ELVIS AND CIMORELLI

Louisiana Hayride

"After the carnival, I went into the music business. The COUNTRY music business. I partnered with one of its biggest stars, Hank Snow... and his hapless son, Jimmie Rodgers Snow. In 1954, that Jimmie boy, he played me a record that was made by the big man at Sun Records, Sam Phillips. The artist? Elvis Presley. The song? 'That's All Right (Mama),' the first thing my boy ever recorded."

"This fella's on the Hayride, tonight," Jimmie told the Colonel.

"In Shreveport?" asked Parker, before chuckling. "No, they are not putting a colored boy up on stage."

"The Colonel's right, son," nodded Hank, who was tuning his guitar. "Just listen to the voice on the record."

"That's the thing..." said Jimmie, with a smirk that said "Get ready to have your mind blown." "He's white."

Everyone looked at Jimmie either in shock or disbelief or amazement, especially Parker.

"He... he's white?"

"What do you think, Texarkana?" everyone heard a radio DJ say in multiple different occupied cars. "Shall we play it for the twenty-seventh time?"

The sound of "That's All Right" echoed throughout the area.

"...He's white?" thought the Colonel, as he leaned his cane up on his shoulder.

"But it don't matter if you do ten stupid things, as long as you do one smart thing."

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SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA - 1954 - LOUISIANA HAYRIDE - 8:15pm

Elvis was outside with his family and good friends, the Cimorelli family. He was about to go on stage and do his first ever life performance, but he felt nervous butterflies unlike he'd ever felt before. Gladys went to comfort her nineteen year old son. Just then, the guitarist, Scotty Moore, ran outside. 

"Bill, go time!" he called to the bassist, Bill Black.

"I know, I know!" said Bill, who was grabbing his bass from his car's trunk.

"Hi," said Amy, who ran up to Scotty and Bill.

"How is he?" asked Scotty.

"I went to grab him a Pepsi, but the poor thing's still shakin' like a leaf."

"I'll get him on the stage," said Scotty, before he, Bill, and Amy ran over to Elvis.

Elvis was at a nearby water fountain, groaning after taking a big gulp of water.

"Here," said Amy, handing him the soda.

"It'll settle your stomach," said Katherine.

"What if I forget the words on live radio?" stuttered Elvis.

"You're not out there on your own, Elvis," Gladys said, in a comforting manner. "You're not on your own. Scotty and Bill are gonna be up there with you."

"That's right," said Bill.

"All we gotta do is a bit of foolin' around, that's how we got this thing started in the first place," smiled Scotty.

"You boys are a band," said Gladys. "The Good Lord gave us music to bring people together."

"Amen," agreed Elvis' father, Vernon.

"Come on, now, booby," said Gladys, as she and everyone else held hands. "Jesse's shining bright tonight."

The Presley family, Cimorelli family, Scotty, and Bill all gathered around Elvis and looked up at the starry night sky.