|
But, after Elvis teamed up with local musicians Scotty Moore on lead guitar and Bill Black on bass, everything clicked on July 5, 1954, when the guys broke into a sped-up version of Arthur Crudup's blues song "That's All Right" Phillips was so impressed that he immediately recorded it, and soon after recorded Elvis' up-tempo version of Bill Munroe's " Blue Moon of Kentucky" for the flip side of the record.
Phillips took acetates of Elvis' first commerical record around to local Memphis radio disc jockeys. WHBQ disc jockey Dewey Phillips (no relation to Sam) played "That's All Right" on the radio. The phone rang off the hook with listener requests to hear it again and again,
prompting Dewey Phillips to bring Elvis in that night for a live interview and making him an overnight celebrity in Memphis, Sam Phillips signed Elvis to his first recording contract with his own Sun Records label later that month. Elvis, along with Scotty and Bill, begun touring and making personal appearances around the South, supporting his eventual five Sun singles, which were regional hits. Elvis' one appearance on the Grand Ole Opry that fall was met with a less than enthusiastic responce, reportedly prompting talent coordinator Jim Denny to suggest that Elvis go back to driving a truck! But, Elvis soon garnered a long-term performing contract with the "Louisiana Hayride", a Saturday night country music radio show origanating in Shreveport Louisiana and broadcast over KWKH Radio, a direct compelitor to Nashville's Grand Ole Opry radio program.
During this time, drummer D.J. Fontana joined the band.
In the latter half of 1955, a promoter Elvis met during his appearances on "Louisiana Hayride" Colonel Tom Parker, became involved in Elvis' career, and soon became his official and exclusive manager.(Scotty Moore had been the manager early on, followed by Bob Neal, who continued to consult for a while after Colonel took over.) In the fall of 1955, Colonel Parker negotiated the sale of Elvis' Sun Records contract to RCA Records. Elvis was definitely the hottest new star in the music business.
Two days after his twenty-first birthday, Elvis had his first recording session for RCA in their Nashville studios on January 10, 1956. "Heartbreak Hotel" was cut that day and released on January 27. It soon hit number one on Billboard's pop singles chart, staying in the top spot for eight weeks and becoming Elvis' first million-selling (or gold) single. The song also crossed over to hit number one on the country chart and top five on the rythum & Blues chart. In March, RCA released his first album, Titled "Elvis Presley", it soon found its way to Billboard's pop album chart for a long run, with ten weeks at number one.
Elvis' nrtwork television career was launched on January 28, 1956 with the first of his six appearances on the Jackie Gleason produced "Stage Show" variety program on CBS hosted by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. On April 3, 1956, Elvis made the first of his two appearances on "The Milton Berle Show" on ABC. On the second show on June 5, he performed a sensuous gyrating version of "Hound Dog" causing much consternation amongst adultviewers and wild excitement among teenagers. On July 1, 1956, Elvis did a tamer version of "Hound Dog" sung directly to a Bassett Hound on "The Steve Allen Show" on NBC. Finally, Elvis was invited by television's most popular variety show host, Ed Sullivan, to make three appearances on his program for a total of $50,000, at that time by far the largest amount ever paid to a performer to appear on television. On September 9, the first of these three Sullivan appearances attracted 54 million viewers, then the largest television audience ever.
|
Get your own Free Home
Page