Classic Albums - Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley

This film tells the unusual story that lies behind the making of Elvis Presley's first album for RCA Records, in 1956, and his meteoric rise to Superstardom. In Memphis, Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records, gives the inside story of those groundbreaking days when he auditioned, produced and befriended Elvis. Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana describe recording the album in Nashville and New York. They recall, with rare home movie footage, touring with Elvis's Pink Cadillac. The film is filled with performances from '55 and '56, interview with Elvis and rare home movie footage of him at play and work, offering fresh insights into his life and his recordings. Featured songs include Blue Suede Shoes, Shake Rattle and Roll, Tutti Frutti, Money Honey and Elvis' first million seller Heartbreak Hotel. Also songs from his early Sun sessions: Mystery Train, Baby Let's Play House and That's Alright.

Track Listing:
1. Blue Suede Shoes
2. Trying to Get to You
3. Shake Rattle and Roll
4. Tribute to Elmore James
5. That's All Right
6. Mystery Train
7. Baby Let's Play House
8. Tutti Frutii
9. Heartbreak Hotel
10. Money Honey
11. I Was The One

"It was like the world went from black & white to Technicolor," says Keith Richards of the emergence of Elvis Presley in the mid-'50s, and this look at the King's first official album (the legendary Sun Sessions weren't issued in album form until well after the fact) backs up that claim. The one-hour program (plus 40 minutes of bonus interview material on the DVD) combines performance footage (the early TV shows are not to be missed), photos, and more to limn Presley's early days, when he combined country, blues, and R&B to forge a unique, galvanizing style. Sun producer Sam Phillips, author Peter Guralnick, Presley's musicians, and others are on hand to provide insight and background. But in the end, of course, it comes down to the music--and when you're talking about the likes of "Blue Suede Shoes," "Tutti Frutti," "Money Honey," and "Heartbreak Hotel" (a single that actually wasn't on the album), "classic" hardly begins to cover it. --Sam Graham