HMR Project: History of Music & Modern Recording

Elvis Presley

Birth of Rock & Roll: Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Born to a poor family in Tupelo, Mississippi, on 8 January 1935, Elvis Presley was a vocalist who less played guitar than played with it on stage. He was born 35 minutes after his identical twin was stillborn. As a child he liked to listen to country musician, Mississippi Slim, on radio station WELO. Presley followed his family to Memphis in 1948. Beginning to hone in on guitar at about age fifteen, his first public performance at the Humes High School 'Minstrel Show' in April 1953 proved encouraging.

Presley's first demo recordings in Memphis were intended as a gift to his mother. Praguefrank's has that on July 18, 1953 for 'My Happiness' and 'That's When Your Heartache Begins'. Costing $3.98 to rent studio time, those demos eventually saw issue in 1992 by RCA on the CD box set, 'The King of Rock 'N' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters'.

'My Happiness' Elvis Presley Debut Recording

Demo recorded 18 July 1953 Memphis Recordings Service Matrix WPA5-2531

Composition: Borney Bergantine 1933

'That's When Your Heartaches Begin' Elvis Presley

Demo recorded 18 July 1953 Memphis Recordings Service Matrix WPA5-2532

Composition: Fred Fisher / William Raskin / Billy Hill 1937

More unissued demos followed on January 4, 1954, for 'I'll Never Stand In Your Way' w 'It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You', Presley's third and fourth recordings:

'I'll Never Stand in Your Way' Elvis Presley

Demo recorded 4 Jan 1954 Memphis Recordings Service Matrix CPA5-5101

Composition: Hy Heath / Fred Rose

'It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You' Elvis Presley

Demo recorded 4 Jan 1954 Memphis Recordings Service Matrix CPA5-5102

Composition: Jimmy Wakely / Fred Rose

A session on June 5 of 1954 brought 'Casual Love Affair', since lost. June 26 saw the unissued titles, 'Without You' and 'Rag Mop'. Presley's first sessions to issue were on July 5 and 7 of 1954 to result in 'That's All Right' /' Blue Moon of Kentucky' (Sun 209). Among other titles was 'Because I Love You' issued in 1956 with 'Tryin' to Get to You' (RCA Victor 20 6639). Produced by Sam Phillips, Presley now had the backing of Scotty Moore (guitar) and Bill Black (bass) on those. 'I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine' / 'Good Rocking Tonight' (Sun 210) had gone down on August 19 of 1954, the latter a jump blues written by Roy Brown in 1947 transformed into a good example of rockabilly:

'Good Rockin' Tonight' Rockabilly by Elvis Presley

Recorded possibly 19 Aug or 10/11 Sep 1954 Memphis Issued on Sun 210

Composition: Roy Brown 1947

Presley made his sole appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in October of 1954. He then secured a year of engagements on the 'Louisiana Hayride' television program. Prior to the forties the Grand Ole Opry was so conservatively country folk that drums weren't permitted on its stage. Now it was mutually assisting a rocker so long as he kept it country, which he didn't, thus his single appearance. Sometime in November or December of 1954 Presley put up 'You're a Heartbreaker' / 'Milkcow Blues Boogie' (Sun 215). Those tracks did well enough locally on their own, but the King of Rock & Roll may have been born during a July performance at Overton Park Shell in Memphis, opening for Slim Whitman. He was so nervous that his legs shook as he kept rhythm, eliciting screams from females in the audience, which Presley noted toward the further honing of his stage presence.

Presley would issue numerously as an R&B artist on Billboard, but most of his titles were issued for the country market, including rockabilly (the nigh yodel of honky tonk transformed to a nigh hiccup). His first titles to ring Billboard's bell were 'Baby Let's Play House' and 'I'm Left You're Right She's Gone', both recorded at the same session in Memphis in February or March of 1955, both reaching #5 on the country chart that year.

Part country ballad musician, part rocker, Presley encountered a gold mine in early 1955 in manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who ran the Presley enterprise from 1955 to Presley's death in 1977. Presley first appeared in film in 1955 as well, per the documentary, 'The Pied Piper of Cleveland'. He then encountered another goldmine in RCA which decided to make a star of Presley, acquiring him from Sun Records for a hefty $40,000 (considering his status at the time at age 20), then engaging in heavy promotion, partially paid for by songwriters who would forego a third of their royalties in exchange for Presley performing their compositions. Presley signed on with RCA on 23 November 1955 toward his first sessions on January 10 ('Heartbreak Hotel') and 11 of 1956 had Presley backed by the trio of Scotty Moore (guitar), Bill Black (bass) and D. J. Fontana (drums). 'Heartbreak Hotel' saw issue on RCA 47-6420. On 30 January of 1956 they recorded the rockabilly tune, 'Blue Suede Shoes', for the first time, that with Shorty Long at piano and released on RCA 47-6636.

