Elvis Presley: The Searcher Page #4

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to get late

and we were getting tired.

And, uh, we stopped

and had a Coke or something.

Jackson:

Elvis was just about

a year out of high school,

19 years old.

Moore:

He wanted to please Sam,

and he knew he had

to prove himself.

Robbie Robertson:

It was in that moment

that the world changed.

(up-tempo music playing)

Moore:

Elvis sets his Coke down,

picks up the guitar,

starts just frailing,

you know, fire out of it.

I mean, he was beating

his rhythm thing.

Well, Bill picked his bass,

started slapping,

playing along with him.

Just-- just all rhythm.

Guitar was leaning up

on the amp and I picked it up

and started just kinda

vamping along with him.

Elvis:

Well, Mama,

she done told me

Papa done told me too

"Son, that gal

you fooling with

She ain't no good for you"

Well, that's all right

Phillips:

Although Elvis knew

a lot of blues,

country and pop,

it shocked me,

because here is

a classic blues number,

and here is a white cat

not imitating

or mimicking or anything,

but just putting

his feel into it.

Blew me away!

Springsteen:

You hear performers

in the thrall

of the beauty of invention,

not knowing quite

where they're going to go,

not knowing exactly

what they're doing.

Elvis:

I'm leaving town, baby

I'm leaving town for sure

Springsteen:

Just discovering it

and doing it

literally as the music

is being played.

You're out on the frontier,

and it's a very pristine

and exciting place to be.

Elvis:

That's all right now, mama

Any way you do

(scatting to rhythm)

That's all right

It's all right

That's all right, now, mama

Any way you do

One more time, baby.

One more!

Ha!

(women screaming)

Yeah, baby

Well, my Mama

she done told me

Papa done told me too

They said, "Son,

this gal you foolin' with

She ain't no good for you"

(screams)

That's all right,

little mama

Any way you do

Give it all, baby!

(scatting to rhythm)

That's all right

That's all right,

little mama

Any way you do

(scatting)

(screams)

(song ends)

Whoo!

(cheers, screams)

Moore:

We knew it was

a little different.

We didn't know

what it was really.

There was no mention

of, you know,

get this out or anything,

'cause we didn't know.

(up-tempo piano playing)

Write me a letter

(Dewey Phillips

speaking indistinctly)

Just flat fixin' to bring you

the hottest thing

in the country.

Red, Hot, and Blue coming

to you, WHBQ,

in Memphis, Tennessee

and it's Friday night.

Tomorrow's payday

and bath day.

That's a good deal.

Schilling:

Growing up in Memphis,

I'd been listening

to Dewey Phillips

and his Red, Hot,

and Blue show

for two years

before Elvis came on.

DJ Fontana:

He was the number one jock

in Memphis at the time.

Schilling:

When Elvis was played,

it was just different.

It wasn't really

rhythm and blues,

and it wasn't country.

Moore:

Dewey's program,

he started playing it

and phones was

ringing off the wall.

In fact, they went,

took Elvis out of the movie

he was at,

and told him that, uh,

that Dewey wanted

to talk to him on the radio.

Schilling:

He came on,

did the interview.

He was nervous

and he stuttered.

Phillips:

"That's All Right, Mama"

was a hit

in Memphis, Tennessee,

overnight.

Moore:

It was quite

phenomenal, really,

getting that kinda response

off a local radio station.

Fontana:

Dewey played it on the air,

just the one side,

and Sam got

ahold of us, and,

"Gotta get back in here.

We got to have another

side for this record."

Phillips:

I said, "Do you know

anything else

that's as wild as that?"

Man:

Blue moon of Kentucky

Keep on shining

Shine on the one

that's gone

And proved untrue

Elvis:

Blue moon

Blue moon

Blue moon

keep shining bright

Blue moon, keep on

shining bright

You're gonna bring me

back my baby tonight

Blue moon

Keep shining bright

Ferris:

That one record

summed up his roots--

the very best of

both black blues

and white bluegrass.

Elvis:

Blue moon of Kentucky

keep on shining

Petty:

He knew the blues.

He knew Arthur Crudup,

Bill Munroe.

He knew that stuff by memory.

Elvis:

Stars shinnin' bright

Phillips:

The elements there

that came together

were things that I had

prayed for so long:

To record a black low-down

almost gut-bucket blues,

and turn around

and put a classic,

classic bluegrass number,

"Blue Moon of Kentucky,"

on the other side.

It didn't have

to have a color.

It didn't need a color.

Petty:

I don't know if Elvis

was looking at it

all in that noble of a light.

It was just music he liked.

Elvis:

Oh, well, I said,

blue moon of Kentucky

Just keep on shining

Petty:

"Blue Moon of Kentucky,"

he has got this entirely

original take on the bluegrass

and it transforms into

what would later

be called rock and roll.

Elvis:

Shine on the one

who's gone and left me blue

(Sam Phillips talking)

(laughter)

Emmylou Harris:

There's no one that

creates music in a vacuum.

We're all influenced

by what we've heard

and what has come before.

But occasionally, you have

those crossroads moments

when something

completely new is born.

Petty:

It was a beautiful,

beautiful thing.

It was high art,

in the greatest degree,

you know, this is Picasso.

I mean, this is really

taking your influences

and going somewhere with them,

to a place that's new.

West:

Now, Elvis had a hit record,

and he was touring

every night somewhere,

each night a different place.

Jorgensen:

The basic mistake

people make about Elvis

was that he came along

and got lucky.

No, he didn't get lucky.

He worked hard

and he created the music

with great musicians.

He had a drive

that motivated him,

and it was there

from day one.

Elvis:

Well, what a fool I was

To think that you

could love me too

Bill Malone:

In those early days,

whether it was Slim Whitman

or Jim Reeves

or Elvis Presley,

if they wanted to survive,

they had to hit the road.

Springsteen:

It's an old-fashioned

experience

in the sense that he was

part of a touring band.

Which meant that

night after night,

he was putting on his act.

And there's something

that happens

through extensive touring

that you can't

get anywhere else.

Jackson:

You look back at the

calendar of his dates,

and he's literally playing

dates every single night.

The circuit that

they're working

is probably one

of the most thankless

and low-paying,

just grind-of-a-circuit

that you could imagine.

Springsteen:

There's a depth of craft

that's attained

through simply constantly

doing it night after night,

having to satisfy all

different types of audiences.

West:

You know, you have

the stereotype

of the bass being

tied on top of the car.

That was true.

They really did that.

Man:

May I ask, where did you

pick up your style?

Elvis:

My very first appearance

after I started recording.

I was on a show

and I was scared stiff.

And I came out and I was

doing a fast type tune.

Everybody was hollering,

and I didn't know what

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