Elvis Presley - Blue Moon

"Blue Moon" is a classic popular song. It was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934, and has become a standard ballad.

The lyrics presumably refer to an English idiomatic expression: "once in a blue moon" means very rarely. The narrator of the song is relating a stroke of luck so unlikely that it must have taken place under a blue moon. The title relies on a play on words, since Blue is also the colour of melancholy, and indeed the narrator is sad and lonely until he finds love.

"Blue Moon"'s first crossover recording to rock and roll came from
Elvis Presley in 1956. His cover version of the song was included on his self-titled debut album Elvis Presley.

In Jim Jarmusch's 1989 film "Mystery Train", the three distinct stories that make up the narrative are linked by a portion of Elvis Presley's version of "Blue Moon" (as heard on a radio broadcast) and a subsequent offscreen gunshot, which are heard once during each story, revealing that the three stories occur simultaneously in real time.



Mel Tormé did a cover version of "Blue Moon" that reached the Billboard charts in 1949. It was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 15428. It first reached the Best Seller chart on April 8, 1949, and lasted five weeks on the chart, peaking at number 20. The record was a two-sided hit, as the flip side, "Again", also charted.[5] [6]

Elvis Presley - Just Because

Written by Bob Shelton, Joe Shelton, and Sid Robin. Elvis recorded it September 10, 1954 at Sun Records.

It remained unreleased until his first LP, Elvis Presley was released in March 1956. It was the B-side to Blue Moon. It is available on Elvis Presley, The Sun Sessions, and The King of Rock n Roll-The Complete 50s Masters.

Elvis Presley - Trying To Get To You

“Trying To Get To You” is a song performed by Elvis Presley in 1955 on his Sun recordings.

It was written by Rose Marie McCoy and Charles Singleton. It was originally recorded by the rhythm and blues outfit The Eagles in 1954 .
Presley recorded five versions of the song. The first on March 23, 1955 and the second on July 11, 1955, with the second session being released during his lifetime.

He also recorded live versions of the song on Elvis (NBC TV Special), Elvis: As Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis, and Elvis in Concert.
On the earlier version that appeared on the 1999 album Sunrise, Presley recorded this song while simultaneously playing the piano (and not aided by his rhythm guitar, as previously believed). Because his piano playing was not up to the expected standards, producer Sam Phillips erased the sound of the piano on the master take so, in addition to Elvis’ tantalizing vocals, all one hears is the lead guitar, the bass and the drums.

Elvis’ piano is heard on the July session version and appeared on his self-titled 1956 LP. Presley’s vocal delivery appears to be influenced by that of The Eagles’ lead singer,but Scotty Moore’s guitar solo on the Presley recording replaces a saxophone solo heard on the original.

The track was released on Presley’s March 1956 RCA debut album Elvis Presley. It also featured on the famous 1976 The Sun Sessions release and on numerous other Elvis efforts and collections as well.

“Trying To Get To You” was next recorded by Roy Orbison in April 1956 with “Ooby Dooby” on the B-side.

After Eric Burdon performed it a few times on his own shows he reunited with The Animals in late 1983 and recorded the song in the studio. It appeared on their album Ark but was retitled “Trying To Get You”. It was also included on their live shows before they disbanded again in early 1984.

Later it was also covered by Faith Hill, Susie Arioli, Gene Summers and many others.

Elvis Presley - I Love You Because

"I Love You Because"was written by Leon Payne. Elvis recorded it during his first commercial recording session at Sun Records on July 5, 1954, along with Scotty Moore and Bill Black, and his own guitar.

Apparently five takes were taped by Sam Phillips, but none were released commercially. RCA released a single of the song in September 1956 using a splice of takes #3 and #5; that master was released on the Elvis Presley LP.
It is available on The King of Rock n Roll: The Complete 50s Masters, FTD Elvis Presley, and The Sun Sessions.

Elvis Presley - I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry Over You

"I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)" is a popular song written in 1953 by Joe Thomas and Howard Biggs. Since then, it became something of a minor pop standard, largely due to several well-received versions of the song.

