a blog about elvis presley's music and records
THERE ARE FOUR PICTURE SLEEVES associated with RCA’s first Elvis record, “I Forgot To Remember To Forget” / “Mystery Train.” One is a legitimate item while another is of questionable authenticity; they are covered separately in their own articles. There are also a pair of RCA Victor 47-6357 bootleg picture sleeves addressed in this article. [Read more] “rca victor 47-6357 bootleg picture sleeves”
RCA’S CARTOON PICTURE SLEEVES of the ’50s featured a “biography” that summed up each artist’s life in a few comic strip-like panels. While rather rare, these sleeves are not very collectible and therefore are not valuable, except for one: the Elvis “This Is His Life” sleeve is among the rarer Presley items of that time. [Read more] “the elvis “this is his life” cartoon picture sleeve”
FOR A SHORT TIME IN 1955-1956, RCA Victor manufactured a series of cartoon picture sleeves for 45 rpm records. Each sleeve had a “This Is His Life” theme that summed up the artist’s life in a few comic strip-like panels. These sleeves were probably shipped to radio stations to catch the attention of the DJs. [Read more] “rca victor cartoon picture sleeves of the ’50s”
RCA VICTOR SIGNED ELVIS as a recording artist on November 21, 1955. The first RCA Elvis record they released was a reissue of Sun 223, “I Forgot To Remember To Forget” / “Mystery Train.” It had been among the best-selling country records for several weeks and RCA was determined to take it to the top. [Read more] “the first rca elvis record was “I forgot to remember to forget””
ELVIS WAS ALREADY A STAR when RCA Victor acquired his contract in November 1955. The record company had won a bidding war for the right to purchase his contract from Sun Records. They paid a king’s ransom for that contract but believed that Presley would be the biggest country & western record star of 1956! [Read more] “the biggest country & western record news of 1955”