'Heartbreak Hotel' Rockabilly by Elvis Presley

Recorded 10 January 1956 Nashville RCA 47-6420

Composition: label: Mae Axton / Tommy Durden / Elvis Presley

'Blue Suede Shoes' Rockabilly by Elvis Presley

Recorded 30 January 1956 Manhattan RCA 47-6636

Composition: Carl Perkins

Elvis was scheduled for a number of appearances on 'Stage Show' before the March 1956 release of his first album, 'Elvis Presley'. His first appearance on the 'Milton Berle Show' followed in April. On 6 May of 1956 he recorded live versions of 'Heartbreak Hotel' and 'Blue Suede Shoes' at the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. Presley performing rockabilly wasn't the best fit for the older clientele at the New Frontier, but he was paid $15,000 in cash for a gig of two weeks. Recordings were released in 1980 on 'Elvis Aron Presley: 25 Year Anniversary Limited Edition' per RCA CPL8-3699.

'Heartbreak Hotel' Rockabilly by Elvis Presley

Recorded 6 May 1956 at the New Frontier Hotel Las Vegas RCA CPL8-3699

Composition: label: Mae Axton / Tommy Durden / Elvis Presley

'Blue Suede Shoes' Rockabilly by Elvis Presley

Recorded 6 May 1956 at the New Frontier Hotel Las Vegas RCA CPL8-3699

Composition: Carl Perkins

Presley appeared on the 'Steve Allen Show' and 'Ed Sullivan Show' in the summer of 1956. July saw the release of 'Hound Dog' / 'Don't Be Cruel' from a session in Manhattan on 2 July 1956. But why stop there? Why not star in your first motion picture, 'Love Me Tender', released in November, as well?

'Love Me Tender' Elvis Presley Film: "Love Me Tender' Released 15 Nov 1956

Composition: Second Hand Songs: Elvis Presley / Ken Darby

From 'Aura Lee' by George Poulton / Willam Fosdick 1861

By the end of Presley's first year with RCA he was not only a star but a super star. His singles alone amounted to more than half of RCA's record sales that year. Only merchandise itself had earned $22,000,000, about what Presley himself grossed. It was 19 March that he purchased the Graceland property for $102,000, found for him by his parents since he had little time for shopping himself. Presley would later convert its den called the Jungle Room into a recording studio in 1976. Howsoever, such the rewards were brief, for on 24 March of 1957 Presley was drafted into the Army. Sent to Fort Hood in Texas for basic, upon leave in June he did some recording in Nashville, though generally resigned himself to the notion that his music career could possibly be over. He would perform his duty like anyone else, that consisting largely of driving a jeep. Believing an Army to be needful, Presley easily transitioned to military life come what may. But his mother's death in August was not so acceptable.

Go with the flow as Presley might, RCA wasn't about to let the military threaten its stake in its money maker. From the time of Presley's induction to the time of his discharge he watched RCA issue ten Top Forty songs from out of yet unreleased material. One such was 'Jailhouse Rock' which had gone down on 30 April of 1957 in Hollywood toward issue on RCA Victor 47-7035, that reaching #1 in October of 1957. Other versions went down on dates in early May for the film, Jailhouse Rock', released in November.

'Jailhouse Rock' Elvis Presley Film: "Jailhouse Rock' Released 8 Nov 1957

Composition: Jerry Leiber / Mike Stoller

Presley was released from military service in Germany in 1960 toward the mauling of fans to welcome him back to the States. RCA grabbed their prize quick, Presley back in the recording studio not two weeks later. That was March 20 and 21 in Nashville. 'Make Me Know It' and 'Soldier Boy' saw issue on Presley's album, 'Elvis Is Back!', that year. 'Stuck On You' / 'Fame and Fortune' were released per RCA Victor 7740. 'A Mess of Blues' saw release on RCA Victor 7777. He recorded the soundtrack for the film, 'G.I. Blues', in October toward the film's release, in which he starred, in November 1960. November also saw the issue of his twelfth LP, a sacred album titled 'His Hand In Mine'. Presley knew where the cake was, releasing three or four albums a year into the sixties.

