Recording Session April 14, 1956

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MikeFromHolland
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Recording Session April 14, 1956

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For more info about this session: http://www.keithflynn.com/recording-sessions/560414.html



Elvis on the Precipice of Fame
Eliza Berman, Jan. 8, 2016
In 1954, Elvis Aaron Presley was working as a truck driver for $35 a week. Two years later, he was raking in $12,500 for a week’s work in Las Vegas. Before long, a surname was no longer required to invoke the megastar LIFE dubbed a “howling hillbilly success.”

Though he began recording music in 1953, it was in 1956 that Presley—born on Jan. 8, 1935—became a phenomenon. That was also the year he first appeared in the pages of LIFE, in a one-page story about the runaway success of “Heartbreak Hotel.” The magazine explained:

A lover’s lament called Heartbreak Hotel sung by Elvis Presley is the best-selling record in the country this week, and the 21-year-old hillbilly who howls, mumbles, coos and cries his way through it has overnight become the biggest singing attraction for teen-agers in the U.S.

A string of television appearances introduced the young singer to households across America, and within a short time he was inspiring frantic behavior among overwhelmed fans. “Shortly girls were quivering and fainting wherever he turned up to sing Long Tall Sally, I Got a Woman, and Blue Suede Shoes,” the magazine explained. “On a tour of Texas last week they kicked through a plateglass door in Amarillo to get him to autograph their arms and underclothes.”

Here, on what would have been Presley’s 81st birthday, is an intimate look at a Nashville recording session for a new star who would, in due time, become a legend.

Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.


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Caption from LIFE. Looking like it hurts, Elvis records new song in Nashville studio.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images


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Presley sings expressively while recording a new song in a Nashville recording studio, backed by the Jordanaires, made up of Gordon Stoker, Neal Matthews Jr., Hoyt Hawkins and Hugh Jarrett.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images


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Presley, looking tired and somewhat dejected, leans over a railing in a recording studio during a break from cutting a new record in Nashville, 1956.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images


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Presley (second from right) during a break from recording,1956.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images


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Presley shows a framed gold record of "Heartbreak Hotel" to (L-R) drummer D.J. Fontana, singer Gordon Stoker and guitarist Scotty Moore, 1956.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images


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Presley performs emotionally, even in the privacy of a studio.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images


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Presley sings during a recording session.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images


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Presley sits in a chair during a break from recording a new record n Nashville, while head of Country and Western Artist and Repertoire, Steve Sholes, talks to producer Chet Atkins in the background, 1956.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images


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Presley uses the roof of a taxi to sign autographs for teenage girls outside of the Nashville studio where he had just finished recording a new record, 1956.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Source: http://time.com/4148472/elvis-presley-1956/


More from the same session:

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http://selvedgeyard.com/2010/10/30/before-elvis-there-was-nothing/


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Last edited by MikeFromHolland on Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.


Mike

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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by lovin' EP »

Wonderful photos, Mike. Thanks for posting! :D

Elvisly,

Linda



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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by drjohncarpenter »

Lovely post, and I love those Don Cravens photos. It's almost crazy to imagine that plane trouble nearly killed them on the way to the session, and may have played a very large role in why they had such trouble cutting the song, and didn't end up waxing four masters in the three hour session. RCA producer Steve Sholes was very unhappy about that, but he was also the bonehead who scheduled the work on a Saturday morning at 9am, in the middle of a hectic tour, and hired just one of the Jordanaires quartet, tenor Gordon Stoker, to sing with Presley. Yes, the Time website is mistaken, the only backup singers there that morning are Stoker, and Ben and Brock Speer. Oops.



..

Elvis Presley "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" (RCA 6540, May 5, 1956)



Interestingly, when Billboard reviewed the new single in May, it considered "My Baby Left Me" the A-side, writing that "the top features a real blues with that wild r.&b. infusion ..." Yes, it's called rock 'n' roll. Heh.


