♫The King vs. The Father of Rock 'n' Roll♫

Long live rock 'n' roll! Its history is more than just the spirit of the 60s. Elements of rock and roll can be heard in blues records roaring into the 20s and as country blues-jazz records swing into the 30s with music still swinging in the 40s. It was rockin' in the 50s, rollin' too when the first wave of rock and roll music gyrated across the United States under the newly acquired name - Rock 'n' Roll!

Today in Music History: July 19

1954 Sun Records released the first Elvis Presley single, 'That's All Right', a cover of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's 1946 tune 'That's All Right, Mama'. Only about 7,000 original copies were pressed, but the disc became a local hit in Memphis.

While Elvis may be dubbed the "King of Rock 'n' Roll," it was not Elvis who fathered rock 'n' roll. 

Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, one of the most prominent blues recording artists of the 1940s, was born on his grandparents' land in Forest on August 24, 1905. After Elvis Presley recorded three Crudup songs in the 1950s, Crudup became known as “The Father of Rock 'n' Roll.” Despite the commercial success of his songs, Crudup was never fairly paid for the music he composed and recorded, and had to work as a laborer or bus driver to support his family. He died on March 28, 1974. Read MORE...

Bit of Elvis Trivia...

• Elvis made his first ever public appearance in a talent contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Dairy Show, singing 'Old Shep'. Elvis was 10 years old at the time and came in second.

• In 1977, there were 170 Elvis impersonators. By 2002, there were 85,000. At that rate of growth, by 2019, a third of the world's population will be Evis impersonators.

• Preseucoila imallshookupis is a species of gall wasp derived from the Elvis Presley song 'All Shook Up'.

And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...