a blog about elvis presley's music and records
A RELATIVELY RECENT ADDITION to the world of Elvis collectibles is the “Record Bulletin” picture sleeve, reputedly made for 47–6357 from 1955. It doesn’t look like anything associated with Elvis or RCA Victor and comes with an origin story as odd as its appearance. [Read more] “the “record bulletin” picture sleeve for rca’s first elvis record is fake”
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”
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?”