Elvis Presley

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Lore & Background

By the second half of 1955, singles on Sun Records by Presley began making the national country and western singles chart, 'Baby Let's Play House' and 'I Forgot to Remember to Forget' going to number 5 and number 1 respectively. Colonel Tom Parker, Presley's new manager, had extensive dealings with RCA Victor and producer Steve Sholes, through his previous client, singer Eddy Arnold. On November 21, 1955, RCA Victor purchased Presley's contract from Sam Phillips, the head of Sun Records for the then-enormous sum of $40,000. Presley and rock and roll were still untested properties for the major records labels but this album, along with the number one single 'Heartbreak Hotel', proved the selling power of both: it was the first RCA Victor pop album to earn more than $1,000,000, and in 1956 it had sold over one million units.

In Their Own Story

RCA wanted an album in the stores fast to capitalize both on the nationwide TV exposure from Presley's four consecutive appearances on the Dorsey Brothers television program Stage Show in early 1956 (January 28, February 4, February 11, and February 18) and the success of his first hit single on the pop charts with 'Heartbreak Hotel', swiftly climbing to the top after its release on January 27. The rights to the Sun Studio tapes had transferred to RCA Victor with the sale of his contract, so five previously unreleased Sun songs—'I Love You Because', 'Just Because', 'Tryin' to Get to You', 'I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')', and 'Blue Moon'—were added to seven of the RCA Victor sessions tracks to bring the running time of the album up to an acceptable length. A rockabilly number that was believed to be a potential hit and could hold its own with the R&B material, 'Blue Suede Shoes', was not initially released as a single from a promise by Sholes to Sam Phillips to protect the career of another Sun artist, Carl Perkins, the author of the song. Instead, it was diverted into being the opening track on the album.

Reader's Guide

The cover is ranked number 40 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest album covers, published in 1991. The photograph of Elvis was taken at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida, on July 31, 1955. Initially, it was thought that Popsie Randolph took the image featured on the front cover, since the album only credited one photographer. However, in August 2002, Joseph A. Tunzi documented that the actual photographer was William V. 'Red' Robertson of Robertson & Fresch. The Popsie credit attributed to the album only applied to a series of photos featured on the back cover, taken in New York City in early December 1955, shortly after Presley had signed with RCA Victor. The design was echoed by the Clash for the front of their 1979 album London Calling; that cover is number 39 on the Rolling Stone list of 100 greatest album covers noted previously.

Did You Know?

• The album was the first rock and roll album ever to reach number one on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.
• RCA Victor purchased Presley's contract from Sun Records for $40,000 on November 21, 1955.
• The cover photo was taken at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida, on July 31, 1955, by William V. 'Red' Robertson, not Popsie Randolph.
• The album was certified gold on November 1, 1966, and platinum on August 8, 2011, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
• The original 1956 UK album titled Rock n' Roll was issued by EMI on the His Master's Voice label with different tracks.