Cover of MY HAPPINESS in 1953 - cut for $4 in June the first time he recorded at Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service; unique acetate, owned by a friend and auctioned in 2015 by his heirs for $300.000; reissued on The Complete 50's Masters box set
Cover of THAT'S WHEN YOUR HEARTACHES BEGIN in 1953 - first time he walked in at Sam Phillips' place to hear how his voice would sound on record; B-side of this unique walk-in facility single: My Happiness, another old Ink Spots hit; both sides reissued on the Complete 50's Masters box set; he cut it again in '57 for RCA; in 2015 the original copy of that unique Elvis walk-in 78 was purchased by Jack White for $300.000; meanwhile Jack released exact copies on his Third Man label
Cover of BLUE MOON in 1954 - without happy end; see footnote
Cover of BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY in 1954 - B-side of Sun debut single That's All Right and the only song he ever performed on the Grand Ole' Opry
Cover of GOOD ROCKING TONIGHT in 1954 - following Roy Brown's original, rather than Wynonie Harris' hit version; first one to sing "Have YOU heard the news" instead of "I heard the news, there's good rockin' tonight"
Cover of HARBOUR LIGHTS in 1954 - recorded during his first session with Scotty & Bill, released in '76
Cover of I LOVE YOU BECAUSE in 1954 - inspired by Eddie Fisher's version; after the fifth take, Elvis, Scotty & Bill started fooling around with That's All Right (see there)
Cover of MILK COW BLUES in 1954 - as Milkcow Blues Boogie, lyrically matching Johnny Lee Wills' version, but crediting Kokomo Arnold exclusively
Cover of THAT'S ALL RIGHT in 1954 - acting the fool as That's All Right Mama, immediately followed by Bill Black; recognised by Sam Phillips as the perfect synthesis of R&B, C&W, gospel and pop; less lyrics than Crudup
Cover of SATISFIED in 1954 - lost Sun recording, period; the YouTube version is a hoax; or was this cut 'deliberately lost' by Sam Phillips, who loathed gospel?
Cover of JUST BECAUSE in 1954 - on his first LP; knew this from The Shelton Brothers (see also: Aura Lee)
Cover of LOVE MY BABY in 1955 - elements in Mystery Train
Cover of MYSTERY TRAIN in 1955 - his fifth and final Sun single; according to Sam the greatest thing he did on Elvis; played as the last song on Sam's funeral
Cover of WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS in 1955 - as When It Rains It Really Pours for Sun, finally released in '65 with overdubbed instruments on RCA LP Elvis For Everyone; his original version was later heard on Elvis: A Legendary Performer Vol 4
Cover of ARMY BLUE in 1956 - as Love Me Tender N°1 US; new lyrics by Vera Matson; Elvis was co-credited for picking this song from a selection made by Vera's husband Ken Darby
Cover of IDA RED in 1956 - idem; live at the Louisiana Hayride
Cover of MY BABY LEFT ME in 1956 - same intro, label and producer (Steve Sholes) as the original; using four lines from Crudup's You Know That I Love You
Cover of AIN'T THAT GOOD NEWS in 1956 - as I Got A Woman on his debut LP; the first in line to appreciate this R&B-gospel link; millionseller
Cover of HOW'S THE WORLD TREATIN' YOU in 1956 - first of seven Eddy Arnold songs he covered, thanks to the Colonel, no doubt
Cover of DREAMING BLUES in 1956 - n°1 US as Heartbreak Hotel, earning him co-credits; Heartbreak Hotel was written bij Tommy Durden and Mae Boren Axton, inspired by an intriguing newspaper story about a serial hold-upper with remorse, walking a lonely street since his baby left him; in his book about this song, Walk A Lonely Street (George Smith Publications - 2020), Tony Plews reveils the original articles and the name of the hold-upper, shot dead by a liquor store owner in El Paso, TX; Tommy Durden came up with the first line (Well since my baby left me), Mae Boren Axton raised a Heartbreak Hotel at the end of that lonely street, delivering the rest of the song in 22 minutes flat; Tommy Durden introduced Heartbreak Hotel a few times live with his own band The Swingbillys, but they didn't like it too much and Elvis first started singing it live in december 1955, that's following James Dean's car crash and shortly after seeing Rebel Without A Cause
Cover of I GOTTA KNOW in 1960 - B-side of Are You Lonesome To-night; countering a potential rival; Cliff never made it in the States
Cover of MILKY WHITE WAY in 1960 - opening track of his first gospel LP, with a wink to his dear mother in heaven: "I'm gonna tell my mother Hi-di when I get home"
Cover of STEEL GUITAR BOOGIE in 1961 - as Rock-A-Hula Baby in film Blue Hawaii; crediting Ben Weisman/Fred Wise/Dolores Fuller; n°1 UK & AUS
Cover of HIS LATEST FLAME in 1961 - n°1 US as (Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame
Cover of BLUE HAWAII in 1961 - in film Blue Hawaii and in '73 during satellite transmitted Aloha From Hawaii show; clearly inspired by Bing Crosby's vocal style
Cover of LITTLE MOHEE in 1961 - in film Follow That Dream
Cover of GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! in 1962 - in film Girls Girls Girls where Return To Sender was introduced
Cover of CARMEN CARMELA in 1962 - as We'll Be Together in film Girls Girls Girls; crediting O'Curran/Brooks
Cover of I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD in 1963 - in medley with The Yellow Rose Of Texas in film Viva Las Vegas and simply as The Eyes Of Texas in film The Trouble With Girls ('69)
Cover of IF THE LORD WASN'T WALKING BY MY SIDE in 1967 - with Jake Hess on LP How Great Thou Art; the meditation garden on Graceland was laid out after this fulfilling recording
Cover of MOONLIGHT IN RIO in 1968 - as Almost In Love (lyrics: Randy Starr) in film Live A Little, Love A Little and a single (with A Little Less Conversation on the B-side)
Cover of WONDERFUL WORLD in 1968 - in film Live A Little, Love A Little
Cover of TIGER MAN (KING OF THE JUNGLE) in 1968 - NBC TV special; later in Vegas he easily linked Tiger Man & Mystery Train in a medley
Cover of ARE YOU LONESOME TO-NIGHT in 1969 - the famous "laughing version"; triggered by his own wit, pills and a slightly out of key backing vocalist; inspired by the gentleman right in front of him at his International Hotel dinner table, El sang: "Do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair" instead of the standard "Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there"
Cover of WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES in 1970 - on his box set Essential 70's Masters, his live version goes with a lyrical introduction from Hank Williams' Men With Broken Hearts
Cover of THERE GOES MY EVERYTHING in 1971 - as He Is My Everything on LP He Touched Me; Dallas Frazier provided the gospel lyrics; as There Goes My Everything top 10 UK
Cover of HE TOUCHED ME in 1972 - title track Grammy winning album; knew it from his labelmate George Shea, just like How Great Thou Art (see: O Store Gud)
Cover of IT'S DIFFERENT NOW in 1973 - he also recorded Westlake's How The Web Was Woven
Cover of SWEET ANGELINE in 1973 - also recorded Just A Little Bit Of Green, This Is The Story and Let's Be Friends co-written by these same three authors
Cover of NO WORDS in 1973 - idem; B-side of Steamroller Blues