There have been some great debut albums in the world of popular music. But this one, to me, stands the tallest. Elvis Presley’s eponymous 1956 album consisting of some 12 songs in all of 28 minutes is a watershed moment in the history of modern music.

This LP removed the divide between black music and white music, creating a mainstream genre called rock and roll, which became everybody’s music, not just in America but across the globe. In a way, its music unified people. And mind you, all the songs inside were covers. The King of Rock and Roll’s 44^th death anniversary is on the 16^th of August and I thought I’ll pick this LP for my next review.

Elvis had been recording with Sun Recording Studio with the Sun Records and had given a massive hit with the electrifying version of Arthur Crudup's That’s All Right. Television was picking up and Elvis had made an appearance on Dorsey Brother’s Stage Show and that was yet another hit. The bigger label, RCA had strategically plucked the rising star from Sun Records and wanted to put out an album quickly to bank on the rising wave. All the tracks were chosen by Elvis himself and they were from artists like Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and Ray Charles.

Musically speaking it’s not a tightly tied up album…well those weren’t the album days, exactly. And the kids were just buying 45 rpm records and not LPs. Also, some of the songs recording quality aren’t up to the mark as it’s also a mix and match of some of the recordings from Sun days. But the content is just mind-blowing, right from the word go.

Side 1 opens with Carl Perkin’s Blue Suede Shoes and it’s like a musical explosion of sorts…an explosion the world hadn’t heard before, although it’s a cover. In fact, the song became so big that people thought it’s an Elvis original.

Side 2 again opens with another explosion and this time it’s the already explosive Tutti Frutti and Elvis turned it into a musical bomb of sorts. The album also has softer songs like I’m Counting on You and Blue Moon and they firmly established Elvis’ beautiful voice and crooning style. The accompanying musicians, Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore and Bill Black among others, are sharp on the job.

The youngsters of the nation started dancing to these tracks and coupled with Elvis’ personality and TV appearances, the album became a raving, raging hit. Interestingly, the ultimate classic, Heartbreak Hotel was also recorded in the same session, but was left out from the LP because the label thought it was an odd song. Released a few weeks later as a single, it became one of Elvis’s greatest hits. The legendary Chet Atkins played the guitar on it. For the 1999 reissue, it was added along with a few other tracks.

Much is there, everywhere about all the rankings and the listings in ‘all-time great albums’ so I won’t touch upon it. But the iconic album art of the LP demands attention. It has a shot of Elvis performing with his guitar (taken from photo shoot at one of his live shows) on it and in a way it announces the arrival of the guitar as a most important force in the world of popular music. Remember, Jimi Hendrix was still 10 years away. The punk band The Clash paid a lovely tribute to it on the cover of their major album, ‘London Calling’.

On a personal note, and as a singer of sorts, I’ve been trying to sing Heartbreak Hotel forever now, but I just can’t get it. Guess I never will.

Year: 1956

Duration: 28:03

Genre: Rock and roll

Label: RCA Victor

Producer: Sam Philip and Stephen Sholes

Rating: 4.5/5

Reviewed by Meraj Hasan

Meraj Hasan is a Mumbai based communication professional (and an amateur poet/musician) with a passion for listening to music the vinyl way. His 32-year-old Technics turntable along with a humble collection of LPs across genres like Classic rock, Classical, Blues and Jazz (amongst others) are his prized possessions. He's also the author of the book 'Khyaalon ki Tapri', a collection of poems. This bestseller book is available on Amazon.  

He can be reached at +91 9833410791 or email: meraj.hasan@gmail.com