Did one rock ’n roll song of the mid-1960s provide a kind of social dividing line –  a musical bright line separating old and new?  Did one song lay down, in a popular way, a kind of generational and values  demarcation?  

     Certainly there were any number of songs at that time heralding the new generation’s outlook and values — in  lyrics, distinctive sound, and in some cases, musical “attitude.”  

     Bob Dylan, for one — the leading tr0ubadour of the  1960s — had begun offering his interpretations by the early 1960s.  His “Blowin` in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A Changin`” were much in the air by 1963. 

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     But in May 1965, a young British rock group named the Rolling Stones recorded a rock song called “Satisfaction”– also known by its longer title, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”  By July 1965, “Satisfaction” had been released in the U.S. and soon became a gigantic hit.  This song, however, was something more than merely good rock `n roll.  In its way, and perhaps in a more popular mainstream sense, “Satisfaction”  became the pop/rock equivalent of what Dylan and other folk/protest musicians were offering to somewhat less mainstream audiences.  “Satisfaction” was a hard-rock tune with a driving sound, but with lyrics that were also aimed at the status quo; a song that expressed a distinct “dis-satisfaction” with the way that things were.

     The Rolling Stones had formed their band in the early 1960s playing mostly cover versions of American rhythm and blues(R&B) music and Chicago blues and rock n’ roll artists, including Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, and others.  Their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, a former Beatles publicist, later encouraged the Stones to write their own pop songs as the Beatles were doing.  Brian Jones, a talented guitarist who had once led the group and would later die in a drowning accident, preferred the R & B path.  But lead singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards soon began writing pop rock ‘n roll songs, taking the group in what would prove to be a very successful direction.  “Satisfaction” would become their  landmark hit; their big breakthrough.

The Song

     Keith Richards played a key inventor’s role with this song.  In early May 1965, as the Rolling Stones were on tour in the U.S., it was Richards who came up with “Satisfaction’s” opening guitar riff — the distinctive, flat-sounding twang that powers the song throughout and its signature sound.  Story has it that Richards woke up in the middle of the night during the U.S. tour and recorded the guitar riff into a tape recorder that he kept at his bedside for unexpected moments of inspiration.  Then he went back to sleep.  Next morning he played the riff for Mick Jagger, offering one lyric he had in mind for the song – “I can’t get no satisfaction.”  Jagger would later say he thought that line was possibly influenced subconsciously by Richards’ listening to a 1955 Chuck Berry song titled “30 Days,” a tune which has a similar line – “I don’t get no satisfaction from the judge”.  The guitar riff developed by Richards in any case, was initially not set for guitar, but thought as a guide for horns.  Jagger, meanwhile, fleshed out more of “Satisfaction’s” lyrics one afternoon while on tour, later admitting to incorporating some of his own feelings at the time about the media and advertising.

“Satisfaction” Rolling Stones-1965 I can’t get no satisfaction, I can’t get no satisfaction. ‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try. I can’t get no, I can’t get no. When I’m drivin’ in my car and that man comes on the radio and he’s tellin’ me more and more about some useless information supposed to drive my imagination. I can’t get no, oh no no no. Hey hey hey, that’s what I say. (repeat refrain) …I can’t get no satisfaction, I can’t get no satisfaction. ‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try. I can’t get no, I can’t get no. When I’m watchin’ my TV and a man comes on to tell me how white my shirts can be. Well he can’t be a man ’cause he doesn’t smoke the same cigarettes as me. I can’t get no, oh, no no no. Hey hey hey, that’s what I say. I can’t get no satisfaction, I can’t get no girl reaction. ‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try. I can’t get no, I can’t get no. When I’m ridin’ round the world and I’m doin’ this and I’m signing that and I’m tryin’ to make some girl who tells me baby better come back                                        later next week ’cause you see I’m on a losing streak. I can’t get no, oh no no no. Hey hey hey, that’s what I say. I can’t get no, I can’t get no, I can’t get no satisfaction, no satisfaction, no satisfaction, no satisfaction….

     The Stones, still on tour in the U.S. at the time, continued to work on the song between performances.  In Chicago, they took it into the Chess recording studios, working on it there May 10, 1965.  Two days later in Los Angeles, California, they completed it during a long session at RCA’s studios.  It was in this session that Richards reportedly rigged up a version of a “fuzz box” to his guitar which gave the opening riff he’d invented its distinctive sound, helping send “Satisfaction” straight up the charts.

     In that summer of 1965, there was no shortage of rock ‘n roll music.  New songs were coming from all directions – Detroit’s Motown, the California surf scene, and a wave of new British artists.  Among the tunes at or near the top of the charts that summer were songs such as: “Help Me, Rhonda” by The Beach Boys, “Mr. Tambourine Man” by The Byrds, and “I Got You Babe” by Sonny & Cher.  But “Satisfaction” was different; the song stood out and apart.  It had something about it that made it more than just a song.  Though it was certainly musically appealing to the youth of that day, “Satisfaction” was also music with a message.

     A share of popular and folk music by then had begun to take a more serious and cynical tack.  Bob Dylan, as mentioned earlier, was having a profound influence, not only in folk and protest music, but also in mainstream rock `n roll.  Dylan’s songs in 1962-1965, such as: “Blowin’ in The Wind,” “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall“, “Masters of War,” and “The Times They Are A-Changin`,” as well as songs by other protest songwriters, had opened a new window for 1960s’ music, bringing social commentary to song writing.  The Rolling Stones and other groups at that time were greatly influenced by Dylan’s music.  And “Satisfaction” – though not a protest song per se – was clearly one of those songs that had picked up on the idea of adding some “message” to the music.

     Although the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement were both underway by mid-1965, “Satisfaction” was not a song aimed at those troubles per se.  Rather, “Satisfaction” at the time was more of a general angst tune; a song that captured the frustrations bubbling up with the younger generation on a number of fronts, Vietnam and civil rights included.  Conventional wisdom and social values were then being challenged all around and “Satisfaction” chimed in with lyrics aimed at superficial advertising and uptight sexual mores.“Satisfaction” had enough attitude and swagger to wilt any set of established values its listeners might target. It  became an all- purpose anti-etablishment anthem.

