a blog about elvis presley's music and records
ELVIS IN THE ’50s collects articles and essays that focus on Presley’s activities in that decade or music recorded between 1953 and 1959. Most of the articles will be the latter, but pieces on his concerts, his appearances on television, or his movies may also be found here.
Articles that cover a longer expanse of time—like a piece on all his #1 hits from around the world from 1956 into the 21st century—will be placed in the more general Elvis on Record category.
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THIS ARTICLE IS AN ABBREVIATED VERSION of a longer piece that I published on the Sixties Music Secrets website. That article is titled “Are These Five LPs Among the Rarest and Most Valuable Records in the World?” It is the fourth installment of my Avid Record Collector column on that site, where I normally review albums from the ’60s. [Continue reading]
FOLLOWING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION in June 1953, Elvis Presley set his sights on becoming a recording artist. On July 18, he visited the Sun Records studio on Union Avenue in Memphis. There he paid $4 for the privilege of recording two songs onto one disc. Sixty years later, that disc became the most valuable record in the world. [Continue reading]
BACK IN JANUARY, I was asked to answer a question on Quora: What was the first British #1 hit for Elvis Presley? My answer was short although not necessarily simple: I noted that some UK charts listed Heartbreak Hotel as reaching #1 while others only placed it at #2. [Continue reading]
WIKIPEDIA’S ENTRIES ON ELVIS and other music-related matters are not the most trustworthy sources for accurate information. In fact, visiting the site to look up anything about Presley can be a bit of an adventure. While adventures can be fun and even rewarding, some writers might not enjoy being made fools of when they discover that the Wiki-derived information on their blog is outrageously incorrect! [Continue reading]
RCA’S FIRST “EP” WASN’T WHAT YOU THINK! Three years before they signed Elvis Presley, RCA Victor introduced record-buyers to the 45 rpm, extended-play EP record. This new format was an extension of their 45 rpm single that had been launched in 1949. That format had been devised to sally forth into the marketplace and do battle with Columbia’s 33⅓ rpm long-playing LP album. [Continue reading]