Heartbreak Hotel
| "Heartbreak Hotel" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "I Was the One" |
"Heartbreak Hotel" is a rock and roll song by Elvis Presley, with Bill Black (bass), Scotty Moore (guitar), and D.J Fontana on the drums as the main supporting musicians. Recorded in January 1956, the song introduced Presley to the American national music consciousness. It was released as a single with the b-side song "I Was The One" on January 27 1956.
"Heartbreak Hotel"'s lyrical matter deals with the singer's sadness, implicitly that following the end of a romantic relationship. It uses the metaphor of a hotel to represent this emotional state.
It was written by Thomas Durden and Mae Boren Axton, the mother of singer/songwriter/actor Hoyt Axton. The song is later ranked #45 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The vocals feature heavy use of reverb. This fact was later lampooned in radio humorist Stan Freberg's parody of the song, where the lead singer repeatedly asks for "more echo on [his] voice." The song is an example of simple verse form.
There is now a real hotel named after the song, and located across from Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee.
A movie by the same title, based on a mythical incident involving the kidnapping of Elvis Presley, was released theatrically in 1988. It starred David Keith, and Tuesday Weld and was directed by Chris Columbus.
There are numerous cover versions of the song, including one by avant garde musician John Cale, although the mood of the song was significantly more unsettling than Elvis's version.
Three other different songs, also entitled "Heartbreak Hotel" were released as singles, one by the Jacksons, (later renamed "This Place Hotel"), a second by Whitney Houston, whose mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston performed in several Elvis recordings, both in the studio and live, as a member of the Sweet Inspirations. A third song called "Heartbreak Hotel" was performed by C. C. Catch. None of these songs are connected to Elvis' song.
U2 wrote a song called "A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel." It is a b-side to their "Angel of Harlem" single, released in 1988.