The History of Elvis: 1954

A timeline of important Elvis Presley events

History:

1954 would prove to be the pivotal year in Elvis Presley's life; although he didn't end the year as a bonafide superstar, the wheels had been set in motion. Yet it was the previous year in which Elvis made his first recording -- specifically July 18, 1953, when Presley, six weeks out of Humes High School and working for the Parker Machinists Shop, entered Sun Studios to take advantage of their recording service, which promised to make a 45 of anyone's voice for four dollars. Elvis recorded two ballads, ostensibly for his mother's birthday, which was actually back in April. The kid was actually looking for validation.

 

Elvis with Scotty Moore

and Bill Black, 1954

 

In January of 1954, Presley returned and made another two sides, but it wasn't until sometime in June that he received the famous call from Sun label head Sam Phillips, asking the young singer to ome over and try his hand at replicating a demo whose original singer had vanished into anonymity.

Elvis showed up immediately, but couldn't handle the song, reportedly exploding in anger at his own limitations, but Phillips, always good at coaxing talent from performers, asked the young man to run through a repetoire of what h could sing. Elvis obliged, and Sam took him on, pairing him with Scotty Moore on guitar and Bill Black on bass.

The rest of the story is, by now, well known: on July 6, Sam heard the trio running through an impromptu version of Arthur Gunter's "That's All Right." "What are you doing?" he asked them. "W don't know," came the reply. "Well, do it again," he instructed, and a significant section of rock and roll -- some say the whole thing -- is born.

Although the record was an instant smash in Memphis, proving Phillips' oft-quoted prophecy about finding a white man who could sing like a black man, audiences were slow to take to the singer that was billed as the "Hillbilly Bopper." Too country for pop, too pop for country, and too bluesy for either, he had a hard time fitting in. But a wave of integrated postwar musical styles was already building around the country, and by the end of the year, Elvis' natural talent and charisma were starting to create a furor in the South that rivaled Sinatra's bobbysoxer mania of a decade earlier. In the next twelve months, Elvis Presley would become nothing less than the most popular entertainer of all time.

Recording:

January 4: "I'll Never Stand In Your Way," "It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You" (Sun studios, Memphis, TN)
January 5: "Casual Love Affair" (Sun studios, Memphis, TN)
July 5: "That's All Right," "I Love You Because," "Harbor Lights" (Sun studios, Memphis, TN)
July 6: "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" (Sun studios, Memphis, TN)
August 19: "Blue Moon," "Tomorrow Night," "I'll Never Let You Go" (Sun studios, Memphis, TN)
September 10: "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine," "Just Because," (Sun studios, Memphis, TN)
December 12-20 (?): "Milkcow Blues Boogie," "You're A Heartbreaker" (Sun studios, Memphis, TN)

Singles:

July 19: "That's All Right (Mama)" b/w "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" (SUN 209)
September 25: "Good Rockin' Tonight" b/w "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine" (SUN 210)

Albums:

None

Movies:

None

Concerts/Apparances:

July 17: Bon Air Club, Memphis, TN
July 20: Overton Park Shell, Memphis, TN
August 1: KWEM, West Memphis, TN
August 7: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
August 16: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
August 18: Bellevue Park, Memphis, TN
August 27: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
August 29: Kennedy Hospital, Memphis, TN
September 9: Lamar-Airways Shopping Center, Memphis, TN
September 18: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
September 24: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
September 25: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 1: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 2: Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
October 6: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 8: Silver Slipper, Atlanta, GA
October 9: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 13: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 16: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
October 20: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 22: Old Barn Dance, New Orleans, LA
October 23: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
October 29: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
October 30: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
November 6: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
November 8: Memphis State University, Memphis, TN
November 13: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
November 17: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
November 19: Lake Cliff Club, Shreveport, LA
November 20: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
November 21: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX; Cook's Hoedown Club, Houston, TX
November 22: Mint Club, Gladewater, TX
November 23: Roundup Club, Gladewater, TX
November 24: Municipal Auditorium, Texarkana, TX
November 25: Paladium Club, Houston, TX
November 26: Paladium Club, Houston, TX
November 27: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
December 2: Catholic Club, Helena, AK
December 3: Municipal Auditorium, Texarkana, TX
December 4: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
December 10: Sleepy-Eyed John's Eagle's Nest Club, Memphis, TN
December 11: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
December 18: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
December 22: Lake Cliff Club, Shreveport, LA
December 25: Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA
December 28: Cook's Hoedown Club, Houston, TX

Other important events:

May 15: Elvis auditions with the house band at Memphis' Hi Hat Club and is told he'll never make it as a singer.
June 26: Sam Phillips, head of Sun Records, calls Elvis in to record two songs, "Without You" and "Rag Mop."
July 7: Dewey Phillips of Memphis' WHBQ plays "That's All Right (Mama)" and its flip, "Blue Moon of Kentucky," on his Red Hot & Blue R&B show.

An instant hit, the song is immediately played 14 more times. Callers to the station insist that Elvis must be a black man.
July 12: Elvis Presley signs his first contract with a manager -- his guitarist, Scotty Moore.
July 28: Elvis gives his first print interview.
July 30: Elvis gets his first billing, opening third at a Slim Whitman show.
October 2: Elvis bombs at the Grand Ole Opry, which does not approve of his take on traditional country music. The Opry's talent director, Jim Denny, famously tells Presley he should go back to driving a truck. Elvis swears never to return.
October 23: "That's All Right" b/w "Blue Moon of Kentucky" hits the Top Ten in the Nashville and New Orleans markets, representing the first hit for Elvis outside of Memphis.
October 25: Elvis records five songs at KWKH in Shreveport, LA. None of these recordings exist today.
November 6: After several very successful dates there, Elvis signs a year long contract with Shreveport's "Louisiana Hayride" concert/radio show.
November 26: Elvis sends a telegram to his father, Vernon: "HI BABIES HERES THE MONEY TO PAY THE BILLS STOP DONT TELL NO ONE HOW MUCH I SENT I WILL SEND MORE NEXT WEEK STOP THERE IS A CARD IN THE MAIL STOP LOVE ELVIS"