson quoted Elvis. “I like that high, smooth style.” When Robinson asked about the origin of his “earthy, moaning baritone” singing voice, Presley responded, “I never sang like this in my life until I made that first record—That’s Alright, Mama. I remembered that song because I heard Arthur (Big Boy) Crudup sing it and I thought I would like to try it.”

Robinson did confirm that Presley was making more money singing rhythm and blues than black performers of the day. While Elvis’s nearest competitor, Fats Domino, was expected to earn $700,000 in 1957, Robinson suggested Elvis would earn twice that much.

And as for the accusation that Presley was making buckets full of money off songs written by blacks, who earned very little for their songwriting talents, Robinson quoted Otis Blackwell, writer of two huge Presley hits “Don’t Be Cruel” and “All Shook Up.” Without giving specific numbers, Blackwell confirmed, “I got a good deal. I made money. I’m happy.”

Elvis — "I always liked that kind of music."

Robinson was impressed with Presley’s honest evaluation of his contribution to the genre. “A lot of people seem to think I started this business,” Elvis explained, “but rock ’n’ roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that kind of music like colored people. Let’s face it; I can’t sing it like Fats Domino can. I know that. But I always liked that kind of music.”

As for the “shine rumor,” it was easy for Robinson to discard the Sepia magazine allegation that Elvis made the remark in Boston, since the twenty-two-year-old singer had never been in that city. Robinson had also heard, by “word of mouth,” that Elvis made the infamous comment to Edward R. Murrow on his CBS-TV show. Since records verified that Presley had never appeared on “Person to Person,” Robinson ultimately concluded that no proof existed that Elvis had ever made the alleged racial statement anywhere.

Thus, JET magazine, highly respected among American blacks in 1957, not only cleared Elvis of voicing the racist comment, but also portrayed him as a young white man who fostered race equality in both his professional and private life.

Elvis probably thought he had put the rumor to rest for good. Little did he know that 30 years after his death it would continue to live on as an urban legend. The idea of Elvis racism would not die so easily. — Alan Hanson (January 2008)