It is best known for appearing on Elvis Presley's first album, and for a performance of the song by The Beatles (that appears on their Live at the BBC album). The Beatles also performed the song at the Star-Club in Hamburg on New Year's Eve, 31 December 1962, during their fifth and final Hamburg residency. This version appears on their album, Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962.

Elvis Presley - I'll Never Let You Go Little Darlin

Written by Jimmy Wakely. Elvis recorded it September 10, 1954 at Sun Records. The original Sun Records recording was not released until RCA issues it two years later.

It was the A-side to Im Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You). It is available on Elvis Presley, The Complete Sun Sessions, and The King of Rock n Roll-The Complete 50s Masters.

Elvis Presley - I'm Counting on You

Written by Don Robertson. Elvis recorded it on January 11, 1956 at RCAs Nashville studios for his first RCA album.. Backing vocals were Gordon Stoker, Ben Speer, and Brock Speer. It was also the B-side of "I got a woman"

Elvis not only admired Don as a songwriter, but also as a pianist. Don can be heard accompanying Elvis on piano, organ and electric piano on the soundtrack of the movie, 'It Happened At The World's Fair'.

Elvis Presley - I Got A Woman

"I Got a Woman" (originally titled "I've Got a Woman") is a song co-written and recorded by American R&B/soul musician Ray Charles and released as a single in December 1954 on the Atlantic label as Atlantic 45-1050 b/w "Come Back Baby." Both sides later appeared on his 1957 album Ray Charles (subsequently reissued as Hallelujah I Love Her So).

The song builds on "It Must Be Jesus" by the Southern Tones, that Ray was listening to on the radio while on the road with his band in the summer of 1954. He and a member of his band, trumpeter Renald Richard, penned a song that was built along a gospel-frenetic pace with secular lyrics and a jazz-inspired rhythm and blues (R&B) background. The song would be one of the prototypes for what later became termed as "soul music" after Charles released "What'd I Say" nearly five years later.

The song was recorded late 1954 in the Atlanta studios of Georgia Tech radio station WGST. It was a hit—Charles' first—climbing quickly to #1 R&B in January 1955. Charles told the Pop Chronicles that he performed this song for about a year before he recorded in on November 18, 1954.The song would lead to more hits for Charles during this period when he was on Atlantic. It was later ranked #235 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, one of Charles' five songs on the list.

Elvis Presley version comes from his debut studio album "Elvis Presley"

Elvis Presley - Tuttti Frutti

"Tutti Frutti" (originally shown as "Tutti-Frutti") is a 1955 song by Little Richard, which became his first hit record. With its opening cry of "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bop-bop!" (supposedly intended to be an onomatopoeic parody of a drum intro) and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also one of the models for Rock and Roll itself.

Elvis Presley recorded the song and it was included in his first RCA album Elvis Presley March 23, 1956. Presley's version uses "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!" for every verse, instead of at the very end of the original.

Elvis Presley - Hound Dog

"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best-known version; it is his version that is No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"Hound Dog" was also recorded by five country singers in 1953 alone, and over 26 times through 1964. From the 1970s onward, the song has appeared, or is heard, as a part of the soundtrack in numerous films, most notably in blockbusters such as American Graffiti, Grease, Forrest Gump, Lilo & Stitch, A Few Good Men, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Presley first performed "Hound Dog" to a nationwide television audience on The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956, his second appearance with Berle. By this time, Scotty Moore had added a guitar solo, and D.J. Fontana had added a hot drum roll between verses of the song. Presley appeared for the first time on national television sans guitar. Before his death, Berle told an interviewer that he had told Elvis to leave his guitar backstage. "Let 'em see you, son," advised Uncle Miltie.

An upbeat version ended abruptly as Presley threw his arm back, then began to vamp at half tempo, "You ain't-a nuthin' but a hound dog, cuh-crying all the time. You ain't never caught a rabbit..." A final wave signaled the band to stop. Elvis pointed threateningly at the audience, and belted out, "You ain't no friend of mine." Presley's movements during the performance were energetic and exaggerated. The reactions of young women in the studio audience were enthusiastic, as shown on the broadcast.

Over 40,000,000 people saw the performance and the next day controversy exploded. Berle's network received many letters of protest. The various self appointed guardians of public morality attacked Elvis in the press. TV critics began a merciless campaign against Elvis, making statements that he had a "caterwauling voice and nonsense lyrics" and was an "influence on juvenile delinquency," and began using the nickname, "Elvis the Pelvis".

