“That's All Right”

Sam Phillips gave a copy of “That's All Right (Mama)” to Dewey Phillips. Dewey loved the song, and two days later he played the record on his radio show. Elvis was too nervous to listen to it. He went to the movies instead.

After the broadcast, forty-seven calls came in to the station right away, lighting up the switchboard. Dewey called the Presley household to interview Elvis. As the story goes, Vernon and Gladys went down the aisles of the movie theatre until they located Elvis. Within minutes, he was at the station, nervous for what was to come.

First Dewey asked the young singer where he'd gone to high school. Phillips did that because Elvis's answer would tell the listening audience whether he was white or black since schools were segregated at the time. Many of the listeners had thought that the singer of “That's All Right (Mama)” was black.

Sam Phillips knew that he had a hit on his hands and that he had to release the record quickly. There was an A-side, which was the hit side, and now they needed a B-side. They recorded “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”

By the end of July, the record was number three on the local music sales chart. Billboard magazine gave it a positive review. The boys called themselves the Blue Moon Boys, and they began doing live appearances around Memphis.