Recorded in 1954, That's All Right (Mama) would become Elvis Presley's first hit single and launch the start of the white rock n' roll revolution. In this regard That's All Right (Mama) is probably one of the most influential songs of the XXth century and surely deserves a closer look.
Listen to That's All Right (Mama) sung by Elvis Presley
Here are two videos of Elvis interpreting That's All Right (Mama).
[Bring your mouse over the screen to choose between the videos]
1946 - The original version
Listen to That's All Right, Mama sung by Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup
ELVIS' FIRST RECORDING - July 1954
The dawn of Rock n' Roll
Six month later on the 5th of July 1954, Elvis is invited to come back to Sam Phillips Sun Studios by country guitarist Scooty Moore and Bill Black from The Wranglers. The trio interprets a few rhythm n' blues and country songs but doesn't impress Phillips until Elvis bursts into That's All Right. Phillips, who allegedly said that same year : "I could make a million dollars if I found a white boy that could sing like a black man", immediately recognizes the potential of this new style.
Bill Black's dancing double-bass, Scotty Moore's simple but relentless guitar riff, Elvis' total physical implication in his singing, merge the music of the Delta with the aspirations of white suburban kids : Rock n' Roll rises from the overcoming of segregation's !
Here are three additional cover versions
The dawn of Rock n' Roll
In February 1954, the young Elvis Presley sings an enraged version of Crudup's That's All Right, Mama for the first time in front of a black audience at the Handy's Club on the crossroads of Beale Street and Hernando Street (Memphis - Tennessee).
Six month later on the 5th of July 1954, Elvis is invited to come back to Sam Phillips Sun Studios by country guitarist Scooty Moore and Bill Black from The Wranglers. The trio interprets a few rhythm n' blues and country songs but doesn't impress Phillips until Elvis bursts into That's All Right. Phillips, who allegedly said that same year : "I could make a million dollars if I found a white boy that could sing like a black man", immediately recognizes the potential of this new style.
Bill Black's dancing double-bass, Scotty Moore's simple but relentless guitar riff, Elvis' total physical implication in his singing, merge the music of the Delta with the aspirations of white suburban kids : Rock n' Roll rises from the overcoming of segregation's !The song is published by Sun on the 19 of July with a crazy version of Blue Moon of Kentucky on the B-side. Two days later the song airs on Dewey Phillips radio show (Red, Hot & Blue) and the station is bombarded by calls of ecstatic fans, resulting in That's All Right (Mama) being played 14 times this evening.
The face of music has been changed forever !
The face of music has been changed forever !
Rod Stewart
[On Every Picture Tells a Story]
The Stray Cats
[on Rumble In Brixton : The Very Best of The Stray Cats]
The Beatles
[on Live At The BBC]
[on Live At The BBC]
Here are the lyrics to Elvis' rendition
Well, that's all right, mama
That's all right for you
That's all right mama, just anyway you do
Well, that's all right, that's all right.
That's all right now mama, anyway you do
Mama she done told me,
Papa done told me too
'Son, that gal your foolin' with,
She ain't no good for you'
But, that's all right, that's all right.
That's all right now mama, anyway you do
I'm leaving town, baby
I'm leaving town for sure
Well then you won't be bothered
With me hangin' round your door
Well, that's all right, that's all right.
That's all right now mama, anyway you do
That's all right for you
That's all right mama, just anyway you do
Well, that's all right, that's all right.
That's all right now mama, anyway you do
Mama she done told me,
Papa done told me too
'Son, that gal your foolin' with,
She ain't no good for you'
But, that's all right, that's all right.
That's all right now mama, anyway you do
I'm leaving town, baby
I'm leaving town for sure
Well then you won't be bothered
With me hangin' round your door
Well, that's all right, that's all right.
That's all right now mama, anyway you do
