Elvis Presley's rise to his throne as the "King of Rock and Roll" began 70 years ago this week – on July 18th, 1953.
Elvis was 18 years old at the time. He recorded two songs, for $4 fee, at the Memphis Recording Service in Memphis, Tennessee -- "My Happiness," which had been a hit for Jon and Sondra Steele in 1948, and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," which hit for The Ink Spots in 1941.
Memphis Recording Service was in the same building as Sun Records. Marion Keisker, the assistant to Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, worked with Elvis that day.
Back in 2000, Keisker told England's Q magazine, "It was a busy Saturday afternoon. The office was full of people wanting to make personal records. He came in, said he wanted to make a record. I told him he'd have to wait and he said 'OK.'
She added, "While he was waiting, we had a conversation. He said he was a singer. I said, 'What kind of singer are you?' He said, 'I sing all kinds.' I said, 'Who do you sound like?' He said, 'I don't sound like nobody.'"
Then in January of 1954, Presley returned to record two more songs -- "I'll Never Stand in Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You." Later that year Phillips invited Elvis to record "Without You," a ballad that he thought would fit Elvis's voice.
In that session Presley recorded what would be his debut single, a cover of the Arthur Crudup' song "That's All Right." The rest is rock ‘n roll history.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]