Editing Heartbreak Hotel (section)

==Recording==
"Heartbreak Hotel" was the second song Presley recorded at RCA Victor, following "[[I Got a Woman]]",<ref name="Ace"/> during his debut session at [[RCA Victor Studio (McGavock)|1525 McGavock Street in Nashville]] on January 10, 1956.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Guralnick|first1=Peter|last2=Jorgensen|first2=Ernst|title=Elvis Day by Day|year=1999|page=59|publisher=Ballantine Books Inc.|isbn=978-0-345-42089-3}}</ref> Presley arrived at the studio with the song ready to record without seeking RCA's approval, and although [[Record producer|producer]] [[Steve Sholes]] was not sure that it would be a success, he recorded "Heartbreak Hotel" believing that Presley knew what he was doing.<ref name="Victor"/> Recording at RCA Victor was a different experience for Presley and his band, who were used to a more relaxed atmosphere at [[Sun Studio]]. Guitar player [[Scotty Moore]] later commented, "It was a larger studio than Sun's and more regimented - they called everything by a tape number. We would sit around at Sun, eat hamburgers and then somebody would say, 'Let's try something.'"<ref name="Independent">{{cite news|last=Leigh|first=Spencer|title=The history of Heartbreak Hotel|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-history-of-heartbreak-hotel-471131.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430123547/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-history-of-heartbreak-hotel-471131.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 30, 2011|access-date=December 8, 2010|newspaper=The Independent, UK|date=March 24, 2006|location=London}}</ref>

Almost immediately Sholes discovered a problem while recording Presley. RCA Victor had always insisted their performers stay still as they sang so the microphone would pick up the vocals; even the slightest tilt of the head would result in missing sound. Sholes had told Presley to stand on a painted X on the floor, telling him "Whatever you do, don't move". During the recording of "I Got a Woman", Sholes noticed that Presley's voice and guitar were not always being picked up by the microphone. Presley explained to Sholes that he had to "jump around to sing it right. It's something that just happens—just a part of the way I sing". Sholes arranged for the whole studio to be re-miked so that Presley's voice and guitar could be picked up from anywhere in the studio, and recording continued.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Peter Harry|title=Down at the End of Lonely Street: Life and Death of Elvis Presley|year=1998|publisher=Arrow Books Ltd|isbn=978-0-451-19094-9|pages=61–62}}</ref>
{{quote box|quote= It’s so full of mystery, and it’s never lost that for me. The echo is just stunning. When the Beatles were recording, we’d often ask [[George Martin]] for "the Elvis echo". <br> – [[Paul McCartney]], 2005<ref>{{cite web|newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]]|title=This music made me pick up my guitar and play|url=https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list/profile/article/this-music-made-me-pick-up-my-guitar-and-play-9vxm2dkhzvx|year=2005}}</ref>|width=25%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}
As well as [[the Blue Moon Boys]], his regular backing band of Moore, the bassist [[Bill Black]] and the drummer [[D.J. Fontana]], Presley was joined by two established RCA Victor musicians: [[Chet Atkins]] (who also helped Sholes produce the session)<ref name="Victor29">{{cite book|last1=Victor |first1=Adam|title=The Elvis Encyclopedia|year=2008|page=29|publisher=Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd|isbn=978-0-7156-3816-3}}</ref> on guitar and [[Floyd Cramer]] on piano.<ref name="Ace"/> Following a suggestion from Presley,<ref name="Breoske64"/> Sholes used a hallway at the studio to get an unusual echo for the single.<ref name="Victor">{{cite book|last1=Victor |first1=Adam|title=The Elvis Encyclopedia|year=2008|page=227|publisher=Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd|isbn=978-0-7156-3816-3}}</ref> Sholes was attempting to recapture the Sun Records sound, but he was unaware that Sun founder [[Sam Phillips]] had used two tape recorders and a slight time delay to create it on previous Presley recordings.<ref name="Victor"/><ref name=Elvis56>Raymond, Susan (Director) (1987, Re-released 2000). ''Elvis '56 - In the Beginning'' (DVD). Warner Vision.</ref> When Phillips first heard "Heartbreak Hotel", he remarked that it was a "morbid mess".<ref name="Victor"/> Most others at RCA agreed, declaring "Heartbreak Hotel" a terrible choice of song, especially after hearing that the finished recording sounded nothing like [[Presley's Sun recordings]].<ref name="Victor"/> Internal memos from the time show that every one of RCA's executive corps disliked it so much that one of them insisted "We certainly can't release that one".<ref name="Breoske64">{{cite book|last1=Brown |first1=Peter H. |last2=Broeske |first2=Pat H. |title=Down at the End of Lonely Street: Life and Death of Elvis Presley|year=1997|publisher=William Heinemann Ltd|isbn=978-0-434-00428-7}} p. 64</ref>

In an interview, Durden conceded that he did not recognize his song after Presley had made the changes to it in the studio, including the [[tempo]], phrasing, lyrics, and overall sound.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/video/elvis_1950s.html| title=Elvis on National TV in the '50s - Interview With Milton Berle| publisher=elvispresleymusic.com.au|access-date =September 28, 2010}}</ref> In subsequent recordings, these major modifications to the existing material became a normal procedure for Presley who took over the role of producer, although Sholes was still credited. Phillips said Sholes "was not a producer. Steve was just at every session."<ref>{{cite book|last=Guralnick|first=Peter|title=Last Train to Memphis: Rise of Elvis Presley|year=1994|publisher=Little, Brown, and Co.|isbn=978-0-316-33220-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/lasttraintomemph00gura_0/page/247 247]|url=https://archive.org/details/lasttraintomemph00gura_0/page/247}}</ref>