In late June of 1954 Elvis Presley visited Scotty Moore’s house to meet Moore and Bill Black.  The three hit it off right away, and eight days later they recorded “That’s Alright Mama”  at Sun Studio in Memphis, TN. 

On October 2, 1954, Elvis and the Blue Moon Boys consisting of Scotty Moore on lead guitar and Bill Black on the upright bass visited none other than “The Grand Ole Opry” and played “Blue Moon Of Kentucky,” a song written by ”The Father Of Bluegrass,” Bill Monroe.

The audience was polite to Elvis even though they had a hard time grasping his type of music as well as the sexually suggestive way he moved on stage.   Bill Monroe praised Elvis and the boys backstage for their version of the song, but after the show, Opry manager Jim Denny told Elvis he should go back to Memphis and resume his truck-driving career.  Elvis bit his lip upon hearing the comment but swore he would never again return to The Grand Ole Opry, and he stayed true to his words! 

I can’t imagine the deflated feeling Elvis and his band mates must have experienced that night at the Grand Ole Opry after the Jim Denny remark.  But Elvis and the boys picked themselves up, and secured a deal to play every Saturday night for a year with the much more innovative Louisiana Hayride which was broadcast on KWKH radio from the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, LA., reaching twenty-eight states.  During that time “That’s Alright Mama” was released and it began rapidly climbing up the US charts.

Elvis and the boys had begun to experience success.  I’m so glad Elvis didn’t follow Denny’s advice but you know what?  Elvis was so talented he probably would have been the best darn truck driver a long stretch of asphalt would have ever seen!

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