Allowing these women to be more than window dressing or provide more than a dash of vocal “blackness” was a perceived threat. Patti LaBelle, for instance, came up all but anonymously in a 1960s girl group and as part of the ’70s trio Labelle, considered outliers or a one-hit disco act on the basis of their song “Lady Marmalade.” Mahon argues that women rockers had to cultivate “betwixt and between” genres to find a footing, even while that strategy made success fleeting for the likes of Labelle, LaVern Baker, and the Shirelles-a shame because artists like Claudia Lennear and Betty Davis made indelible, path-breaking albums. They’ve often been hired as background singers to lend “authenticity” to White rock performers yet exiled from the genre when they took center stage. But their influence, notes the author, has been stifled in a variety of complicated ways. Think of Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog,” repurposed by Elvis Presley, or Tina Turner’s skill at bridging R&B, rock, and pop. NYU music professor Mahon argues convincingly that Black women have been pivotal to rock music’s evolution. Snapshots of some of rock ’n’ roll’s greatest Black female performers, underappreciated in rock's broader history.
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