After Baz Luhrmann’s movie, “Elvis,” hit theaters, audiences and critics alike questioned the Black origins of Elvis Presley’s music and style, reigniting a debate that has been circling for decades. In “Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King,” author Preston Lauterbach answers those questions definitively. Lauterbach examines the lives, music, legacies, and interactions with Elvis Presley of the four innovative Black artists who created a style that would come to be known as Rock ’n’ Roll: Little Junior Parker, Big Mama Thornton, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, and mostly-unknown eccentric Beale Street guitarist Calvin Newborn. He also explores the injustices of copyright theft and media segregation that resulted in Black artists living in poverty as white performers, managers, and producers reaped the lucrative rewards of their work. Meet the author and join our conversation on Microsoft Teams: https://queenslib.org/49Tw