WELL, MAMA
SHE DONE TOLD ME
PAPA DONE
TOLD ME TOO
SON, THAT GAL
YOU'RE FOOLIN' WITH
SHE AIN'T NO GOOD FOR YOU
recorded at least
24 songs at
Sun Studio
in Memphis, Tennessee,
between 1953 and 1955.
The recordings reflect
the wide variety
of music that
could be heard in
Memphis at the time:
blues,
rhythm & blues,
gospel,
country & western,
hillbilly,
rockabilly
and
bluegrass.
Because of the recordings'
historical significance
in the foundation of
rock and roll music,
they were inducted
into the U.S. Congress's
National Recording Registry
in 2002.
Of the
24 known taped songs,
22 survive.
Ten were released
by Sun as Presley's
first five singles
between 1954 and 1955.
With the exception
of the first four songs,
which were demos
recorded at
Presley's expense,
all of the songs
were produced by
Sam Phillips
and featured
Scotty Moore
on guitar
and
Bill Black
on bass.
A year after Presley joined
RCA Victor,
he had a
spontaneous informal session
with Carl Perkins,
Johnny Cash,
and
Jerry Lee Lewis
when visiting
the Sun studio.
This meeting was recorded on
December 4, 1956,
and dubbed
the Million Dollar Quartet
by the local newspaper
the next day.
These sessions are not
generally included
when reference is made to
"Elvis's Sun Sessions",
however.
History
1953–1954:
First Acetate Recordings
On August 15, 1953,
Presley first went to
the Memphis Recording Service
at the Sun Record Company,
now commonly known
as Sun Studio.
He paid $3.98
(A lot Then)
to record the first
of two double-sided
demo acetates,
"My Happiness"
and
"That's When Your Heartaches Begin".
Presley reportedly gave
the acetate
to his mother
as a much-belated
extra birthday present,
although many
biographers suggest that
Presley simply wanted
to get noticed by
Sun owner
Sam Phillips.
These suggestions
are strengthened by
the fact that the
Presleys did not own
a record player
at the time.
Presley could have
wanted both:
another gift
for his mother
and an opportunity
to be discovered.
That one-off acetate
has since been
valued at
$500,000
by Record Collector
magazine.
Returning to Sun Studios
on January 4, 1954,
he recorded a
second acetate,
"I'll Never Stand in Your Way" /
"It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You".
Phillips had already
cut the first records
by blues artists such as
Howlin' Wolf
and
Junior Parker.
He thought a combination
of black blues
and boogie-woogie music
would be very popular
among white people,
if presented in the right way.
In the spring,
Presley auditioned for
amateur gospel quartet
The Songfellows
as one of the group
was leaving and they
were seeking a replacement.
However,
following Presley's audition,
the original group member
decided to stay.
In May,
Presley auditioned at
the Hi-Hat
in Memphis
as a vocalist for a band.
Eddie Bond,
the owner of
the Hi-Hat,
turned him down.
When Phillips acquired
a demo recording of
"Without You"
and was unable to identify
the vocalist,
his assistant,
Marion Keisker,
reminded him about
the young truck driver.
She called him on
May 26, 1954.
Presley was not able
to do justice
to the song
(the original acetate of the song
that Phillips presented to
Presley resides in
the Memphis State
University collection),
but Phillips asked him
to perform some of the many
other songs he knew.
After running through
a few songs,
Presley expressed an interest
in finding a band
to play with,
and Phillips invited
local Western
swing musicians
Winfield "Scotty" Moore
(electric guitar)
and
Bill Black
(slap bass)
to audition Presley.
They did so on
Sunday,
July 4, 1954,
at Moore's house.
Neither musician
was overly impressed,
but they agreed
a studio session
would be useful
to explore his potential.
On July 5, 1954,
the trio met at
Sun studios
to rehearse and record
a handful of songs.
According to Moore,
the first song
they recorded was
"I Love You Because",
but, after a few other
country-oriented songs
that weren't
all that impressive,
they decided to
take a break.
During the break,
Presley began
"acting the fool"
with
Arthur Crudup's
"That's All Right (Mama)",
a blues song.
When the other two musicians
joined in,
Phillips got them to
restart and began taping.
The group recorded
four songs during that session,
including bluegrass musician
Bill Monroe's
"Blue Moon of Kentucky",
which he had written
and recorded as
a slow waltz.
Sources credit
Bill Black
with initiating the song,
with Presley
and Moore joining in.
They ended up with a
fast version of the song
in time.
After an early take,
Phillips can be heard
on tape saying:
"Fine, man. Hell,
that's different that's
a pop song now,
nearly 'bout."
To gauge professional
and public reaction,
Phillips took several acetates
of the session to
DJ Dewey Phillips
(no relation)
of Memphis radio station
WHBQ's Red, Hot and Blue show.
"That's All Right"
subsequently received its
first play on
July 8, 1954.
A week later,
Sun had received some
6,000 advanced orders for
"That's All Right" /
"Blue Moon of Kentucky,"
which was released on
July 19, 1954.
From August 18 through
December 8,
"Blue Moon of Kentucky"
was consistently higher
on the charts,
and then both sides
began to chart
across the South.
After several performances
with other bands,
Presley arranged for
Moore and Black
to be his regular
back-up group,
giving them each
25% of the takings.
Moore and Black
were originally members
of their own band,
The Starlight Wranglers,
but after the success of
"That's All Right",
jealousy within the group
forced them to split.
Over the next 15 months,
the trio would release
five singles,
tour extensively
across the South,
and appear regularly
on the
Louisiana Hayride;
it was the biggest
rival to the
Grand Ole Opry
at the time.
They had originally
auditioned for the Opry
in October 1954,
but they failed to
impress the people
in charge,
or the audience,
and were not invited back.
Several biographers cite
Jim Denny,
talent agent at the Opry,
as the man who told
Presley that he should
"go back to driving a truck"
The trio would record
at Sun together
until November 1955,
when RCA Victor
purchased Presley's
Sun contract
from Phillips
for $40,000;
it was,
at the time,
the highest sum
ever paid for
a recording contract.
Sun's rights to press
Presley's recordings
expired on
January 1, 1956;
RCA Victor
then issued Presley's
first five
Sun singles nationally.
Presley's first single for
RCA Victor,
"Heartbreak Hotel"
was recorded in
January, 1956.
Although no longer
under contract to Sun,
Presley returned to
the studios frequently
over the next few months,
visiting with Phillips
and meeting many
of the label's
new artists.
TRACKLIST
(Elvis's First demo acetates,)
My Happiness
That's When Your Heartaches Begin
(Elvis's Second demo acetates,)
I'll Never Stand In Your Way
It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You
SUN TRACKS
I Love You Because
That's All Right
(Takes 1-3)
Harbor Lights
Blue Moon Of Kentucky
Blue Moon Of Kentucky
(Alternate Take)
Blue Moon
Tomorrow Night
I'll Never Let You Go
(Little Darlin)
Satisfied
I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine
Just Because
Good Rockin' Tonight
Milkcow Blues Boogie
You're A Heartbreaker
Baby Let's Play House
I Got A Woman
Tryin' To Get To You
I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone
I'm Left, You're Right She's Gone
(Slow Version)
I Forgot To Remember To Forget
Mystery Train
When It's Rain It Pours
I Love You Because
(2nd Version)
RCA BONUS
That's Alright , Mama
(RCA Single Master) [*]
I Was The One [*]
Tomorrow Night
(RCA LP Version) [*]
That's All Right, Mama
(Live)
From The Louisiana Hayride,
Shreveport, Louisiana
(1954) [*]
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