Customer Reviews

Elvis Presley (1st Album)

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I have an appreciation for many forms of music but my musical growth stemmed from this one seed. This was the first album I ever bought when I was 9 or 10 years old (1973). Of all the music I've enjoyed in my life, my favourite genres are Rhythm & Blues, Rockabilly and Rock'n'Roll. And in the center of this musical era, you can't avoid Elvis Presley. If you collect the finest albums of the Rock'n'Roll/Rock period, this album is a must!
At the time that this album was originally released (March-April 1956), Elvis was a singles artist having only his smash hit single 'Heartbreak Hotel'/'I Was the One' on the national charts. RCA Victor's A&R man, Steve Sholes (supervisor of country and R&B recordings and the man who purchased Elvis and his Sun recordings from Sam Phillips in 1955) assembled this album from the collection of Sun singles and new RCA Victor Nashville recordings (Elvis' first RCA recording session, January 1956) where Sholes hoped to replicate the Sun sound.
The result is an album that documents an emerging new sound that will not only excite millions of young ears but will also influence many Rock, Pop and Country music artists all around North America and, more interestingly in terms of Rock history, overseas. The new sound here is Rockabilly and what we're hearing is a classic '50s Rockabilly quartet: Scotty Moore on electric, lead guitar, Bill Black on acoustic "doghouse" bass, D.J. Fontana on drums (lots of snare), and Elvis as the centerpiece, with vocals, acoustic guitar, and, for the stage audiences, gyratin' visuals. Elvis envisioned himself as a Pop ballad singer (a la Dean Martin) but this was the new style and sound that Sam Phillips, who originally produced and recorded black R&B talent at Sun Records, convinced him would make him stand out and be noticed. From 1954 to 1956, Elvis and the band honed this sound to a unique style through the sessions at Sun and through continuous live performances throughout the South. This, now, is the point where Elvis and his new sound is moving from being a regional phenomenon (via the regional Sun singles recordings, live stage performances and local radio play) to a becoming a national sensation (via a big-time record label, along with its publicity machine, and national television appearances).
Elvis came to form in a truly unique period in American music history and his style and tastes were formulated from many musical sources available to him in the early- to mid-1950s Memphis, Tennessee region: Gospel, black Rhythm & Blues/Rock'n'Roll, Pop, Country and Hillbilly (from which he helped develop Rockabilly). These sounds merged at this time and Elvis did not discriminate. He was infuenced in them all and he let them pour out developing his own style and genre.
Most of the selections were covers of other records by other artists but it's the sound that was cutting-edge, new and exciting. Five of the selections are Sun Session recordings on an album for the first time. The others are new Country and Rockabilly recordings including then-Rockabilly king, Carl Perkins' 'Blue Suede Shoes' which was one of Elvis' staple live-performance numbers along with the Ray Charles, Little Richard, Joe Turner and Lloyd Price R&B covers included in the selection. I find it interesting that his covers of the R&B tunes are the most hard-hitting rockabilly numbers on the album. Critics of Elvis who diminish his contributions to Popular/Rock music due to his frequent use of cover tunes, especially those of black R&B artists. Elvis was never about "writing his own songs." Elvis was about style, performance, talent and originality. Let the Beatles and the Rolling Stones be famous for writing their own songs (even though many of their early recordings were cover songs). For me, Elvis has been the focal point from which I have been able to research my fond interests in black Rhythm & Blues music (c. 1941-62) and old Country (c. 1928-70).
Selections 3 through 14 make up the original selections from this classic album. The remaining six tracks are bonus selections which were originally three 7-inch singles recorded during the same session period.
And the album cover! It was a uniquely simple creation, a '50s-style design classic in itself!
Each time I listen to this seminal album, I am awed to be taken back to a truly original sound that would launch a great new era of music that has become known to us as the Rock Era! To complete the journey, I recommend this CD along with one of Elvis' Sun Session collections.
'Elvis Presley': The new sound of Rock'n'Roll, the "fad" that never died!

I played this CD over and over. The songs are great rockabilly tunes. When it was originally released in 1956, it was the first LP ever to go gold, and the first rock 'n' roll album to reach #1. It remained at #1 for ten straight weeks! The title says it all. All of you Elvis fans who do not have any early Elvis CDs, get this one now! I guarantee you'll love it.

This has 6 extra tracks which were recorded at the same time as the original 12, so this isn't an exact duplicate of RCA's first gold record or the first rock 'n roll album to hit #1 on the charts.

As such, I consider this a landmark album along with the Sun Sessions, Memories: The '68 Comeback Special, That's The Way It Is, and 30 #1 Hits. Each of these captures a very important side of Elvis.

This album is the still raw Elvis, maybe a bit more polished than during his Sun days, and more into a mixture of R&B, country, and rock than in his basically rockabilly days, although some of those are here too.

Some of his best such as "Heartbreak Hotel", "Blue Suede Shoes", "Tutti Frutti", "Shake Rattle And Roll", "I Got A Woman", and "Money Money" are here.

