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Elvis On Record: The Early Years
This site provides information about the first decade
of Elvis Presley's music from 1954 to 1964.
Hello Elvis Fans,
EOR (Elvis On Record) is setup to celebrate the MUSIC of Elvis, not the gossip and the glitter.
I've been an admirer of Elvis since I first heard him in the 1950s.
He was the first white singer I heard who was really different from pop singers of that time, like Eddie Fisher and Perry Como.
Some Elvis fans may be unaware that Elvis wasn't the first to be crowned "King."
Before Elvis, Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed was called "The King of Rock n'Roll."
But it's really more accurate to call Freed the "Father of Rock n'Roll" since, though he didn't invent the term, he did popularize the words "rock n' roll."
Besides Freed, there was also another important disc jockey in Cleveland in the 1950s.
His name was Bill Randle. You can read my memorial tribute to him below.
One of the most important early pioneers was Bill Haley & His Comets, who also should be credited with making the term "rock n' roll" popular through their songs like "Rock Around the Clock" and "The Saints Rock n' Roll."
Then there was r&b legend, Big Joe Turner.
Both Haley and Turner recorded "Shake, Rattle and Roll" -- one of the great early crossover songs, which Elvis would later sing on his national TV debut and then record [see information about this song below].
There were also mainstream pop and country singers that Elvis liked, including these:
Billy Eckstine, Dean Martin, Red Foley and Hank Snow --Elvis was a featured singer in Hank's hillbilly show, where Col. Tom Parker first noticed him.
But more than any of these singers, Elvis was a fine singer in all kinds of music--ballads, blues, country, gospel (his favorite), movie songs, rockabilly, and uptemo rock.
He is the only singer now in the Hall of Fame for Rock n' Roll, Country, and Gospel Music.
Hope you enjoy reading the information and opinions on this site.
For me and millions of others, he still lives on...through his great recordings.
Elvis...sing it again for us!
--Roger Hall - songwriter and former disc jockey
If you have any questions or comments, send them to:
Please give credit to Elvis On Record if you quote any of the information listed below.
| Contents |
- Elvis in 1956
- Red, White and Blue: Christmas Hits by Gene, Bing, and Elvis
- 1955: When Elvis Conquered Cleveland
- Recommended Elvis Recordings, 1954-1955
- Tribute to Bill Randle
- 50th Anniversary of First SUN Records Releases
- 50th Anniversary of First No. 1 Rock Song in US
- Elvis Online Symposium
- Elvis on Radio
- Inspired by Elvis
- CD: Songs of Survival - A Musical Scrapbook
- CD: Radio Hit Parade - Top Ten Love Songs
-
Interview and
Essays
Interview with author Alanna Nash
For The Record No. 1: "King of the Whole Wide World" - Memories of Elvis
For The Record No. 2: "Love Me Tender" - Who Wrote It? -
Elvis - TV and
Films
Early Elvis National TV Appearances
Early Elvis Films -
CDs and
DVDs
CD Collections, Box Sets and DVDs
Top 20 Elvis Recordings (1954-1964)
A Few Elvis Links
- Recordings from the 1950s: Early Elvis
- Shake, Rattle and Roll: Bill Randle and Electric Elvis: Elvis Symposium
- I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry: Tales of the Tune Man
- There is an extensive list of web links at this site: Elvis Presley WWW Virtual Library
- A web site by Mark Lee Pringle (ETA) is located here: 'The Hillbilly Cat': A Tribute to Early Elvis
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2006
Elvis in
1956
Read about the historic TV debut on the Dorsey Brothers "Stage Show" when disc jockey Bill Randle introduced Elvis for the first time on January 28, 1956 and the other early TV appearances.
