List of songs recorded by Elvis Presley on the Sun label
Elvis Presley 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 Elvis'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
Recordings
On July 18, 1953, Presley 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". 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.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 an amateur gospel quartet called 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, 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 and Bill Black 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 ", a blues song. When the other two musicians joined in, Phillips got them to restart and began taping. This was the bright, upbeat sound he had been looking for. Black remarked, "Damn. Get that on the radio and they'll run us out of town." 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 4/4 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 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 Phillips sold Presley's contract to RCA Victor for $40,000; it was, at the time, the highest sum ever paid for a recording contract. Sun had permission to keep pressing the singles until January 1, 1956, and RCA Victor released Presley's first five Sun singles nationally. In January 1956, Presley recorded "Heartbreak Hotel", his first RCA Victor single. He would return to Sun studios regularly over the next few months, visiting with Phillips and meeting many of the label's new artists.
Although Presley never officially recorded for Sun again, he was caught on tape during an impromptu jamming session on December 4, 1956. Presley had arrived during a Carl Perkins recording session, which also featured a young Jerry Lee Lewis on piano, and a new artist named Johnny Cash watching on. During a break in recording, Presley sat at the piano and began to sing along with Perkins, Lewis and Cash. Phillips kept his tape recorder running, and, seeing an opportunity to promote another of his new acts, he arranged for a reporter to cover the event. The recordings would eventually be known as "The Million Dollar Quartet".
During Presley's tenure at Sun Records, he recorded two demo recordings in Lubbock, Texas: "Fool, Fool, Fool" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll", which were released for the first time by RCA in the 1990s. These are not considered Sun recordings.
Songs recorded
Listed are the 24 titles from 1953–55, ordered by their recording date. A take is any later version; the best take would be used to create a master to be issued.My Happiness
was recorded as a self-financed demo.The original is by Borney Bergantine, and Betty Peterson Blasco; published in 1948.
That's When Your Heartaches Begin
was recorded as a self-financed demo.The original is from 1937 by William Raskin, Fred Fisher and George Brown, and recorded by The Ink Spots in 1941.
I'll Never Stand in Your Way
, by Hy Heath, is another self-financed recording.It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You
is the fourth and final self-financed demo Elvis recorded. The song is by Fred Rose.I Love You Because
is a song by Leon Payne, original probably 1949, Capitol; Eddie FisherThat's All Right
was written and recorded by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup. Crudup's original title is "That's All Right "; on the Sun label, and many later releases, '' is omitted: "That's All Right".Elvis's recording of "That's All Right " is mentioned as one of the beginning of rock and roll, though the first rock and roll records predate it.
Harbor Lights">Harbour Lights (song)">Harbor Lights
Hugh Williams - Jimmy Kennedy. Original: possibly Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians.The 4-CD boxed set "Today, Tomorrow and Forever" contains an alternate version.
Blue Moon of Kentucky
is a bluegrass song by Bill Monroe, originally recorded by "Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys".The 1992 album contains a fragment of an alternate take in a slower, more country style. This take was originally released on bootleg in 1974, having been located at Sun Records many years after Presley left for RCA.
Blue Moon">Blue Moon (song)">Blue Moon
- L. Hart.Original: Ted Fio Rito & His Orchestra
Also: Connie Boswell
Tomorrow Night
- Will Grosz. Original: Lonnie Johnson[I'll [Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')]]
. Original: Jimmy WakelySatisfied
[I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine]
. Original probably Patti PageThe Dean Martin version was probably Elvis' inspiration.
Just Because
- Bob Shelton - Joe Shelton. Original: The Shelton BrothersRecorded 1933
Also; Lonestar Cowboys, 1933 on RCA, Nelstone's Hawaiians: Victor V40273.
The song was also recorded by Frank Yankovic and was responsible for his band being rated the #13 band "on the Nation's Juke Boxes" in 1948.
Good Rockin' Tonight">Good Rocking Tonight">Good Rockin' Tonight
. Original Roy Brown ; also Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris[Milkcow Blues Boogie]
. Original probably Kokomo ArnoldOther releases: Johnny Lee Wills ; Moon Mullican ; Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys as "Brain Cloudy Blues",
[You're a Heartbreaker]
[Baby Let's Play House]
. Original: Arthur GunterIn 1951 Eddy Arnold recorded a song titled “I Want to Play House with You”
by Cy Coben. This song has been misidentified as the same song. It is not.
[I Got a Woman]
[Tryin' to Get to You]
- Charles Singleton. Original: The EaglesIn 2002, RCA included information in the liner notes of Sunrise as to Presley recording this song while simultaneously playing the piano, and not aided by his rhythm guitar, as previously believed. Because the piano was not directly miked, it can only be heard faintly in the background.
