needed to put something out there . “ Heartbreak Hotel ” was not even included because of the prevailing belief in the record business at that time ( to which the Colonel wholeheartedly subscribed ) that you did not cut into the sales of a successful single by making it available as an album track while it was still on the charts .
Just how little commitment there was to this album can be seen in the cursory liner notes , which describe how “ Elvis Presley , RCA ’ s new recording artist , has zoomed into big-time entertainment , practically overnight ” and conclude weakly , “ His belting style stands out vividly on records and in personal appearances and accounts for his universal popularity , especially with the teenage audience .”
For the cover photograph they had not even gone to the trouble of arranging a photo shoot but instead selected an action shot the Colonel had commissioned in his adopted hometown of Tampa , Florida , at a July 31 , 1955 concert . The picture had been taken by a local photographer named Red Robertson , and it was run without a credit because the Colonel owned it outright and undoubtedly charged RCA for its use .
And yet , the album is a genuine classic . ( So is the cover photo .) If we were to award Steve Sholes a single accolade for all of his early work with Elvis – but it is a very big accolade – it would be to have creatively assembled and sequenced an album that , however haphazard its origins , remains an enduring work of art . Maybe that ’ s the secret . Like his first Sun release , “ That ’ s All Right ,” which came about almost as a result of a fortuitous series of accidents and a nineteen-year-old Elvis Presley ’ s determination to be heard ( and Sam Phillips ’ ability to hear the potential in this young man ’ s raw , untested talent ), there seems
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