Click on this link to read all about it:
There is more information here about the promotion of Elvis:
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Elvis as a mega pop star. To read about the recordings he made in 1956 and other years, go here:
During this year there are special events planned to celebrate this milestone year of 1956 when Elvis had his first national television appearances, first million selling records, and his first movies. For more details, click on this link: www.elvis.com
2005
Red,
White and Blue:
Christmas Hits by Gene, Bing, and Elvis
Read this essay about "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Gene Autry), "White Christmas" (Bing Crosby), and "Blue Christmas" (Elvis Presley) at:
1955: When Elvis Conquered
Cleveland
Compiled and written by Roger Hall
To celebrate what would have been his 70th birthday, what follows are some lesser known facts about Elvis fifty years ago...
Introduction
Most fans know about the first SUN recordings and his travels through the South to promote his records.
At that time he was known as "The Hillybilly Cat" or "The Memphis Flash," and was traveling with his combo of guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. Later came D.J. Fontana on drums.
But what may not be known was that the first city outside of the South that Elvis conquered was Cleveland, Ohio.
Elvis made several important appearances in that Ohio city in 1955, culminating in the October 20 filming of the famous documentary, The Pied Piper of Cleveland.
This seems the right city in the North for Elvis to make it first.
Disc jockey Alan Freed made his first success on radio in Cleveland.
But it wasn't Freed who championed Elvis. In fact, Freed didn't seem to have much interest in the young rockabilly singer from Memphis.
Instead it was two other local disc jockeys: Tommy Edwards and Bill Randle.
What follows are a list of dates in 1955 when...
Elvis Conquered Cleveland
Jan 2: Bill Randle plays his first Elvis record ("Blue Moon of Kentucky") on WERE radio in Cleveland. Randle told me he always liked the Bill Monroe song.
February 26: Thanks to the efforts of Tommy Edwards and his WERE radio show, Elvis performed for the first time in Cleveland at the "Circle Theatre Hillbilly Jamboree." There were two shows at 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. These were the first shows that Elvis and his combo had performed outside of the South.
March 28: Elvis performed again at the Hillbilly Jamboree in Cleveland. According to Patricia Jobe Pierce this performance was noticed by Bill Randle and also some of the Elvis performance was aired on Randle's WERE show
[Note: This information is incorrect because in the book, Elvis - Day By Day by Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen, this Cleveland performance conflicts with an Elvis appearance in Mississippi on the same date.]
August 16: According to Pierce's book, Colonel Tom Parker contacted well-known publishing house manager, Arnold Shaw, and asked him to give Elvis tapes to Bill Randle to play on his weekend WCBS radio show in New York. Randle said it was not appropriate to play the Elvis music on his New York show but had played his records in Cleveland and received an "incredible response." The Colonel then could contact RCA executives and tell them "his boy" was really "hot" outside of the South.
August 20: Elvis supposedly performed two shows at the Circle Theater. Bill Randle was in the audience and reportedly "took note of the Hillbilly Cat's overall improvements in singing and guitar playing. Elvis had lost his initial stage fright and seemed calmer, more confident, and humorous."
[Note: This date by Pierce is also incorrect because in Elvis - Day By Day, Guralnick and Jorgensen have Elvis listed as performing on the Louisiana Hayride on Shreveport, Louisiana on this same date.]
October 19: This time Elvis performed with country legends Roy Acuff and Kitty Wells at the Circle Theater. Acuff and Elvis didn't get along because Acuff had criticized Elvis's first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
October 20: One of the landmarks in the early career of Elvis. It was the first time he was filmed for a commercial movie (still unreleased).
Here is the description as told in Pierce's book:
Elvis, Pat Boone (whose "Ain't That a Shame" just hit the charts), Bill Haley (who had seven Top 20 hits), and The Four Lads (who had released "Moments to Remember") sang at the Brooklyn High School and St. Michael's Hall in Cleveland. Elvis performed by request in front of a camera for the well-known Cleveland disc jockey Bill Randle, who produced a forty-eight minute documentary with a $4,000 budget titled, The Pied Piper of Cleveland: A Day in the Life of a Famous Disc Jockey.
