Elvis Presley's First Single

This episode delves into the life and career of Elvis Presley, focusing particularly on the recording of his breakthrough first single, "That's All Right," on July 5, 1954.

1. Elvis's first single was a pivot point in music history, introducing a new sound that fused R&B with country.
2. His success came after a series of rejections, highlighting his resilience.
3. Elvis's music broke cultural and racial boundaries, appealing to diverse audiences.
4. The episode emphasizes the transformative power of music in shaping cultural identities.
5. It also discusses the personal and professional challenges Elvis faced throughout his career.

1: Early Struggles

The chapter covers Elvis's early life and his initial failures in music, depicting his perseverance and the harsh realities of the music industry.

• Elvis Presley: "I don't sound like nobody."

2: Breakthrough Recording

This segment details the unexpected recording session that produced "That's All Right," a moment of musical innovation that changed Elvis's fate and the music industry.

• Sam Phillips: "Elvis is singing a familiar song in a wholly unfamiliar way."

3: Rising Star

Focuses on the rapid rise of Elvis as a cultural icon and the societal impact of his music, discussing the generational and racial barriers it challenged.

• Narrator: "Elvis has ignited a pop culture craze unprecedented in its energy and magnitude."

• Explore and experiment with your talents; you never know what breakthrough might be around the corner.
• Embrace rejections as stepping stones; they often lead to greater opportunities.
• Understand the cultural impact of your work; it can transcend personal success.
• Maintain perseverance in your endeavors; persistence is key to overcoming obstacles.
• Learn from the history of pioneers like Elvis to draw inspiration and courage.

July 5, 1954. Elvis Presley records his first single "That's All Right" at Sun Records in Memphis, introducing rock n’ roll to mainstream American culture. This episode originally aired in 2022.

People

Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips

Content Warnings:

None

Lindsey Graham
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It'S after midnight on a hot summer night in June 1977 in a gas station outside Madison, Wisconsin. A 17 year old clerk named Keith Lowery sits behind the counter, his eyelids drooping with a deep yawn. Keith stands up, walks to the door and heads outside to check on the pumps. The air is resonant with the buzz of cicadas and the distant rumble of traffic on nearby Highway 51. As Keith approaches a gas pump, he notices two figures emerge from the shadows.

Keith recognizes one of the men, a. Fellow gas station clerk who was recently. Fired for stealing from the register. Keith doesnt know what hes doing here, but he knows its probably trouble and tells the ex clerk, you, better get the hell out of here. But before Keith can finish his warning, the thief grabs hold of him, drags him past the pumps into the shadows and throws him onto the asphalt.

As Keith tries to scramble to his feet, a leather booted foot stomps into his stomach, kicking the wind out of him. Keith grits his teeth as his assailants cackle like hyenas and continue kicking him, striking him in his back, head and shoulders. But then Keith hears the screech of tires on the road, followed by the sound of a car door opening and the sharp click of heels on concrete. The kicks and punches stop. Keith opens one eye and standing there, his silhouette outlined against the bright lights of the gas station, is a tall, wide shouldered man.

Hes adopted a karate pose, one arm outstretched, the other one coiled tightly to his chest. The mans face is in the shadow, but Keith immediately recognizes the Mississippi drawl when the man says, ill take you on. The two punks are stunned into silence. The vigilante avenger standing in front of them is the aging king of rock and roll himself, Elvis Aaron Presley. The thief and his buddy are starstruck but also shocked at the king's appearance.

Sweat glistens on his puffy cheeks and the zipper of his sequined jumpsuit strains against his bulging belly. Blinking, the punks slowly back away and run off, back into the night. Elvis chuckles, twisting his face into his trademark sideways grin. Then he looks down at Keith and says, I guess the fight settle then, huh? Keith climbs to his feet, bruised and a little dazed.

He watches with wide eyes as Elvis Presley swaggers back to his limousine, climbs inside, and is driven off into the night.