Billboard May 12 1956 p94.JPG
Billboard - May 12, 1956



..

Elvis Presley "My Baby Left Me" (RCA 6540, May 5, 1956)



What an incredible pair of tracks for the second single. In the end, the preference for the ballad took over, and ultimately was a huge success. It sold a million, and made it to #3 on the Billboard pop chart. Alan Hanson posted a terrific summation of the Nashville session on his blog, and it is worth a look:

"I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" … Elvis Presley's Second Hit Record
http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/i-want-you.html

Thanks again for the share.

560505_RCA Victor 6540.JPG
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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by EagleUSA »

So many wonderful hits created ... in his stocking feet. :D New to my eyes. Thank you!


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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by Mister Mike »

In picture #5, Bill Black is mistakenly identified as Gordon Stoker.


Elvis fan. From Sun to Sundial.

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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by Elton »

Man I always like seeing those session photos.

Presley performs emotionally, even in the privacy of a studio.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

Because he was singing from the heart and soul thats why
I as with most fans agree i would rather have a couple of tunes like this done than a whole album
full of songs where he really wasn't into it!!

Thanks Mike. :smt023


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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by drjohncarpenter »

Mister Mike wrote:In picture #5, Bill Black is mistakenly identified as Gordon Stoker.
Maybe the Gordonaire brought a Bill Black mask to the session?


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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by MikeFromHolland »

Elton wrote:Man I always like seeing those session photos.

Presley performs emotionally, even in the privacy of a studio.
Don Cravens—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

Because he was singing from the heart and soul thats why
I as with most fans agree i would rather have a couple of tunes like this done than a whole album
full of songs where he really wasn't into it!!

Thanks Mike. :smt023

Becoming a fan when I was just a kid from Holland, I didn't understand a single word. But i could understand the emotion. That made me a fan. And that's why I still am...


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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by MikeFromHolland »

drjohncarpenter wrote:
Mister Mike wrote:In picture #5, Bill Black is mistakenly identified as Gordon Stoker.
Maybe the Gordonaire brought a Bill Black mask to the session?

I guess Gordon Stoker is actually X-men's Mystique turning into anyone (s)he wants...


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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by Hobbes »

Sometimes history is made with no shoes on your feet! Great pics. Thank you for this thread.



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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by Stevenson »

Thanks!!
And now I only wish there was more pictures from other sessions...


When your heart gets restless - time to move along,
When your heart gets weary - time to sing a song,
But when a dream is calling you
There's just one thing that you can do...


Follow That Dream (1961)

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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by MikeFromHolland »

Stevenson wrote:Thanks!!
And now I only wish there was more pictures from other sessions...
Please, have a look:

Recording Session 10-11 June, 1958
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=91545#p1459591


And scrolling down you'll find quite a few photos from the GI Blues session:

An awful lot of rarely seen B&W's - movie related (on set)
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=88702#p1394902

.


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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by Stevenson »

MikeFromHolland wrote:
Stevenson wrote:Thanks!!
And now I only wish there was more pictures from other sessions...
Please, have a look:

Recording Session 10-11 June, 1958
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=91545#p1459591


And scrolling down you'll find quite a few photos from the GI Blues session:

An awful lot of rarely seen B&W's - movie related (on set)
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=88702#p1394902

.


Man, there are great!! :smt007
But still... I wish there was more pictures from other sessions... :mrgreen:


When your heart gets restless - time to move along,
When your heart gets weary - time to sing a song,
But when a dream is calling you
There's just one thing that you can do...


Follow That Dream (1961)

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Re: Elvis on the Precipice of Fame

Post by MikeFromHolland »

Stevenson wrote:
MikeFromHolland wrote:
Stevenson wrote:Thanks!!
And now I only wish there was more pictures from other sessions...
Fully agree :D

I wished there were more SUN tapes and Hayride performances discovered and released :wink:

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Re: Recording Session April 14, 1956

Post by MikeFromHolland »

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