Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African American music to a wider audience. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage the singer for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number one hit in the United States. With a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records, he became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, made him enormously popular—and controversial.
In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He held few concerts however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood movies and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii. Years of prescription drug abuse severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at his Graceland estate, just 42 years of age.
Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century. Commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, blues, and gospel, he is the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music. He won three competitive Grammys, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame.
That's All Right Mama
Elvis Presley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's alright with you
That's alright now mama, just anyway you do
That's alright, that's alright
That's alright now mama, anyway you do
Well mama, she done told me, papa done told me too
"Son, that gal you're foolin' with
But that's alright now, that's alright
That's alright now mama, anyway you do
I'm leaving town, baby
I'm leaving town for sure
Well, then you won't be bothered with me hanging 'round your door
Well, that's alright, that's alright
That's alright now mama, anyway you do
Ah dala dee dee deelee
Dee dee deelee
Dee dee deelee, I need your lovin'
That's alright
That's alright now mama, anyway you do
Elvis Presley's That's All Right is a song about a man who is in a relationship with a woman who is perceived to be unworthy of him, according to the opinions of his parents. Despite their warnings, he is unfazed and decides to continue with the relationship. The man's decision is depicted in the line "That's alright now mama, just anyway you do" which refers to his mother's advice earlier. In the song, the singer expresses his desire to leave town, but with an optimistic attitude that implies he will meet someone else. Elvis Presley's performance of this song is reflective of his rockabilly style that blends country and rock music. The upbeat tempo and infusion of different music genres serve to create a unique sound that appeals to a wide range of listeners.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, that's alright now mama
It's perfectly fine now, mama
That's alright with you
If it's okay with you
That's alright now mama, just anyway you do
It's okay now, mama, whatever you do
That's alright, that's alright
It's okay, it's okay
That's alright now mama, anyway you do
It's okay now, mama; you can do anything
Well mama, she done told me, papa done told me too
Mama and papa have told me already
"Son, that gal you're foolin' with
Son, the girl you're involved with
She ain't no good for you"
She's not good for you
But that's alright now, that's alright
But it's still okay now, it's still okay
That's alright now mama, anyway you do
It's okay now, mama; you can do anything
I'm leaving town, baby
I'm going out of town, baby
I'm leaving town for sure
I'm definitely leaving town
Well, then you won't be bothered with me hanging 'round your door
So you won't be bothered by me knocking on your door
Well, that's alright, that's alright
Well, it's okay, it's okay
That's alright now mama, anyway you do
It's okay now, mama; you can do anything
Ah dala dee dee deelee
Ah, I just need to sing this
Dee dee deelee
Dee dee deelee
Dee dee deelee, I need your lovin'
Dee dee deelee, I need your love
That's alright
It's okay
That's alright now mama, anyway you do
It's okay now, mama; you can do anything
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Arthur Crudup
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Chaseme
On the night of July 7, 1954, Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips played a brand-new recording of the song “That’s All Right” sung by 19-year-old Elvis Presley, who lived there in Memphis. Right away, listeners starting calling, demanding that he play it again, asking exactly what kind of music it was – blues? rock ’n’ roll? – and wanting to know more about the singer.
Dewey played the song fourteen times that night. During one break, he called the Presley home, wanting to get Elvis down to the studio for an interview. Elvis, who’d been told that his record might be on the radio, had been too nervous to listen. “I thought people would laugh at me,” he later explained. So he’d gone to the movies.
Dewey asked his mother to find him, saying, “I played that record of his, and them birdbrain phones haven’t stopped ringing since.” Mr. and Mrs. Presley hurried to the theater, searched the dark rows, found their son, and hustled the boy off to WHBQ for the interview.
As a child, Elvis Presley soaked up gospel music at church. He listened to country music on The Grand Ole Opry radio show, blues singers on the streets of Memphis, spirituals at tent revivals, symphony orchestra concerts in the park, opera on the family’s wind-up Victrola.
“What kind of singer are you?” the manager of a Memphis recording studio asked him when he made his very first record. “Aw, I sing all kinds,” he answered. “Who do you sound like?” she pressed. “I don’t sound like nobody,” he insisted.
His answer was more than youthful boasting. Presley’s unabashedly original style embraced all kinds of American music and crossed all borders of race, class, and region. As biographers have noted, that democratic principle of his music helped win legions of fans.
— American Patriot's Daily Almanac
S
Elvis was rejected, sacked and told he could not sing before he got his first break. How inspirational is that! Never give up if you believe in you! Thank you Elvis, thank you that you kept on going because deep down you believed. Elvis you set the world alight, just imagine how poorer all our worlds would had been without you in it xx
Kingdemon47
Which is not true if you watch the elvis movie
filthymags
The Elvis movie also doesn't keep 100 percent to the truth either.
8176morgan
Elvis got his first big break when he walked into Sam Phillips studio and soon after began his recording career with this song, which was an instant hit in the south. No idea where you got that information from but virtually nobody got off to a quicker and more sucessful start than did the King.
filthymags
@8176morgan Elvis paid Sam Phillips for a couple of records of which nothing came of them, my Happiness and I'll Never Stand in Your Way, he kept visiting Sun for almost a year trying to get a record out of them until Sam found something he thought he might suit him, it didn't and they tried a few other songs in the session until Elvis started on this one..
Elvis did have a few run in's with people prior to recording That's Alright (Mama) in which he was told he couldn't sing, at one audition he was told to stick to truck driving as he was never going to make it as a singer, he was reportedly very disheartened by these rejections.
Dan C
Anyone who relies on a Hollywood movie to accurately depict a superstar’s life story is a sucker, IMO. I’ve been an Elvis fan since age 7 and I’m now 64. It is sad to me younger people believe that Elvis movie is a good source of info on the man and his life.
Brandon Ayong
People don't understand how ahead of his Era Elvis was.
As a white teenager in the south he decided to mix Blues music with country music along with his love for gospel and ballads. To think this way at 17 in that context is pure genius. He embraced music above any background or ethnicity in the freaking 50s
Malaquias Alfaro
Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills and Hank Williams all learned black blues artist. Combining them wasn’t new.
Brandon Ayong
@Malaquias Alfaro Elvis's sound was completely different to what they were doing though
Malaquias Alfaro
@Brandon Ayong I’ll agree with the sound to a degree. But even something like Heartbreak Hotel sounds a lot like Barnard Blues from Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys