Great essay, I always enjoy pieces like this. We could write a book of essays like this. One story I do know from research is the one on Elvis and though the story you recount is firmly implanted in the folklore, it is not true. The story on Elvis Presley as a racist grifter is 100 percent untrue. He not only always gave full credit to African American singers and entertainers for his music, he never made that racist statement and enjoyed a friendship with many Black blues singers and musicians. Who knows the source of it? He also signed a bad contract so he had no control over the songs that were picked to sing and record. Despite his popularity he was like most pop singers - he was stuck with a bad contract. Yet, he did establish a good relationship indirectly with some Black singers and songwriters, such as the Brooklyn songwriter Otis Blackwell who got rich because Presley recorded many of his songs. Blackwell got so rich he ran into tax problems. Don't Be Cruel, Return to Sender, All Shook UP, and Paralyzed were all massive hits for Presley. Blackwell wrote those songs. But this is not criticism of your great topic; there is far more grifting than there is fair play out there.