Heartbreak Hotel

Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden wrote it, with Presley also credited. The idea is said to come from a newspaper report of a man's suicide in a hotel. Axton played the demo for Presley in Nashville on 10 November 1955. He recorded it on 10 January 1956 at the RCA Victor studio on McGavock Street in Nashville, with Scotty Moore, Chet Atkins, Bill Black, D. J. Fontana and Floyd Cramer. A hallway was used for echo. The B-side was I Was the One.

It reached number one on both the US pop and country charts and number two in the UK, and is certified twice Platinum. Stan Freberg parodied it in 1956, Connie Francis and Johnny Cash recorded versions in 1959, and Willie Nelson and Leon Russell took it to number one on the country chart in 1979.

Live

He first performed it on 9 December 1955 and played it at most shows from 1956 to 1977. The last time was 29 May 1977 at the Civic Center in Baltimore.