Elvis Presley - Don't Be Cruel

"Don't Be Cruel" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was listed #197 in Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song is currently ranked as the 92nd greatest song of all time, as well as the fifth best song of 1956, by Acclaimed Music.

"Don't Be Cruel" was the first song that Presley's song publishers, Hill and Range, brought to him to record. Blackwell was more than happy to give up 50% of the royalties and a co-writing credit to Presley to ensure that the "hottest new singer around covered it".

Presley recorded the song on July 2, 1956 during an exhaustive recording session at RCA studios in New York City. During this session he also recorded "Hound Dog", and "Any Way You Want Me".The song featured Presley's regular band of Scotty Moore on lead guitar (with Presley usually providing rhythm guitar), Bill Black on bass, D.J. Fontana on drums, and backing vocals from the Jordanaires.

The single was released on July 13, 1956 backed with "Hound Dog". Within a few weeks "Hound Dog" had risen to #2 on the Pop charts with sales of over one million. Soon after it was overtaken by "Don't Be Cruel" which took #1 on all three main charts; Pop, Country, and R 'n' B. Between them, both songs remained at #1 on the Pop chart for a run of 11 weeks tying it with the 1950 Anton Karas hit "The Third Man Theme" and the 1951/1952 Johnnie Ray hit "Cry" for the longest stay at number one by a single record until 1992's smash "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men. By the end of 1956 it had sold in excess of four million copies.

Presley performed "Don't Be Cruel" during all three of his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in September 1956 and January 1957.

It became a regular feature of his live sets until his death in 1977, and was often coupled with "Jailhouse Rock" or "Teddy Bear" during performances from 1969.

Elvis Presley - My Baby Left Me

My Baby Left Me is a rhythm and blues song written by blues singer Arthur Crudup in the late 1940s.

It gained further exposure in covers by Elvis Presley, who placed his version on the b-side to his 1956 single "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You";

Elvis Presley - I Want You, I Need You, I Love You

"I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" is a popular song written by Maurice Mysels and Ira Kosloff. It is known best for being Elvis Presley's second RCA single album release.

It was released during May, 1956 becoming Presley's second #1 single album scoring on the country music charts, and maximizing at #3 on the Billboard Top 100 popular music singles chart, an earlier version of the Billboard Hot 100.

Before the creation of the Billboard Hot 100 chart during 1958, there were a number of charts including Jukebox plays, Store charts, and Airplay charts. The song scored #1 on the Billboard Top Sellers in Stores chart, and is therefore sometimes wrongly assumed to be a #1 scoring single album in its own right.

"I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" was backed with My Baby Left Me and was released on May 4, 1956. Pre-orders of over 300,000 were the biggest ever in the history of the company.

At the time of its release, Presley had three songs scoring in the Top 20: "Heartbreak Hotel/I Was the One," "My Baby Left Me", and "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You". On June 5, 1956 Presley performed the song on The Milton Berle Show, as well as an early version of "Hound Dog" that resulted in a negative reaction from the media.

Despite this negative publicity, the single was generally well received, maximizing at #3 on the Billboard Top 100 popular music singles chart, and scoring #1 on the country music chart.The song earned Presley his second Gold record, with sales in excess of 1.3 million.

Presley's previous single "Heartbreak Hotel" scored the charts for eight weeks and his next two singles, the mega-selling double-sided success "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog" and "Love Me Tender", would score the charts for a combined 16 weeks.

Elvis Presley - Blue Suede Shoes

"Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955. The 12-bar blues is considered one of the first rockabilly (rock and roll) records and incorporated elements of blues, country and pop music of the time. The song was notably covered by Elvis Presley.

Recording cover versions of songs was standard practice during the 1940s and 1950s, and "Blue Suede Shoes" was one of the first tunes RCA wanted their new performer, Elvis Presley, to record. "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Shoes" rose on the charts at roughly the same time.

RCA, with its superior distribution and radio contacts, knew it could probably steal a hit record from Phillips and Perkins. For his part, when Presley who knew both Perkins and Phillips from his days at Sun Records gave into pressure from RCA, he requested that they hold back his version from release as a single.

