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.
So, which record was that? This question was put to me by long-time rock & roll fan, record collector, and wheeler-dealer Jerry Richards. Unfortunately, I had to give him a less-than-specific answer.
This article is one in a series about collecting Elvis records from 1955 and early ’56.
Why should that be a difficult question to answer? Believe it or not, after all these years of tens of thousands of Elvis collectors sharing information about their records, we still don’t know exactly what happened during those first few months after Presley became an RCA Victor recording artist.
Much (most? all?) of the paperwork that RCA Victor generated about their early relationship with Presley was lost long before fans and historians began trying to assemble an accurate timeline of events.
This includes decisions that were made about where to release a Sun recording (especially promotional compilation albums), when a record was shipped, how many records were pressed, etc.
As this paperwork was not backed up on microfiche, it was lost forever!
So, to answer the question What was the first record that RCA Victor released with an Elvis recording on it? we are left to our own devices.
Pressed between the pages
There are basically three “tools” left for historians to use in their research:
• records that were released
• articles in old trade publications
• memories of even older people involved in the record industry
I can inspect thousands of records and I can access thousands of issues of Billboard and Cash Box online. From these sources, I can glean some information.
As for memories—no matter how well someone thinks they have pressed them between the pages of their mind, I rarely rely on them for anything except conversation.
As someone once famous once said: “It isn’t so astonishing, the number of things that I can remember, as the number of things I can remember that aren’t so.”
RCA Victor released these “first”
Through the years, Elvis collectors have considered four records to have been the first record that RCA Victor released featuring a Presley recording: one single, one set of EP records, and two LP records. This article addresses those four records along with four others we know were not the first but fit in the time frame—the reissues of the second, third, fourth, and fifth Sun singles.
RCA Victor enjoyed immediate success with the first Presley platter, I Forgot To Remember To Forget / Mystery Train (20–6357 and 47–6357), which was a reissue of Sun 223. The company released the other four Sun singles (RCA Victor 6380, 6381, 6382, and 6383), which were almost certainly on store shelves around the country by the last week of January.
The records are listed below in the order in which I believe they were shipped from RCA Victor to either radio stations for airplay or to the public for purchase. The exact day of the month that each record was shipped is not known, so only the month and year are given.
This project began simply to answer the question What was the first record that RCA Victor released with an Elvis recording on it? It grew into a series of articles that eventually touched on related records so, as I publish this article, there are at least twenty somewhat related articles in the series!
So, each of the four important records addressed below is the subject of at least one separate article of its own. Each record below has a link to the primary article about that record (the aforementioned Sun reissues do not).
1.
I Forgot To Remember To Forget / Mystery Train
Catalog numbers: 20–6357 (78 rpm) and 47–6357 (45 rpm)
Manufactured: probably late November 1955
Released: late November or early December 1955
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the first thing RCA Victor did after signing Presley was to begin replacing Sun 223, I Forgot To Remember To Forget / Mystery Train, with RCA Victor 6357 featuring the same tracks.
I found circumstantial evidence that this record was released during the final days of November, which is why it is listed first.
If production went along normal lines, then the promotional “Record Prevue” pressing for 47–6357 with white labels (see image below) was manufactured before either the black label 78 or 45. That would technically make it the first Elvis record that RCA Victor released!
To read more about this record, click here.
2.
E‑Z Pop Programming No. 5
Catalog number: none
Manufactured: probably December 1955
Released: December 1955 or January 1956
E‑Z Pop Programming No. 5 was a twelve-inch LP record with sixteen tracks by various pop and country artists. As RCA Victor did not assign a catalog number to this record, it is often referred to by its matrix numbers, F70P-9681 (side 1) and F70P-9682 (side 2).
To read more about this record, click here.
3a.
That’s All Right / Blue Moon Of Kentucky
Catalog numbers: 20–6380 (78 rpm) and 47–6380 (45 rpm)
Manufactured: late December 1955 or early January 1956
Released: late January 1956
3b.
Good Rockin’ Tonight / I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine
Catalog numbers: 20–6381 (78 rpm) and 47–6381 (45 rpm)
Manufactured: late December 1955 or early January 1956
Released: late January 1956
3c.