Tom Edwards photographed Elvis and Bill Haley shaking hands at Cleveland's Brooklyn High School Auditorium. At the evening performance at St. Michael's Hall, Elvis sang "That's All Right, Mama," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Mystery Train," and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget." Randle's documentary was shown at Euclid Shore Junior High School and on WEWS-TV, Channel 5, in Cleveland.
For more information, see: The Concert in Brooklyn, Ohio.
Summary:
In early 1955, Elvis had traveled outside of the South for the first time and by doing so he spread his popularity even wider.
He first came to Cleveland as just another country singer.
Two disc jockeys, Tommy Edwards and Bill Randle, played his records on their WERE radio shows and helped promote Elvis in live appearances at the "Circle Theatre Hillbilly Jamboree" and on film.
Within less than a year Elvis had conquered Cleveland's young music fans.
All of this happened months before the famous national TV debut.
And who was the disc jockey who introduced Elvis on The Dorsey Brothers "Stage Show" on CBS TV that historic night of January 28, 1956?
It was Cleveland's own famous disc jockey, Bill Randle.
By then he knew Elvis would make it big...
and he was so right!
Additional Comments and Credits...
Sources
Information for the above dates are from these two books:
The Ultimate Elvis: Elivis Presley Day By Day by Patricia Jobe Pierce (Simon & Schuster, 1994).
Elvis - Day By Day by Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen (Ballantine Books, 1999).
There has been much speculation and disbelief that the October 20, 1955 footage with Elvis still exists.
According to reliable sources it was sold by Bill Randle to a British company in 1992. It has yet to be released, probably due to publishing and copyright difficulties. Will it ever be released? Hopefully it will some day.
Tommy Edwards
He was known as "The City Slicker Turned Hillbilly" and was the one who first told Bill Randle about Elvis. Edwards played his records on his "Hillbilly Jamboree" show on WERE radio, which was aired on Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Edwards began his radio career at WICD in Spencer, Iowa in 1945. In 1948 he moved to WOKY in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. About a year and a half later he moved on to WERE in Cleveland, where he had his "Hillbilly Jamboree" show and another show where he played mainstream pop music.
"Hillbilly Cat"
Just one month before Elvis appeared in Cleveland for his film debut in The Pied Piper of Cleveland, he was featured in COUNTRY SONG ROUNDUP (Vol. 1/ No. 40, September 1955) under the column: "Folk Music Fireball."
When writing about his SUN first record --"That's All Right" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky"-- the magazine claims that "the disc represented something new in records: the unusual pairing of an R&B number with a Country standard."
They also describe Elvis as "the big blonde (?) guy" whose hobbies include movies, listening to records, practicing football, and eating. His girlfriend Dixie was quoted saying that Elvis "ate 8 Deluxe Cheeseburgers, 2 Bacon-Lettuce--Tomato sandwiches--and topped it off with three chocolate milk shakes." Guess he was still a growing boy!
Elvis and Bill Randle
It's unfortunate that no airchecks of Elvis on Randle's radio show have survived.
But there may still exist an air check when Bill Randle talked about Elvis on his WERE radio show and read mail from listeners.
Having worked for Bill Randle as his teaching assistant in the 1970s, I prepared a tribute CDR and essay after his death.
My tribute included several rare interviews with him from the 1970s and 1980s.
A portion of my tribute was used in the program ceremony on "Bill Randle Day" at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on September 26, 2004.
For more information see below under "In Remembrance: Bill Randle."
--Roger Hall
January 8, 2005
Recommended
Elvis recordings from 1954-1955
That's All Right & Blue Moon Moon of Kentucky (CD single)
Two other CDs are recommended for the SUN Records years:
Sunrise (2 CDs) - this is the best collection available, even the alternate tracks on CD 2 are worth a listen.
The Sun Sessions - may be hard to find but worth it for the outtakes & alternate takes.
