Heartbreak Hotel
Heartbreak Hotel is a sung by Elvis Presley Rock ' n ' Roll title that was to become a nationally known star of the Southern artist. The example provided in the authentic shout- blues - style song was the first pop hit for Elvis Presley. On the list of the 500 best singles of all time of the music magazine Rolling Stone has the song 45th place
Formation
It was only on 22 November 1955, switched to RCA Records Elvis Presley from Sun Records. For the January 10, 1956 producer Steve Sholes had scheduled a first recording session with Elvis in Nashville / Tennessee, in the " Sun Records sound " should be imitated. As an accompaniment were Bill Black ( bass), Scotty Moore ( guitar), Floyd Cramer (piano ) and DJ Fontana (drums ) are available. Overall, on 10 and 11 January 1956 five songs were created, including a second recording, the bluesy Heartbreak Hotel, Mae Boren Axton composed by ( the mother of Hoyt Axton ) and guitarist Tommy Durden. Axton worked for Elvis manager Colonel Tom Parker as a local public relations manager in Florida and analyzed the situation: " When Elvis is still missing the million-selling I will write it. ". To the inspiring newspaper Passage " I walk a lonely street" Axton then built within 22 minutes from the 8- bar blues over the deserted by his girl friend and singer of the metaphor of a hotel for broken hearts. Sholes used while the Studio Access to generate the audible vocals echo, which the bluesy impression reinforced.
Sales Success
The RCA on January 27, 1956 with the B-side I Was The One released recording was the first single from Elvis to the new record label. With several appearances in the nationally televised show Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey Stage Show already on 28 January and in February 1956 Elvis acquired with this item anywhere in the United States notoriety. The Milton Berle Show Elvis presented the song on April 3, and already on 21 April 1956 he reached # 1 on the pop charts, where it stayed for 8 weeks. In the country charts, he even stopped for 17 weeks number 1 and in the Rhythm & Blues charts it peaked at number 3 with two million copies, the single became the best-selling titles of the year 1956. The hit was detonator for one of the most successful careers a pop music performer. In Germany, the original version of the song was released in September 1956 sales of Teldec on the RCA label. 2006, the title was re-released and once again reached # 1 on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales charts. Overall, provided with a BMI Award song has been covered more than 47 times.
German cover versions
As is common in the 1950s, the title for the German market was first published as a cover version with German text. On July 5, 1956 Ralf Bendix took the Electrola - Studio on Maarweg in Cologne produced by Nils Nobah German version under the title Hotel for solitude ( Electrola EG 8609, 17-8609 ). The record label Philips followed with the recorded on 12 September in Cologne Bruno - hall version of Werner Overheidt (Philips 44 857 H; 344 857 PF). Both recordings, their arrangements considerably among themselves and differ from the original, were accompanied by Adalbert Luczkowski and his orchestra. In December 1959, a version of Ferry Graf appeared in the Austrian record label Mastertone, accompanied by Will Fantel and the Rocker's ( Mastertone ML 7019 ). In Switzerland, this version also appeared on an EP of the label Disco Club. In all cases, it was only to German versions, an approximation to the in Germany still largely unknown original artists was not intentional. The German text came from the pen of Hans Bradtke.
Ralf Bendix: Hotel to loneliness, single 1956
Werner Overheidt: Hotel to solitude, shellac plate 1956
Werner Overheidt: Hotel to loneliness, single 1956
Ferry Count: Hotel to loneliness, single, 1956
Ferry Count: Hotel to solitude, EP 1956/57,