"That's All Right" is a song written and originally performed by the American
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
singer
Arthur Crudup, and recorded in 1946. It was rereleased in early March 1949 by
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
under the title "That's All Right, Mama", which was issued as RCA's first rhythm and blues record on its new
45 rpm single format.
"That's All Right" is best known as the debut
single recorded and released by
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
. Presley's version was recorded on July 5, 1954,
and released on July 19, 1954, with "
Blue Moon of Kentucky" as the B-side. It was ranked number 112 on the 2010 ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine list of the "
500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...
". Several critics have cited Presley's version as a candidate for the first
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
record. In July 2004, exactly 50 years after it was first released, the song was re-released as a
CD single
A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...
in several countries, including the United Kingdom, where it reached number three.
In 1998, the 1954 recording by
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame
The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
.
History
The song was written by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, and originally recorded by him in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
on September 6, 1946, as "That's All Right".
Some of the lyrics are
traditional blues verses first recorded by
Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1926.
Crudup's recording was released as a single in April of 1947
[ on ]RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
20–2205, but was less successful than some of his previous recordings. One of the experts who consider the Crudup recording to be the "first rock and roll song" is Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it beca ...
rock historian Joseph Burns, who adds that "this song could contain the first ever guitar solo break".
At the same session, Crudup 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 its new 45 rpm single format, on bright orange vinyl.
Elvis Presley's version was recorded in July 1954. While recording an album as part of a trio called The Blue Moon Boys
The Blue Moon Boys were an American rock and roll band that was formed by Elvis Presley, lead guitarist Scotty Moore and double bass player Bill Black. The group members were introduced by Sun Studio owner Sam Phillips in 1954, except for drum ...
, the band played "That's All Right" in between takes, and the uptempo style characteristic of rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...
caught the attention of studio executive Sam Phillips, who asked for a refinement of the interpretation that was later recorded. Its catalogue number was Sun 209. The song was released under its original title, "That's All Right", and names the performers as Elvis Presley, Scotty, and Bill. The Presley version was not identical to Crudup's since it was "at least twice as fast as the original". His version is considered by some music critics as one of the records that was the first in the rock n'roll genre.
Arthur Crudup was credited as the composer on the label of Presley's single, but despite legal battles into the 1970s, reportedly never received royalties. An out-of-court settlement was supposed to pay Crudup an estimated $60,000 in back royalties, but never materialized.[Gray, Michael (2006), ''The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia'', p. 165.] Crudup had used lines in his song that had been present in earlier blues recordings, including Blind Lemon Jefferson's 1926 song " That Black Snake Moan". A 2004 article in ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' argues that rather than Presley's version being one of the first records of rock and roll, it was simply one of "the first white artists' interpretations of a sound already well-established by black musicians almost a decade before ..a raucous, driving, unnamed variant of rhythm and blues". A country music version by Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...
peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' Hot Country Singles
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...
chart in 1955.
Elvis Presley's recording
Production
On the evening of July 5, 1954, during The Blue Moon Boys
The Blue Moon Boys were an American rock and roll band that was formed by Elvis Presley, lead guitarist Scotty Moore and double bass player Bill Black. The group members were introduced by Sun Studio owner Sam Phillips in 1954, except for drum ...
' recording session at Sun Studio, Elvis Presley was on acoustic rhythm guitar, Scotty Moore
Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968.
Rock critic ...
was on electric lead guitar, and Bill Black
William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio, The Blue Moon Boys. Black later formed Bill ...
was on string bass
The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
. During a break between recordings, Presley began improvising an up-tempo version of Arthur Crudup's song "That's All Right, Mama". Black, on bass, joined, and the pair was soon joined by Moore's guitar. Producer Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American disc jockey, songwriter and record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, R ...
was impressed by the upbeat take on the song and asked the three to start again so he could record it.
Presley's first two visits to Sun Studio had been in the summer of 1953 and in January 1954, followed by two more visits in the summer of 1954. This recording session was Presley's fifth visit. Produced in the style of a "live" performance—all parts performed at once and recorded onto one track—the recording contains no drums or additional instruments. Presley's version has lyrics different from Arthur Crudup's version. (In 1986, Sam Phillips recalled that when recording, Elvis changed some lyrics of songs.) The next evening, the trio recorded, in a similar style, "Blue Moon of Kentucky", which became the "That's All Right" single's B side.
Release
Sam Phillips gave copies of the acetate 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 song, Presley went to the local movie theater to calm his nerves.
Interest in the song was so intense that Dewey reportedly played the acetate 14 times and received over 40 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 20,000 copies. This number was not enough to chart nationally, but the single reached number four on the local Memphis charts.
2004 reissue
In July 2004, exactly 50 years after its first release, the song was produced and re-released by Will Schillinger as a CD single in several countries. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number three and became a modest hit outside the UK, peaking at number 31 in Australia, number 33 in Ireland, and number 47 in Sweden.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Sales and certifications
Legacy
''Rolling Stone'' magazine argued in a 2004 article that Presley's recording of "That's All Right" was the first rock-and-roll record. "That's All Right" has been recorded by numerous artists in a variety of genres.[
]
Other notable versions
* Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...
released a version of the song in his 1955 album Rock'n Rollin' Robbins.
References
{{Authority control
1946 songs
1949 singles
1954 debut singles
Blues songs
Rockabilly songs
Elvis Presley songs
The Beatles songs
Marty Robbins songs
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Song recordings produced by Sam Phillips
Sun Records singles
Columbia Records singles
RCA Victor singles