That's All Right
"That's All Right" | ||||
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Single by Elvis Presley | ||||
B-side | "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" | |||
Released | July 19, 1954 | |||
Recorded | July 5, 1954 | |||
Studio | Sun, Memphis | |||
Genre | Rockabilly, rock and roll | |||
Length | 1:57 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Arthur Crudup | |||
Producer(s) | Sam Phillips | |||
Elvis Presley singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
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"That's All Right" is a song written and originally performed by the American
"That's All Right" is best known as the debut
In 1998, the 1954 recording by Elvis Presley was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[5]
History
The song was written by
At the same session, Crudup recorded a virtually identical tune with different lyrics, "I Don't Know It", which was also released as a single (RCA Victor 20–2307). In early March 1949, the song was rereleased under the title "That's All Right, Mama" (RCA Victor 50–0000), which was issued as RCA's first rhythm and blues record on its new
Elvis Presley's version was recorded in July 1954.[11] While recording an album as part of a trio called The Blue Moon Boys, the band played "That's All Right" in between takes, and the uptempo style characteristic of rockabilly caught the attention of studio executive Sam Phillips, who asked for a refinement of the interpretation that was later recorded.[12] Its catalogue number was Sun 209.[13] The song was released under its original title, "That's All Right", and names the performers as Elvis Presley, Scotty, and Bill.[14] The Presley version was not identical to Crudup's since it was "at least twice as fast as the original".[2] His version is considered by some music critics as one of the records that was the first in the rock n'roll genre.[15]
Arthur Crudup was credited as the composer on the label of Presley's single, but despite legal battles into the 1970s, reportedly never received royalties. An out-of-court settlement was supposed to pay Crudup an estimated $60,000 in back royalties, but never materialized.[16][17] Crudup had used lines in his song that had been present in earlier blues recordings, including Blind Lemon Jefferson's 1926 song "That Black Snake Moan".[17] A 2004 article in The Guardian argues that rather than Presley's version being one of the first records of rock and roll, it was simply one of "the first white artists' interpretations of a sound already well-established by black musicians almost a decade before [...] a raucous, driving, unnamed variant of rhythm and blues".[18] A country music version by Marty Robbins peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1955.[19]
Elvis Presley's recording
Production
On the evening of July 5, 1954, during
Presley's first two visits to Sun Studio had been in the summer of 1953 and in January 1954, followed by two more visits in the summer of 1954.[20] This recording session was Presley's fifth visit.[20] Produced in the style of a "live" performance—all parts performed at once and recorded onto one track—the recording contains no drums or additional instruments.[21] Presley's version has lyrics different from Arthur Crudup's version. (In 1986, Sam Phillips recalled that when recording, Elvis changed some lyrics of songs.)[22] The next evening, the trio recorded, in a similar style, "Blue Moon of Kentucky", which became the "That's All Right" single's B side.[9]
Release
Sam Phillips gave copies of the acetate to local disc jockeys Dewey Phillips[23] (no relation) of WHBQ, Uncle Richard of WMPS, and Sleepy Eyed John Lepley of WHHM.[9] On July 7, 1954, Dewey Phillips played "That's All Right" on his popular radio show "Red, Hot & Blue".[9] On hearing the news that Dewey was going to play his song, Presley went to the local movie theater to calm his nerves.[9]
Interest in the song was so intense that Dewey reportedly played the acetate 14 times and received over 40 telephone calls.[9] Presley was persuaded to go to the station for an on-air interview that night.[9] Unaware that the microphone was live at the time, Presley answered Dewey's questions, including one about which high school he attended: a roundabout way of informing the audience of Presley's race without actually asking the question.[9] "That's All Right" was officially released on July 19, 1954,[9] and sold around 20,000 copies.[9] This number was not enough to chart nationally, but the single reached number four on the local Memphis charts.[9]
2004 reissue
In July 2004, exactly 50 years after its first release, the song was produced and re-released by Will Schillinger as a CD single in several countries. It entered the
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Sales and certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United States (RIAA)[32] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Legacy
Rolling Stone magazine argued in a 2004 article that Presley's recording of "That's All Right" was
References
- ^ ISBN 0-571-12939-0.
- ^ A&E Television Networks. July 1, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- ^ "The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Scribd.com. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-313-34044-4. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
- ^ https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#t
- ISBN 9780306812965. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Scotty Moore - Big Boy's "That's All Right"". www.scottymoore.net.
- ^ Viegas, Jen (November 19, 2010). "World's First Rock-and-Roll Song Identified". Seeker.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-517-06634-8.
- ISBN 0-571-12939-0.
- ^ "Sun Records discography". Globaldogproductions.info. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Sam Phillips' Sun Records". History of Rock. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "SUN Records, Memphis Tennessee". Boija.com. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ Wirz, Stefan. "'Big Boy' Crudup discography". Wirz.de. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ Gulla, Bob (2007). Icons of R & B and Soul. ABC-CLIO. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-313-34044-4. Retrieved August 11, 2013
- ^ Szatmary, David (2014). Rockin' in Time. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.
- ^ a b Gray, Michael (2006), The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, p. 165.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (April 16, 2004). "When was rock'n'roll really born?". The Guardian.
- Allmusic. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- ^ a b "Elvis Presley Recordings". Elvisrecordings.com. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
- ^ "Sam Phillips—Sun Studios Memphis—the father of rock n roll". Elvispresleynews.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2010. Retrieved July 22, 2010.
- ^ "Sam Phillips: The Rolling Stone Interview". Rollingstone.com. February 13, 1986.
- ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 7 - The All American Boy: Enter Elvis and the rock-a-billies. [Part 1]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
- ^ "Elvis Presley – That's All Right". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- ^ "Elvis Presley – Chart History (Hot Canadian Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
- ^ "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 116, no. 30. July 24, 2004. p. 55. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Elvis Presley". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
- ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- ^ "Elvis Presley – That's All Right". Singles Top 100. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- ^ "The Official UK Singles Chart 2004" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- ^ "American single certifications – Elvis Presley – That's All Right". Recording Industry Association of America.
- ^ Cave, Damien, Matt Diehl, Gavin Edwards, Jenny Eliscu, David Fricke, Lauren Gitlin, Matt Hendrickson, Kirk Miller, Austin Scaggs, and Rob Sheffield. "Truck Driver Invents Rock". Rolling Stone, no. 951 (June 24, 2004): 84–85.
- ^ "Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup: That's All Right – Also Performed By". AllMusic. Retrieved July 10, 2019.