Editing Elvis Presley (section)

=== Musical styles and genres ===
[[File:Elvis Presley and the Jordanaires 1957.jpg|thumb|alt=Photo of Elvis and the Jordanaires|Presley with his longtime vocal backup group, the [[Jordanaires]], March 1957]]
Presley was a central figure in the development of [[rockabilly]], according to music historians. "Rockabilly crystallized into a recognizable style in 1954 with Elvis Presley's first release, on the Sun label," writes Craig Morrison.{{sfn|Morrison|1996|p=x}} Paul Friedlander described rockabilly as "essentially&nbsp;... an Elvis Presley construction", with the defining elements as "the raw, emotive, and slurred vocal style and emphasis on rhythmic feeling [of] the blues with the string band and strummed rhythm guitar [of] country".{{sfn|Friedlander|1996|p=45}} In "That's All Right", the Presley trio's first record, Scotty Moore's guitar solo, "a combination of [[Merle Travis]]–style country finger-picking, double-stop slides from acoustic boogie, and blues-based bent-note, single-string work, is a microcosm of this fusion".{{sfn|Friedlander|1996|p=45}} While Katherine Charlton calls Presley "rockabilly's originator",{{sfn|Charlton|2006|p=103}} [[Carl Perkins]], another pioneer of rock'n'roll, said that "[Sam] Phillips, Elvis, and I didn't create rockabilly".{{sfn|Jancik|1998|p=16}} According to [[Michael Campbell (pianist and author)|Michael Campbell]], the first major rockabilly song was recorded by [[Bill Haley (musician)|Bill Haley]].{{sfn|Campbell|2009|p=161}} In Moore's view, "It had been there for quite a while, really. Carl Perkins was doing basically the same sort of thing up around [[Jackson, Tennessee|Jackson]], and I know for a fact Jerry Lee Lewis had been playing that kind of music ever since he was ten years old."{{sfn|Guralnick|1989|p=104}}

At RCA Victor, Presley's rock and roll sound grew distinct from rockabilly with group chorus vocals, more heavily amplified electric guitars,{{sfn|Gillett|2000|p=113}} and a tougher, more intense manner.{{sfn|Jorgensen|1998|p=39}} While he was known for taking songs from various sources and giving them a rockabilly/rock and roll treatment, he also recorded songs in other genres from early in his career, from the pop standard "[[Blue Moon (1934 song)|Blue Moon]]" at Sun Records to the country ballad "How's the World Treating You?" on his second RCA Victor LP to the blues of "Santa Claus Is Back in Town". In 1957, his first gospel record was released, the four-song EP ''[[Peace in the Valley (EP)|Peace in the Valley]]''. Certified as a million-seller, it became the top-selling gospel EP in recording history.{{sfn|Wolfe|1994|p=14}} 

{{Listen|type=music|filename=Run On.ogg|title="Run On" |description=From ''[[How Great Thou Art (Elvis Presley album)|How Great Thou Art]]'' (1967), a traditional song popular in the black gospel tradition. The arrangement evokes "the percussive style of the 1930s [[Golden Gate Quartet]]."{{sfn|Wolfe|1994|p=22}}{{sfn|Keogh|2004|p=184}}}}
After his return from military service in 1960, Presley continued to perform rock and roll, but the characteristic style was substantially toned down. His first post-Army single, the number-one hit "Stuck on You", is typical of this shift. RCA Victor publicity referred to its "mild rock beat"; discographer Ernst Jorgensen calls it "upbeat pop".{{sfn|Jorgensen|1998|p=123}} The number five "[[She's Not You]]" (1962) "integrates the Jordanaires so completely, it's practically doo-wop".{{sfn|Marsh|1982|p=145}} The modern blues/R&B sound captured with success on ''Elvis Is Back!'' was essentially abandoned for six years until such 1966–67 recordings as "[[Down in the Alley (The Clovers song)|Down in the Alley]]" and "[[Hi-Heel Sneakers]]".{{sfn|Jorgensen|1998|pp=213, 237}} Presley's output during most of the 1960s emphasized pop music, often in the form of ballads such as "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", a number-one in 1960. "It's Now or Never", which also topped the chart that year, was a classically influenced variation of pop based on the Neapolitan song "{{lang|nap|[['O sole mio]]|italic=no}}" and concluding with a "full-voiced operatic cadence".{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|p=65}} These were both dramatic numbers, but most of what Presley recorded for his many film soundtracks was in a much lighter vein.{{sfn|Jorgensen|1998|pp=142–143}}

While Presley performed several of his classic ballads for the ''[['68 Comeback Special]]'', the sound of the show was dominated by aggressive rock and roll. He recorded few new straight rock and roll songs thereafter; as he explained, they had become "hard to find".{{sfn|Jorgensen|1998|p=343}} A significant exception was "Burning Love", his last major hit on the pop charts. Like his work of the 1950s, Presley's subsequent recordings reworked pop and country songs, but in markedly different permutations. His stylistic range now began to embrace a more contemporary rock sound as well as soul and [[funk]]. Much of ''Elvis in Memphis'', as well as "Suspicious Minds", cut at the same sessions, reflected this new rock and soul fusion. In the mid-1970s, many of his singles found a home on country radio, the field where he first became a star.{{sfn|Ponce de Leon|2007|p=199}}