The Elvis version features two biting guitar solos by Scotty Moore, along with Bill Black on bass, and D.J. Fontana on drums.

According to Scotty Moore, when the song was recorded, "We just went in there and started playing, just winged it. Just followed however Elvis felt." According to reports confirmed by Sam Phillips, RCA producer Steve Sholes agreed not to release Presley's version of the song as a single while Carl's release was hot.

Presley performed the song on national television three times in 1956. The first was on February 11 on the CBS program Stage Show. He performed it again on his third Stage Show appearance on March 17, then again on the Milton Berle Show on April 3.

On July 1, Steve Allen introduced Elvis on the Steve Allen Show, and Presley, appearing in formal evening wear, stated "I think that I have on something tonight that's not quite right for evening wear." Allen asked, "What's that, Elvis?" "Blue suede shoes" was the answer, as he lifted his left foot to show the audience.

Moore has said that Presley recorded the song to help out Perkins after his accident. "Elvis wasn't really thinking at that time that it was going to make money for Carl; he was doing it as more of a tribute type thing. Of course Carl was glad he did. It really helped as his record started going down."

"Blue Suede Shoes" was the first song on the first groundbreaking album Elvis Presley, which was released in March. RCA released two other records with "Blue Suede Shoes" the same month: one an Extended Play with four songs, and a 2x extended play version with eight songs,

RCA released the Presley version as a single on September 8.This single reached #20, whereas the Perkins version had topped the chart.

In 1960, Presley re-recorded "Blue Suede Shoes" for the soundtrack of the film G.I. Blues. While Elvis' character's group "The Three Blazes" plays a ballad at a Frankfurt night club ("Doin' The Best I Can" by Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman), a bored GI plays "Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley on the jukebox, remarking that he wants "to hear an original". When another soldier tries to unplug the jukebox, the entire place erupts into a fight. This studio re-recording marked one of only a few occasions in Presley's career in which he agreed to re-record a previously issued song.

In 1999, Presley's version was certified Gold by the RIAA.

Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel

"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American rock and roll musician Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor.

His first number-one pop record, "Heartbreak Hotel" topped Billboard's Top 100 chart, became his first million-seller, and was the best-selling single of 1956. It was written by Tommy Durden and Mae Boren Axton.

The lyrics were based on a newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window. Axton subsequently presented the song to Presley in November 1955 at a country music convention in Nashville.

Presley agreed to record it, and did so on January 10, 1956 in a session that featured his band, The Blue Moon Boys, as well as guitarist Chet Atkins and pianist Floyd Cramer.

The single topped Billboard's Top 100 chart for seven weeks, was number one on the Country and Western chart and reached number five on the R&B chart, becoming Presley's first million-seller, and the best-selling single of 1956.

It would eventually be certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Presley had first performed "Heartbreak Hotel" during a live show in December 1955 during a tour of the Louisiana Hayride, but the song gained strong popularity after his appearance on Stage Show in March 1956.

It became a staple of Presley's repertoire in live appearances, last performed by him on May 29, 1977 at the Civic Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

In 1995 "Heartbreak Hotel" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2004 Rolling Stone magazine named it one of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

That year it was also included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".

A rock and roll standard, since its original release "Heartbreak Hotel" has been covered by several rock and pop acts.



«I was one»was the B-side of the single.

Elvis Presley - Mystery Train

"Mystery Train" is a song written by Junior Parker and Sam Phillips. It was first recorded in 1953.

Elvis Presley's version of "Mystery Train" was first released on August 20, 1955 as the B-side of "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" .

Presley's version would be ranked #77 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2003. It was again produced by Sam Phillips at Sun Studios, and featured Presley on vocals and rhythm guitar, Scotty Moore on lead guitar, and Bill Black on bass. Moore used a country lead break, and toward the end of the record is an echo of the 1946 "Sixteen Tons" by Merle Travis.

This version of the song peaked at # 11 on the national Billboard Country Chart.

Presley's version of the song was also ranked the third most acclaimed song of 1955, by Acclaimed Music.

