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Elvis Presley: mystery train
Just months before Sam Phillips and Colonel Tom Parker sold Presley's contract to RCA for $40,000, Elvis went back into Sun Studios and cut this cover of a 1953 Junior Parker song. Presley quickened Park's original bluesy version. The new take peaked at Number 11 on the Billboard Country Chart, but a few months later RCA would release "Heartbreak Hotel" and completely eclipse everything that Presley released before. Still, "Mystery Train" endures as one of Elvis' most beloved songs -
Elvis Presley: Heartbreak hotel
Many Americans first learned of Elvis Presley when "Heartbreak Hotel" came across their radios in early 1956. Presley's previous success was mostly regional, but with the help of his new label RCA, he recorded a song that would stay on top of the Hot 100 for seven straight weeks. It even got him invited onto TV, kicking off a nationwide Elvis hysteria that, in many ways, has yet to die down. -
Elvis Presley: Love me tender
Few entertainers have ever had a year like Elvis Presley's 1956. Single after single flew up the charts, massive crowds of screaming girls followed him wherever he went and parents became convinced he was corrupting the young. His final Number One of the year was "Love Me Tender," a ballad written by Ken Darby. He played the song on The Ed Sullivan Show shortly before a movie of the same name hit theaters. -
Elvis Presley: Jailhouse rock
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote "Jailhouse Rock" specifically for Elvis Presley's 1957 movie of the same name. It's unclear if Elvis realized exactly what they meant by lines like "You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see/I sure would be delighted with your company," but the suggestion of inter-inmate romance also flew by most listeners and the song ended up knocking "Wake Up Little Susie" off the top of the charts. -
Elvis Presley Cant help falling in love
Fans at the final Elvis concerts knew the opening notes of "Can't Help Falling in Love" meant it was time to get ready to go. The dreamy song, which was written for his 1961 movie Blue Hawaii, ended every single one of his post-comeback shows. The sweet ode to true love was the perfect way to wrap up the evening. It has since been covered by everybody from Bob Dylan to U2 to UB40, who turned it into a huge hit in 1993. -
Please Please Me
George Martin, a producer at Parlophone records, saw something in The Beatles and decided to help them with auditions. After numerous attempts at releasing singles, he produced Please Please Me, The Beatles' debut album that was a hit, topping the charts for over 6 months. -
I Want To Hold Your Hand
I Want To Hold Your Hand hit the enterprising shores of America at the end of 1963, soaring to number one. Teens loved their off-kilter appearance, collarless suits, mop-top hair and quirky personalities. -
Rubber Soul
Rubber Soul has been called the first true Beatles album, symbolizing their break from traditional love songs and moving into a more eclectic form of songwriting. -
Eleanor Rigby
With this single from 1966's Revolver, The Beatles secured their place in the pantheon of great musical storytellers — and Lennon and McCartney (particularly the latter, Rigby's primary writer) proved a flair for the theatrical pop song rare among their contemporaries, even those who drew deftly on the narrative traditions of folk and blues. -
Strawberry Fields Forever
Recorded early in the Sgt. Pepper sessions, Strawberry Fields Forever instead wound up a 1967 single, on the opposite side of Penny Lane — try topping that double bill — and later on Magical Mystery Tour. Fields also nodded to Lennon and McCartney's youth, this time from the former's perspective, but ultimately, it was more a fantasy than a recollection. -
Hey Jude
McCartney's lyrics for "Hey Jude" were inspired by John and Cynthia Lennon's five-year-old son, Julian — but Lennon first thought McCartney was singing to him about his relationship with Yoko Ono. -
Elvis Presley: If I can dream
Just two months after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Elvis Presley stepped into the Western Recorders studio and laid down this moving tribute to the civil rights hero. It was the stirring climax to his 1968 comeback special, and he belted it out with incredible passion. The song rose to Number 12 on the Hot 100, and today many see it as one of the greatest vocal performances of his career. -
Elvis Presley: Suspicious minds
Elvis was just two years into his marriage with Priscilla when he recorded "Suspicious Minds," but things were already falling apart. It's clear he poured some of that disappointment, particularly over his own failings as a husband, into the song. Written by Mark James, it became his first Number One hit in seven years and was a regular highlight of his live show. -
Elvis Presley: In the Ghetto
Elvis spent much of the 1960s churning out cheesy B-movies and lifeless soundtracks while new acts like the Beatles and Bob Dylan made him seem like a relic. His brilliant 1968 comeback special shot him back to the forefront, and he took his newfound energy into the studio to cut "In the Ghetto." It's a song about the vicious cycle of poverty and despair in America's inner-cities, and it eventually hit Number Three, cementing the fact that Elvis was back. -
Elvis Presley: Kentucky rain
The song hit Number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold more than a million copies, though it only stayed in his live show for a few weeks. -
An American Trilogy
The Civil War was over 100 years in the past when Elvis began singing "An American Trilogy" in 1972, but the scars still ran deep throughout America. The song was the work of Nashville pro Mickey Newbury, who tried to unite the two sides of the country together by combining "Dixie," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "All My Trials" into a grand patriotic medley. Somehow he pulled it off in a mere four-and-a-half minutes, and the resulting tune became a highlight of Presley's life.
