70 years of Elvis music!
July 5th 1954 was a hot day in Memphis, as a nervous, shy 19-year-old arrived at the Sun recording studio.
He’d been there before to make a special personal recording for his mother – but this latest appointment was a serious one.
He was Elvis.
In a late-night break during that long session, Elvis launched into an impromptu performance of ‘That’s All Right’ – a blues song released by Arthur Crudup in the ‘40s.
Todd Slaughter, president of the Elvis Fan Club UK commented:
“They messed around in the studio for quite some time and never really got it together.
‘That’s All Right’ wasn’t on the schedule, but once they got into it, it gelled – and the studio manager Sam Phillips knew he had something really special”.
An acetate recording was dispatched to the local radio station which played it enthusiastically two days later. The debut single quickly broke through in the local music charts – and became the song which would pave the way for Elvis’s career and fuel the rock ‘n’ roll explosion.
Boom Radio – the station for UK baby boomers – marks the 70th anniversary of Elvis music on Friday July 5th, with Elvis songs scattered across the day accompanied by comment from Todd Slaughter. Then at 6.00pm, you can enjoy the biggest ever Elvis songs over the years back-to-back as John Peters presents the Boom All Time Elvis Chart, assembled from listener votes.
