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Twenty-nine years ago today, Elvis Presley died of a heart attack at the age of forty-two. To commemorate the King's legacy, Rolling Stone's editors handpicked some of their favorite Elvis tunes.
Play all: Hear our picks
Track-by-track playlist:
"That's Alright (Mama)": Elvis' first single was recorded and
released by Sun Records in July 1954, and in 2005, Rolling
Stone declared it the song that started the rock & roll
revolution.
"Good Rockin' Tonight": The second single from Sun Records,
recorded in 1954.
"Mystery Train": In September 1955, "Mystery Train" became the
first Elvis recording to hit Number One on any Billboard
chart.
"Wear My Ring (Around Your Neck)": A relatively chaste Presley
song that tackles the quaint topic of going steady, this track from
1958 nonetheless riled Catholic leaders, who deemed it
"suggestive."
"A Little Less Conversation": The unofficial Brat Pack theme
song has been used in countless movies and television ads, but it
still sounds good.
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"Hound Dog": An indisputable classic.
"Kentucky Rain": Along with hit singles "Suspicious Minds" and
"In the Ghetto," "Kentucky Rain" was recorded in the so-called
"Memphis sessions" of January 1969 and is widely considered to be
one of Presley's best.
"In the Ghetto": On Presley's most explicitly political
gospel-influenced ballad, he creates a moving illustration of the
circle of life and death in the nation's slums -- a clear influence
from his own rags-to-riches history.
"Suspicious Minds": Released August 26, 1969, "Suspicious
Minds" was Elvis' seventeenth Number One single in the United
States and his final Number One before his death. The passion in
his voice might be explained by the fact that he and his wife were
cheating on one another at the time.
"Unchained Melody": Though it has been recorded an estimated
five hundred times by artists ranging from the Righteous Brothers
to Barry Manilow to Harry Belafonte, the King does a killer version
here in his dying days.