'Blue Suede Shoes' Elvis Presley Screen test for the film 'GI Blues' released on 4 Nov 1960

Composition: Carl Perkins

'Something Blue' Elvis Presley Album: 'Pot Luck'

Recorded 18 March 1962 in Nashville RCA RD.27265

Composition: Paul Evans / Al Byron

In 1965 Presley received major British rivals, the Beatles, to his home at Graceland at Memphis. That was the only time Presley met with any of the Beatles. As Presley was a God & Country kind at root, he would develop a great dislike of John Lennon's liberal pacifism.

Presley married actress, Priscilla Presley, from 1967 to 1973. His daughter, Lisa Marie, a musician herself, was born on 1 February 1968. Shortly later Presley met another major rival in Tom Jones when he led a standing ovation for Jones at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas on 6 April 1968. As Jones was a rival Presley could abide, they would meet again and form a close friendship.

Presley's phenomenal success throughout the sixties took a depressing turn in 1973 when he twice overdosed on the barbiturates he used to control fits of rage. He yet toured heavily, but 1974 saw barbiturates interfering with his ability to function, much less perform. By 1976 he was being compared to Liberace (a musician who less played classical piano than used a classical piano to parade Liberace). Even yet his concerts bulged with fans and his records charted high, he an international star who had never toured beyond Canada. All came tumbling down, however, in 1977, Presley having become incoherent and unsteady in addition to corpulent, slurring and forgetting lyrics on stage.

Presley's last album to be issued before his death was a mix of live and studio tracks gone down in February and October of 1976, and April 1977 at multiple venues including Presley's Graceland studio. That was 'Moody Blue' issued in July 1977. Praguefrank's shows further live recordings going down on June 21 of 1977 per the grand opening of the Rushmore Civic Center in Rapid City, South Dakota, a CBS television special aired posthumously on 3 October to send off the tandem album, 'Elvis in Concert', issued the same month. Five days later on June 26 Presley performed at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

'Unchained Melody Elvis Presley Album: 'Moody Blue'

Recorded 24 April 1977 in Ann Arbor, Michigan RCA APL1 2428 July 1977

Composition: Alex North / Hy Zaret

Final concert by Elvis Presley

Recorded 21 June 1977 in Rapid City SD Aired by CBS 3 Oct 1977

Presley died of heart attack, likely assisted by years of pharmacological abuse, in his bathroom at Graceland on August 16, 1977. His funeral was attended by 80,000 fans who had helped buy 57 albums issued by that time [Vulture].

By all accounts Presley had been a humble, polite and unpretentious personality. He had read deeply in spiritual matters, including the Bible, but wasn't strong in composition. Officially credited with co-writing several titles, most of those were composed by others who traded label credits in exchange for the increased royalties that Presley's name would draw. Presley did contribute to 'You’ll Be Gone' in 1962 with Red West and Charlie Hodge. He otherwise drew upon songwriters like Otis Blackwell ('Don’t Be Cruel'), the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller ('Hound Dog') and Ben Weisman ('Frankie and Johnny').

Elvis spent twenty-two years in constant residence on Billboard's Top Ten. By 1982 he is thought to have sold above 600 million units in the US and above 400 million units internationally for a total of more than one billion units worldwide. A posthumous remix of 'Guitar Man' topped the charts at #1 as recently as January of 1981. The brief list below is comprised of only Presley's 29 #1 titles on Billboard:

   I Forgot to Remember to Forget   1956
   Heartbreak Hotel   3/56
   I Want You, I Need You, I Love You   5/56
   Hound Dog   8/56
   Don't Be Cruel   8/56
   Love Me Tender   10/56
   Too Much   1/57
   All Shook Up   4/57
   Teddy Bear   6/57
   Jailhouse Rock   10/57
   Don't   1/58
   Hard Headed Woman   6/58
   A Big Hunk o' Love   7/59
   Stuck on You   4/60
   It's Now or Never   7/60
   Are You Lonesome Tonight   11/60
   Surrender   2/61
   Can't Help Falling in Love   12/61
   Good Luck Charm   3/62
   Crying in the Chapel   4/65
   Easy Question   6/65
   I'm Yours   8/65
   Suspicious Minds   9/69
   The Wonder of You   5/70
   You Don't Have to Say You Love Me   10/70
   My Boy   11/74
   Moody Blue   12/76
   Pledging My Love   1977
   Way Down   6/77