You can watch the Birthday Proclamation >>> online here.
Join EPE / Graceland as they celebrate the King of Rock 'n' Roll's birthday with fans live from Graceland Mansion's north lawn with a ceremony featuring a birthday cake cutting and a proclamation of Elvis Presley Day by Memphis and Shelby County officials.
Graceland Adds That’s All Right Acetate to Archives Collection
Elvis Presley’s Graceland announced today, at a ceremony celebrating Elvis’ birthday, the acquisition of the original acetate disc of Elvis’ recording of 'That’s All Right' that was first played by Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips on WHBQ, marking the pivotal moment that ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture that changed the world forever.
The acetate, a single-sided 10-inch disc that features Elvis’ last name written as “Pressley,” was recorded on July 5, 1954 “live” with just Scotty Moore on electric guitar, Bill Black on bass, and Elvis himself on acoustic rhythm guitar, with no additional instruments. The sound on the 10-inch disc is raw and showcases the music of an up-until-that moment completely unknown Elvis Presley in its purest form.
The 'That’s All Right' acetate is now on permanent display at Elvis: The Entertainer Career Museum, located at Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis, and will become a permanent part of the Graceland Archives.
The Graceland Archives features over 1.5 million items including photographs, textiles, documents, plus a large collection of furniture, musical instruments, awards, automobiles, and other artifacts associated with the personal life and career of Elvis Presley. The strict guidelines at the Graceland Archives help sustain the integrity of our exhibitions and collections of Elvis history, and the preservation of these Elvis items will entertain and educate millions of people for years to come.
Wink Martindale, now 90 years old, was present at the unveiling of the record. He was present at the WHBQ studio when fellow deejay was the first to play 'That's All Right' on the air that July 1954 evening. He said, "That was the beginning of Presleymania, and I just happened to be there at night".
Note: Among SUN and audio experts there is doubt if this is the real acetate. The audio played on the promo video, as well as the event was obviously the RCA version, not the original Sun version due to the amount of echo that RCA added. That means that they either played a version that was clean for effect/promo or the acetate is fake. This is not the "dry mix" Sam put out. RCA added reverb / echo when they first released Elvis' SUN singles.
Could it be Graceland bought the acetate from >>> Bonhams on November 29, 2023?
Also stamped W.H.B.Q. Memphis, the blank reverse etched WHBQ 10-3-55 (illegible) out no good, in later sleeve, with letter signed by Johnny Earle on JEMusic headed paper, undated, 10in x 10in (25.5cm x 25.5cm).
The EAP Society posted an interesting video on the matter:
Elvis Presley at 706 Union Ave: The Sun Singles 1954-55
Publicity stated: Third Man Records, in conjunction with Sony Music Entertainment and the Sun Label Group, is proud to announce its 59th Vault package, Elvis Presley at 706 Union Ave: The Sun Singles 1954-55. Celebrating the seventieth anniversary of these monumental recordings, this collection includes faithful reproductions of all five of Presley’s original 7-inch 45rpm singles on Sun, pressed in a hypnotic yellow and black marble colored vinyl. Additionally, a bonus 7-inch EP of four Elvis songs recorded at Sun which didn’t see release until later are collected in a prime pretty picture sleeve and pressed on yellow and black “sun ray” splattered vinyl.
Also added here is a name-tag styled patch spiritually inspired by the accoutrement of Presley’s truck-driving job at Crown Electric, extolling the titular hook of that first Elvis a-side. And finally, a substantive, milled nickel 45 adaptor, featuring the iconic rooster emblazoned on all those early singles.
Beyond that, one lucky customer will receive a package that contains original 1950s pressings of all five Elvis Presley singles on Sun. Sought after by collectors for decades, these records’ value align more with precious metals than molded plastic. A true golden-ticket opportunity.
Order now through January 31st at >>> Third Man Records Vault. Packages begin shipping in April.
In the course of popular culture, tectonic shifts of “before” and “after” demarcation, of truly watershed importance, land once, maybe twice a century. America’s greatest contribution to the world is, undoubtedly, rock and roll music. Firmly embedded in the firmament of just about the entire globe, drawing its genesis back to a simple storefront recording operation far from any big city metropolis, rock and roll infuses a vibe, the spirit, all of life with the sense of opportunity.
So only in America, where the confluence of blues music and country perfectly overlapped smack dab in the middle of Memphis, Tennessee, would a shot heard ‘round the world emanate from an untested nineteen-year-old truck driver with no legitimate professional recording experience.
And that nineteen year-old, at the insistent urging of a visionary producer, over the course of multiple sessions and various different songs, trying to croon his way into something, out of exhaustion or plain old letting loose, starts to goof around, to “act the fool” on a song that’s already eight years old at that point, ancient essentially, and turns the world on its head.
The songs recorded by Elvis Presley at Sun Studio survive as a psychic ur-text of rock and roll and its antecedents as a cultural phenomenon. From the initial fool-actin’ of “That’s All Right” from July 1954 through the unimpeachable “Mystery Train” of just one year later, the five singles produced by Sam Phillips with Scotty Moore and Bill Black as trusty guitar and bass accompaniment brim with a primitive, simple perfection
These songs changed the trajectory of the 20th century. It’s best put by the estimable Peter Guralnick when he writes: “If Elvis Presley had never made another record after his last Sun session in the fall of 1955, there seems little question that his music would have achieved much the same mythic status as Robert Johnson’s blues. The body of his work at Sun is so transcendent, so fresh, and so original that even today you can scarcely listen to it in relation to anything but itself. Like all great art its sources may be obvious, but its overall impact defies explanation.”
Disc one: That’s All Right b/w Blue Moon Of Kentucky.
Disc two: I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine b/w Good Rockin’ Tonight.
Disc three: Milkcow Blues Boogie b/w You’re A Heartbreaker.
Disc four: I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone b/w Baby, Let’s Play House.
Disc five: Mystery Train b/w I Forgot To Remember To Forget.
Bonus EP: Blue Moon - Just Because b/w Trying To Get To You - When It Rains, It Really Pours.
Erik Lorentzens' KJ Consulting announced that the book trilogy 'Eleven Hundred And Twenty-Four' by Erik Lorentzen and Jean-Etienne Baduel has been released and should be shipped to dealers next week. The set is lomited to 1,000 copies.
Tupelo Marker
A new marker was unveiled on the Elvis’ Tupelo Driving Tour at The Main Attraction. This is th 14th marker on the tour.
Located in what is now The Main Attraction, Dr. William Robert Hunt’s office was housed on the second floor of this building. Just before dawn, January 8, 1935, Dr. Hunt delivered Jesse Garon Presley, who was stillborn, and 35 minutes later delivered Elvis Aaron Presley.
Japanese Aloha Book Delayed
The releasedate has been postponed to March 2024.
(Source: Graceland / Third Man Records / UEPS / Tupelo Tourism / Elvis Files / Elvis Presley Society of Japan)