Elvis MRS acetate receipt dated June 9th 1954

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raised_on_sofa
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Elvis MRS acetate receipt dated June 9th 1954

#1995173

Post by raised_on_sofa »

This is almost certainly a double topic but I couldn't find the previous information.
Image herewith attached.

Just 1 question + 1 assumption :

-question > what were the incorrect features for which this MRS receipt was considered false years ago ?

-assumption > do you think it's possible that this original receipt actually exists and the actual owner also has the unreleased MRS acetate of Elvis (i.e. the famous 3rd acetate) ?
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drjohncarpenter
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Re: Elvis MRS acetate receipt dated June 9th 1954

#1995178

Post by drjohncarpenter »

raised_on_sofa wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2024 12:00 am
This is almost certainly a double topic but I couldn't find the previous information.
Image herewith attached.

Just 1 question + 1 assumption :

-question > what were the incorrect features for which this MRS receipt was considered false years ago ?

-assumption > do you think it's possible that this original receipt actually exists and the actual owner also has the unreleased MRS acetate of Elvis (i.e. the famous 3rd acetate) ?
Image



You want to reply to this YouTube girl's video, don't ya?

--->





Feel free to use what I share below, but credit FECC for it.

_____


That receipt was published 23 years ago, in Sean O'Neal's Elvis Presley Memorabilia book. Despite being a collector expert, he wrote it was probably for "That's All Right Mamma / Blue Moon of Kentucky" -- impossible, given the June 1954 date.

Some fans, including me, hoped this was actually O'Neal's way of quietly telling us this represented a previously-unknown visit to Sun Studios by Elvis to tape a third personal disc.

A similar receipt appeared in Ger Rijff's The Rock and Roll Years: My Wish Came True a couple of years later. This one was dated January 6, 1954, and was supposed to represent Elvis' second visit to Sun, which we all know happened.

The issues with both of these artifacts:

  • The pricing maybe twice what was known for such personal discs.
  • The details were far too formal for a personal disc.
  • Sun's Marion Keisker would not assign master numbers, it was for someone to play at home.
  • The recordings were made on the spot, not for pressing and pickup days later.
  • There are no other known receipts like this for anyone else who ever made a personal, take-home disc at Sun.

Beyond the problems with authenticity, if Presley ever made another personal disc, it has never been mentioned by anyone, and never surfaced.


_____


Elvis' Known Visits To Sun Studios Before First Official Session

July 18, 1953
cuts personal disc "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin"

January 4, 1954
cuts personal disc "I’ll Never Stand in Your Way" and "It Wouldn’t Be the Same (Without You)"

June 26, 1954
works with Sam Phillips on song "Without You" and runs down other numbers for him
some of it was put to tape, but recordings were not preserved



That's it.


.
Dr. John Carpenter, M.D.
Stop, look and listen, baby <<--->> that's my philosophy!


Topic author
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Re: Elvis MRS acetate receipt dated June 9th 1954

#1995187

Post by raised_on_sofa »

Thanks Doc for your clear explanation.
What is your opinion on how (who would have created from scratch this MRS received) would have done it? I mean: from what inspiration/data the person who hypothetically would have created from scratch this artifact? Let me explain better: if someone wants to create a fake from scratch, in 99.99% of cases he starts by basing himself on an authentic document or similar.



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drjohncarpenter
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Re: Elvis MRS acetate receipt dated June 9th 1954

#1995289

Post by drjohncarpenter »

raised_on_sofa wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2024 1:40 am
Thanks Doc for your clear explanation.
What is your opinion on how (who would have created from scratch this MRS received) would have done it? I mean: from what inspiration/data the person who hypothetically would have created from scratch this artifact? Let me explain better: if someone wants to create a fake from scratch, in 99.99% of cases he starts by basing himself on an authentic document or similar.


Not sure how they were created, but all evidence indicates that neither is authentic.

My guess is a similar sheet was found and altered.


.
Dr. John Carpenter, M.D.
Stop, look and listen, baby <<--->> that's my philosophy!


Elvis&Ginger
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Re: Elvis MRS acetate receipt dated June 9th 1954

#1995315

Post by Elvis&Ginger »

drjohncarpenter wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2024 12:55 am
raised_on_sofa wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2024 12:00 am
This is almost certainly a double topic but I couldn't find the previous information.
Image herewith attached.

Just 1 question + 1 assumption :

-question > what were the incorrect features for which this MRS receipt was considered false years ago ?

-assumption > do you think it's possible that this original receipt actually exists and the actual owner also has the unreleased MRS acetate of Elvis (i.e. the famous 3rd acetate) ?
Image



You want to reply to this YouTube girl's video, don't ya?

--->





Feel free to use what I share below, but credit FECC for it.

_____


That receipt was published 23 years ago, in Sean O'Neal's Elvis Presley Memorabilia book. Despite being a collector expert, he wrote it was probably for "That's All Right Mamma / Blue Moon of Kentucky" -- impossible, given the June 1954 date.

Some fans, including me, hoped this was actually O'Neal's way of quietly telling us this represented a previously-unknown visit to Sun Studios by Elvis to tape a third personal disc.

A similar receipt appeared in Ger Rijff's The Rock and Roll Years: My Wish Came True a couple of years later. This one was dated January 6, 1954, and was supposed to represent Elvis' second visit to Sun, which we all know happened.

