For Elvis fans, this is an important day in history. Sixty years ago on July 5, an unknown 19-year-old boy recorded a song that changed his life. In Memphis-based Sun Studios, Elvis Presley recorded "That's All Right (Mama)," a bluesy song written by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup. Little did Elvis know that his quest to record a song in the summer of 1953 as a birthday gift for his mother would literally change his life. Elvis came into Sun Studios and recorded "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartache Begins." A year later, Sun Records producer Sam Phillips remembered Elvis as a white singer who could sing "black" rhythm and blues and knew that this was the key to breaking through new trends in the music industry. Phillips called Elvis in to a recording session, but the session did not go well. Phillips could not recapture the "magic" he heard in Elvis' voice during the first recording in the summer of 1953. During a break in recording, Elvis was messing around with the musicians and played a faster version of the familiar "That's All Right" and Phillips, overhearing the jam session, knew that was the sound he was looking for. "That's All Right" was released to a Memphis radio station a few days later and sparked enough interest for a regional release a couple weeks later. "That's All Right" did not become a national best-seller, but it put Elvis on the path to stardom. After the regional success of "That's All Right," Elvis recorded "Heartbreak Hotel" which became the first of many number ones on Billboard's pop singles chart. Interestingly, Elvis' only intention was to give his mother a unique birthday gift, and that gesture unwittingly introduced the world to the smooth and effortless voice of Elvis Presley while changing the direction of the music trends and giving birth to rock -n- roll.
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