The Sun Studios Story of Elvis In August 1953, Presley checked into the offices of Sun Records. He aimed to pay for a few minutes of studio time to record a two-sided acetate disc: "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". He later claimed that he intended the record as a gift for his mother, or that he was merely interested in what he "sounded like", although there was a much cheaper, amateur record-making service at a nearby general store. Biographer Peter Guralnick argued that he chose Sun in the hope of being discovered. Asked by receptionist Marion Keisker what kind of singer he was, Presley responded, "I sing all kinds." When she pressed him on who he sounded like, he repeatedly answered, "I don't sound like nobody." After he recorded, Sun boss Sam Phillips asked Keisker to note down the young man's name, which she did along with her own commentary: "Good ballad singer. Hold."[46] In January 1954, Presley cut a second acetate at Sun Records—"I'll Never Stand In Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You"—but again nothing came of it.[47] Not long after, he failed an audition for a local vocal quartet, the Songfellows. He explained to his father, "They told me I couldn't sing."[48]Songfellow Jim Hamill later claimed that he was turned down because he did not demonstrate an ear for harmony at the time.[49] In April, Presley began working for the Crown Electric company as a truck driver.[50] His friend Ronnie Smith, after playing a few local gigs with him, suggested he contact Eddie Bond, leader of Smith's professional band, which had an opening for a vocalist. Bond rejected him after a tryout, advising Presley to stick to truck driving "because you're never going to make it as a singer".[51] Phillips, meanwhile, was always on the lookout for someone who could bring to a broader audience the sound of the black musicians on whom Sun focused. As Keisker reported, "Over and over I remember Sam saying, 'If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.'"[52] In June, he acquired a demo recording by Jimmy Sweeney of a ballad, "Without You", that he thought might suit the teenage singer. Presley came by the studio, but was unable to do it justice. Despite this, Phillips asked Presley to sing as many numbers as he knew. He was sufficiently affected by what he heard to invite two local musicians, guitarist Winfield "Scotty" Moore and upright bass player Bill Black, to work something up with Presley for a recording session.[53] The session, held the evening of July 5, proved entirely unfruitful until late in the night. As they were about to abort and go home, Presley took his guitar and launched into a 1946 blues number, Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right". Moore recalled, "All of a sudden, Elvis just started singing this song, jumping around and acting the fool, and then Bill picked up his bass, and he started acting the fool, too, and I started playing with them. Sam, I think, had the door to the control booth open ... he stuck his head out and said, 'What are you doing?' And we said, 'We don't know.' 'Well, back up,' he said, 'try to find a place to start, and do it again.'" Phillips quickly began taping; this was the sound he had been looking for.[55] Three days later, popular Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips played "That's All Right" on his Red, Hot, and Blue show.[56] Listeners began phoning in, eager to find out who the singer really was. The interest was such that Phillips played the record repeatedly during the remaining two hours of his show. Interviewing Presley on-air, Phillips asked him what high school he attended in order to clarify his color for the many callers who had assumed that he was black.[57] During the next few days, the trio recorded a bluegrass number, Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky", again in a distinctive style and employing a jury-rigged echo effect that Sam Phillips dubbed "slapback". A single was pressed with "That's All Right" on the A side and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" on the reverse.[58]
What a fascinating article, Gilly. Wow, this really re-writes history does it not? Perhaps Elvis's audition was better planned out by him than anyone ever fathomed. Amazing, I never knew those lines he.used were bits and pieces of other Crudup songs. Elvis's ambition and determination might have been historically way underestimated. Fascinating. I would love to see what Shane thinks about this article or any other Elvis expert on this thread.
Baby Lets Play House "Baby Let's Play House" Single by Elvis Presley B-side "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" Released April 10, 1955 Genre Rockabilly[1] Length 2:15 Label Sun 217 Songwriter(s) Arthur Gunter Elvis Presley singles chronology "You're a Heartbreaker" (1954) "Baby Let's Play House" (1955) "Heartbreak Hotel" (1956) "Baby Let's Play House" is a song written by Arthur Gunter and recorded by him in 1954 on the Excello Records label[2]and covered by Elvis Presley the following year on Sun Records.[3] Presley's version differs greatly from the original: Elvis started the song with the chorus, where Gunter began with the first verse, and he replaced Gunter's line "You may get religion" with the words "You may have a Pink Cadillac", referring to his custom-painted 1955 Cadillac auto that had been serving as the band's transportation at the time. Baby Let's Play House was the fourth issue of a Presley record by Sun,[4] and became the first song recorded by Elvis to appear on a national chart, when it made #5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart in July 1955.[5] ------------------------------ This album has an almost iconic Presley vocal, using all the vocal quirks that Presley was renowned for, from the baby baby baby intro to the hiccupy style and the extension and mutation of words. Quite simple in many ways but performed in such a way as to give it a lot of personality.
I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone I'm not sure if this was an A or B side but we have another great song. I am guessing by the timeline that this track may have been an influence on Buddy Holly as I hear a lot of similarities to Holly's style in this. Perhaps one of our resident experts can give us some insight into this.
I want to make an important point about Elvis's early recordings that I like to really "drive home" when I can - What makes Elvis such an important figure in 20th century music is not just that he was a white guy that was hip to black music (though he was that), nor that he blended black R&B and white hillbilly styles (though he certainly did that), what makes Elvis so important -- the thing that makes him represent such a tectonic shift in our understanding of popular music -- is that he brought the values of a kind of musical expressionism to the forefront of American popular music. Elvis represents a kind of musical tradition that places a greater value on a singer rendering an expressive flow of sound than cleanly articulating the lyrical content. This tradition values the emotional content of tones, textures, and SOUNDS that come out of a musical instrument more than the precision of technique. These expressionist values had existed in the music of poor folks going back to the days of Charlie Patton and The Carter Family (and probably decades before in the unrecorded musics). Elvis was raised in this tradition, and extended it in ways that crossed racial and rural/urban divides - but most importantly, he was the catalyst that made these values the dominant values in American music for a time. When guys like Sinatra and the hallowed music critics of the day were dismissing Elvis and Rock by saying it was "a rancid aphrodisiac" and judging many of the performers were talentless, it's because the new guys represented a complete refutation of the things the older generation were brought up to value - high class 'standard' songwriters, clear enunciation, technical mastery and precision. All of the things that represented 'class' and 'culture' to the older guys were being cast aside in favor of new values that seemed visceral, sexual and a bit frightening. This type of musical expressionism may have existed at the margins in Blues, bluegrass and some of the more raw R&B cuts, but Elvis was responsible for bringing them into the mainstream, making them inescapable.
Well, judging by the frequency that Elvis sang these Sun songs later in his live concert repertoire, one would have to lean towards That's Alright or Mystery Train being the clear winner. The former song was sung far more often of course as it was basically Elvis's go to opening set song for many of his live concerts from 1970 to his death in 1977. The other go to opening song was of course C.C. Rider. He had to have a special fondness for My Happiness as well, since it was the first song recorded at Sun Records by Elvis and reportedly done as a present for his mother. I do not believe he sang that song live frequently though, if at all. Another Elvis expert can weigh in on that if they know better.
