Elvis Presley: The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Elvis Presley was one of the first musicians to become a truly global pop-culture phenomenon. His fame would eventually be rivalled only by artists such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Michael Jackson, but Elvis had something none of them could claim: He got there first.
Born in 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis grew up surrounded by Gospel, Country, and the Blues. At just 19, he walked into Sun Records in Memphis and began working with Sam Phillips, recording music that combined these influences in a way that sounded completely new.
That’s All Right was the breakthrough. Soon Elvis was working with guitarist Scotty Moore, bassist Bill Black and, later, drummer D.J. Fontana. The combination of Elvis’s voice and physical presence with that stripped-back band created a template that would influence generations of rock musicians.
In 1956, after moving from Sun to RCA, Elvis exploded onto the national scene with Heartbreak Hotel. Suddenly, rock ‘n’ roll wasn’t just a regional musical style anymore. It was becoming a cultural phenomenon. And Elvis was its most recognisable face.
Blue Suede Shoes: Elvis Takes Someone Else’s Song
One of the songs that helped establish Elvis as a star was Blue Suede Shoes — although, like many of his biggest hits, it wasn’t originally his.
Carl Perkins released the song in January 1956, and Elvis initially hesitated to record it because he respected Perkins and his connection to Sun Records.
After moving to RCA, however, Elvis recorded his own version. It appeared on his debut album, Elvis Presley, alongside a remarkable collection of songs including I Got A Woman, Tutti Frutti, Hound Dog, and Blue Moon.
This is an important part of Elvis’s story: he wasn’t primarily a songwriter. He was an interpreter.
He took songs written or previously recorded by other people and transformed them through his voice, phrasing, rhythm, attitude and stage presence.
That’s a useful lesson for any guitarist. You don’t necessarily need to write every song you play. You need to understand what makes a song work — and then learn how to make it sound like you.
Hound Dog: Making a Cover Your Own
Hound Dog is perhaps the ultimate example. Elvis’s version was based on Big Mama Thornton’s recording of the song, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Elvis turned it into one of the defining performances of early rock ‘n’ roll.
It caused quite a reaction. His version was faster, louder and much more aggressive than Thornton’s. The famous 1956 television performance, with Elvis’s exaggerated movements and hip-shaking, helped turn the song into a cultural event.
Leiber and Stoller weren’t initially impressed. They felt Elvis’s interpretation had moved too far from the Blues character of the original. But the public clearly disagreed.
The song became a massive hit, and Leiber and Stoller would go on to write several more important Elvis songs, including Jailhouse Rock, Love Me, Loving You, Don’t and King Creole.
For a guitarist, Hound Dog is a great reminder that the arrangement is part of the composition. Learn the original. Learn Elvis’s version. Listen to what changed. That’s how you start understanding the difference between simply knowing the chords and actually knowing the song.
Jailhouse Rock: The Working Rock ‘n’ Roll Guitarist’s Tune
By the time Elvis released Jailhouse Rock in 1957, he was already one of the biggest stars in the world. Written by Lieber and Stoller for the movie of the same name, it became another essential piece of early rock ‘n’ roll repertoire.
There’s an amusing story behind the lyrics, too. The writers intended some of the song’s jailhouse imagery to have a playful, tongue-in-cheek homosexual quality, but Elvis performed it completely straight.
Whatever the original intention, the song became an enduring rock classic. And it still works brilliantly in a band.
If you’re learning to play guitar in this style, the details matter. The opening sliding chord, for example, is one of those little things that can make the difference between sounding like Jailhouse Rock and simply playing the right chord progression.
The opening shape is a C chord, and getting that right gives the riff its characteristic sound.
This is exactly the sort of song a working guitarist should have in the repertoire: recognisable within seconds, energetic, relatively simple on paper, but full of attitude.
Love Me Tender: Elvis the Ballad Singer
Elvis wasn’t only about rock ‘n’ roll. Love Me Tender showed another side of his appeal.
The melody was adapted from the traditional 19th-century song Aura Lea, with new lyrics credited to Vera Matson. Released in 1956 alongside the film Love Me Tender, Elvis’s version became a huge hit.
And, as with so many Elvis songs, it didn’t stop there. The song has since been recorded by artists including Johnny Cash, Nat King Cole, Albert King, B.B. King, Cliff Richard, Julie Andrews, Barry Manilow, Norah Jones, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Jim Morrison and Barbra Streisand. That’s quite a list.
It also makes Love Me Tender a perfect example of how a song can travel through completely different musical worlds. The chords may stay the same. The interpretation doesn’t have to.
Can’t Help Falling in Love: Elvis’s Most Popular Song?
According to Spotify streaming figures, Can’t Help Falling in Love is one of Elvis’s most-streamed and enduring songs.
That isn’t necessarily what you’d expect if you looked only at the biggest-selling singles of his original career, but streaming has given some songs a completely new life.
Released in 1961, the song became closely associated with Elvis and was often used as a concert closer.
It’s easy to understand why. The melody is beautiful, the harmony is accessible, and the lyric is universal. It’s also one of those songs that sounds convincing in almost any setting — solo guitar, piano and voice, a full band or a huge concert arrangement.
There have been countless covers over the years, but my favourite is a live version by Jacob Collier.
For guitarists, this is another reminder that a great song doesn’t need a complicated arrangement. Sometimes the job is simply to get out of the way and let the melody do the work.