By 1977, Elvis Presley has hit rock bottom. As his record sales plummeted, his reliance on junk food and drugs increased, leaving Elvis overweight and depressed. Just two months after this altercation in Wisconsin, Elvis will die from a heart attack at the age of 42. But despite his sad ending, Elvis lived an extraordinary life, capturing the hearts of millions and popularizing a cultural phenomenon called rock and roll. Following the recording of his first hit single, that's all right, on July 5, 1954.

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Ryan Reynolds
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Lindsey Graham
History is made every day on this podcast. Every day we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is July 5, 1954, Elvis Presley's first single.

It's July 18, 1953, a year before Elvis records. That's all right. On a sunny Saturday morning in Memphis, Tennessee, a woman named Marion Kiesker sits behind the reception desk at Sun Records, a recording studio in downtown. Marion's boss, Sam Phillips, opened Sun records three years ago, advertising his business with the slogan, we record anything, anywhere, anytime. Sam's vision for Sun Records was to provide a place for african american musicians to record their work at a time when segregation laws made it hard for black performers to break through.

And in the last three years, Sam has recorded several artists who will go on to have successful careers, including BB King, Howlin Wolf and Ike Turner. But despite the talented acts who've come through his doors, Sam is struggling to turn a profit. Many radio stations are still hesitant to play so called black music, fearing it could alienate their white listeners. Many white people are especially suspicious of a new genre pioneered by african american musicians, a toe tapping hybrid of rhythm, blues, country and gospel. Certain Maverick DJ's have started playing these records on the airways, and they've given the new genre a name, rock and roll.

But by the summer of 1953, rock and roll hasn't yet taken off. Sam often finds himself driving from town to town, personally promoting his artists to radio stations across the country. Its exhausting and demoralizing. And if things dont improve, sun records might have to close its doors. But in the meantime, Marion still has a job at the front desk.

Today she looks up as the front door opens. A teenage boy walks in, guitar case slung over his shoulder. Marian raises her eyebrow. The kid looks to be about 18. He is dressed in a wide collared shirt that Marion recognizes from the window display at Lansky's, a clothing store on Beale street.

His black hair is shiny with pomade. And he has the earnest, God fearing. Look of a church boy. Marion sees countless kids like this, youngsters who listen to BB King records on the radio and think they ought to have a crack at recording their own. So Marion asks the kid what kind of singer he thinks he is.

The boy mulls it over before responding, I sing all kinds, but Marion needs him to be more specific. So she asks who he sounds like, and the kid replies, I dont sound like nobody. Nonetheless, Sam Phillips records the kid singing two old standards from the 1930s. His voice is rough around the edges, but he has some raw talent. Sam imprints the song onto a record and charges the kid $4.

Before he leaves, Marion asks for the kids name, which she writes down alongside Sam's commentary. Elvis Presley good ballad singer after the recording, Elvis walks back to the two room apartment he shares with his parents. The 18 year old slopes into his room and lies down on the bed, staring at the ceiling while plucking his guitar. Elvis graduated high school this summer. Now he's trying to figure out what to do with his life.

Music is his greatest passion. But even though Elvis knows he wants to be a singer, he doesn't know how to go about it. Needing a source of income, Elvis starts working as a truck driver for the Crown Electric company. Then, in June 1954, Elvis hears about the opening for a vocalist in a local band. After auditioning, the band manager turns to Elvis with a conciliatory smile and says, stick to truck driving, kid.

You're never going to make it as a singer. Elvis is devastated. Hes forced to face the possibility that hell end up driving a truck forever. The prospect is too grim to even contemplate, so he decides to give it one last try. On July 5, 1954, Elvis returns to Sun Studios, hoping to record a couple of tracks that might get him noticed.

But as midnight approaches, Sam sits inside the control booth, stifling a yawn. Theyve been at it for hours. Elvis can certainly sing a ballad, but he's nothing Sam hasn't heard before. Sam sighs and switches off the recorder and signals at the band it's time to call it a night. And that's when Elvis grabs his guitar and launches into a cover of Arthur Crudup's 1946 song.