     The plea of the narrator/singer in this song is a guy who is frustrated with the “useless information” and advertising hype he hears on radio and TV, plus his own personal plight of not being able to score with the ladies  The guy is essentially throwing up his hands in frustration with life in general: he just isn’t getting any satisfaction on any level.  Millions of young people then were trying to make their way in the world, and many weren’t happy or “satisfied” with what they saw around them.

     The song’s lyrics, for their day, were controversial, in part, because they challenged the prevailing cultural mores.  Perceived as an attack on the status quo, the song could be threatening to older listeners.  “Satisfaction”  offered plenty of attitude – not only in its lyrics, but also in its sound and the way the Stones delivered the song.   “Satisfaction,” in fact, had enough attitude and swagger to wilt any set of established values its listeners might choose to target.  It became an all-purpose, anti-establishment anthem with broad applicability.  The song was a good fit for its times and audience.

Breakthrough

     For the Rolling Stones, “Satisfaction” proved to be the breakthrough song; the one that set them apart and sent them on their way toward superstardom. The group performed “Satisfaction” on American TV even before the single was released in the States.  On May 20, 1965, they appeared on the ABC show Shindig! from Los Angeles.  “Satisfaction” was released as a U.S. single by London Records on June 6th,1965, with another somewhat obscure song on its B-side, “The Under-Assistant West Coast Promotion Man.”  The Stones were then touring in the U.S., the third time they’d been to the States.  But at the time they were still a new group to many in America.  As part of this tour, for example, on May 4th, 1965, they performed at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia.  On June 5, 1965 they played to about 3,000 people at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater, Florida.  “Satisfaction,” meanwhile, had entered the Billboard Hot 100 that week and rose to No. 1 by July 10th, displacing The Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself.”  The song was also featured on the Rolling Stones’ third U.K. album, Out of Our Heads, also released in the U.S. in July 1965.

     Glenn Gass, a professor at the School of Music at Indiana University, told ABC News decades later on the 45th anniversary of “Satisfaction,” that although there were many great songs that year from groups such as the Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher, the Byrds, the Four Tops and others, “Satisfaction” nonetheless “claimed that summer.”  The song held the top spot on the record charts for four weeks until August 7, 1965, when another English band, Herman’s Hermits, hit No. 1 with their tune, “I’m Henry the Eighth, I Am.”  Still, “Satisfaction” remained on the Billboard charts for 14 weeks.  The song sold 500,000 copies in its first eight weeks, giving the Stones their first official gold record award by the Recording Industry Association of America.  The song also put the Stones on the path to “Beatles-level” popularity.  “They were already going strong,” said Indiana University’s Gass of the Stones’ growing popularity then, “but that song put them in the Beatles’ stratosphere of rarified air.”“…It was the song that really made the Rolling Stones, changed us from just another band into a huge, monster band…”
                    - Mick Jagger  Mick Jagger himself would later acknowledge much the same in a 1995 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine:

“…It was the song that really made the Rolling Stones, changed us from just another band into a huge, monster band.  You always need one song.  We weren’t American, and America was a big thing and we always wanted to make it here.  It was very impressive the way that song and the popularity of the band became a worldwide thing.  It’s a signature tune, really,…a kind of signature that everyone knows.  It has a very catchy title.  It has a very catchy guitar riff.  It has a great guitar sound, which was original at that time.  And it captures a spirit of the times, which is very important in those kinds of songs… Which was alienation.  Or it’s a bit more than that, maybe, but a kind of sexual alienation.  Alienation’s not quite the right word, but it’s one word that would do.”

     “Satisfaction” did, however, in the mid-1960s, tread upon sensitive ground with its lyrics suggesting frustrated adolescent sexuality — i.e., not getting any “girl reaction” – interpreted by some listeners and radio programmers as meaning a girl willing to have sex.  In fact, when the Rolling Stones performed the song on the TV show Shindig! in 1965, the line “trying to make some girl” was censored.  And again, when they performed it later on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1966 the same line – “trying to make some girl”– was not used.

     “Satisfaction” also put rock music, and the Rolling Stones, on something of a more raucous, more bawdy, harder-edge path – a distinction some would later draw in comparisons to the Beatles.  The Beatles, of course, had just been through their 1964-1965 “Beatlemania” period with a phenomenal run of pop hits and lots of “yeah, yeah, yeah.”  The Stones, on the other hand, were coming on with a little different sound; providing music that had more of an R&B- and blues-tinge to it.  “Satisfaction” was a “great ‘no’ to the Beatles’ ‘yeah’,” offered Glenn Gass from Indiana University in a 2010 interview with ABC News at the song’s 45th anniversary.  Others, including writer Tom Wolfe, would go farther.  “The Beatles,” he once famously wrote, “just want to hold your hand.  The Rolling Stones want to burn your town down” – an exaggeration, of course, but the message was plain.

     But it wasn’t just the Stones who were supplying that harder edge to rock music.  In 1964 there had also been bluesy songs like the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun,” and even the Beatles did their raucous cover of “Twist and Shout” that year.  The Stones themselves also had the bluesy 1964 hit, “Time is On My Side,” which rose to No. 6 that November.  Bob Dylan, meanwhile, had “Like A Rolling Stone” in the summer of 1965, a landmark message song.  Still, “Satisfaction” grabbed center-stage attention at the time, appealing to mainstream rock audiences in a new way.  It was a distinctive turn.  After 1965-1966, of course, the music would change again, and the change would escalate, with much more innovation, new sounds, and good music to come – from the Stones, Dylan, the Beatles, and many others.

