August 16th marks the anniversary of the death of a cultural icon-Elvis Aaron Presley. Although the face of music has changed in ways that would leave Elvis shaking his head, everything rests upon the bedrock foundation laid by the King.

No single person has influenced a musical genre, a restless generation, an entire culture, with the same urgent passion as Elvis. Any diehard music fan can pinpoint the birth of the King's career: an historical day when the sultry-voiced Mississippi native walked into Sun Records for an appointment with destiny. Indeed, this recording session marks the...