Sun Records. Elvis' First Record Deal.
Elvis walked in Sun Records and paid to record a two sided record. The songs, “My Happiness” and “That’s When Heartache Begins”, where recorded on the record, which he claimed was a gift to his mother. However, as is the case when we must rely on testimonies for fact, it should be noted that some people, including Peter Guralnick (a biographer of Elvis), state that Elvis went there with hopes to be discovered. There was a local, cheaper record making station not too far from Suns, but they didn’t have the same prestige Suns had.
Elvis was a confident singer even before he became famous, as demonstrated when he was asked by receptionist Marion Keisker what kind of singer he was. He replied he didn’t sound like anybody else. She pressed him further, yet he still replied with that definitive answer. (Ernst, 1999) However, when she was handed his record, she did write on it “Good Ballad Singer: Hold” on the record. This was a sign of things to come for Elvis.
To understand the next events of Elvis’s life, I have to provide a bit of musical backdrop to the social context. During the late 40’s and early 50’s, people started becoming interested in the sounds of African American’s blues and soul music. However, as most of us know, there was still a bit of a social stigma against African Musicians. This is often attributed to the old fable of Robert Johnson “selling his soul to the devil to play guitar”. Obviously this isn’t the only reason people didn’t generally listen to “Black Music,” as it was sometimes refered to, but it did cause a problem for record makers who wanted to sell that music to it’s audience, but couldn’t have a black singer singing it. As Sam Philips said once, as noted by Keisker, “If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.” (James, 2000)
Shortly after recording his first record, Elvis then proceeded to record another containing “I'll Never Stand In Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You".
Sadly Elvis didn’t fly in stardom at that point, so he went with his friend Ronnie Smith to be a truck driver for Crown Electric. Ronnie was in a band, and him and Elvis did some local gig playing, but Elvis failed to get the part for Ronnie’s professional band, being quoted to having been told, “He couldn’t sing”. (Slaughter, 2004)
Elvis would be given his first big break in the form of Philips being handed a demo of “Without you” in which case he believed it would fit the young Elvis’s vocal talent well. However, when playing the song, Elvis couldn’t sing it the way Philips had hoped. Philips then began making Elvis sing other songs, until something struck Philips into bringing in two other musicians to play with Elvis. During a “break”, Elvis soon produced a guitar and began to “act like a fool” while singing. Soon, Elvis, the bassist and guitarist were all playing in a way that Philips wanted, causing him to begin playing the record during his shows.
The first “Elvis-Mania” was created.
Influence RCA
Elvis was a confident singer even before he became famous, as demonstrated when he was asked by receptionist Marion Keisker what kind of singer he was. He replied he didn’t sound like anybody else. She pressed him further, yet he still replied with that definitive answer. (Ernst, 1999) However, when she was handed his record, she did write on it “Good Ballad Singer: Hold” on the record. This was a sign of things to come for Elvis.
To understand the next events of Elvis’s life, I have to provide a bit of musical backdrop to the social context. During the late 40’s and early 50’s, people started becoming interested in the sounds of African American’s blues and soul music. However, as most of us know, there was still a bit of a social stigma against African Musicians. This is often attributed to the old fable of Robert Johnson “selling his soul to the devil to play guitar”. Obviously this isn’t the only reason people didn’t generally listen to “Black Music,” as it was sometimes refered to, but it did cause a problem for record makers who wanted to sell that music to it’s audience, but couldn’t have a black singer singing it. As Sam Philips said once, as noted by Keisker, “If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.” (James, 2000)
Shortly after recording his first record, Elvis then proceeded to record another containing “I'll Never Stand In Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You".
Sadly Elvis didn’t fly in stardom at that point, so he went with his friend Ronnie Smith to be a truck driver for Crown Electric. Ronnie was in a band, and him and Elvis did some local gig playing, but Elvis failed to get the part for Ronnie’s professional band, being quoted to having been told, “He couldn’t sing”. (Slaughter, 2004)
Elvis would be given his first big break in the form of Philips being handed a demo of “Without you” in which case he believed it would fit the young Elvis’s vocal talent well. However, when playing the song, Elvis couldn’t sing it the way Philips had hoped. Philips then began making Elvis sing other songs, until something struck Philips into bringing in two other musicians to play with Elvis. During a “break”, Elvis soon produced a guitar and began to “act like a fool” while singing. Soon, Elvis, the bassist and guitarist were all playing in a way that Philips wanted, causing him to begin playing the record during his shows.
The first “Elvis-Mania” was created.
Influence RCA