     The Stones, for their part, would follow “Satisfaction” with a long list of other 1960s’ hits, such as: “Get Off My Cloud” and “As Tears Go By” in 1965; “Paint it Black” and “19th Nervous Breakdown” in 1966; “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday” in 1967; “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Street Fighting Man” in 1968; “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Honky Tonk Woman” in 1969, and many more.  The Stones, in fact, were just getting started in the 1960s, with about four more decades of music-making and performing ahead of them.  “Satisfaction,” meanwhile, would experience a spike in sales after being heard in movies such as Apocalypse Now in 1979 or Starman of 1994, as well as during and after the Stone’s many concert tours.

     Over the years, “Satisfaction” has been accorded high honors in the pantheon of rock `n roll.  The song has been noted in various “top 100 lists” by Vox, BMI , VH1, MTV, Q magazine and other media and rock music venues.  Newsweek once called the song’s opening guitar riff, “five notes that shook the world.”  In November 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed the song at No. 2 on its list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”– second only to Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”.  In 2006, “Satisfaction” was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, songs deemed to be among those that are culturally and/or historically significant.

     Other stories at this website on the Rolling Stones, their music, and business history include, for example, “Paint It Black” (song history & subsequent uses); “Stones Gather Dollars” (how the Rolling Stones helped develop a lucrative concert touring model); “Start Me Up” (Bill Gates & Windows 95 theme song), and “Shine A Light, 2008” (Rolling Stones film trailer).  Additional story choices on other topics at this website may be found on the Home Page or in the Archive.  Thanks for visiting — and please consider supporting this website. Thank you. — Jack Doyle

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Date Posted: 11 July 2011
Last Update: 11 March 2012
Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com

Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “…No Satisfaction, 1965-1966,”
PopHistoryDig.com, July 11, 2011.

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Sources, Links & Additional Information

Young Rolling Stones, London, England,1963: From left: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones (1942 - 1969), Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts.

Decca record label for Rolling Stones’ 1965 song, “Satisfaction,” by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards.

Young Rolling Stones, early 1960s, U.K. street scene.

Screen shot from Rolling Stones' performance in the October 1964 T.A.M.I. Show, filmed in Santa Monica, CA, where they performed “Time in On My Side” and “It’s All Over Now,” among others.

Mid-1960s: Rolling Stones shown with wunderkind studio producer, Phil Spector, with sunglasses.

Mick Jagger on stage, with Keith Richards and Brian Jones behind him, as Stones debut “Jumpin Jack Flash” at a New Musical Express (NME) concert in the U.K., May 1968.

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     In 1995, Mercedes-Benz, the luxury German automaker, used a song by ‘60s rocker and blues singer Janis Joplin in one of its TV ads.  The Joplin tune – which includes the famous refrain, “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz” – was used by Mercedes to push a new line of sedans.  At first, the use of the song — which Joplin intended as a sarcastic piece on the pursuit of material happiness – seemed a risky if not an odd marketing strategy for the conservative German automaker.  Yet there was a method to Mercedes’ madness, and it involved the “maturing” Baby Boomer market.  First, consider Ms. Joplin and the times that helped produce the music.

     Janis Lyn Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas on January 19, 1943.  By most accounts, she loved her home and family, but Joplin was an unhappy soul in Port Arthur, especially as a high school teenager.  By then she had been singing folk music and blues locally.  She later made her way to California and into the 1960s’ music and Hippie scene in San Francisco. In 1966, she teamed up with a band named Big Brother & The Holding Company, and at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival she captured national attention with a stunning blues performance of “Ball and Chain.”  A first album by Joplin and her group, titled Big Brother & The Holding Company, was re-released following the Monterey Pop Festival.  The next album, Cheap Thrills, topped the charts in 1968. Joplin then moved on to a solo act, producing another album in 1969 with the Kozmic Blues Band which included one of her famous tunes, “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)”.

Music Player Janis Joplin – “Mercedes Benz” Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

     Joplin’s personal life, meanwhile, was  troubled, with drug addiction, alcoholism, and unhappy personal relationships.  Still, by 1970, her musical stars seemed to be aligning with a new group of musicians backing here — the Full Tilt Boogie Band.  She had also made a new attempt at beating her drug habit.  In 1970, Joplin and her group produced the album, Pearl, which included the songs “Mercedes Benz,” “Get It While You Can,” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”  But tragically, Joplin relapsed into drug use and died of an overdosed in October 1970.  Her newly-made album had yet to go to market.  But four months after her death, Pearl topped the album charts for nine weeks, and “Me and Bobby McGee” became a No.1 single in 1971 and one of her biggest hits.

Mercedes Benz Joplin: “I’d like to do a song of great social and political import. It goes like this:”

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV ? Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me. I wait for delivery each day until three, So oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV ?

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town ? I’m counting on you, Lord, please don’t let me down. Prove that you love me and buy the next round, Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town ?

Everybody!

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends, Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

(giggle) That’s it!

     The “Mercedes Benz” song in that album was something of a playful throw-away at the time.  It was written by Joplin with Kansas-born Beatnick poet Michael McClue and recorded in a style that was pure Joplinesque, complete with giggle at the end.   Joplin can be heard on the version above tallking in the studio, saying she could do the song in “one take,” which she did.  The point of her tune – befitting the 1960s’ values around her — was to mock the notion that happiness could be found through material things. Joplin recorded the song a capella, with lyrics that made her message pretty transparent, along with her sarcastic on-air introduction (see sidebar).

 

25 Years Later

     Nearly 25 years later, with Joplin safely in a better place, Mercedes-Benz struck a deal to use the song with Janis’ step-sister.  Mercedes then had a marketing problem.  It’s line of upscale vehicles were perceived as stuffy – cars that only rich “suits” would buy.  The average age of its buyers was getting older, a problem for the future.  And the competition was tougher too.  The Japanese, with their own new lines of luxury cars, were eating into Mercedes’ turf.  So Mercedes decided to work on its image, seeking to dispel the reputation that its cars were only for rich older guys.  The New York-based ad agency Lowe & Partners/SMS, known for work on brands such as Grey Poupon mustard, was brought in to help overhaul Mercedes’ sedate image.  “The median age of Mercedes buyers is 51,” said veteran adman Marvin Sloves, then chairman of Lowe & Partners/SMS, who explained that Mercedes needed to begin talking to a whole new generation. “I don’t know the generational names,” he said.  “Whatever every-one calls people 35 to 45 who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s is the generation we are targeting.”  That’s when they made the TV ad using the Joplin tune.

