That's All Right (Mama)
Encyclopedia
"That's All Right" is the name of the first single released by Elvis Presley
, written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup
. Elvis' version was recorded on 5 July 1954, and released on 19 July 1954 with "Blue Moon of Kentucky
" as the B-side. It is #112 on the 2004 Rolling Stone magazine list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
20-2205, but was less successful than some of Crudup's previous recordings. At the same session, he recorded a virtually identical tune with different lyrics, "I Don't Know It", which was also released as a single (RCA Victor 20-2307). In early March 1949, the song was rereleased under the title, "That's All Right, Mama" (RCA Victor 50-0000), which was issued as RCA's first rhythm and blues record on their new 45 rpm single format, on bright orange vinyl.
Elvis Presley's version was recorded in July 1954, and released with "Blue Moon of Kentucky
" as the B-side. Its catalogue number was Sun 209. The label reads "That's All Right" (omitting "Mama" from the original title), and names the performers as Elvis Presley, Scotty
and Bill
. Arthur Crudup is credited on the label as songwriter, though he may never have received royalties from the recording.
A country music
version by Marty Robbins
peaked at number 7 on the Billboard
Hot Country Singles
chart in 1955.
's on the evening of July 5, 1954, Presley, Moore, and Black were taking a break between recordings when Presley started fooling around with an up-tempo version of Arthur Crudup's song "That's All Right, Mama". Black began joining in on his upright bass, and soon they were joined by Moore on guitar. Producer Sam Phillips
, taken aback by this sudden upbeat atmosphere, asked the three of them to start again so he could record it.
Black's bass and guitars from Presley and Moore provided the instrumentation. The recording contains no drums or additional instruments. The song was produced in the style of a "live" recording (all parts performed at once and recorded on a single track). The following evening the trio recorded "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in a similar style, and it was selected as the B-side to "That's All Right".
The recording session was Presley's fifth visit to the Sun Studio. His first two visits, the summer of 1953 and January 1954, had been private recordings, followed by two more visits in the summer of 1954.
Upon finishing the recording session, according to Scotty Moore, Bill Black remarked, "Damn. Get that on the radio and they'll run us out of town."
Interest in the record was so intense that Dewey reportedly played the record fourteen times and received over forty telephone calls. Presley was persuaded to go to the station for an on-air interview that night. Unaware that the microphone was live at the time, Presley answered Dewey's questions, including one about which high school he attended: a roundabout way of informing the audience of Presley's race without actually asking the question.
"That's All Right" was officially released on July 19, 1954, and sold around twenty thousand copies. This number was not enough to chart nationally, but the single reached number four on the local Memphis charts.
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup
Arthur Crudup
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known outside blues circles for writing songs such as "That's All Right" , "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine", later covered by Elvis Presley and dozens of other artists.-Career:Arthur Crudup...
. Elvis' version was recorded on 5 July 1954, and released on 19 July 1954 with "Blue Moon of Kentucky
Blue Moon of Kentucky
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1946 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, The Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley....
" as the B-side. It is #112 on the 2004 Rolling Stone magazine list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
History
The song was written by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, and originally recorded by him in Chicago on 6 September 1946, as "That's All Right". It was released as a single on RCA VictorRCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
20-2205, but was less successful than some of Crudup's previous recordings. At the same session, he recorded a virtually identical tune with different lyrics, "I Don't Know It", which was also released as a single (RCA Victor 20-2307). In early March 1949, the song was rereleased under the title, "That's All Right, Mama" (RCA Victor 50-0000), which was issued as RCA's first rhythm and blues record on their new 45 rpm single format, on bright orange vinyl.
Elvis Presley's version was recorded in July 1954, and released with "Blue Moon of Kentucky
Blue Moon of Kentucky
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1946 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, The Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley....
" as the B-side. Its catalogue number was Sun 209. The label reads "That's All Right" (omitting "Mama" from the original title), and names the performers as Elvis Presley, Scotty
Scotty Moore
Winfield Scott "Scotty" Moore III is an American guitarist. He is best known for his backing of Elvis Presley in the first part of his career, between 1954 and the beginning of Elvis' Hollywood years...
and Bill
Bill Black
William Patton "Bill" Black, Jr. was an American musician who is noted as one of the pioneers of rockabilly music. Black was the bassist in Elvis Presley's early trio and the leader of Bill Black's Combo....
. Arthur Crudup is credited on the label as songwriter, though he may never have received royalties from the recording.
A country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
version by Marty Robbins
Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
peaked at number 7 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Singles
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart in 1955.
Presley's recording
During an uneventful recording session at Sun StudioSun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business...
's on the evening of July 5, 1954, Presley, Moore, and Black were taking a break between recordings when Presley started fooling around with an up-tempo version of Arthur Crudup's song "That's All Right, Mama". Black began joining in on his upright bass, and soon they were joined by Moore on guitar. Producer Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
, taken aback by this sudden upbeat atmosphere, asked the three of them to start again so he could record it.
Black's bass and guitars from Presley and Moore provided the instrumentation. The recording contains no drums or additional instruments. The song was produced in the style of a "live" recording (all parts performed at once and recorded on a single track). The following evening the trio recorded "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in a similar style, and it was selected as the B-side to "That's All Right".
The recording session was Presley's fifth visit to the Sun Studio. His first two visits, the summer of 1953 and January 1954, had been private recordings, followed by two more visits in the summer of 1954.
Upon finishing the recording session, according to Scotty Moore, Bill Black remarked, "Damn. Get that on the radio and they'll run us out of town."
Release
Sam Phillips gave copies of the record to local disc jockeys Dewey Phillips (no relation) of WHBQ, Uncle Richard of WMPS, and Sleepy Eyed John Lepley of WHHM. On July 7, 1954, Dewey Phillips played "That's All Right" on his popular radio show "Red, Hot & Blue". On hearing the news that Dewey was going to play his record, Presley went to the local movie theater to calm his nerves.Interest in the record was so intense that Dewey reportedly played the record fourteen times and received over forty telephone calls. Presley was persuaded to go to the station for an on-air interview that night. Unaware that the microphone was live at the time, Presley answered Dewey's questions, including one about which high school he attended: a roundabout way of informing the audience of Presley's race without actually asking the question.
"That's All Right" was officially released on July 19, 1954, and sold around twenty thousand copies. This number was not enough to chart nationally, but the single reached number four on the local Memphis charts.