The original vinyl record of the ‘That’s All Right (Mama)’ soundtrack which Elvis Presley recorded in 1954 is stated to be back on the market. It is noted that the record was last appeared at the 1998 Bonham’s auction event when it was sold for $27,000, and now according to rumors this truly collectible item could fetch $90,000.
Rock and roll museums around the world, including the Graceland estate where the King lived, are expected to bid for the vinyl that kick-started his career almost six decades ago. Lot 62, a 1954 recording of That’s All Right (Mama), is the highlight of the Whyte’s pop and rock memorabilia auction in the in Dublin, on Sunday March 24.
Elvis Presley’s 1954 recording of That’s All Right (Mama)
The story about Elvis’ first vinyl record and his performance of the ‘That’s All Right (Mama)’, the song that some music historians consider the first Rock song, certainly deserve couple of words.
A moment that some regard as the true beginning of the rock-and-roll revolution was the July 5th, 1954 when the song “That’s All Right” by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, and Elvis’ unrehearsed performance of it, has been recorded by Sam Phillips, the owner and operator of Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. This was Elvis’ first single, and it came out of his first recording session. In the summer 1953, Elvis, who was a 19-year-old truck driver came to Sun Records in Memphis to record a song as a gift for his mother and paid $3.98 plus tax for that.
Sam Philips’ business partner Marion Kreisler knew he was looking for a “white man who sounds like a black man.” She alerted her boss to Elvis, and Phillips arranged some sessions with some local session players: bassist Bill Black and guitarist Scotty Moore. The trio tried a few different songs in various styles, but when they played Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s obscure 1946 blues song “That’s All Right,” Phillips liked what he heard and had them record the song this way.
Phillips continued recording with Elvis over the next two evenings, and on the July 7th, 1954 WHBQ Radio in Memphis became the first station to play this song when their disc jockey Dewey Phillips aired it on his Red, Hot and Blue show two days after King of “Rock n Roll”recorded it. Interest in the record was so intense that Dewey reportedly played the record 14 times and received over 40 telephone calls. Two weeks later, Elvis Presley’s “That’s All Right (Mama)” as a single became an instant regional hit and set him on his path toward stardom. This single record sold around 20,000 copies, and the rest is the history.
Elvis Presley’s first original record of That’s All Right (Mama) estimated to fetch $90,000
