List of songs recorded by Elvis Presley on the Sun label

Elvis Presley recorded at least 24 songs at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, between 1953 and 1955. The recordings reflect the wide variety of music that could be heard in Memphis at the time: blues, rhythm & blues, gospel, country & western, hillbilly, rockabilly and bluegrass. Because of the recordings' historical significance in the foundation of rock and roll music, they were inducted into the U.S. Congress's National Recording Registry in 2002.
Of the 24 known taped songs, 22 survive. Ten were released by Sun as Elvis's first five singles between 1954 and 1955. With the exception of the first four songs, which were demos recorded at Presley's expense, all of the songs were produced by Sam Phillips and featured Scotty Moore on guitar and Bill Black on bass.
A year after Presley joined RCA Victor, he had a spontaneous informal session with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis when visiting the Sun studio. This meeting was recorded on December 4, 1956, and dubbed the Million Dollar Quartet by the local newspaper the next day. These sessions are not generally included when reference is made to "Elvis's Sun Sessions", however.
On July 18, 1953, Presley first went to the Memphis Recording Service at the Sun Record Company, now commonly known as Sun Studio. He paid $3.98 to record the first of two double-sided demo acetates, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". Presley reportedly gave the acetate to his mother as a much-belated extra birthday present, although many biographers suggest that Presley simply wanted to get noticed by Sun owner Sam Phillips. These suggestions are strengthened by the fact that the Presleys did not own a record player at the time. Elvis could have wanted both : another gift for his mother and an opportunity to be discovered. That one-off acetate has since been valued at $500,000 by Record Collector magazine. Returning to Sun Studios on January 4, 1954, he recorded a second acetate, "I'll Never Stand in Your Way" / "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You".
Phillips had already cut the first records by blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf and Junior Parker. He thought a combination of black blues and boogie-woogie music would be very popular among white people, if presented in the right way. In the spring, Presley auditioned for an amateur gospel quartet called The Songfellows, as one of the group was leaving and they were seeking a replacement. However, following Presley's audition, the original group member decided to stay. In May, Presley auditioned at the Hi-Hat in Memphis as a vocalist for a band. Eddie Bond, the owner of the Hi-Hat, turned him down.
When Phillips acquired a demo recording of "Without You" and was unable to identify the vocalist, his assistant, Marion Keisker, reminded him about the young truck driver. She called him on May 26, 1954. Presley was not able to do justice to the song (the original acetate of the song that Phillips presented to Elvis resides in the Memphis State University collection), but Phillips asked him to perform some of the many other songs he knew. After running through a few songs, Presley expressed an interest in finding a band to play with, and Phillips invited local Western swing musicians Winfield "Scotty" Moore (electric guitar) and Bill Black (slap bass) to audition Presley. They did so on Sunday, July 4, 1954, at Moore's house. Neither musician was overly impressed, but they agreed a studio session would be useful to explore his potential.
On July 5, 1954, the trio met at Sun studios to rehearse and record a handful of songs. According to Moore, the first song they recorded was "I Love You Because", but, after a few other country-oriented songs that weren't all that impressive, they decided to take a break. During the break, Presley began "acting the fool" with Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)", a blues song. When the other two musicians joined in, Phillips got them to restart and began taping. This was the bright, upbeat sound he had been looking for. Black remarked, "Damn. Get that on the radio and they'll run us out of town." The group recorded four songs during that session, including bluegrass musician Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky", which he had written and recorded as a slow waltz. Sources credit Bill Black with initiating the song, with Presley and Moore joining in. They ended up with a fast version of the song in 4/4 time. After an early take, Phillips can be heard on tape saying: "Fine, man. Hell, that's different—that's a pop song now, nearly 'bout."
To gauge professional and public reaction, Phillips took several acetates of the session to DJ Dewey Phillips (no relation) of Memphis radio station WHBQ's Red, Hot and Blue show. "That's All Right" subsequently received its first play on July 8, 1954. A week later, Sun had received some 6,000 advanced orders for "That's All Right" / "Blue Moon of Kentucky," which was released on July 19, 1954. From August 18 through December 8, "Blue Moon of Kentucky" was consistently higher on the charts, and then both sides began to chart across the South.
After several performances with other bands, Presley arranged for Moore and Black to be his regular back-up group, giving them each 25% of the takings. Moore and Black were originally members of their own band, The Starlight Wranglers, but after the success of "That's All Right", jealousy within the group forced them to split.
Over the next 15 months, the trio would release five singles, tour extensively across the South, and appear regularly on the Louisiana Hayride; it was the biggest rival to the Grand Ole Opry at the time. They had originally auditioned for the Opry in October 1954, but they failed to impress the people in charge, or the audience, and were not invited back. Several biographers cite Jim Denny, talent agent at the Opry, as the man who told Presley that he should "go back to driving a truck".
