And then he went on to record “ Don ’ t Be Cruel ,” a new song by r & b singer Otis Blackwell , which he had immediately selected from the stack of demos that Hill and Range representative Freddy Bienstock had brought to the session . This was Bienstock ’ s introduction to Elvis , who was in essence his client , too ( Hill and Range was not only Elvis ’ song publisher but his 50 percent partner in any songs he recorded from their catalogue ), and he would continue to supply him with songs until Elvis ’ death . The song that Elvis picked out , “ Don ’ t Be Cruel ,” was , in a sense , a perfect representation of the kind of music that he was increasingly moving toward : catchy , idiomatic , and effortlessly swinging , calling for a strong but lilting delivery and a wry , almost offhand kind of feel . It was , as Sam Phillips said approvingly , “ a sad story with a happy beat ,” different from the sides that Elvis had cut at his Sun studio , but no less guided by the same implicit attitude and aesthetic .
And it marked what would forever be a clear line of demarcation : the moment that Elvis took complete charge of his recording career . For the first time this was an Elvis Presley session , called by Elvis , conducted by Elvis , produced from start to finish by the artist himself .
The single , which was released just eleven days later , was an unprecedented two-sided success . “ Hound Dog ” quickly rose to number 2 on the charts , only to be eclipsed by “ Don ’ t Be Cruel ,” which went to number 1 . It sold four million copies all told , the biggest single record of Elvis ’ career , but there was never any question which side was his personal preference .
From this point on , he never looked back . When it came time to record the second album ( way past time , by RCA ’ s calculation ), Elvis accomplished the entire task in three days , while in the
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