Why Quincy Jones Would Never Work With Elvis Presley!

Quincy Jones has worked with almost every big name in music. But he refused to work with Elvis Presley. He shared the story with The Hollywood Reporter for their “THR Icons” series.  “I was writing for [bandleader]Tommy Dorsey…back…in the ‘50s,” the legend said. “Elvis came in, and Tommy said, ‘I don’t want to play with him.’ He was a racist mother—I’m going to shut up now.”  And Elvis wasn’t the only one. Quincy also told the story of his association with Truman Capote. “[Capote] called [director ]Richard Brooks up, he said, ‘Richard, I can’t understand you using a Negro to write music to a film with no people of color in it,’” Q claims. “Richard said, ‘F you, he’s doing the score.’ I did, and I got nominated for an Oscar.” For the record, Capote called and apologized to him after he got his Oscar nomination.  You can read the full story with Quincy Jones (it's so interesting!) by clicking here.