The trio would record at Sun together until November 1955, when RCA Victor purchased Presley's Sun contract from Phillips for $40,000; it was, at the time, the highest sum ever paid for a recording contract. Sun's rights to press Presley's recordings expired on January 1, 1956; RCA Victor then issued Presley's first five Sun singles nationally. Presley's first single for RCA Victor, "Heartbreak Hotel" was recorded in January, 1956. Although no longer under contract to Sun, Presley returned to the studios frequently over the next few months, visiting with Phillips and meeting many of the label's new artists.
On December 4, 1956, Presley visited Sun studios during a Carl Perkins recording session, which also featured a young Jerry Lee Lewis on piano, and a new artist named Johnny Cash looking on. During a break in recording, Presley sat at the piano and began to sing along with Perkins, Lewis and Cash. Phillips kept his tape recorder running during the impromptu jam session and seeing an opportunity to promote another of his new acts, he arranged for a reporter to cover the event. The recordings would eventually surface later as "The Million Dollar Quartet".
During Presley's tenure at Sun Records, he recorded two demo recordings in Lubbock, Texas: "Fool, Fool, Fool" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll", which were released for the first time by RCA Victor in the 1990s. These are not considered Sun recordings.
Listed are the 24 titles from 1953 to 1955, ordered by their recording date. A take is any later version; the best take would be used to create a master to be issued.
"My Happiness" was recorded as a self-financed demo.
The original is by Borney Bergantine (the melody existed in 1933), and Betty Peterson Blasco; published in 1948.
"That's When Your Heartaches Begin" was recorded as a self-financed demo.
The original is from 1937 by William Raskin, Fred Fisher and George Brown, and recorded by The Ink Spots in 1941.
"I'll Never Stand in Your Way," by Hy Heath, is another self-financed recording.
"It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You" is the fourth and final self-financed demo Elvis recorded. The song is by Fred Rose.
"I Love You Because" is a song by Leon Payne, original probably 1949, Capitol; Eddie Fisher (1950, RCA Victor)
"That's All Right (Mama)" was written and recorded by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (1947, RCA Victor). Crudup's original title is "That's All Right (Mama)"; on the Sun label, and many later releases, '(Mama)' is omitted: "That's All Right".
Elvis's recording of "That's All Right (Mama)" is mentioned as one of the beginnings of rock and roll, though the first rock and roll records predate it.
Hugh Williams – Jimmy Kennedy. Original: possibly Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians.
The 4-CD boxed set Today, Tomorrow and Forever contains an alternate version (take three).
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a bluegrass song by Bill Monroe, originally recorded by "Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys" (1947, Columbia).
The 1992 album The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50s Masters contains a fragment (1:03) of an alternate take in a slower, more country style. This take was originally released on bootleg in 1974, having been located at Sun Records many years after Presley left for RCA.
R. Rodgers – L. Hart. Original: Ted Fio Rito & His Orchestra (Brunswick LA231=C 11/19/1934) [1] Also: Connie Boswell (Brunswick 16642, 1/15/1935) [2] (many other recordings of this standard also preceded Elvis's)
Sam Coslow – Will Grosz. Original: Lonnie Johnson (1948, King)
Jimmy Wakely. Original: Jimmy Wakely (1943, Decca)
M. David. Original probably Patti Page (1950, Mercury)
The Dean Martin version was probably Elvis' inspiration.
Sydney Robin – Bob Shelton – Joe Shelton. Original: The Shelton Brothers (1942, Decca) Recorded 1933
Also; Lonestar Cowboys, 1933 on RCA (Victor), Nelstone's Hawaiians: Victor V40273 (1929). The song was also recorded by Frank Yankovic and was responsible for his band being rated the #13 band "on the Nation's Juke Boxes" in 1948.
Roy Brown. Original Roy Brown (1947, DeLuxe); also Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris (1948, King)
Kokomo Arnold. Original probably Kokomo Arnold (1935, Decca)
Other releases: Johnny Lee Wills (1941, Decca); Moon Mullican (1946, King); Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys as "Brain Cloudy Blues", (1946, Columbia)
Jack Sallee
Arthur Gunter. Original: Arthur Gunter (1954, Excello)
In 1951 Eddy Arnold recorded a song titled "I Want to Play House with You" by Cy Coben. [3] This song has been misidentified as the same song. It is not.
Ray Charles
Rose Marie McCoy – Charles Singleton. Original: The Eagles (1954, Mercury)
In 2002, RCA included information in the liner notes of Sunrise as to Presley recording this song while simultaneously playing the piano, and not aided by his rhythm guitar, as previously believed. Because the piano was not directly miked, it can only be heard faintly in the background.