     The TV spot became known in the industry as the “Janis ad,” and was designed to soften Boomers’ perception of the Mercedes brand by making it seem less stuffy and more approachable.  Mercedes and their admen wanted to show that Mercedes cars could be accessible and fun for younger, successful professionals.

     “Mercedes is making a concerted effort to attract nontraditional buyers,” observed Ray Serafin, in February 1995 for Advertising Age.  “They’re looking to the future when they’re going to be bringing some different vehicles to the market.  They’ve got a sport utility vehicle, to be made in Alabama, coming out in a couple of years, and also a smaller urban type vehicle.  So they’re looking at freshening up their image.”  Mercedes was also trying to convince Boomers that despite its luxury image, its new line of C-Class and E-Class vehicles in the $32,000 to $40,000 range, were really good, economical buys.  So the Janis TV spot ran with those models.

     “The campaign revolves around establishing relevancy,” explained Donna Boland, director of public relations for Mercedes-Benz of North America.”The Janis ad fits within that nostalgia mode. It evokes the memories of the ’60s and brings back a good feeling…”  Time magazine ranked the Janis ad as the 8th best in 1995.  “Sure, sure, it prostitutes the spirit of the 1960s,” said Time in a year-end review of ads, “but the finest car ad of late achieves perfect-pitch simplicity.“The Janis ad fits within that nostalgia mode. It evokes the memories of the ’60s and brings back a good feeling . . .”
     - Donna Boland, Mercedes-Benz   A new model E-class coasts toward us on the TV screen.  The only sound we hear is Joplin belting her classic Mercedes Benz.”

     “We’ve been asked why we didn’t use it before, because it seems so natural,” said Boland of the song.  “The reason is that the people who really appreciated that music are only now in the right income bracket for our product.”  Lee Garfinkel, Lowe & Partners/SMS chief creative officer, explained, “We couldn’t have used this song 25 years ago.  Our target audience knows that, and that’s one of the reasons it works so well in the strategy.”  A few years after the ad had run,  in 1998, Mercedes’ Michael Jackson, then about to become CEO, looked back on the Janis ad and the intent of the campaign in an interview with Brandweek:

. . .Certainly, ‘Janis’ spurred a great deal of conversation internally, as well as through the dealer organization and even customers.  But you have to go back to the original plan.  The purpose of the brand campaign was to, yes, launch the C-Class and a value story [ i.e., a good buy], but it was a first step in defining Mercedes-Benz in a new way.  And the single goal of ‘Janis’ was to communicate that something is changing at Mercedes.  Open your mind.  We didn’t say how we were changing, or what the meaning was.  It was simply a signal that change was taking place.  And it was absolutely the most effective TV commercial that we could have run at that time. It achieved the objective of [getting people thinking], “Hey, something changed at Mercedes while I wasn’t looking.” 

          But what about the fact that Joplin intended the song as a critique of the very thing the ad was now being used for?  “These lyrics are certainly among the best known in the rock world,” said Mercedes’ Donna Boland, acknowledging when the ad first came out that there were people upset with it.   “. . . There’s always going to be people who are going to dissect something like this . . . “[W]hat’s most annoying about the use of Joplin’s song is the fact that she is dead, and the integrity of her art is all that she has left. Joplin didn’t really want to help sell a damn Mercedes.”
            – Dean Bakopoulos, 1996[B]ut I think most of our buyers will understand that we’re harkening back to the ’60s as a whole.” Janis’ fans, however, weren’t so understanding.

     While using the Janis ad may well have proved a clever re-casting of a calcifying corporate image – and Mercedes’ sales did increase in the first few years following the Janis ad –it also provoked outrage among music fans and others who felt it a transgression on the emotional connection to the music and the artist’s intent.  Among the critics was Dean Bakopoulos writing for the Michigan Daily after he saw the ad in 1996.  “What’s most annoying about the use of Joplin’s song,” wrote Bakopoulos, “is the fact that she is dead, and the integrity of her art is all that she has left.  Joplin didn’t really want to help sell a damn Mercedes.”  But the use of ad, he explained, underscored a bigger issue.  “There’s a business culture and an artist culture at work in America,” Bakopoulos wrote, “. . . and they don’t fit together.  When their paths cross it comes off as vulgar, disrespectful,” Bakopoulos also offered this:

…What the folks who designed the ad want you to believe is the antithesis to Joplin’s song.  They want you to believe that a Mercedes Benz is a reward for all your hard work.  But what they really mean is the following:  Mercedes Benz is a sign that says, “Look at you.  Look at me.  Look at my car.  Look at your car.  Look at my car, again.  Ha, ha, sucker!  That’s what you get for getting a stupid liberal arts degree.”  Mercedes Benz is a sign that you’ve kissed enough ass, lost enough friends and stabbed enough backs to make six figures a year. Well, congratulations….

     Another critic, Lael Ewy, writing in EastWesterly Review, offered the view that the Mercedes ad actually “makes fun of the song, saying, in essence, ‘Remember back when we were idealistic and thought materialism was bad?  How foolish we were!’”  Continues Ewy:  “In other words, this is advertising critiquing art, advertising embracing, and indeed celebrating, superficiality and dumbness.  It is, in other words, meant to make the viewer more comfortable in having sold out. . .  The ad says it’s o.k. to be a capitalist pig since the Mercedes Benz company gave you permission to do so.  It makes palatable a difficult problem in social ethics at the personal level.”

     Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile – at least in the afterglow of their corporate makeover using Janis Joplin and other strategies – did well in the sales department.  By late 1996, the launch of their new E-Class sedan targeting 40-plus Baby Boomers with Janis’s help seemed to be paying off.  In fact, during the first eight months of 1996, the entire Mercedes-Benz line – C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, SL-Class and 600 Series – saw a U.S. sales jump of 19.3% to 58,486 vehicles.  And the growth continued in following years, with the targeted baby boomers also helping to seed the launch of other new lines such as Mercedes-Benz’ new “cute ute,” as it was called, its M-Class SUV.  The Janis message, in fact, rubbed off on other car dealers.

 

Ruthless People rip

More Use of Janis

     In 1999, a print ad for one of Ford’s new Lincoln LS luxury sports sedans used a headline next to a photograph of one of the Lincolns that read:  “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a . . . My, my, my, what have we here?”  The familiar verse from the Joplin song was seen as helpful attention getter.  Using the verse this way, explained Dave Allen, a senior VP at Young & Rubicam in Irvine, Calif., “allows us to competitively position the Lincoln LS in a smart, surprising way.”  Defending the song’s continuing ironic use to sell cars, Allen explained:

“‘The satire and the little bit of irony are part of a strategy to make ourselves more relevant to consumers today by ‘de-starching’ ourselves.”  Executives at Lowe, the ad agency that originally did the Janis ad, took Ford’s copy-cat behavior as a complement.  “Obviously, they’ve noticed something that was effective in the past and are attempting to recycle it,” said Gary Goldsmith, vice chairman and executive creative director at Lowe.  Mercedes, for its part, also returned to the Joplin song a decade after its first use.  In 2006-07, another version of the Mercedes-Benz TV ad, using the same Joplin tune, began appearing on the web.  In this version,  the viewer is positioned inside the car as a back-seat passenger looking out at the world through the front windshield.  As the car rides silently along through daytime and night-time scenes in rural and urban settings, Joplin is heard crooning her a capella tune with no other sound apparent.  As the music plays, the camera fixes on the scenes rolling by, centered over the hoodline and the familiar Mercedes-Benz logo hood-ornament, giving the feel of a gunsight viewfinder. 

 

Joplin’s Legacy    

     It is not known, of course, what Janis Joplin might have thought about all of this.  But in one sense, some of the airing of her name and her song in the “Mercedes” ads may have brought more people to her music and also to learn about her life.  And there is a fair amount of material in print and other media about her.  In 1973, she was the subject of a feature documentary film, Janis, and there have also been several TV documentaries made about her, including one in VH-1′s “Legends” series.

  The 1979 film, The Rose, starring Bette Midler, was allegedly based on Joplin’s life.  There is also Janis, With Janis Joplin, released by MCA Home Video in June 1987.  Other films on Joplin are also being planned. In the summer of 2001, the musical play Love, Janis won acclaim and played to packed houses Off Broadway in New York, but only for a brief run.

     Also at this website is “Joplin’s Shooting Star, 1966-1970,” which covers more of her career with three song samples and a number of photos.  Other story choices can be found at the Annals of Music category page or the Home Page.  Thanks for visiting – and please consider supporting this website.  Thank you. - Jack Doyle

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Please Support this Website Donate Now Thank You

Date Posted:  10 March 2008
Last Update:  20 April 2013
Comments to:   jdoyle@pophistorydig.com

Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “Selling Janis Joplin, 1995,”
PopHistoryDig.com, March 10,2008.

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Richie Unterberger, “Janis Joplin,” All Music Guide.

Bill Sizemore, “Advertisers Put ‘ Big Chill’ on Boomers,” The Virginian-Pilot, Friday, February 24, 1995, p. D-

Associated Press, “Please, Don’t Tell Bobby McGee Advertising: a Janis Joplin Tune Is Reborn in a Mercedes Commercial,”San Jose Mercury News (CA), March 11, 1995, p. D-1.

Marli Murphy, “Is Janis Joplin Laughing From Her Grave or Rolling in It? Who knows? But It is Strange to Hear Her Shilling for Mercedes,” The Kansas City Star, May 29, 1995, p. D-2.

Stuart Elliott, “Middle Age Catches Up With the Me Generation; Getting the Message To Aging Consumers,” New York Times, January 2, 1996.

“Best of 1995,” Time, Monday, December 25, 1995.

David Kiley,  “Benz in the Road,” Brandweek, October 26, 1998.

“Mercedes Benz” (song), Wikipedia.org.

Dean Bakopoulos, The Michigan Daily, 1996.

Lael Ewy,  “Moulin Rouge, the Erasure of History, and the Disneyfication of the Avant Garde,” East Westerly Review, Issue 7,  PostModernVillage.com, Fall 2001.

Lowe & Partners/SMS, “Mercedes Facts”.

Patricia Winters Lauro, “Joplin’s Song In Use Again,” The Media Business: Advertising, New York Times, August 20, 1999.

Jim Burt, “On Chrysler’s Daimler Gambit: You Can’t Please Everyone with Every Ad – and You Shouldn’t Try,” TheCarConnection.com, July 29, 2002.

“Mercedes Benz” by Janis Joplin in video/commercial with a Mercedes driving through rural and urban parts of America, produced by the DNA Production Co., Director – Keir McFarlane, Adcode: benz.drive.68.

Robert Shelton, “Janis Joplin Is Climbing Fast In the Heady Rock Firmament; Singer Makes Her New York Debut With Big Brother & the Holding Company,” New York Times, Monday, February 19, 1968, p. 51.

Mike Jahn, “Janis Joplin Gives A Rousing Display Of Blues and Rock,” New York Times, Saturday, December 20, 1969, p. 36.

Reuters, “Janis Joplin Dies; Rock Star Was 27,” New York Times, Monday, October 5, 1970, p. 1.

Don Heckman, “Janis: She Was Reaching for Musical Maturity,” New York Times, Sunday, May 21, 1972, Arts & Liesure, p. D-30.