The issues with both of these artifacts:

  • The pricing maybe twice what was known for such personal discs.
  • The details were far too formal for a personal disc.
  • Sun's Marion Keisker would not assign master numbers, it was for someone to play at home.
  • The recordings were made on the spot, not for pressing and pickup days later.
  • There are no other known receipts like this for anyone else who ever made a personal, take-home disc at Sun.

Beyond the problems with authenticity, if Presley ever made another personal disc, it has never been mentioned by anyone, and never surfaced.


_____


Elvis' Known Visits To Sun Studios Before First Official Session

July 18, 1953
cuts personal disc "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin"

January 4, 1954
cuts personal disc "I’ll Never Stand in Your Way" and "It Wouldn’t Be the Same (Without You)"

June 26, 1954
works with Sam Phillips on song "Without You" and runs down other numbers for him
some of it was put to tape, but recordings were not preserved



That's it.
Where does the July 18, 1953 date for the recording of the "My Happiness" / "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" acetate come from? I ask because I was under the impression that this date has since been disproven. My guess is that the July 18, 1953 date is derived from the first Saturday after the July 15, 1953 date of the Memphis Press-Scimitar newspaper article about the Prisonaires titled "Prison Singers May Find Fame With Record They Made in Memphis." July 18, 1953 would have been the first Saturday after the Prisonaires newspaper article was first published three days earlier.

About two years ago, there was a book by Peter Guralnick and Colin Escott with a foreword by Jerry Lee Lewis titled The Birth of Rock 'N' Roll: The Illustrated Story of Sun Records and the 70 Recordings That Changed the World. The book was published by Weldon Owen. On page 91 of the book they discuss Sun 189 ("Softly and Tenderly" / "My God Is Real") by the Prisonaires. The page indicates that both sides were recorded on August 3, 1953 and the single was released on September 1, 1953. Also, according to the Guralnick and Escott book (page 83), the Prisonaires recorded Sun 186 "Baby Please" / "Just Walkin' in the Rain" on June 1, 1953 and the single was released on July 8, 1953, a week before the July 15, 1953 Press-Scimitar newspaper article about the Prisonaires. Here's a quote about Sun 189 from page 91 of the Guralnick and Escott book.
Prisonaires' lead tenor Johnny Bragg always told the story about the woe-begone young White boy who was hanging around the studio at the Prisonaires' epochal first recording session. In some versions of the story the boy was wielding a broom, in others he was just pestering Sam Phillips; in the most familiar version he helped Johnny with his phrasing during a break -- all right, you guessed it; the boy was Elvis Presley. And none of it is true, although Elvis did indeed befriend Bragg a few years later, when he was back in prison after getting a governor's pardon and early release.

What does appear to be true is that Elvis read the newspaper story about the Prisonaires' first recording session and came in shortly after their second on August 3, 1953, at which they recorded two gospel numbers, this time with Ike Turner helping out on piano.
Later on page 91 it states:
And Elvis Presley's connection to all this? Well, in a story that might otherwise have been little more than a footnote, he showed up in August of 1953 and paid $4 to cut a two-sided acetate, ostensibly to hear the sound of his own voice, though his real reason was almost certainly to be "discovered" by Sam Phillips, the man the newspaper described as open to every sort of talent. One side of the acetate that Elvis recorded at the Memphis Recording Service was "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," an Ink Spots number featuring the voice of Bill Kenny, Johnny Bragg's inspiration, and the boy's, too. Elvis was not discovered on this occasion; in fact, it would take another ten months before he came to Sam Phillips's attention at all. But when Marion Keisker packaged his acetate and presented him with his bill, she used the back of a label that had just been printed for the Prisonaires' next release, which would not come out until September 1, 1953, and you can barely discern "Softly and Tenderly" peeping out from underneath the white typed label.
Which brings me to my point. It seems unlikely that Sam Phillips or Marion Keisker would have had labels prepared and available ahead of time of the recording of Sun 189 if Elvis recorded the "My Happiness" / "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" acetate on July 18, 1953. This was roughly two weeks before the recording of Sun 189 if the August 3, 1953 date is correct. As I'm sure you are aware, the reverse blank side labels of Sun 189 were used for the "My Happiness" / "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" Elvis Presley acetate, as seen in the video below, though for some odd reason the acetate is dated as having been recorded in June 1953 at the beginning of the video. I would think that the "My Happiness" / "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" acetate could not have been recorded earlier than Monday, August 3, 1953 though that date could conceivably be pushed up to Saturday, August 8, 1953. I believe that there's a quote from Keisker in Jerry Hopkin's biography where she said that Elvis's recording of his first acetate occurred on a Saturday. August 8, 1953 would have been the first Saturday after the Prisonaires recorded Sun 189. I've included an excerpt that was printed in a newspaper after Elvis died where this quote from Keisker is included.
The_Memphis_Press_Scimitar_1953_07_15_32.jpg
Democrat_and_Chronicle_Mon__Sep_5__1977_.jpg


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drjohncarpenter
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Re: Elvis MRS acetate receipt dated June 9th 1954

#1995342

Post by drjohncarpenter »

Elvis&Ginger wrote:
Mon Oct 28, 2024 3:26 am
Where does the July 18, 1953 date for the recording of the "My Happiness" / "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" acetate come from?





Because his Humes High School friend Ed Leek, who lent him the money for the recording, said the visit was about six weeks after graduation.

Otherwise . . .

Everything in your massive post is completely off-topic. Next time create a new one, thanks.


.
Dr. John Carpenter, M.D.
Stop, look and listen, baby <<--->> that's my philosophy!
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