ELVIS '56

ELVIS '56 is a compilation of the best material that Presley recorded that year. The release of this album commemorates the 40th anniversary of Elvis Presley's first hit single, "Heartbreak Hotel," and features a previously unreleased alternate take of that track. ELVIS '56 will be available in a standard jewel box, as well as a collector's edition with enhanced packaging. Personnel: Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar, piano); Scotty Moore, Chet Atkins (guitar); Shorty Long, Marvin Hughes (piano); Bill Black (bass); D.J. Fontana (drums); Ben Speer, Brock Speer (background vocals). The Jordanaires: Gordon Stoker (piano, background vocals); Hugh Jarrett, Neal Matthews, Hoyt Hawkins (background vocals). Compilation producers: Ernst Mikael Jorgensen, Roger Sermon. Recorded at RCA Studios, Nashville, Tennessee; RCA Studios, New York, New York and Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California between January 10 and September 3, 1956. Includes liner notes by Alfred Wertheimer. The Collector's Edition includes twenty-four pages of personal photos from the Alfred Wertheimer Collection in a hard-bound, CD-size book. Personnel: Elvis Presley (vocals, acoustic guitar, piano); Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore (guitar); Gordon Stoker (piano, background vocals); Floyd Cramer, Shorty Long, Marvin Hughes (piano); Bill Black (bass); D.J. Fontana (drums); The Jordanaires, Ben Speer, Brock Speer, High Jarrett, Neal Matthews, Hoyt Hawins (background vocals). Producer: Steve Sholes Compilation Producers: Ernst Mikael Jorgensen, Roger Sermon. Recorded in 1956 at RCA Studios, Nashville, Tennessee; RCA Studios, New York, New York; Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California. Digitally remastered by Dick Baxter and Dennis Ferrante. Personnel: Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar, piano); Scotty Moore, Chet Atkins (guitar); Shorty Long, Marvin Hughes (piano); Bill Black (bass); D.J. Fontana (drums); Ben Speer, Brock Speer (background vocals). The Jordanaires: Gordon Stoker (piano, background vocals); Hugh Jarrett, Neal Matthews, Hoyt Hawkins (background vocals). Compilation producers: Ernst Mikael Jorgensen, Roger Sermon. Recorded at RCA Studios, Nashville, Tennessee; RCA Studios, New York, New York and Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California between January 10 and September 3, 1956. Includes liner notes by Alfred Wertheimer. All tracks have been digitally remastered. 1956 was the year that altered American pop music forever. With the exception of Bill Haley's 1955 hit "Rock Around the Clock," the American pop charts of the early 1950s were dominated by the likes of Mitch Miller, Nelson Riddle, and Frank Sinatra. Then came Elvis, and everything changed. From April 7, 1956, when "Heartbreak Hotel" topped the charts, until the end of the year, Elvis held the number one chart position for 25 weeks. Furthermore, the coattail effect of Presley's massive popularity opened the charts to fellow rockers Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and many others. No innocuous pop star, Presley set off a national debate with his libidinal gyrations and racially ambiguous music (when Presley first broke, many DJs in the segregated South refused to play his music because they didn't believe he was white). ELVIS 56, which collects 22 of Presley's early recordings (including a previously unreleased alternate take of "Heartbreak Hotel"), makes clear what all the fuss was about. Raw, raucous, sexy, and always brilliant, Presley's 1956 recordings are quite simply among the best rock records of all time.

• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 03/11/2014