The 1960s: Hollywood Takes Over
Elvis continued having hits throughout the 1960s, including It’s Now or Never, Are You Lonesome Tonight?, Can’t Help Falling in Love, Return to Sender, A Little Less Conversation, In the Ghetto and Suspicious Minds.
But there was a problem. For much of the decade, Elvis’s career was increasingly dominated by Hollywood. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had pushed heavily into films and their accompanying soundtracks.
The result was a strange situation: Elvis remained enormously famous, but the quality and importance of his recorded output became less consistent. Then came the comeback.
In the Ghetto: Elvis Gets Serious Again
Released in 1969, In the Ghetto was an important turning point.
Written by Mac Davis, the song dealt with poverty and social inequality — a more serious subject than much of the material Elvis had been recording during the movie-heavy years.
It became a major international hit and helped re-establish Elvis as a serious recording artist.
The song appeared on From Elvis in Memphis, an album that represented a significant return to the studio and to contemporary material. This period also produced one of Elvis’s greatest recordings.
Suspicious Minds: One of Elvis’s Best Songs
Suspicious Minds was written by Mark James, who had originally recorded the song himself in 1968. It didn’t become a hit for James, but Elvis heard the potential and turned it into something much bigger.
His version became a worldwide success and is now regarded as one of the defining recordings of his later career.
Mark James also wrote It’s Only Love, Moody Blue and Raised on Rock for Elvis, as well as other major songs including Hooked on a Feeling and Always on My Mind.
There’s a useful lesson here for guitarists and songwriters: The person who writes a song and the person who makes it famous don’t have to be the same person.
Sometimes the magic happens when the right performer finds the right song. And Elvis was exceptionally good at that.
Elvis and the Art of Interpretation
By the 1970s, Elvis’s health and personal life had become increasingly troubled, while the pressures of maintaining his enormous career continued. He died on August 16, 1977, aged 42. His legacy, however, was already enormous.
It’s tempting to reduce Elvis to the image: the hair, the jumpsuit, the hip movements, the screaming crowds and the nickname “The King”.
But for musicians, there’s something much more interesting underneath all of that. Elvis was an extraordinary interpreter of songs.
He could take a blues song like Hound Dog, a rock ‘n’ roll song like Jailhouse Rock, a traditional ballad like Love Me Tender, a romantic pop song like Can’t Help Falling in Love, or a contemporary songwriter’s composition like Suspicious Minds and make each one unmistakably his own.
That’s why his music remains so useful to a working guitarist.
Elvis Presley for Guitarists
If you’re building a repertoire for a rock ‘n’ roll, pop, country, blues or function band, Elvis gives you a huge amount of material to work with.
Start with:
- Hound Dog
- Blue Suede Shoes
- Jailhouse Rock
- Love Me Tender
- Can’t Help Falling in Love
- In the Ghetto
- Suspicious Minds
Notice how different these songs are. That’s the point.
Learning Elvis isn’t just about learning rock ‘n’ roll rhythm guitar. It’s about learning how to support a singer, how to play simply, how to create movement with a small number of chords, how to leave space in a ballad, and how a band can turn a familiar song into a performance.
Listen particularly to Scotty Moore, James Burton and the rhythm sections behind Elvis. The guitar isn’t always trying to be the most noticeable instrument. Often, it’s doing something much more important: making the song feel good.
Build Your Repertoire Like Elvis
Elvis Presley didn’t invent every song he recorded. He didn’t need to. He understood that great music travels.
A song could begin with a blues singer, move through a songwriter, reach Elvis, and then be interpreted again by another generation. That’s how repertoire grows.
As a guitarist, you should think the same way. Don’t just learn the chords to Hound Dog. Listen to Big Mama Thornton and Elvis.
Don’t just learn Blue Suede Shoes. Listen to Carl Perkins.
Don’t just learn Suspicious Minds. Listen to the songwriting and then hear what Elvis did with it.
And don’t be afraid to make the song your own. Learn the song. Learn the interpretation. Then build it into your repertoire.
Elvis Presley Tunes | Related Pages
Blue Suede Shoes | Chords + TAB
You can learn Blue Suede Shoes by Elvis Presley using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| N.C (E G) | A5 N.C (E G) | A5 N.C | N.C |
Well, it’s a one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready now go, cat…
Can’t Help Falling In Love | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| C | Em | Am | Am/G |
Wise men say…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Can’t Help Falling In Love (Elvis) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right | Chords + TAB
Learn how to play Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right by Bob Dylan using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| C C/G G G7 | Am7 Am/G |
Well, it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Bob Dylan) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Fever | Chords + TAB
You can learn Fever by Peggy Lee using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| Am (C6) | Am (C6) | Am (C6) | Am (C6) |
Never know how much I love you, never know how much I care…
Hound Dog | Chords + TAB
You can learn Hound Dog by Elvis Presley using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| N.C | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog, cryin’ all the time…
In The Ghetto | Chords + TAB
You can learn to play In The Ghetto by Elvis Presley using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| Bb Bbsus4 | Bb Bbsus4 Bb |
As the snow flies…
Jailhouse Rock | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| E | E Eb |
The warden threw a party in the county jail…
Love Me Tender | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Love Me Tender by Elvis using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| D D/A | E7 E7/B | A7 | D D/A |
Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Love Me Tender (Elvis) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Suspicious Minds | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| G (C/G) | G (C/G) | C (F/C) | C (F/C) |
We’re caught in a trap, I can’t walk out…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Elvis Presley on the web