Stan Kesler – William Taylor
Stan Kesler – Charlie Feathers
Junior Parker – Sam Phillips. Original: Little Junior's Blue Flames (1953, Sun)
William R. Emerson. Original: Billy Emerson (1955, Sun)
On December 4, 1956, nearly a year after Presley had left Sun for RCA Victor, he visited the Sun Studio; An impromptu jam session was unofficially recorded with Carl Perkins (then already famous for his "Blue Suede Shoes"), Jerry Lee Lewis (relatively unknown at the time), and Johnny Cash (not heard on the tapes, although he does appear on the cover photo). Singing songs as they came to mind, around 40 titles were recorded, most of them incomplete. Elvis is heard talking about a singer he saw in Las Vegas, doing his version of "Don't Be Cruel" and enjoying "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" from Chuck Berry.
Over the decades, several additional recordings have been claimed as having been recorded by Elvis at Sun Records. The reference work Elvis: The Illustrated Record by Roy Carr and Mick Farren lists the following songs that were, as of 1982, believed to have been recorded by Elvis at Sun Records but as of 2009 remain unreleased and unaccounted for in the official record:
Most of the tapes, including the private single, the Million Dollar Quartet and alternate takes have been released.
Ten songs, making five singles, were originally released on the Sun label. These records (in both 45 RPM and 78 RPM formats) are among the most valuable of Elvis's output, fetching four figures in excellent condition:
After signing with RCA, the same songs, in the same b/w combination, were re-released by RCA (December 1955). The songs were available on 78 RPM and 45 RPM, which explains the two ordering-numbers 20/47, respectively:
The same pairings were later reissued as part of RCA's Gold Standard series in five different label formats: Black label with dog at top (September 1958), black label with dog on left side (September 1965), orange label (November 1968), red label (September 1970), and black label with dog in upper right hand corner (September 1976)
On January 27, 1956, the first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel" b/w "I Was the One" was released, giving Elvis a nationwide breakthrough. His reputation as a performer on stage was already growing in the same dimensions.
On March 23, 1956, the first album, Elvis Presley, was released (RCA 1254). "Heartbreak Hotel" was at that moment climbing the lists, but as rock and roll was largely bought by teenagers at the time and teenagers usually bought singles, albums were seen as less important for the genre. So "Heartbreak Hotel" is not on this album. RCA, however, put five unreleased Sun recordings on this album:
These two albums were released during Elvis's hitch in the Army, consisting of tracks previously released only as singles or on EPs, including all but one of the ten commercially released Sun tracks. Four were included on For LP Fans Only...
...with five featured on A Date with Elvis:
The remaining commercial release, "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine", would not appear on LP until the 1976 compilation "The Sun Sessions".
On March 22, 1976, the album The Sun Sessions was released, with 16 out of the 24 known Sun titles:
Missing:
Although the title suggests more, only 18 out of the 24 known Sun songs are here. The album does contain several takes from "I Love You Because", and "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone". Missing:
The recordings have been released in 1989 as a CD, titled, Elvis Presley - The Million Dollar Quartet (RCA CD # 2023-2-R)
Nearly every song Elvis recorded at Sun is present here (although "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" is hidden on CD number 5; the rest is on CD 1). Missing:
Another delving in the Sun Records vaults is the most complete collection of Elvis's recordings from that time. All the masters, some demos and alternate recordings, and a few early live-recorded tracks. Missing:
The current (as of mid-2006) version of the Sun recordings. Contains the five singles ("That's All Right" / "Blue Moon of Kentucky"; "Good Rockin' Tonight" / "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine"; "Milkcow Blues Boogie" / "You're a Heartbreaker"; "Baby Let's Play House" / "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone"; "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" / "Mystery Train") plus "Harbor Lights", "I Love You Because" (alternate take 2), "Tomorrow Night", "I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')", "Just Because", "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" (slow version), "Tryin' to Get to You", and "When It Rains, It Really Pours".
Missing:
A limited-edition 3-CD box set released in June 2012 by RCA/Sony collectors' label Follow That Dream (FTD) Records, as a companion piece to a book by Ernst Mikael Jørgensen, also entitled A Boy from Tupelo. The book chronicles Presley's day-to-day life from July 4, 1954 (the day when he first rehearsed with guitarist Scotty Moore) to December 31, 1955, including many previously unpublished testimonies, accounts and details on every single show performed by Presley during the period (the book is, indeed, mainly intended as a complete concertography and tourography of Elvis Presley's early career). The first two of the three discs released in conjunction with the book feature, as the title specifies, all the material recorded by Presley from 1953 to 1955, including all of the alternate takes and all of the recordings which were missing from previous releases, with the exception of "Satisfied" and "I Got a Woman"; the latter two recordings are stated by Jørgensen himself, in the book, to be actually lost. However, a live rendition from March 19, 1955, of "I Got a Woman" is featured on the third disc of the package, along with 31 more live recordings from the era, 27 of which are previously unreleased. The A Boy from Tupelo book + CDs package, which was printed as a strictly limited run of 3,000 copies (each including a gift pack consisting in five 45-RPM reproductions of Presley's original Sun singles) sold out in 2012. In 2017 the set finally received wide release and added one track to Disc 3 which was previously unavailable: "I Forgot To Remember To Forget - Recorded at the Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, Louisiana, October 29, 1955".