Here are a few more recent Elvis compilations:
Elvis (Original Recordings Remastered)
Love Elvis (Original Recordings Remastered)
2004
Tribute to Bill Randle (1923-2004)
By Roger Hall
It was with great sadness that I heard about the death of Bill Randle, the influential Cleveland disc jockey from the '50s, who promoted such singers as Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Johnnie Ray, The Crew Cuts, The Diamonds, The Four Lads, Pat Boone, The Everly Brothers, Bill Haley and biggest of all--Elvis Presley.
Bill Randle apparently had contacts with some major labels, especially Mercury and Columbia Records. He also suggested songs that became popular, such as: "Sh-Boom"(a white cover version by The Crew Cuts was the first No. 1 rock song in 1954), "The Yellow Rose of Texas" which Mitch Miller made a smash hit in 1955, and Bill edited the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" record by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir so it would fit radio airtime and it too became a hit.
I was Bill's teaching assistant in the mid-1970s when he taught a course on popular music at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. His knowledge of who recorded what, and when and where was amazing to me. He had an encyclopedic mind. When he told the story of how he promoted Elvis and made the movie short in 1955, some of the university students didn't believe him. So he brought in a photograph to show them. He also asked me to teach his popular music course which I thoroughly enjoyed because I had to do research on the beginnings of American popular music. I've been doing it ever since.
He also told me some revealing stories about Elvis which I won't repeat here. I hope to include these stories in my book about music memories now in preparation.
I believe in the 1950s Bill Randle was just as important as Alan Freed.
Bill had a broad interest in music, including classical, folk, country, jazz and blues. He was a champion of Chicago blues musician Big Bill Broonzey and produced a 5-LP set in 1960, now available on a 3 CD set.
He also produced a 10-LP set in 1961 titled: The Shaker Heritage. The LP set was never released commercially. In 1999, I edited several of the LPs from the set and wrote the CD notes. It was released as a 2 CD set titled: Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers.
By 1955 Bill was the top disc jockey in Cleveland, when Time magazine wrote a story about him. He had more than 50% of the Cleveland radio audience at that time. It was that year that he first heard Elvis and had him as a guest on his WERE radio show. He also promoted Elvis during 1955 before Col. Tom Parker took over his management.
One of the things that I remember Bill telling me about was his interest in his radio listener's recipes. He put many of them together in a series of cookbooks, called Ask Your Neighbor.
Bill's last radio stint was hosting a Sunday program called "The Big Show" on Cleveland's WRMR.
He played mostly vintage pop music and Big Band music, the same kind of music I played on my former radio show: "In The Mood"
Bill taped his last program just before he died on July 9, 2004.
WRMR was sold and became another talk radio station--don't we have enough of them?--at the same time as his death.
It appears that Bill had the last words at WRMR.
He was a disc jockey of incredible integrity and intelligence.
R.I.P., Bill.
Would you like to know more about Bill Randle?
Then click on this link:
Also order this 2-CD set of music which Bill Randle helped produce:
Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers (Rounder Records, 1999)
To read more about the CD set, go to:
50th Anniversary
of First SUN Records Releases
Compiled and written by Roger Hall, The Tune Man
With all the BMG Records hype, it's not accurate to say that Rock n' Roll officially began with Elvis.
It didn't.
Like most musical styles, rock n' roll was actually an evolutionary process from black r&b (for example, "Good Rockin' Tonight" by Roy Brown, 1947) and white country/hillbilly ("I Love You Because" by Leon Payne, 1950) to the birth of rock n' roll in the early 1950s, such as "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (see below for more about this song).
For an excellent CD of these pre-Elvis songs, get your copy of Songs that made ELVIS famous (Disky DC 905008, 2002).
Yet it's true that Elvis was the one who came to symbolize the merging of black r&b and white country singing styles and that began on...