Janis, MCA Home Video, Directed and edited by Howard Alk and Seaton Findlay, 1987, 96 minutes.

Janet Maslin, “A Prim Little Girl,” (Review of film, Janis), New York Times, June 7, 1987.

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      Elvis Presley in the mid-1950s, before he became a fully-known national rock ’n roll star, was constantly on the road. During 1955 and 1956, Elvis and his band performed widely, especially in the south, making numerous personal appearances, from high schools to county fairs. His 1955 itinerary, reprinted below, reveals an unyielding schedule of nearly daily performances.  Elvis and his band were a hard-working, ever-on-the-move group of performers. Still, at that time, Elvis Presley was essentially a regional phenome- non, known primarily in the south.  Elvis would not appear on national television until January 1956 — first on The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show, and later in September 1956, on the Ed Sullivan Show.  Although he would have great success with RCA Records in 1956, it was his August 1955 release of “I Forgot To Remember To Forget”  with Sun Studios of Memphis, Tennessee that first made Elvis a nationally-known country  music star.  That single, which also had “Mystery Train” on its B side, rose to No. 1 on the Country & Western charts in February 1956. 

     Elvis Presley’s first  No. 1 pop hit on the Billboard charts, “Heartbreak Hotel,” came on May 3rd, 1956.  A month earlier he had performed the song on The Milton Berle Show on national TV with an estimated 25 percent of the U.S. population watching.  By then he had moved to RCA Records.

     Yet in 1955, before the first crush of national fame, Elvis and his band were on the road constantly, also doing radio shows and some regional television, such as Louisiana Hayride. His 1955 schedule was truly grueling, and 1956 was similar, plus more recording sessions.  The torrid pace did take a toll.  On February 23rd, 1956, after a performance in Jacksonville, Florida, Presley collapsed from exhaustion and was rushed to a hospital.  He was 21 years old.

     What follows below is the 1955 day-by-day performance itinerary of Elvis Presley and his band as they traveled across the U.S.A., with location and venue listed in most cases.  The series of “record sleeves” shown in the right-hand column are all bootleg editions — i.e., composites made by fans in later years using the RCA and Sun logos with Elvis photos from the 1950s.  They are used here only as photographic illustrations to accompany the issue date of the 1955 Elvis songs indicated.

