‘That’s All Right’ set to be crowned

As far as Elvis Presley songs go, “That’s All Right,” his very first record, wasn’t among his biggest hits. In fact, the 1954 song wasn’t even a hit at all.

Yet on Monday, 50 years to the day after it was recorded, fans and media will converge on Memphis, Tenn., for a blowout celebration to commemorate the song — which the city claims started the musical and cultural phenomenon known as rock ‘n’ roll.

While Elvis may be universally known as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” some consider it a stretch to anoint him the creator of a genre that mixed blues, R&B, country and even a bit of swing — musical styles that were around long before.

“There was a birth way before — where did Elvis get it from?” asked rocker Lenny Kravitz.

While the ‘50s are generally acknowledged as the beginning of rock, music experts are divided over the actual date of birth.

Just two years ago, there were commemorations of the 50th anniversary of rock ‘n’ roll pegged to disc jockey Alan Freed’s Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland. Some rock historians have claimed the March 21, 1952, show as the first rock concert — the main reason the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was located there.

Others point to “Rocket ‘88,” the 1951 hit written by Ike Turner, as the first rock record because of its distorted electric guitar sound. Still others claim Bill Haley’s 1954 hits “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll” (a remake of the Big Joe Turner version) helped birth the rock explosion.

And of course, there are those who say that the blues and swing recordings of black artists from years earlier were rock tunes.

“That’s like one of those things that’s so contested. I always thought it was when Big Joe Turner did ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll,’ ” said guitarist Vernon Reid, formerly of the rock group Living Colour. “Everyone makes a claim and it’s contentious.”

Probably only die-hard Elvis fans or music historians are familiar with “That’s All Right,” a cover of a blues number by Arthur Crudup. Released in 1954 by the famed Sun Records, then a local blues label in Memphis owned by a relatively unknown Sam Phillips, it caused a sensation when played on local radio.

Presley’s upbeat version, mixing in a bit of country twang, gave the song a different sound. It created a buzz that eventually caught the attention of RCA Records, which bought out his contract a year later. Presley wouldn’t get his first No. 1 pop single until 1956 with “Heartbreak Hotel.”

When pressed, even folks in Memphis won’t go as far as to say “That’s All Right” was the definitive date rock was created.

During a tour of Sun Studio, still the tiny structure it was in 1954, the tour guide points to “Rocket 88” — also recorded there before Phillips started Sun Records — as the first rock record.

“I don’t think anyone is calling this the very first rock ‘n’ roll song ever made, but it is the first time rock ‘n’ roll went global and exploded on the world scene,” the studio’s current owner, John Schorr, says of “That’s All Right.”

“Everyone refers to it as kind of the opening shot of the big bang of rock ‘n’ roll that occurred in rock ‘n’ roll, which the other ones hadn’t done yet,” Schorr says.

Others suggest that more so than the music, “That’s All Right” was perhaps the first time that American teens — more specifically, white teens — started embracing a new style of edgy, sexy black music as their own.

“The rock ‘n’ roll explosion really starts when white kids were becoming immersed in black music,” said rock historian Marc Kirkeby. “Elvis was the catalyst for that, you have to give him that credit.”

Though it’s been touting itself as the birthplace of rock for years, it wasn’t until two years ago that Memphis thought it should put together a worldwide anniversary campaign to draw attention to the city as a music center.

Throughout the year, there have been dozens of promotional tie-ins celebrating “That’s All Right” as the start of rock ‘n’ roll, from Rolling Stone magazine covers to DVD and CD releases. More than 1,000 stations around the globe are scheduled to play the song at the same time on Monday, and Memphis talent such as Justin Timberlake and Isaac Hayes are expected to perform during a concert.

“We’ve been talking for several years about when to mark the anniversary of rock ‘n’ roll, and in the end it seemed pretty natural,” said Joe Levy, Rolling Stone deputy managing editor.

“As a mass phenomenon that changed American culture, Elvis Presley is a legitimate starting point for the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll. That’s where the music became a phenomenon, and the phenomenon grew into a culture that would change the culture and the rest of the world.”

Reid, who is black, says that’s partly because white culture made that determination.

“Elvis was crowned the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ not by black people. That’s really what it comes down to — who had the power to make the definitions stick?” he asks. “The 300-pound gorilla in the room is that this is when white people started paying attention to it.”

Kravitz says the true creators of rock will likely never get their due.

“The guys who invented rock ‘n’ roll, we probably don’t even know who they are,” he said. “We can talk about all the Bo Diddleys and the Fats Dominos and all the great guys and Chuck Berrys who were the pioneers, but I’m sure there were a bunch of guys sitting on porches somewhere in the backwoods — we don’t even know who they are.”