July 5, 1954
This was the first official Elvis release (SUN Records No. 209) was Arthur Crudup's 1947 song "That's All Right"on the A side and Bill Monroe's 1947 song "Blue Moon of Kentucky" on the B side.
To get the CD single of these first songs plus alternate track, and also order the full CD, go here:
That's All Right (CD single)
Elvis at Sun (CD album)
Two other CDs are highly recommended for the SUN Records years, released by BMG/RCA:
Sunrise (2 CDs) - this is the best collection available, even the alternate tracks on CD 2 are worth a listen.
The Sun Sessions - may be hard to find but worth it for the outtakes & alternate takes not on "Elvis at Sun."
Elvis SUN recordings for 1954 [including LP and CD releases]
July 5:
"That's All Right" (SUN A side) and "Blue Moon of Kentucky"(B side) - both released July 5, 1954
"Harbor Lights" (not released until 1976) and "I Love You Because"(released on first RCA LP-March 1956).
August 19:
"Blue Moon" - released on first RCA LP, March 1956
"I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')" - released on RCA LP, March 1956
September 10-11:
"Tomorrow Night" - released on CD, March 1985
"I'll Never Let You Go" (alternate tracks not released)
"Satisfied" (not released)
"Good Rockin' Tonight" (SUN A side - released September 1954)
"I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine"(SUN B side - released September 1954)
"Just Because"(released on RCA LP - March 1956)
December 12-20:
"I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" - released April 1955
"Milkcow Blues Boogie" (SUN A side - released January 1955)
"You're a Heartbreaker" (SUN B side - released January 1955)
50th Anniversary Celebration
The city of Memphis held a special celebration on July 5, 2004 --called a "Global Moment in Time."
Radio stations all over the world were asked to simultaneously play the first Elvis SUN record of "That's All Right."
For more information, go to:
For a good sampling get this CD:
Send your comments or remembrances to:
50th
Anniversary of First No. 1 Rock Song
Compiled and written by Roger Hall, The Tune Man
"Sh-Boom" --The First No. 1 Rock n' Roll Song in the US
This R&B song by James Keys, Claude Feaster, Carl Feaster, Floyd McRae and James Edwards was first recorded by them under their group name of The Chords. Their version of "Sh-Boom" on Cat Records charted on July 3, 1954 -- just 2 days before "That's All Right" was released on SUN Records.
The Chords record reached No. 5 and was on the charts for 16 weeks.
The white crossover version by The Crew Cuts (renamed by disc jockey Bill Randle from their original name, The Canadaires) on Mercury Records first charted on Billboard on July 10, 1954.
The Crew Cuts cover version of "Sh-Boom" was No. 1 for 9 weeks and was on the charts for 20 weeks.
"Shake, Rattle and Roll" - First multi-crossover hit (R&B and Rock) in the US
Charles Calhoun's 1954 song was a hit in three different recordings:
- The first one was a racy R&B version by Big Joe Turner which charted on the Billboard charts on August 14, 1954. It went up as far as No. 22 on the charts.
- The second record was a cleaned up version with Bill Haley and His Comets. It charted on August 21, 1954 and went to No. 7 and stayed on the charts for 27 weeks. This was their highest charting record of that year. Their first big hit "Crazy, Man, Crazy" went to No. 12 in 1953, and the classic "Rock Around the Clock" only went as high as No. 23 in 1954.
- The third version was recorded by Elvis Presley in February 1956 and he sang the song on his national TV debut, January 28, 1956--heard on the 4 CD set, A Golden Celebration, and Elvis is introduced by disc jockey, Bill Randle [see Elvis Symposium ]
"Three Coins in the Fountain" - Oscar winning song for 1954
The song was used in the film of the same title.
For a description of how this song was written, order A GUIDE TO FILM MUSIC.
In the film the song written by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn was smoothly sung by Frank Sinatra. He recorded the song with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra for Capitol Records. Sinatra's recording reached No. 4 on the charts. But the biggest hit of the song was by The Four Aces on Decca Records. Their record first charted on 22 May 1954. It was No. 1 for one week and on the charts for 18 weeks.