That's all right. Hesitantly, the band joins in, matching Elvis double time tempo. Sam glances up. Elvis is singing a familiar song in a wholly unfamiliar way. Thats all right as an old blues ballad, but Elvis has transformed it into something else.

It sounds fresh, original, and exciting. Most of all, it sounds profitable. Sam leans in closer and hits record on the tape deck. Sam sends out copies of thats all right to all the local radio stations. Three days later, a popular Memphis dj plays the track on his show, and within hours listeners are calling in to inquire about the song and the singer.

People don't know what to make of the music. The intense, driven style is reminiscent of r and b, but delivered in Elvis hillbilly drawl. The outcome is something different and new. Based on the success of the track, Sam offers Elvis a professional contract, and soon Elvis and his band are booking live shows every night. Before long, Elvis Presley's unique voice and stage presence will cause a stir, changing the face of american culture and turning Elvis into a global sensation.

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Its May 1956 in Washington, DC, two years after Elvis recorded thats all right. J. Edgar Hoover sits inside his office on Pennsylvania Avenue. The director of the FBI has just received a letter from a concerned member of the public, a man who recently attended an Elvis Presley concert in Wisconsin. The letter reads, presley is a definite danger to the security of the United States.

His actions and motions were such as to rouse the sexual passions of teenage youth. Hoover scratches his chin. He's heard rumors about Elvis Presley, how his provocative style elicits wild hysteria from young audiences. And with the Cold War simmering, the last thing Hoover needs is a musician undermining the moral fabric of american society. Hoover places the letter inside a file and grimaces.

Hes going to have to keep a close watch on this Elvis Presley.

A few days later, on June 5, Elvis makes his second appearance on the Milton Berle show on NBC, Elvis stands backstage in the Hollywood studio preparing to go on, and hes anxious. The last two years have been a whirlwind for Elvis. After the runaway success of his first single, thats All Right, he became a household name on radio stations and in music venues all across the south. It wasnt long before he was snapped up by a promoter named Colonel Tom Parker. Parker is an overweight, cigar puffing eccentric and one of the most ruthless, avaricious promoters in the industry.

He convinced Elvis to leave Sun Records and instead signed with RCA Victor, one of the country's biggest labels. Largely due to Colonel Parker's money making instincts, Elvis has become the best known entertainer in America, with regular television appearances, flashy movie contracts and lucrative merchandise deals. With Parker's help, Elvis has mainstreamed rock and roll. His music is beloved by young people, partly because it transcends the segregated nature of popular music at the time. By fusing country music and r and b, Elvis has created a sound that is described at the time as neither black nor white, commercializing a style that attracts a broad, integrated audience.

But as Elvis stardom grows, so do the murmurs of disapproval. Many older people are concerned by the hysteria his music provokes and by the racially diverse nature of his audiences. A gulf is opening up between the generations, and that gulf is about to get even wider with Elvis appearance on the Milton Berle Show, Milton sidles up to Elvis in the gloomy wing. The host tells him to leave his guitar backstage, saying, let him see you, son. So Elvis goes on stage without a guitar and sings his new hit, hound dog, grinding and gyrating his hips to the music.

The audience goes into a frenzy. But to many watching at home, the suggestive pelvic thrusts are evidence of Elvis moral delinquency. One New York Times review echoes the view of the older generation, arguing that Mister Presley has no discernible singing ability. His one specialty is an accented movement of the body. Elsewhere, critics claim that music has reached its lowest depths and that Elvis exhibits the kind of animalism that should be confined to dives and bordellos.

But despite the negative criticism, Elvis appearance on the Milton Berle show is a hit. NBC captures such incredibly high ratings, the other networks scramble to be the next to book him. So in September, Elvis appears on the Ed Sullivan show on CB's. Sullivan himself doesnt host the show that night as hes recovering from a car accident, but when he reviews the footage, even he is shocked by Elvis provocative dancing. He chides his editors and reminds them that his show is a family show.

