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Elvis Presley: 18 Royal Moments

The Sun Sessions (1954)
The story of Elvis' fabled audition for Sun Records producer/label owner Sam Phillips in July 1954 is now part of American folklore — how Phillips had been looking for a white singer who could sound black; the serendipitous arrival in his Memphis storefront studio of a 19-year-old truck driver; the bland set of pop demo tracks he laid down with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black; and the sudden alchemy when Elvis Presley switched to Arthur Crudup's blues tune ''That's All Right (Mama).'' EW called this evening one of the top 3 events in rock history. Over the next few weeks and months, there would be similar fusions of country and R&B, including ''Blue Moon of Kentucky'' and ''Mystery Train''; together, these singles would launch Elvis — and rock & roll — into the stratosphere. Elvis' Sun recordings were finally compiled into a single, must-own album in 1976.