ELVIS LEGACY ACHIEVEMENTS
THE 50’S - 1953 to 1956
Elvis first went to the Memphis Recording Service at the Sun Record Company, now commonly known as Sun Studio. He paid $3.98 to record the first of two double-sided demo acetates, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". At the time the owner Sam Phillips is not in attendance and the recording was done by his assistant Marion Keisker.
JULY 18, 1953
January 4, 1954
Elvis returns to the Memphis Recording Service to complete another two songs in hopes of getting the attention of owner Sam Phillips. Elvis records ‘I’ll Never Stand In Your Way’ and ‘It Wouldn’t Be The Same Without You’. Sam is intrigued by the unusual looking and sounding young man.
July 5, 1954
At Marion Keisker’s suggestion, Sam Phillips calls Elvis into the studio to try singing a song Sam hopes to put out on record. The song is “Without You” and Elvis does not sing it to Sam’s satisfaction. Sam asks Elvis what he can sing, and Elvis runs through a number of popular tunes. Sam is impressed enough to team Elvis up with local musicians Scotty Moore (guitar) and Bill Black (bass) to see if they, together, can come up with something worthwhile. Nothing really clicks until July 5, when after a tedious session, Elvis and the guys break into a sped-up version of Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s “That’s All Right.” This song, backed with Blue Moon of Kentucky becomes the first of five singles Elvis will release on the Sun label.
October 16, 1954
Elvis, Scotty and Bill appear for the first time on the Louisiana Hayride, a live Saturday night country music radio show originating in Shreveport, Louisiana, broadcast over KWKH Radio. The show is the Grand Ole Opry’s chief competitor, carried by 190 stations in thirteen states. This leads to regular appearances on the Hayride and, in November, Elvis signs a one-year contract for fifty-two Saturday night appearances. Elvis meets Colonel Tom Parker who is associated with Hayride as well Hank Snow’s manager.
August 15, 1955
Elvis signs a management contract with Hank Snow Attractions, which is owned equally by Snow and Colonel Tom Parker. Bob Neal, Elvis previous manager, remains involved as an adviser. Colonel Parker is to be Elvis’ exclusive manager from this time on, and Snow is soon no longer connected to Elvis.
November 20, 1955
Elvis signs his first contract with RCA Records. Colonel Parker negotiates the sale of Elvis’ Sun contract to RCA, which includes his five Sun singles and his unreleased Sun material. The price is an unprecedented $40,000, with a $5,000 bonus for Elvis. RCA soon re-releases the five Sun singles on the RCA label. At the same time Elvis signs a contract with Hill and Range Publishing Company, which is to set up a separate firm called Elvis Presley Music, Inc. Elvis will share with Hill and Range the publishing ownership of songs bought by Hill and Range for him to record.
January 27, 1956
‘Heartbreak Hotel’ his first single with RCA is released featuring ‘I Was The One’ on the flip side. The record eventually would sell over a million copies and Elvis would receive his first goal record. ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ achieved unheard feats as it reached the top 5 of Country and Western, Pop, and Rhythm 'n' Blues charts simultaneously with the record reaching #1 on the Billboard and Country & Western chart.
January 28, 1956
Elvis makes his first television appearance on ‘Stage Show’ starring Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey. Elvis would make a total of six appearances on the show his last on March 24th of that year.
March 23, 1956
RCA releases the self titled album ‘Elvis Presley’ with it going to straight to #1 and becoming RCA’s most successful album at the time. Songs on the album contain newly recorded material from RCA as well as five tracks that were originally recorded at Sun Studio and purchased by RCA.
April 3, 1956
Elvis appears on “The Milton Berle Show” with this particular broadcast of the show originating from the deck of the aircraft carrier the USS Hancock.
June 5, 1956
Elvis returns to the “The Milton Berle Show” however this time appearing in studio performing a controversial version of ‘Hound Dog’. Many of the adult viewers along with the media condemn the performance however the teenagers love it.
July 1, 1956
Elvis appears on “The Steve Allen Show” and performs a toned down version of "Hound Dog." Allen has Elvis dress in black tux with tails and has him sing the song to a live Basset Hound, in response to all controversy created by the previous Milton Berle appearance.
September 9, 1956
Elvis makes the first of three appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” the top television program of the era. Despite claiming that Elvis would never appear on his television show the ratings on his previous appearances of the competing programs changes Sullivan’s mind. Elvis attracts the highest ratings ever for any television variety show, receiving 80% of the national viewing audience.
November 15, 1956
Elvis first movie ‘Love Me Tender’ premieres in New York city. Previously titled the ‘Reno Brothers’ the title was changed to capitalize on the previous released single by RCA. Despite Elvis’ ambition to focus on a dramatic acting in his debut, three time period songs were added to the movie.
