Roy Brown, the man who wrote and first cut “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” and who had rocked his way to the top and fallen to the bottom before Elvis had ever even gotten laid, sees it like this:

“I remember Colonel Parker making the statement, ‘I believe the white kids want to hear rock ’n’ roll, but I’m gonna have a white boy do it.’ In other words: If you want to hear ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight,’ I’m gonna have Elvis Presley do it. A lot of those guys did those things and copied the arrangements rtote for note, but that way it was accepted.”