Elvis Presley-1955
Appearances & Performances
 

January-1955 Jan 1: Eagles Hall, Houston, TX Jan 4: Odessa High School, Odessa, TX Jan 5: City Auditorium, San Angelo, TX Jan 6: Fair Park Coliseum, Lubbock, TX Jan 7: Midland High School, Midland, TX Jan 8: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Jan 11: High School, New Boston, TX Jan 12: Civic Auditorium, Clarksdale, MS Jan 13: Catholic Club, Helena, AR Jan 14: Futrell High School, Marianna, AR Jan 17: N.E. Miss Com. Colg., Booneville, MS Jan 18: Alcorn Co. Courthse Hall, Corinth, MS Jan 19: Sheffield Com. Center, Sheffield, AL Jan 20: Leachville High School, Leachville, AL Jan 21: National Guard Armory, Sikeston, MO Jan 22: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Jan 24: Humble Oil Rec. Hall, Hawkins, TX Jan 25: Mayfair Bldg. Fairgrounds, Tyler, TX Jan 26: Rural Electric Admin. Bldg, Gilmer, TX Jan 27: Reo Palm Isle Club, Longview, TX Jan 28: Gaston High School, Joinerville, TX February-1955 Feb 4: Golden Cadillac Club, New Orleans, LA Feb 5: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Feb 6: Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, TN Feb 7: Ripley High School, Ripley, MS Feb 10: Alpine High School, Alpine, TX Feb 11: Carlsbad Sports Arena, Carlsbad, NM Feb 12: American Legion Hall, Carlsbad, NM Feb 13: Fair Park Coliseum, Lubbock, TX Feb 13: Cotton Club, Lubbock, TX Feb 14: No. Junior H. S., Roswell, NM Feb 15: Fair Park Auditorium, Abilene, TX Feb 16: Odessa Senior H.S., Odessa, TX Feb 17: City Auditorium, San Angelo, TX Feb 18: W. Monroe H.S., West Monroe, LA Feb 19: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Feb 20: Robinson Aud., Little Rock, AR Feb 21: City Hall, Camden, AR Feb 22: City Hall, Hope, AR Feb 23: Pine Bluff H.S., Pine Bluff, AR Feb 24: So. Side Elem. School, Bastrop, LA Feb 25: Municipal Aud., Texarkana, AR Feb 26: Circle Theatre, Cleveland, OH March-1955 March 2: Newport Armory, Newport, AR March 2: Porky’s Rooftop Club, Newport, AR March 4: DeKalb High School, DeKalb, TX March 5: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA March 7: City Auditorium, Paris, TN March 8: Catholic Club, Helena, AR March 9: Poplar Bluff Armory, Poplar Bluff, MO March 10: Civic Auditorium, Clarksdale, MS March 11: J. Thompson Arena, Alexandria, LA March 12: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Mar 19: G. Rolle White Colsm., College Sta., TX March 19: Eagles Hall, Houston, TX March 20: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX March 20: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX March 21: Parkin High School, Parkin, AR March 25: Dermott High School, Dermott, AR March 26: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA March 28: Big Creek H.S., Big Creek, MS March 29: Tocopola H.S., Tocopola, MS March 30: High School, El Dorado, AR March 31: Reo Palm Isle Club, Longview, TX April-1955 April 1: Ector County Aud., Odessa, TX April 2: Municipal Auditorium, Houston, TX April 7: Corinth Co. Courthouse, Corinth, MS April 8: B&B Club, Glober, MO April 9: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA April 10: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX April 10: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX April 13: Breckenridge H.S., Breckenridge, TX April 14: Owl Park, Gainesville, TX April 15: Stamford High School, Stamford, TX April 15: Roundup Hall, Stamford, TX April 16: Sportatorium, Dallas, TX April 16: Roundup Club, Dallas, TX April 19: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA April 20: American Legion Hut, Grenada, MS April 22: Arkansas Mun. Stadium, Texarkana, AR April 23: Heart O’ Texas Coliseum, Waco, TX April 24: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX April 24: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX April 25: M-B Corral Club, Wichita Falls, TX April 25: Texas High School, Seymour, TX April 26: City Auditorium, Big Spring, TX April 27: American Legion Hall, Hobbs, NM April 29: Cotton Club, Lubbock, TX April 30: High School, Gladewater, TX May-1955 May 1: Municipal Aud., New Orleans, LA May 2: Baton Rouge H.S., Baton Rouge, LA May 4: Ladd Stadium, Mobile, AL May 5: Ladd Stadium, Mobile, AL May 7: Peabody Aud., Daytona Beach, FL May 8: Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory, Tampa, FL May 9: City Auditorium, Fort Myers, FL May 10: Southeastern Pavilion, Ocala, FL May 11: Municipal Auditorium, Orlando, FL May 12: GatorBowl Bseball Pk., Jacksonville, FL May 13: GatorBowl Bseball Pk., Jacksonville, FL May 14: Shrine Auditorium, New Bern, NC May 15: Norfolk City Auditorium, Norfolk, VA May 16: Mosque Theater, Richmond, VA May 17: City Auditorium, Asheville, NC May 18: American Legion Aud., Roanoke, VA May 19: Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh, NC May 20: KOCA Radio, Kilgore, TX May 21: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA May 22: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX May 22: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX May 25: American Legion Hall, Meridian, MS May 26: Meridian Jun. College, Meridian, MS May 28: Sportatorium, Dallas, TX May 29: North Side Colsm., Fort Worth, TX May 29: Sportatorium, Dallas, TX May 31: High School, Midland, TX June-1955 June 1: Guymon High School, Guymon, OK June 3: J. Connelley Pontiac, Lubbock, TX June 3: Fair Park Coliseum, Lubbock, TX June 4: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA June 5: Hope Fair Park, Hope, AR June 8: Municipal Auditorium, Sweetwater, TX June 10: Am. Legion Hall, Breckenridge, TX June 11: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA June 14: Bruce High School, Bruce, MS June 15: Belden High School, Belden, MS June 17: Roundup Hall, Stamford, TX June 18: Sportatorium, Dallas, TX June 19: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX June 19: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX June 20: City Auditorium, Beaumont, TX June 21: City Auditorium, Beaumont, TX June 23: McMahon Mem. Aud., Lawton, OK June 23: Southern Club, Lawton, OK June 24: Altus, OK June 25: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA June 26: Slavonian Lodge Aud., Biloxi, MS June 27: Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS June 28: Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS June 29: C. Gordon’s Radio Ranch, Mobile, AL June 30: C. Gordon’s Radio Ranch, Mobile, AL July-1955 July 1: Casino Club, Plaquemines, LA July 2: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA July 3: Hoedown Club, Corpus Christi, TX July 4: City Recreation Hall, Stephenville, TX July 4: Hodges Park, DeLeon, TX July 4: Soldiers & Sailors Hall, Brownwood, TX July 20: Cape Arena, Cape Girardeau, MO July 21: Silver Moon Club, Newport, AR July 25: City Auditorium, Fort Myers, FL July 26: Municipal Auditorium, Orlando, FL July 27: Municipal Auditorium, Orlando, FL July 28: Gator Stadium Park, Jacksonville, FL July 29: Gator Stadium Park, Jacksonville, FL July 30: Peabody Aud., Daytona Beach, FL July 31: Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory, Tampa, FL August-1955 August 1: Tupelo Fairgrounds, Tupelo, MS August 2: Sheffield Center, Muscle Shoals, AL August 3: Robinson Auditorium, Little Rock, AR August 4: Municipal Auditorium, Camden, AR August 5: Overton Park Shell, Memphis, TN August 6: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA August 7: Magnolia Gardens, Houston, TX August 7: Cook’s Hoedown Club, Houston, TX August 8: Mayfair Building, Tyler, TX August 9: Rodeo Arena, Henderson, TX August 10: Bear Stadium, Gladewater, TX August 11: Reo Palm Isle Club, Longview, TX August 12: Driller Park, Kilgore, TX August 13: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA August 20: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA August 22: Spudder Park, Wichita Falls, TX August 23: Saddle Club, Bryan, TX August 24: Davy Crockett H.S., Conroe, TX August 25: Sportcenter, Austin, TX August 26: Gonzales Baseball Pk., Gonzales, TX August 27: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA September-1955 Sept 1: Pontchartrain Bch, New Orleans, LA Sept 2: Arkansas Mun. Stad., Texarkana, AR Sept 3: Sportatorium, Dallas, TX Sept 3: Roundup Club, Dallas, TX Sept 5: St. Francis Co. Fair, Forrest City, AR Sept 6: Bono High School, Bono, AR Sept 7: Nat’l Guard Armory, Sikeston, AR Sept 8: Municipal Aud., Clarksdale, MS Sept 9: McComb H.S., McComb, MS Sept 10: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Sept 11: Municipal Aud., Norfolk, VA Sept 12: Municipal Aud., Norfolk, VA Sept 13: Shrine Auditorium, New Bern, NC Sept 14: Fleming Stadium, Wilson, NC Sept 15: Am. Legion Aud., Roanoke, VA Sept 16: City Auditorium, Asheville, NC Sept 17: Thomasville H.S., Thomasville, NC Sept 18: WRVA Theater, Richmond, VA Sept 19: WRVA Theater, Richmond, VA Sept 20: Danville Fairgrounds, Danville, VA Sept 21: Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh, NC Sept 22: Civic Auditorium, Kingsport, TN Sept 24: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Sept 26: Gilmer Junior H.S., Gilmer, TX Sept 28: B&B Club, Gobler, MO October-1955 Oct 1: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA Oct 3: G. Rolle White Colsm., College Sta., TX Oct 4: Boys Club, Paris, TX Oct 5: City Auditorium, Greenville, TX Oct 6: S.W. Texas St Univ., San Marcos, TX Oct 6: Skyline Club, Austin, TX Oct 8: City Auditorium, Houston, TX Oct 10: Soldiers-Sailors Hall, Brownwood, TX Oct 11: Fair Park Auditorium, Abilene, TX Oct 12: Midland High School, Midland, TX Oct 13: Municipal Auditorium, Amarillo, TX Oct 14: Odessa High School, Odessa, TX Oct 11: Fair Park Auditorium, Lubbock, TX Oct 15: Cotton Club, Lubbock, TX Oct 16: Mun. Aud., Oklahoma City, OK Oct 17: Memorial Aud., El Dorado, AR Oct 19: Circle Theatre, Cleveland, OH Oct 20: Brooklyn H.S., Cleveland, OH Oct 20: St. Michaels’ Hall, Cleveland, OH Oct 21: Missouri Theatre, St. Louis, MO Oct 22: Missouri Theatre, St. Louis, MO Oct 23: Missouri Theatre, St. Louis, MO Oct 24: Silver Moon Club, Newport, AR Oct 25: Houston Armory, Houston, MS Oct 26: Greater Gulf States Fair, Prichard, AL Oct 28: C.Gordon’s Radio Ranch, Mobile, AL Oct 29: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA November-1955 November 5: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA November 6: Community House, Biloxi, MS November 7: Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS November 8: Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS November 12: Carthage Milling Co., Carthage, TX November 12: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA November 13: Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, TN November 14: Forrest City H. S., Forrest City, AR November 15: Community Center, Sheffield, AL November 16: City Auditorium, Camden, AR November 17: Municipal Aud., Texarkana, AR November 18: Reo Palm Isle Club, Longview, TX November 19: Gladewater H.S., Gladewater, TX November 25: W. Wilson Jun.H.S., P. Arthur, TX November 26: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA November 29: Mosque Theater, Richmond, VA December-1955 December 2: Atlanta Sports Arena, Atlanta, GA December 3: State Coliseum, Montgomery, AL December 4: Lyric Theater, Indianapolis, IN December 5: Lyric Theater, Indianapolis, IN December 6: Lyric Theater, Indianapolis, IN December 7: Lyric Theater, Indianapolis, IN December 8: Rialto Theater, Louisville, KY December 9: Swifton High School, Swifton, AR December 9: B&I Club, Swifton, AR December 10: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA December 12: Nat’l Guard Armory, Amory, MS December 17: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA December 19: Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, TN December 31: Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA

