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For Elvis, Memphis was a wellspring of musical creation

Scotty Moore (from left), Elvis Presley and Bill Black formed The Blue Moon Boys after being introduced by Sun Studio owner Sam Phillips.
Opal Walker
/
Courtesy of the artist
Scotty Moore (from left), Elvis Presley and Bill Black formed The Blue Moon Boys after being introduced by Sun Studio owner Sam Phillips.

From his work at Sun Records to his final recordings at Graceland, Memphis holds a special place in Elvis Presley's career. After leaving his hometown of Tupelo, Miss., Presley discovered a world of music on Beale Street. He cut his teeth at Sun Studio, and once successful, he bought a farmhouse there that would become a mecca to fans for generations, Graceland.

There's a newly released five-disc collection, titled Memphis, that chronicles the King's time in Grind City. In this session, Grammy Award-winning record producer Matt Ross-Spang, who mixed a good chunk of these songs, talks about Elvis' connection to Memphis, what you'll hear in these performances and, notably, what you won't.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.

Copyright 2024 XPN

Miguel Perez
Miguel Perez is a radio producer for NPR's World Cafe, based out of WXPN in Philadelphia. Before that, he covered arts, music and culture for KERA in Dallas. He reported on everything from the rise of NFTs in the music industry to the enduring significance of gay and lesbian bars to the LGBTQ community in North Texas.