Milkcow Blues Boogie / You’re A Heartbreaker
Catalog numbers: 20–6382 (78 rpm) and 47–6382 (45 rpm)
Manufactured: late December 1955 or early January 1956
Released: late January 1956
3d.
Baby Let’s Play House / I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone
Catalog numbers: 20–6383 (78 rpm) and 47–6383 (45 rpm)
Manufactured: late December 1955 or early January 1956
Released: late January 1956
7.
E‑Z Country Programming No. 2
Catalog number: none
Manufactured: January or February 1956
Released: January or February 1956
E‑Z Country Programming No. 2 was a ten-inch LP record with twelve tracks by various country artists. As RCA Victor did not assign a catalog number to this record, it is often referred to by its matrix numbers, G70L-0108 (side 1) and G70L-0109 (side 2).
To read more about this record, click here.
8.
SPD-15 (untitled)
Catalog number: SPD-15 (599‑9083 through 559‑9092)
Manufactured: December 1955 through February 1956
Released: February or March 1956
Record #4 is an untitled set of ten EP records that is known by its catalog number, SPD-15. Each EP is a seven-inch record with two tracks per side that play at 45 rpm. The set itself does not have one overriding catalog number; each record is referred to by its individual catalog numbers, 599‑9083 through 559‑9092.
To read more about this record, click here.
Question answered?
This is probably the correct order in which the first RCA Victor records featuring an Elvis track were manufactured. It may also be the order in which they were released . . .
This article about the first Elvis record from RCA Victor is one in a series about collecting Elvis records from 1955 and early ’56. Click To Tweet
FEATURED IMAGE: The photo at the top of this page was taken on December 1, 1955, at RCA’s recording studio in New York City. This photo was taken around the time that the records above were being planned or manufactured by RCA. This was a publicity photo shoot and Elvis didn’t record a thing.
Postscriptually
The first fourteen articles in this series are almost completed and listed below with links to each. The articles cover records in their chronological order of release. Should you access one of these articles and receive an Error Page, try back a week later.
01 RCA Victor’s “SPD” Series of Specialty Records
02 What Was the First Elvis Record That RCA Victor Released?
03 The Biggest Country & Western Record News of 1955
04 The First RCA Elvis Record Was “I Forgot to Remember to Forget”
05 The RCA Victor Cartoon Picture Sleeves of the ’50s
06 The Elvis “This Is His Life” Cartoon Picture Sleeve
07 RCA Victor 47–6357 Bootleg Picture Sleeves
08 The “Record Bulletin” Picture Sleeve for RCA’s First Elvis Record Is a Fake
09 Did RCA Release Other Versions of Elvis’ Songs to Compete With Elvis’ Records?
10 A New Kind of Hit Re-run With Elvis Presley
11 Was “E‑Z Pop Programming 5” the First LP to Feature an Elvis Track?
12 Was “E‑Z Country Programming 2” the First LP to Feature an Elvis Track?
13 Was SPD-15 the First EP to Feature an Elvis Track?
14 Is the Country & Western Jukebox Promotion Kit a Fake?
More articles addressing the early RCA Victor releases are planned. Each will contain the blockquote, “This article is one in a series about collecting Elvis records from late 1955 and early ’56,” like the one at the beginning of this article.
To find all the articles in the series, copy the blockquote, paste it into the Find option (the magnifying glass in the navigation bar at the top of each page), and then press Return or Enter on your keyboard.
Finally, thanks to Paul Combs (Elvis Records), Frank Daniels (Friktech), Dave Reynolds (Elvis Rare Records), and Joe Spera (Elvis Presley Tapes) for their input in some or all of these articles.

Mystically liberal Virgo enjoys long walks alone in the city at night in the rain with an umbrella and a flask of 10-year-old Laphroaig who strives to live by the maxim, “It ain’t what you know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you know that just ain’t so.
I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn, and a college dropout (twice!). Occupationally, I have been a bartender, jewelry engraver, bouncer, landscape artist, and FEMA crew chief following the Great Flood of ’72 (and that was a job that I should never, ever have left).
I am also the final author of the original O’Sullivan Woodside price guides for record collectors and the original author of the Goldmine price guides for record collectors. As such, I was often referred to as the Price Guide Guru, and—as everyone should know—it behooves one to heed the words of a guru. (Unless, of course, you’re the Beatles.)