10 Elvis Presley Songs Which Will Change How You Think About The King

It's no exaggeration to say that 5 July 1954, marks one of the most important dates in popular music history. In the tiny Sun Studios, Memphis, innovative producer Sam Phillips was deep into a session with guitarist Scotty Moore, bassist Bill Black and a young man called Elvis Presley. They were on a break when Presley started to improvise a version of blues-singer Arthur Crudup's That's Alright Mama.

Moore and Black joined in and, according to legend, Phillips, intrigued, stuck his head around the door. “What are you doing?” he asked.” “I'm not sure,” replied Presley. “Well,” said Sam, “back up and do it again.” Phillips can't have known, at the time, just what sort of lightning he had bottled over those next few minutes, but he did sense that he had something special.

It might be hard for modern ears to appreciate just how different That's Alright Mama must have sounded in its day. Nothing else like it had ever been recorded or heard before. Ultimately, this is the song which set in motion the rock 'n roll revolution. For an in-depth delve into the story, check out this excellent book.