Elvis Presley: The Searcher Page #3

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in the bosom of Abraham

Tony Brown:

Quartets were the alter ego

of the Christian people

back in those days.

In the bosom of Abraham,

Oh, rock my soul...

Brown:

'Cause they wore

really tight, cool suits,

and they had slick-back hair

and sideburns.

Rock my soul

in the bosom of Abraham

Brown:

We looked at those people

like they were our

pop stars in a way,

which is what Elvis

really wanted to do.

You know, he wanted to be

in the Blackwood Brothers.

Petty:

Elvis, he longed to be

a great gospel singer.

I think he wanted to be

in a gospel group.

He wold have been

a great tenor.

I'm glad I've got

That old-time religion

It helps me on my journey...

Bill Malone:

Those Pentecostal preachers

were pretty dynamic

individuals, you know.

Back and forth

across the stage

and shouting

and raising their hands

and being very theatrical.

Oh, I couldn't get along

Without Jesus

I couldn't sing my song

Without Jesus

I wouldn't know

how to pray

Without Jesus

I wouldn't know

what to say

Without Jesus

Joy bells couldn't ring

Without Jesus

Angels couldn't sing

Without Jesus

My life wouldn't

mean a thing

Without Jesus

I couldn't reach my goal

Without Jesus

With no one to keep

my soul

Hey, tell me,

what can I do without...

Springsteen:

Front man is something

that was derived from preacher,

you know, fronting

the choir in church.

So whether you're

James Brown or Elvis

or anyone out there,

your position, basically,

is always proto-religious,

you know?

Those are its roots.

Oh, tell me what

would I do without Jesus

In my life

(applause)

Jackson:

Elvis always was

seeking a way

to manifest his musical

interest in some way.

Elvis:

And I went to Humes

High School in Memphis.

I was taking music.

I flunked music.

Just flat, man. Whew!

"F." The only thing

I ever failed.

West:

They had a little

talent show every year.

People would sing,

dance, whatever.

(Elvis speaking)

West:

I had a little

four-piece band,

I was playing the trumpet.

And Elvis had a guitar,

and he got up

and he sang, "Old Shep."

Red Foley's sad song

about his old dog that died.

Elvis:

And one day

The doctor looked at me

And said

"I can do no more

for him, Jim"

Petty:

I think that's the moment

where the school

sort of throws down and goes,

"That's what this

weird kid's about."

The moment that

applause broke through,

that's probably the first

real validation that he's had.

West:

Singing that tearjerker,

he put emotion into it.

Sang the heck out of it,

and he won first place!

And my little band

didn't do sh*t.

Petty:

That's a big step

for a young man.

At that moment, he had to see

the power of the material.

He had to go,

"This is what I am.

This is what

I'm going to do."

Elvis:

It was amazing how--

how popular I became

in school after that.

(chuckles)

Just walking in the rain...

(Elvis speaking)

James Tipler:

When he wasn't

driving the truck,

he'd help the electricians

pull wire

or whatever they

needed him to do.

Gladys Tipler:

He had long hair.

It was real thick,

and looked like it was

pasted down really.

James:

We all laughed at him

about that.

(Elvis speaking)

Gladys:

He just what

he wanted to do

is to get in some

kind of business

where he could make

his mother a living,

where she would not have

to struggle for it anymore.

Shake their heads...

Ernst Jorgensen:

At that time,

The Prisonaires had

recorded their big hit,

"Walking in the Rain."

Jackson:

The Prisonaires

were a group

that Sam Phillips

was recording.

Sam Phillips, he grew to be

one of the most famous

and celebrated

record producers of all time,

but at first,

he started his own label.

Schilling:

The Prisonaires.

They were brought out

with handcuffs

into Sun Records to record.

Light:

To even conceive of that

as a possible source

for great music

that people should hear,

there's just a

democratization of...

of art,

of the possibilities for art.

Walkin' in the rain

Ferris:

What happened in

Memphis at that time

was a convergence

of forces.

The emergence of radio,

deejays, and artists.

And then you add

to that concoction,

the genius of producers

like Sam Phillips.

Lauterbach:

There wasn't much

in the way of rhythm and blues,

black music recording

infrastructure.

It was very much

a do-it-yourself,

mom-and-pop business.

Maultsby:

Sam Phillips loved the blues,

and he was interested

in recording

as many blues

performers as he could.

Schilling:

Elvis was aware

of what Sam had recorded

at Sun Studios.

Rufus Thomas.

Ike Turner.

The Prisonaires.

Petty:

I really believe Sam Phillips,

for a long time,

had the idea of finding

a white singer

that could bring black music

into the white mainstream.

For a lot of noble reasons,

not just commercial.

Schilling:

Everybody thinks that Sam

was looking for a white boy

to do black music.

But Elvis was looking

for Sam Phillips.

Sam Phillips:

I had seen him go by

in his Crown Electric truck

a number of different times,

'cause we had

an open storefront.

He'd go by and go back,

and go by and go back.

This guy would not

come in the studio

and ask me to audition him

for nothin'.

Elvis had never

been in a studio.

Jorgensen:

There was a newspaper story

about how you could

get lucky at Sun Records,

and Elvis just went for it.

(Elvis speaking)

Elvis:

If you

Find your sweetheart

In the arms of a friend

Schilling:

Elvis went in to do

what he thought

he should do

to get a record deal.

West:

He had this beautiful voice,

a high voice, singing

slow love longs, ballads.

Schilling:

And he sang Dean Martin.

He sang Ink Spots--

black but white-accepted music.

There was nothing

that was exciting Sam.

Phillips:

I didn't want that.

It had to have a feel.

(feedback whines)

I did have the feeling

that this guy had

something in the raw

that we could

do something with

if we even knew

what the hell we were doing.

Brought in Scotty Moore,

he was working at his

brother's dry cleaning plant,

and Scotty played the guitar

and was not afraid

to experiment.

Bill Black, I knew could

play a good slap bass.

Black was working

in an appliance store

repairing appliances.

And I said,

"Go and woodshed, boys."

Scotty Moore:

Sam said, "All I need is just

a little background noise.

"You don't have

to worry about

arrangements or anything.

"Don't need the whole band,

just a little rhythm stuff."

I knew Sam was looking

for something,

but he couldn't tell you

what he was looking for,

you know? (chuckles)

Phillips:

This day we had wound up

just about ready to give up

on having any success

on a session.

About ready to bag up

the instruments and go home.

I knew Sun Records

had to make it

on something that

was a little bit

out of the ordinary

or we may as well forget it.

Jackson:

Things aren't going well.

Elvis is nervous.

Moore:

We'd been there

two, three hours,

and it was starting

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