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Elvis ThisIsHisLife PS yellow f 600 repair

rca victor cartoon picture sleeves of the ’50s

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”

Elvis 47 6357 MysteryTrain WLP record 600

the first rca elvis record was “I forgot to remember to forget”

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 47 6357 IForgotToRemember WLP 2b 600

the biggest country & western record news of 1955

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”

Elvis RCAStudio 12 01 55 1500

what was the first elvis record that rca victor released?

THE FIRST ELVIS RECORDS were five sin­gles that Sun Records re­leased be­tween July 1954 and Au­gust 1955. But what was the next Elvis record, the first one that RCA Victor re­leased? For some col­lec­tors, it would be the first record that RCA man­u­fac­tured that fea­tured at least one track by Presley, in­cluding var­ious artist albums. [Read more] “what was the first elvis record that rca victor released?”

RCA SPD Series ad photo 1500 crop

rca victor’s spd series of specialty records of the ’50s

THERE ARE SPE­CIAL RECORDS is­sued in 1955-1956 that com­mand big bucks from Elvis col­lec­tors, such as SPD-15. Each title in RCA Victor’s SPD se­ries is a spe­cial record or set of records. Some ti­tles were made for spe­cial re­tail sales events while others were made for pro­mo­tional pur­poses, such as give­aways at spe­cial so­cial events. [Read more] “rca victor’s spd series of specialty records of the ’50s”

Luhrman Elvis TomHanks cigar 1500 crop

just gimme some truth about colonel parker

BAZ LUHRMAN’S “ELVIS” has made thou­sands of know-nothings into overnight ex­perts on both Presley and Tom Parker. While I loved the movie (and ap­pre­ciate the Hol­ly­wood For­eign Press As­so­ci­a­tion rec­og­nizing Austin But­ler’s phe­nom­enal per­for­mance), Luhrman took some se­rious “artistic li­cense” with many facts about both men’s ca­reers. [Read more] “just gimme some truth about colonel parker”

ElvisPresleyTapes hero 1500crop

Elvis Presley Tapes is up and running!

WHEN I BEGAN MY BOOK A Touch of Gold book way back in 1988, I was mostly con­cerned with vinyl records. While the book even­tu­ally em­braced a broad spec­trum of music-related col­lectibles, I fo­cused on 78 and 45 rpm sin­gles and EP and LP al­bums. I paid little at­ten­tion to pre­re­corded tapes than I did.  [Read more] “Elvis Presley Tapes is up and running!”

elvis and the illuminating turntable

AN ELVIS REISSUE may be one of the rarest and most valu­able Elvis records of the past fifty years. Or, it may be an­other fake col­lectible de­serving no better status than that of a cleverly-made-yet-unnecessary bootleg. And it’s tied in with a fooked-up but very in­ter­esting pic­ture cover and—get this—an il­lu­mi­nating turntable! [Read more] “elvis and the illuminating turntable”

Elvis ConcertPoster FaronYoung 1955 600 crop

is this the holy grail of elvis concert posters?

I PUB­LISHED TWO AR­TI­CLES on Elvis posters from 1956. While re­searching those items, I came across this poster from 1955 with Faron Young at the top of the bill and Elvis at the bottom. Some sources refer to this poster as one of the few Holy Grails in the world of rock & roll posters! [Read more] “is this the holy grail of elvis concert posters?”