Other hits from 1954:
"Hey There" (Rosemary Clooney) - No. 1 for 6 weeks
"The High and the Mighty" (Les Baxter/ Johnny Desmond/ Dimitri Tiomkin/Victor Young --from the movie of the same title) - highest charted version was by Les Baxter at No. 4
"Little Things Mean a Lot" (Kitty Kallen) - No. 1 for 9 weeks
"The Man That Got Away" (Judy Garland - for movie, A STAR IS BORN) - reached No. 22 on charts
"Mr. Sandman" (The Chordettes) - No. 1 for 7 weeks
"Oh! My Papa" (Eddie Fisher) - No. 1 for 8 weeks
"Wanted" (Perry Como) - No. 1 for 8 weeks
"Secret Love" (Doris Day - from movie, CALAMITY JANE, 1953) - No. 1 for 4 weeks
"Young at Heart" (Frank Sinatra - from movie of same title) - reached No. 2 on charts
[all the above information about Billboard charts from Joel Whitburn's excellent book, Pop Memories, 1890-1954: The History of American Popular Music, 1986.]
2003
Elvis
Online Symposium
Now available are over 20 essays, including one of mine (listed under "Elvis's Life") .
The Online Symposium on Elvis Aron Presley is sponsored by The Center for Studies in Popular Culture, a non-profit, independent body established to investigate and report on the relationship between popular culture and society. The director is Dr. John Walker from Australia.
To read my essay,"Shake, Rattle and Roll: Bill Randle and Electric Elvis," click on this link:
--Roger Hall
2002
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Elvis on
Radio
By Roger Hall
IN THE MOOD (Elvis tribute on radio program premiere)
It's ironic that on August 16, 1993 I premiered my nightly four hour radio program: IN THE MOOD.
The program featured mostly music of the 1930s & '40s, but also pop and rock songs from the 1950s.
As any fan knows, August 16 was the sad day that Elvis died in 1977.
My premiere radio program started off with music from Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey (who co-hosted the TV "Stage Show" in 1956 with his brother Jimmy and he introduced Bill Randle, who then introduced Elvis).
In the final hour, I played a few early Elvis songs: "Blue Moon" and "Poor Boy" (from his first movie, LOVE ME TENDER). I was also paying tribute to that historic year of 1956. By the end of that year, as Col. Tom Parker had promised him, Elvis was both a millionaire and a megastar.
Elvis was no "poor boy" anymore!
1998
Inspired
by Elvis
By Roger Hall, former singer with The Potpourris
During the early '60s when Elvis was so popular, I started writing and singing some of my own songs.
In the early 1960s, I joined two other buddies and we formed a group called -- The Potpourris.
Songs of Survival
- A Musical
Scrapbook
This CDR has 30 tracks, with over
an hour of music.
Elvis memorial radio tribute from August 16, 1993.
Also songs from the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
There are several of songs by Roger Hall:
"Dream World"-- inspired by an Elvis hit record -- performed by The Potpourris in 1961
"The Soho Serenade"
"Peace Lovin' Blues"
"Free as the Breeze"
Radio Hit Parade - Top Ten Love Songs
There are 25 tracks with over an hour of music on this high quality CDR.
The first 21 tracks are from a radio program of "Top Ten Love Songs" from the 1920s to 1960s, with songs by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and other songwriters. There is also the Elvis recording of "Love Me Tender" with the Civil War song that it is based on: "Aura Lee."
In addition, there are excerpts from the debut of a radio program on August 16, 1993 with two songs recorded by early Elvis: "Poor Boy" and "Blue Moon."
CDRs:
Songs of Survival - A Musical Scrapbook (30 tracks)
Radio Firsts - Top Ten Love Songs (25 tracks)
They are $12 each or both CDRs for $20 (including postage).
To order them, write to:
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