Within a year pop music would be changed forever – and Elvis would be the world's first rock star. Legend has it that rock's fuse was lit one day in 1954, when a 19-year-old Presley spontaneously broke into a rendition of bluesman Arthur Crudup's That's All Right at the shoebox Sun Studio, and handed founder Sam Phillips a hit record. If rock 'n' roll has a spiritual home, it's at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee – the address of an unassuming, garage-sized recording studio where Jerry Lee Lewis conjured Great Balls of Fire, Carl Perkins polished his Blue Suede Shoes, Johnny Cash walked the line and Elvis Presley hopped on board the Mystery Train. Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs. Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957) Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.Īn essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison. Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later. Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955) The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove. This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA. Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |