Heard it on the radio. On first blush some might think it belongs in another era because of it’s celebration of the old South in the opening section. Those who know the second and third sections might be inclinded to think it’s about … well, to some extent it’s about what you want it to be about but how about reconciliation and unity … or not.
My question is about the performance. This was a showstoopper for Elvis in his Vegas jumpsuit period, he included a lot of brass and backing singers.
I’m sure I’ve read or seen Elvis was no racist, the opposite in fact. I just looked at three videos on Youtube to see what happened with the backing singers on American Trilogy. It’s not completely clear as the camera - you might almost think intentionally - never captures the singers through all three stages of the song.
Fwiw, on the vidoes I’ve seen white male backing singing perform the dixie part while black girls sit down. I’ve seen all of them singing section two. I heard Elvis say ‘take it away fellas’ in relation to Dixie.
Elvis wouldn’t have asked his black backing singers to perform the first section, right?
