Elvis Presley's Greatest Hits

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By the time Elvis Presley released his self-titled debut album in early 1956, the Tupelo, Mississippi native already had a chart-topping country record to his name—“I Forgot to Remember to Forget”—with another single, “Heartbreak Hotel,” climbing the pop chart. A few months earlier, RCA Victor had paid a then-grandiose sum of $40,000 to buy out Presley’s contract with Sun Records—a deal encouraged by Presley’s money-minded manager, Colonel Tom Parker. RCA was determined to cash in on its investment, and waged with a full-fledged promotional campaign in the hopes of turning Elvis Presley (and <i>Elvis Presley</i>) into a phenomenon. Needless to say, the payoff was almost instantaneous: Five of the nearly <i>two dozen</i> Presley songs that RCA released as singles in 1956 would hit No. 1. By year’s end, the country kid was a household name, sparking riotous crowds and breathless controversy wherever he went and every time he flaunted his scandalous dance moves on TV—the energy of which is captured on <i>Elvis Presley</i>’s iconic cover. The decision to release an album that contained none of Presley’s massively successful early RCA singles spoke to the label’s confidence in him. Instead of a greatest-hits collection, contemporary listeners of <i>Elvis Presley</i> get a guide to the R&B, rock, and country sounds that Presley combined in such an intoxicating (and pop-molding) fashion. .

via Apple Music

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