Both Bill Black and Scotty Moore left Elvis in 1957 because they were being paid only $200 per week while Elvis was earning millions. Still, Black, who had success with the Bill Black Combo, once said to a visitor to his house in Memphis, as he pointed to a framed 78rpm Sun Record of "Mystery Train" on the wall, "Now there was a record."

Elvis Presley - I Forgot to Remember to Forget

"I Forgot to Remember to Forget" is a country song written by Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers. It was recorded at Sun Studio on July 11, 1955, by Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and Johnny Bernero on drums, and released on August 20, 1955, along with Mystery Train (Sun 223).
It was rereleased by RCA Victor in December 1955.

Moore's guitar had a Nashville steel guitar sound, and Black played a clip-clop rhythm. Elvis sang a brooding vocal. This is the closest the trio came to a traditional country song while at Sun.

The song reached the Billboard national country music chart #1 position by February 1956, and remained there for 5 weeks and on the C&W Best Sellers chart for two weeks.It was the first recording to make Elvis Presley a national known country music star.The song remained on the country charts for 39 weeks.

The flip side of this release, Mystery Train, peaked at the #11 position on the national Billboard Country Chart.

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded the song in 1957 and the 1960s. Johnny Cash covered this song in The Survivors Live on 1981. Composer Charlie Feathers has also recorded it.

The Beatles covered this song once for a BBC radio show, From Us To You, on 1 May 1964. The recording was included on the Live at the BBC album in 1994.

Elvis Presley - I don't care if the sun don't shine

"I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine" is a popular song, written by Mack David. The most popular version was done by Patti Page in 1950. The Page recording was issued by Mercury Records as catalog number 5396, and first reached the Billboard chart on May 20, 1950, lasting 9 weeks and peaking at #8. It was her first Top 10 hit.

The song was also one of the first recordings by Elvis Presley,released in 1954.

A Dean Martin version of the song was featured in the 1953 film Scared Stiff starring Martin and Jerry Lewis. The Patti Page recording is featured in the movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Actor Guy Pearce also briefly sings excerpts of this song in the film, as does Terrence Stamp. The first Spanish-language version was recorded by Marco Tulio Sanchez, the precursor of rockabilly in his country Colombia during the eighties

Elvis Presley - Milk Cow Blues & You're a Heartbreaker

Milk Cow Blues is a blues song written and originally recorded by Kokomo Arnold.

Elvis Presley, accompanied by Scotty Moore on guitar and Bill Black on bass, recorded a rockabilly version, retitled "Milk Cow Blues Boogie", at Sun Records in November of 1954. The arrangement was closer to Willis's version than to the Arnold original. The single was released in January 1955, but would not be released on LP until 1959, when it was included on the RCA LP A Date with Elvis.



You're a Heartbreaker, was written by Charles (Jack) Alvin Sallee. Elvis recorded it December 10, 1954 at Sun Records. The single release did not chart, but it was the first Elvis song for which sheet music was issued.

It was the B-side to Milkcow Blues Boogie. It is available on The Sun Sessions CD and The King of Rock 'n' Rock-The Complete 50s Masters, which is where this version is from.

Elvis Presley - Baby, Let's Play House

"Baby, Let's Play House", is a song written by Arthur Gunter and recorded by him in 1954 on the Excello Records label, and covered by Elvis Presley the following year on Sun Records. It was the fourth issue of a Presley record by Sun, and became the first song recorded by Elvis to appear on a national chart, when it made #5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart in July 1955.

Presley's version differed slightly from the original: Elvis started the song with the chorus, where Gunter began with the first verse, and he replaced Gunter's line "You may get religion" with the words "You may have a Pink Cadillac", referring to his custom-painted 1955 Cadillac auto that had been serving as the band's transportation at the time.

John Lennon used the line, "I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man," from this song for the opening line of the Beatles song, "Run for Your Life."



Elvis Presley - I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone

Written by Stanley Kesler and Bill Taylor. Elvis recorded it December 18, 1954 at Sun Records. The Sun release didnt chart, nor did the RCA reissue in 1956. It was the B-side to Baby, Lets Play House. It is available on The Sun Sessions, For LP Fans Only, and The King of Rock n Roll-The Complete 50s Masters.