If you don't have any Elvis at all, I recommend Elvis 30 #1 Hits first, but follow that one up with this great CD.

This was the first album Elvis Presley recorded for RCA after leaving Sun Records. It is a historical recording and an essential component for any Elvis collection. For the average listener you may be surprised at the raw, gritty sound on most of the tracks. But it was that raw, gritty sound that first gained the attention of RCA, not to mention the world. This is Rock and Roll in its infancy. The early Rock recordings of 1954 and 1955, which is when these were made, were raw and earthy. You won't hear the polish of his later recordings here. This is the music that caused all the controversy and scandal.

My favorite track is "Money Honey"; it's still rocks today. The big hit off of this album was "Heartbreak Hotel". It was a number one smash. Also included are familiar tunes like "Blue Suede Shoes", "Tutti Frutti", "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" and "Blue Moon". There are also gospel-influenced tracks like "I Was The One" and country-influenced tracks like "I'll Never Let You Go".

When you listen to this album, listen to it from a historical perspective. Think of how influential this music was. It was a new sound. For most people, this was their first exposure to Elvis. Think of how this music influenced the many artists to come.

This expertly produced collection of his early hits offers the listener a tantalizing glimpse of the originality and depth of his awesome talent BEFORE his voice was homogenized for mass consumption. Upon listening to this very special collection, it will instantly become your favorite Elvis album as it speaks to you of the hope and promise that once was.

Elvis the very definitive of pure rock and roll. this collection of songs demonstrate just how timeless this man is.Elvis was always a leader and a trendsetter.He is often imitated but never equalled.Take a trip down through memory lane as you listen to these great tunes and you will realize that Elvis is just as much with us today as in years gone by and he will be with us for always.Enjoy this raw,pure,natural,God given talent.

This is a reissue of Elvis Presley's first album. The album featured seven songs recorded in January of 1956, and five Sun Records songs that were previously unissued (some of which dated back to 1954). The album almost perfectly mirrored Elvis' taste. Only gospel music went unrepresented. There were current hits and almost-current hits, R&B classics, country standards, pop standards and original songs submitted before the sessions. It's all really great stuff. The CD adds six bonus tracks, which were recorded between January and April of 1956. Highly recommended.

This review is based on a documentary about the making of this album. The ideas expressed there apply to the album as well.

Over the past several months I have spend more than my fair of time investigating the effect of the career of Elvis Presley on my generation of '68, and on me personally. That has entailed listening to some CDs and looking at old footage provided in various DVD compilations. One such documentary, hosted by Jack Scott, traced Elvis's rise in the key year of 1954, the `dog days'. The present documentary breaks down a classic Elvis Presley (that is the title, and really all that is necessary as a title) album of 1956, his breakout year. The year he moved from Sam Phillips Sun Records to the big time, RCA Records.

This DVD is part of a series on classic American albums. I am not familiar with the others in the series yet but based on this introduction these efforts seem to be labors of love. Here we have the expected `talking heads' dissecting the meaning of each song, some anecdotes from various and sundry performers and music historians interspersed with very illuminating footage of Elvis's progress from Southern regional phenomena to national (and international) rock star at a time when the youth of my generation were desperately in need of a jailhouse breakout figure.

The highlight here is a very interesting discussion about Heartbreak Hotel, a song whose depressive lyrics would seem to be out of sync with what Elvis was trying to project (included here are also various takes on Elvis's performance of the song on television at different times). This segment makes a very strong case for Elvis's emergence as `king of the hill' in 1956. Whether he continued that role later is a separate question but 1956 was his year, and his alone. This little album also contained a very well thought out and performed mix of ballads, black bluesy numbers ("Shake, Rattle and Roll"), a little country, a little gospel. In short something any record producer would die for. If you need to know the history of rock and roll, or a slice of it anyway, this documentary is for you. If you just want the music grab the Elvis Presley CD, with both hands.

Rock 'n Roll basically is a fusion between (white) country and (black) rhythm & blues. Elvis was the first to perfect this combination and perform it in such a way that both strands were equally cherished and not used for commercial gain.
Elvis had a genuine love of black music and his first recordings are definite odes to that music style that he grw up with in Memphis, and not a ploy to tap black music to make more money in the white market (aka Pat Boonism).

The choices for covers are for songs that were already big hits in the r&b field and important already. Ray Charles' 'I Got A Woman', Llord Price's 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy', Little Richards' 'Tutti Frutti' are all great examples. He also sings 'Shake, Rattle & Roll' which another white singer had done before him, but where Bill Haley takes all the sex out of the song Elvis leaves some in.

It's not the collected Sun Sessions who are truely remarkable. There are some shimmers here already of the schmalzy pop singer he would become, but his versions of 'Blue Moon' and 'Heartbreak Hotel' are historic.

I played this CD over and over. The songs are great rockabilly tunes. When it was originally released in 1956, it was the first LP ever to go gold, and the first rock 'n' roll album to reach #1. It remained at #1 for ten straight weeks! The title says it all. All of you Elvis fans who do not have any early Elvis CDs, get this one now! I guarantee you'll love it.