On July 5th, 1954, Sam Phillips thought he'd caught lightning in a bottle when he recorded Elvis singing "That's All Right Mama."  Phillips was looking for someone to sing a song he liked titled "Without You."  His secretary, Marion Keisker, had been continually suggesting Elvis Presley, a young man who had recorded a demo, supposedly for his mother, the year before.  Phillips had asked Keisker to make note of the singer and she added the comment "good ballad singer." 

Keisker called Elvis and asked him to come to the studio on June 26th to do some recording.  Nothing clicked during that session, but Phillips still thought there might be something worth pursuing so he contacted guitarist Scotty Moore and asked him to get together with Elvis and see if anything developed.  After playing awhile with Moore and bassist Bill Black, Phillips invited them back to the Sun studio on July 5th. 

The session wasn't going all that well when during a break Elvis started playing the Arthur "Big Boy" Craddup song, "That's All Right Mama." Scotty Moore:  "All of a sudden, Elvis just got started singing this song, jumping around and acting the fool, and then Bill picked up his bass and started acting the fool, too, and I started playing with them." Phillips liked what he was hearing, told the boys to do it again, and started the tape.  Sam Phillips:  "for me, that damned thing came through so loud and clear it was just like a big flash of lightning and the thunder that follows."  Everybody was excited about the new sound they were producing and they needed a "B" side in order to release a record.  The group reconvened in the studio on July 7th and cut the Bill Monroe song, "Blue Moon of Kentucky."  On July 8th Sam Phillips took the record to his friend, Dewey Phillips (no relation) at Memphis' WHBQ radio.  Sam Phillips' hunch about "That's All Right" was confirmed when Dewey Phillips played the record on his "Red Hot and Blue" radio show and the phone wouldn't stop ringing requesting the song.

Sun studio had a regional hit record.  But the music business has many stories of records flashing out of nowhere and even achieving national success, so in and of itself, "That's All Right Mama" wasn't a rock and roll revolution.  The true revolution was born as Elvis and his bandmates Scotty Moore and Bill Black took to the road to promote their new record.  Playing honkytonks and school gymnasiums, it soon became apparent that it wasn't just the song, but Elvis's live performance that was striking a chord with the audience – especially the young girls. Scotty Moore commented:  "His movement was a natural thing, but he was also very conscious of what got a reaction.  He'd do something one time and then he would expand on it real quick."  His physical movement as much as his voice and the rhythm of the music elicited an emotional response that turned sock hops into near riots.

But it wasn't easy to get radio stations to play the record.  Many stations thought Elvis was "too country" and didn't fit their play list while country stations often found his sound to be "too pop."  It was a new sound and was having a hard time finding its place.  The record did well regionally, eventually selling about 20,000 copies and getting a #4 ranking on local Memphis charts, but never appearing on any national chart. 

Eager to follow up on their initial success, Phillips brought the trio back into the studio on September 12th for a series of sessions.  "Good Rockin' Tonight" and "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine" became Elvis's second release on September 23rd.  In the meantime, Phillips had been lobbying with Grand Ole Opry manager Jim Denny to give Elvis spot on the Opry.  Denny finally gave in and Elvis was scheduled to sing one song as part of Hank Snow's segment. 

On October 2nd Elvis realized a childhood dream and appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and sang "Blue Moon of Kentucky."  However, it was a disappointing experience as the conservative Opry audience response was mild.  But two weeks later, the Opry's main competitor, The Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport booked Elvis.  His performance there garnered the band a contract for a year's worth of Saturday night performances.

Exposure on the Hayride and constant touring propelled Elvis to new heights of popularity.  The Hayride appearances would also add another member to the band.  D.J. Fontana was the house drummer for the Hayride and played with Elvis for his entire stint there.  In August of 1955 he became an official member of their touring group.

In December of 1954, the group returned to Sun for another session resulting in a third release, "Milkcow Blues Boogie" / "You're a Heartbreaker."  Billboard magazine reviewed the record as one of its "Spotlight" songs:  "Presley continues to impress with each release as one of the slickest talents to come up in the country field in a long, long time."  Recordings in February and April produced the next Sun single, "Baby Let's Play House" / "I'm Left, You're Right, I'm Gone"  which was released in April.  It would become Elvis' first national breakthrough rising to #5 on Billboard's country chart.

The touring continued between the "Hayride" performances and recording sessions.  Oftentimes Elvis, Scotty and Bill were part of packages, playing with other country stars.  They were getting wider exposure as they travelled into Texas and Florida.  The shows were becoming more rowdy.  Appearing in Jacksonville, Florida on July 28th and 29th the stage was rushed by teenage girls who would tear at Elvis's clothing.

In the background at many of the "Hayride" shows and the all-star tours was Colonel Tom Parker who was currently managing Hank Snow and had previously represented Eddy Arnold.
Colonel Parker saw opportunity in the Elvis persona.  Up to this time, Elvis had been managed by Bob Neal, a local Memphis promoter.  The Colonel convinced the Presleys (Elvis still being a minor, his parents needed to sign for him) that he could better promote Elvis's career on a national scale.  After becoming Elvis's manager, Colonel Parker immediately began negotiating a transfer of his contract to a major national label.

In the summer of 1955, Sun released Elvis's fifth (and final) single for the label:  "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" / "Mystery Train."  By this time Elvis's regional reputation was enough to get him his first number one record – it was #1 on the Billboard country chart on February 25th, 1956.

Eventually RCA outbid other labels such as Columbia and Atlantic for Elvis's contract.  In November of 1955 Sam Phillips, who needed the capital to promote his other artists (primarily Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins), sold his rights to Presley for $35,000.  The artist himself received another $5,000.  The deal transferred all of Elvis's Sun recordings to RCA – they would re-release the five singles over the next year.

In the short span of sixteen months, Elvis Presley had gone from a raw talent with no professional experience to a substantial contract with a major record label.  RCA was taking a chance as, in spite of his regional appeal in the south, Elvis had as yet not been heard in the major population centers of the north.  It was a gamble that RCA won.  Over the next eight years, while the other major labels would scramble to keep up with the new wave of rock and roll, RCA would ride the crest with the new sound's biggest star.