Wagnabbit: Colonel Parker says: ‘Pleased to meet you, Mr. Presley’

During his association with “Louisiana Hayride,” in the mid-1950s, Elvis Presley met Thomas Andrew Parker, who had been born in the Netherlands in 1909 and came to the United States as a 20-year-old. Parker found work on the carnival circuit and advanced into “music promotion” in 1938.

Parker’s early clients included country music singers Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow as well as a young pop music artist named Tommy Sands.

Parker assisted Jimmie Davis in his campaign to win the Louisiana governor’s race in 1943, for which Parker was awarded the honorary rank of “colonel” in the Louisiana State Guard.

Parker chose to refer to himself from that point forward as “Colonel Parker.”

Colonel Parker agreed to advise Presley on his career in 1955, and by 1956, he had become Elvis’ manager.

Colonel Parker promptly arranged a deal for RCA Records to acquire Elvis’ contract from Sun Records. Based in New York City, RCA Records was a unit of the larger Radio Corporation of America.

Elvis was a hot commodity, and RCA Records had the resources to capitalize on this popularity.

Over the course of Elvis’ music career, he had 14 singles that topped the music charts (primarily the Billboard Hot 100).

Music historian Alan Hanson of Spokane, Wash., who has written several books about Elvis’ music, said seven (or half) of those songs were released during the “Early Elvis Years” – 1956-58.

The first chartbuster was “Heartbreak Hotel,” written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden. This was Elvis’ initial big hit for RCA and earned him his first “gold record award,” when record sales exceeded 1 million copies. The tune reached No. 1 on May 5, 1956.

“Don’t Be Cruel,” written by Otis Blackwell (shown below), came next, climbing into the No. 1 position on Sept.15, 1956.

Less than two months later, Elvis’ ballad “Love Me Tender” took over as No. 1 on Nov. 11, 1956. The song was adapted from a sentimental Civil War tune named “Aura Lea” that was published in 1861, with original music by George R. Poulton and words by W. W. Fosdick. Lyrics were revised by Ken Darby.

Elvis’ fourth record to advance to the top of the charts was “All Shook Up,” which claimed No. 1 on April 20, 1957. It was yet another song composed by Otis Blackwell.

“(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear,” written by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe, was the next Elvis tune to ascend to the top spot on Billboard, reaching the pinnacle on July 15, 1957.

Next came a pair of Elvis songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. First, “Jailhouse Rock” reached the top spot on Nov. 4, 1957. It was followed by “Don’t” on March 10, 1958.

Alan Hanson said three additional Elvis songs hovered near the top of the charts during the 1956-58 period and also deserve mention for having fallen just one notch shy of No. 1.

“Hound Dog” was originally written by Leiber and Stoller in 1952 for Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton (shown below). Elvis’s version of the song “rode the ‘Top 100’ for 28 weeks in 1956 and peaked two different times at No. 2,” according to Hanson.

Songwriter Mike Stoller said: “‘Hound Dog’ was not originally written about a hunting dog who’d forgotten how to hunt. It was about a woman kicking a freeloader out of her house.”

“Too Much” was written by Bernard Weinman and Lee Rosenberg in 1955 and first released by Bernard “Bernie” Hardison. Elvis covered the song in 1957, “and it spent four weeks in the No. 2 spot that year,” Hanson said.

“Hard Headed Woman” was written by Claude Demetrius (shown below) and performed by Elvis in 1958. It peaked at No. 2 “and spent just one week at that level,” Hanson reported.

Hanson kept a tally of Elvis’ “primary competitors” during the 1956-58 time period. The list presents an interesting snapshot of the musical kingpins from that era. Hanson specifically referenced other No. 1 hits that came “before or after” some of Elvis’ songs. Of note are:

Les Baxter (“The Poor People of Paris”); Gogi Grant (“The Wayward Wind)”: The Platters (“My Prayer”); Jim Lowe (“The Green Door”); Guy Mitchell (“Singing the Blues”); Debbie Reynolds (“Tammy”); The Everly Brothers (“Wake Up Little Susie”); Sam Cooke (“You Send Me”); The Champs (“Tequila”); The Coasters (“Yakety Yak”); Tab Hunter (“Young Love”); Andy Williams (“Butterfly”); and Pat Boone (“Love Letters in the Sand”).