Seventy-two years ago this week, a nervous 19-year-old named Elvis Presley stepped onto one of the biggest stages of his young life.
It was October 16, 1954. Just two weeks earlier, the famous Grand Ole Opry had given him a cool reception and pretty much told him not to quit his day job. So Elvis headed to Shreveport, Louisiana, to try his luck on a radio show called the Louisiana Hayride.
The Hayride went out live on a powerful station called KWKH, from the Municipal Auditorium. It was the biggest crowd Elvis had ever faced.
And at first, it didn’t go great.
The Hayride’s emcee, Frank Page, remembered that Elvis’s first song, “That’s All Right,” got a pretty tepid response. The crowd just wasn’t sure what to make of this kid.
But later in the night, something shifted. Elvis relaxed. A younger crowd filled in. And when he got up for his second turn, he flat-out electrified the place.
This is the song that got that quiet first reaction before everything turned around.
Elvis Presley, “That’s All Right” (official audio)
The folks running the Hayride saw what they had. They signed Elvis to a full year on the show. Because he was still too young to sign a contract on his own, his mom and dad, Gladys and Vernon, made the trip down from Memphis to sign right alongside him that fall.
Now for the part that’ll get you.
For playing the Louisiana Hayride, Elvis was paid $18 for the show. His two bandmates, guitar man Scotty Moore and bass player Bill Black, got $12 each.
Eighteen dollars. For Elvis Presley.
It sounds almost impossible when you think about the fortune his name would be worth before long. But that’s where it started, three young men splitting pocket change to play on the radio in Shreveport.
Here’s another tune from those scrappy early days, so you can hear the raw sound that was about to take over the country.
Elvis Presley, “Good Rockin’ Tonight” (official audio)
That’s the sound of a star being born, even if the paycheck didn’t show it yet.
The Hayride turned out to be the perfect place for him. Week after week he grew more sure of himself on that stage, and the crowds grew right along with him. The Opry’s loss was Shreveport’s gain.
Eighteen dollars a night. Remember that the next time somebody talks about how big Elvis Presley became.