It's the birthday of Elvis Presley, born in Tupelo, Mississippi (1935). When he was 18, working as a truck driver, he wanted to give his mom a gift, so he stopped by the Memphis Recording Service, where you could record your own songs for a small fee. He had four dollars, and with that money he was able to record two songs: "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin." The Memphis Recording Service was also the home of Sun Records, and Elvis caught the attention of owner Sam Phillips, who called the young truck driver back in to see if he had any real talent.
-The Writer's Almanac-
-The Writer's Almanac-
2 comments:
I dig the picture.
Actually the Memphis Recording Studio BECAME Sun Records.
Sam Phillips owned MRS and he recorded anything - music, weddings, funerals...but when he recorded music he sold it to record companies and saw that was where the money was, so he started Sun records. When Elvis recorded those songs for his mama, Sam was not there, but when he heard them he was not impressed with Elvis at all. If not for Sam's partner, Ms. Marion Keisker, Elvis may have never been recorded.
Marion kept bugging Sam until finally Sam said...fine bring him in and he hooked Elvis up with Scotty Moore and Bill Black.
Even then, Sam was not too impressed and finally during a break, Elvis was fooling around with "That's All Right Mama" and BAM Sam knew what he had to do. Give Elvis music done by black artists and let him record them.
the rest is history
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