Elvis songs released by Sun Records, January 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

Promoter “Colonel” Tom Parker first takes notice of Presley’s name after Texarkana DJ “Uncle Dudley” reports on the crowd frenzy at Elvis’ January 11, 1955 show.

Elvis songs released by Sun Records, April 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

On March 23rd, 1955, Elvis and his band auditioned for Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts show in New York but were rejected.

Elvis songs released by Sun Records, August 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

At the Jacksonville, Florida show on May 13, 1955, Elvis tells the girls in the 14,000-plus crowd that he’ll “see [them] backstage,” causing a riot. The incident convinces Colonel Parker about Elvis’ popularity.

Elvis during concert at Tampa, FL's Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory on July 31, 1955 (photo believed to be that of W. Red Robertson).

Elvis songs released by RCA Records, Dec 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

By late summer 1955, Colonel Parker had taken control of Presley’s career. On Nov. 21st he negotiated a deal with RCA to acquire Elvis’ Sun Studios contract for $35,000 (roughly $275,000 in 2007).

Elvis songs released by RCA Records, Dec 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

On November 10th, 1955, in his Nashville hotel room, songwriter Mae Axton plays Elvis a demo of a song she’d co-written called “Heartbreak Hotel.”

Elvis songs released by RCA Records, Dec 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

Elvis songs released by RCA Records, Dec 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

Elvis songs released by RCA Records, Dec 1955, in 78 and 45 rpm versions. Record sleeve is a bootleg edition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Please Support this Website Donate Now Thank You

Date Posted:  31 March 2008
Last Update:   1 September 2010
Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com

Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “Elvis on the Road, 1955-1956,”
PopHistoryDig.com, March 31, 2008.

_____________________________

 

Sources, Links & Additional Information

A 45 rpm single of Elvis Presley’s August 1955 Sun Studios recording of 'I Forgot To Remember To Forget,' the song that first made Elvis a nationally-known country music star, prior to his popular rock ’n roll fame.

Sun Records' 1955 45rpm recording of Elvis Presley's "Mystery Train."

Hank Bordowitz, Turning Points in Rock and Roll, Citadel Press,2004.

Peter Guralnick, “Elvis Presley,” in Anthony De Curtis and James Henke (eds), The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll, Random House, New York, 1992, pp. 21-36.

Robert Fontenot, “Your Guide to Oldies Music–The History of Elvis: 1955,” About. com.

Elvis discography and record sleeves,  Sergent. com.au.

“Teeners’ Hero,”Time, May 14, 1956.

“Sweet Music,” Time, October 8, 1956.

Louis M. Kohlmeier, Wall Street Journal, (front-page story on Elvis), December 31, 1956.

Stephen Holden, “Pop View; a Hillbilly Who Wove a Rock-and-Roll Spell,” The New York Times, July 19, 1987.

“Elvis Presley,” in Holly George-Warren and Patricia Romanowski (eds), The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Rolling Stone Press, New York, 3rd Edition, 2001, pp. 774-778.

“Elvis Presley,” Wikipedia.org.

For a more detailed look at Elvis Presley performances and other activities in the 1953-55 period see, for example, Elvis PresleyMusic.com.

Greg Williams, “Forever Elvis,”Tampa Tribune, originally published, August 16, 2002.

Ace Collins, Untold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis’s #1 Hits, Chicago Review Press, 2005.