I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone
Stan Kesler - William TaylorI Forgot to Remember to Forget">I Forgot to Remember to Forget (song)">I Forgot to Remember to Forget
Stan Kesler - Charlie Feathers[Mystery Train]
- Sam Phillips. Original: Little Junior's Blue Flames[When It Rains, It Really Pours]
. Original: Billy EmersonLate, rumored and legendary recordings
The [Million Dollar Quartet] (session recordings)
On December 4, 1956, a year after Elvis had left Sun for RCA, he revisited Sun Studio. The afternoon became a jam session with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash. The taping was largely unintended by the quartet; they were just singing the songs they had in mind. About 40 titles are recorded, most of them incomplete. Elvis is caught telling about a singer he saw in Las Vegas, doing his version of "Don't Be Cruel", and they're enjoying "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" from Chuck Berry.Rumored
Over the decades, several additional recordings have been claimed as having been recorded by Elvis at Sun Records. The reference work Elvis: The Illustrated Record by Roy Carr and Mick Farren lists the following songs that were, as of 1982, believed to have been recorded by Elvis at Sun Records but as of 2009 remain unreleased and unaccounted for in the official record:- "Tennessee Saturday Night". According to Carr and Farren, RCA planned to include this recording on the 1965 compilation album Elvis for Everyone!, but substituted the Sun side "Tomorrow Night" instead.
- "Uncle Penn". Carr and Farren claim the existence of "Uncle Penn" is proven by it being listed on the session sheet for the recording session of December 8, 1954 that produced "Tomorrow Night" however this contradicts the authors' chart that gives the September 9 recording date.
- "Oakie Boogie".
Releases
Sun Singles
Ten songs, making five singles, were originally released on the Sun label. These records are among the most valuable of Elvis's output, fetching four figures in excellent condition:- Sun 209—July 19, 1954: "That's All Right" / "Blue Moon of Kentucky"
- Sun 210—September 25, 1954: "Good Rockin' Tonight" / "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine"
- Sun 215—December 28, 1954: "Milkcow Blues Boogie" / "You're a Heartbreaker"
- Sun 217—April 10, 1955: "Baby Let's Play House" / "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone"
- Sun 223—August 6, 1955: "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" / "Mystery Train"
RCA Releases
- RCA 20/47-6357: Sun 223
- RCA 20/47-6380: Sun 209
- RCA 20/47-6381: Sun 210
- RCA 20/47-6382: Sun 215
- RCA 20/47-6383: Sun 217
- 447-0600: Sun 223
- 447-0601: Sun 209
- *B-side of red label version misspells Elvis's last name as "PRESELY"
- 447-0602: Sun 210
- *The original "dog on top" copies of the above two were released with special picture sleeves
- 447-0603: Sun 215
- 447-0604: Sun 217
Albums featuring the Sun recordings
''Elvis Presley">Elvis Presley (album)">Elvis Presley'' (1956)
On January 27, 1956, the first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel" b/w "I Was the One" was released, giving Elvis a nationwide breakthrough. His reputation as a performer on stage was already growing in the same dimensions.On March 23, 1956, the first album, Elvis Presley, was released. At that moment, "Heartbreak Hotel" was climbing the lists, but as Rock'n'Roll was largely bought by teenagers at the time, and teenagers usually bought singles, albums were seen as less important for the genre; as such, "Heartbreak Hotel" is not on this album. RCA, however, put five unreleased Sun recordings on this album:
- "I Love You Because"
- "Just Because"
- "Tryin' to Get to You"
- "I'll Never Let You Go "
- "Blue Moon"
''[For LP Fans Only]'' (1958) and ''[A Date with Elvis]'' (1959)
- "That's All Right"
- "Mystery Train"
- "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone"
- "You're a Heartbreaker"
- "Blue Moon of Kentucky"
- "Milkcow Blues Boogie"
- "Baby, Let's Play House"
- "Good Rockin' Tonight"
- "I Forgot to Remember to Forget"
''[Elvis for Everyone!]'' (1965)
- "Tomorrow Night"
- "When It Rains, It Really Pours"
''[The Sun Sessions]'' (1976)
- "That's All Right"
- "Blue Moon of Kentucky"
- "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine"
- "Good Rockin' Tonight"
- "Milkcow Blues Boogie"
- "You're a Heartbreaker"
- "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone"
- "Baby Let's Play House"
- "Mystery Train"
- "I Forgot to Remember to Forget"
- "I'll Never Let You Go "
- "I Love You Because"
- "Tryin' to Get to You"
- "Blue Moon"
- "Just Because"
- "I Love You Because"
- The private recordings
- "Harbor Lights"
- "Tomorrow Night"
- "When It Rains, It Really Pours"
- "Satisfied"
- "I Got a Woman"
''The Complete Sun Sessions'' 33-track 2LP-set / ''The Sun Sessions'' 28-track CD (1987)
Missing:
- The private recordings
- "Satisfied"
- "I Got a Woman"
''The Million Dollar Quartet">Million Dollar Quartet">The Million Dollar Quartet'' (1989)
''[The [King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50s Masters]]'' (1992)
Nearly every song Elvis recorded at Sun is present here.Missing:
- "Satisfied", all but one track from the Million Dollar Quartet session, as well as "It Wouldn't be the Same Without You" and "I'll Never Stand in Your Way". The latter two songs appear on yet another Sun sessions CD titled Sunrise.
''Sunrise">Sunrise (Elvis Presley album)">Sunrise'' (1999)
Missing:
- "Satisfied"
- "Woman
''[Elvis at Sun]'' (2004)
Missing:
- Private recordings and demos:
- * "My Happiness",
- * "That's When Your Heartaches Begin"
- * "I'll Never Stand in Your Way"
- * "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You"
- "I Love You Because"
- The lost "Satisfied"
- "I Got a Woman"
''A Boy from Tupelo: The Complete 1953–55 Recordings'' (2012)