"The All American Boy" is a 1958 talking blues song written and sung by Bobby Bare, but credited by Fraternity Records to Bill Parsons, [1] with songwriting credit to Bill Parsons and Orville Lunsford. [2] While Bare was in the army, Parsons lip synced the record on television.
The song reached number 2 on the Billboard chart, [3] kept from the number one spot by "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" by the Platters. [4] Overseas, "The All American Boy" went to number 22 on the UK Singles Chart. [1] It made the top 10 in Australia.
The song was inspired by the success and then conscription of Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis. [3] Thus, the Pop Chronicles music documentary used it as the theme song for its episodes focused on Presley. [2] The song ends with the narrator getting drafted into the US Army. This song makes reference to the Chuck Berry song, "Johnny B. Goode", as well as the television show, American Bandstand .
"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being given also to Presley. A newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window inspired the song. Axton presented the song to Presley in November 1955 at a country music convention in Nashville. Presley recorded it on January 10, 1956, in a session with his band, the Blue Moon Boys, the guitarist Chet Atkins and the pianist Floyd Cramer. "Heartbreak Hotel" comprises an eight-bar blues progression, with heavy reverberation throughout the track, to imitate the character of Presley's Sun recordings.
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" and "hillbilly", the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.
Fraternity Records is a small record label based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was started by Harry Carlson and silent partner Dr. Ashton Welsh in 1954. The first recording to be released on Fraternity was Jerri Winters' "Winter's Here". The first hit was Cathy Carr's rendition of a Tin Pan Alley song, "Ivory Tower" in 1956. It made #2, besting a cover version by Otis Williams & the Charms. A year later came the Jimmy Dorsey #2 charting instrumental "So Rare", the famous bandleader's final hit before his death. 1959 saw another big hit, Bill Parsons' "The All American Boy", which also peaked at #2 on the Billboard pop charts. Parsons was a friend of country singer Bobby Bare and it was actually Bare's voice heard on the hit record. Parsons sang on the B-side. Fraternity also leased songs from smaller labels, including one track by Jackie Shannon.
"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Recorded originally by Big Mama Thornton on August 13, 1952, in Los Angeles and released by Peacock Records in late February 1953, "Hound Dog" was Thornton's only hit record, selling over 500,000 copies, spending 14 weeks in the R&B charts, including seven weeks at number one. Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", ranked at 318 in the 2021 iteration of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in February 2013.
"Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by American singer, songwriter and guitarist Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly records, incorporating elements of blues, country and pop music of the time. Perkins' original version of the song appeared on the Cashbox Best Selling Singles list for 16 weeks and spent two weeks at the number two position.
Robert Joseph Bare Sr. is an American country singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", "Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician.
First recording and first release by David Hill with Ray Ellis and His Orchestra
"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" is a song written by Dave "Curlee" Williams and sometimes also credited to James Faye "Roy" Hall. The song was first recorded by Big Maybelle, though the best-known version is the 1957 rock and roll/rockabilly version by Jerry Lee Lewis.
"That's All Right" is a song written and originally performed by the American blues singer Arthur Crudup and recorded in 1946. It was rereleased in early March 1949 by RCA Victor under the title "That's All Right, Mama", which was issued as RCA's first rhythm and blues record on its new 45 rpm single format.
"Blue Moon" is a popular song written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934 that has become a standard ballad. Early recordings included those by Connee Boswell and by Al Bowlly in 1935. The song was a hit twice in 1949, with successful recordings in the U.S. by Billy Eckstine and Mel Tormé.
"Don't Be Cruel" is a song that was recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was listed #197 in Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
"In the Ghetto" is a 1969 song written by Mac Davis and recorded by Elvis Presley. It was a major hit released in 1969 as a part of Presley's comeback album, and was also available on the single release of "Any Day Now" as the flip side.
From Elvis in Memphis is the ninth studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released by RCA Records on June 2, 1969. It was recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis in January and February 1969 under the direction of producer Chips Moman and backed by its house band, informally known as the Memphis Boys. Following the success of Presley's TV special Elvis and its soundtrack, the album marked Presley's return to non-soundtrack albums after the completion of his film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
"If I Can Dream" is a song made famous by Elvis Presley, written by Walter Earl Brown of The Skylarks for the singer and notable for its similarities with Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech. The song was published by Elvis Presley's music publishing company Gladys Music. It was recorded by Presley in June 1968, just two months after King's assassination, and also a short time after Robert Kennedy's assassination. The recording was first released to the public as the finale of Presley's '68 Comeback Special.
Elvis Is Back! is the fourth studio album by American singer Elvis Presley, released on April 8, 1960 by RCA Victor. It was Presley's first album of new material since 1958's King Creole soundtrack, as well as his first to be recorded and released in stereophonic sound. The album marked Presley's return to music after his discharge from the U.S. Army.
"One Night" is a song written by Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, and Anita Steiman. It originally was an R&B hit for Smiley Lewis in 1956, before being recorded with greater commercial success by Elvis Presley in 1958.
"(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I" is a popular song written by Bill Trader and published in 1952. Recorded as a single by Hank Snow it peaked at number four on the US country charts early in 1953.
"Paralyzed" is a 1956 song recorded by Elvis Presley for his album Elvis. The song was recorded on September 1, 1956, and has been well received by music critics. The song was written by Otis Blackwell, with Elvis receiving a songwriting credit.
"Guitar Man" is a 1967 song written and originally recorded by Jerry Reed, who took his version of it to number 53 on the Billboard country music charts in 1967. Soon after Reed's single appeared, Elvis Presley recorded the song with Reed playing the guitar part, and it became a minor country and pop hit.