LR disc jockey was the one who captured Elvis on tape

Elvis Presley sang just seven songs during his May 16, 1956, performances at Robinson Auditorium:

“Heartbreak Hotel,” “Long Tall Sally,” “I Was the One,” “Money Honey,” “I Got a Woman,” “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Hound Dog.”

“Heartbreak Hotel” spent eight weeks at No. 1 on Billboard magazine’s singles charts earlier that year. The flip side of that 45 RPM record was “I Was the One,” which peaked at No. 19. “Blue Suede Shoes” first hit the charts on April 7, 1956, and “Money Honey” was on the charts four days before Presley hit the Robinson Auditorium stage.

Nine days after the Little Rock performances, Presley’s second No. 1 record, “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” entered the Billboard singles charts. That single’s B side was “My Baby Left Me,” which was a minor hit.

While “Hound Dog” was introduced to the Little Rock audiences on May 16, it couldn’t be bought as a single until Aug. 4, when it was released with “Don’t Be Cruel.” Both songs hit No. 1.

One of the Robinson concerts was recorded by KLRA-AM disc jockey Ray Green by holding a single microphone to the auditorium’s sound system. He also recorded an interview with Presley between the two Robinson shows on a reelto-reel tape recorder.

Green refers to the singer’s first No. 1 hit as “Heartbreak Motel.”

“I wish I could have done that over; it was kind of embarrassing,” Green says. The retired motivational speaker and sales trainer lives in Lafayette, La. The now-familiar story of how he “kidnapped” Presley and persuaded his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to give him an exclusive interview is retold on Green’s website, imetelvis.com.

The recording, which Green still has, “was the first complete concert recording of Elvis.” It was misplaced among Green’s possessions and considered lost for more than 20 years. When it resurfaced, Green sold the rights to the recording to RCA Records in the 1990s and the label issued the Little Rock performance as part of a 2002 Presley boxed set, Today, Tomorrow and Forever.

Green was given the rights to release the recorded interview by Presley’s estate, and it was sold as a picture disc and, subsequently, on compact disc. The interview also can be heard on Youtube.

The Little Rock recording was released by RCA Legacy on a second boxed set last year, Young Man With the Big Beat: The Complete ’56 Elvis Presley Masters.

On his website, scottymoore.net/littlerock.html, guitarist Scotty Moore, who started touring with Presley in 1954, recalls the singer getting $150 for a Feb. 20, 1955, appearance at Robinson Auditorium on a show with the Duke of Paducah as headliner. Mother Maybelle Carter and the Carter Sisters were also on the bill. Tickets were 75 cents in advance, $1 at the door.

Presley returned to Robinson on Aug. 3, 1955, with Webb Pierce as the headliner; Presley was secondbilled. That show also included Wanda Jackson.

When Presley headlined at Robinson on May 16, 1956, Moore says Presley grossed $9,000. Tickets were $1.50 in advance, $2 at the door.

— Ellis Widner