Recordings ” section that follows .) Once again Elvis ignored Sholes ’ song suggestions , rebuffed his advice in the studio , and treated the session as a kind of forum for him to play some of his personal favorites . In the end the split three-day session produced half a dozen vibrant r & b covers , was replete with high spirits and exuberant creativity , but delivered nothing in terms of the material that Sholes was looking for to help create the kind of generic pop image that RCA felt would be suitable for their new star . And once again , it was made abundantly clear that Elvis and his producer were not even close to being on the same wavelength . ( Though to be fair , it should be stressed that the more modern term of “ producer ” is something of a misnomer here . Where Sam Phillips was very much of a producer , Sholes considered himself a traditional “ artists and repertoire ” man , whose principal function was to choose the material and make sure the sessions ran smoothly .)
Meanwhile , the company was having equally little success trying to persuade Elvis ’ manager , Colonel Parker , to alter his course . Steve Sholes had worked with Parker with equanimity and success during the nearly eight years ( 1946-1953 ) that the Colonel had managed Eddy Arnold , country music ’ s first great superstar and still , at this time , one of the brightest stars in the RCA firmament . But somehow , as Sholes was discovering to his dismay , it was a different Colonel Parker now – perhaps because ( and one could only say this with the benefit of hindsight ) he was now working with a different , and truly revolutionary , artist , whose immeasurable future Parker alone could see . When Steve Sholes ’ boss , Bill Bullock , wrote the Colonel a long , worried letter , expressing his concern that they were somehow getting offtrack , that neither Colonel Parker nor his boy were following the plan for audience growth and diversification that RCA had so carefully laid out , and that Bullock thought he and Parker were
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