The editors get to work altering the footage, and when the episode airs, Elvis is only pictured from the waist up. Still, the episode is watched by over 60 million viewers, a record at the time. Over the course of the next twelve months, Elvis continues performing live shows to increasingly fevered audiences. He only has to walk on stage and smile for the crowd to start screaming, reaching out to touch him. Elvis has ignited a pop culture craze unprecedented in its energy and magnitude.

But the Elvis phenomenon is about to hit an unexpected roadblock. In 1958, Elvis is drafted into the United States army. He is stationed in West Germany and serves for two years before returning to the US in March 1960. And although his celebrity status hasnt changed, Elvis himself has. His mother died when he was in basic training, depriving Elvis of his most constant source of guidance and support.

But other things change Elvis too. Elvis swaps his iconic pompadour for a GI buzz cut. And to cope with the tragedy of losing his mother and the stress of military service, Elvis develops a newfound dependency on drugs, especially amphetamines. Throughout the 1960s, while his drug habit escalates, Elvis career takes a downturn. Driven by his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis tries trading the grind of live performance performance for the glamour of movies, but ends up starring in a series of critically derided Hollywood films.

By the end of the decade, Elvis has become a recluse and often a laughing stock. But in 1969, as he teeters on the brink of irrelevance, Elvis will book a comeback show in Las Vegas, a make or break performance that will prove whether the king of rock and roll is really dead or if hes been resurrected.

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Lindsey Graham
And because true cost from CV's caremark simplifies drug pricing, you'll be able to create a plan that your members actually stick to. Go to cvs dot co truecost to find out more. That's cvs dot co Truecoste. Its July 31, 1960 915 years after Elvis recorded his first hit single in a massive amphitheater inside the International Hotel in Las Vegas, Elvis Presley nervously paces backstage, his forehead glistening with sweat. He glances through the curtain at the packed auditorium.

Thousands of people have come to see Elvis comeback show, the first time hes played live in almost a decade. Elvis takes a deep breath and tries to steady his nerves. The sixties have been a difficult time for Elvis. His acting career failed to launch, and his records have been performing poorly in the charts. As the years went by, people became less and less interested in Elvis's music, which still sounded like the 1950s.

Instead, they turned to the fashionable new. Bands of the day, like the Beach. Boys and the Beatles. The world of rock and roll moves fast these days, and Elvis has been left behind. But soon the announcer in the auditorium is calling his name.

Elvis mops his brow, then forces his trademark smile onto his face and strides out into blinding lights. The roar from the audience is deafening. A few people notice Elvis changed appearance. Hes nothing like the twinkly eyed 21 year old who swung his hips on the Ed Sullivan show. At 34, Elvis has gained weight and lost some of that boyish confidence.

When he grabs hold of the microphone, his hand trembles. But as soon as Elvis launches into blue suede shoes, the years and the pounds and the drugs fall away. The audience goes wild, his confidence restored by the emphatic reception. Elvis sings all the classics, hound dog, heartbreak hotel. He almost brings down the house with a not yet released ballad called suspicious minds.

And by the time the performance ends, Elvis is drenched in sweat. The audience is on its feet. He drinks in a thunderous applause. Over the next seven years, Elvis will play more than 600 shows in Las Vegas, selling out every single one. And as the 1970s Dawn Elvis act will change.

He will become more family friendly and focus on slower ballads and gospel music. But despite his resurgence, Elvis remains on a downward trajectory. Still addicted to drugs, his health will steadily decline until he is killed by a heart attack in August 1977 at the age of 42. Still, even today, Elvis is remembered as a rock and roll legend who changed the course of american culture, a pioneer and an icon whose extraordinary career was kicked off by his first single, recorded on this day, July 5, 1954.

Next on History Daily July 8, 1898. On a wharf in Skagway, Alaska, notorious con man Jefferson Soapy Smith is killed in a gunfight by a vigilante from noiser and airship. This is History daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham. Audio editing by Molly Bach. Sound design by Misha Stanton.

Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written and researched by Joe Viner. Executive producers are Steven Walters for airship and Pascal Hughes for r.

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