Elvis Presley’s Methodist moment

By the start of 1956, Elvis Presley and his recording career had found a new place to dwell. It wasn't at the end of Lonely Street, but in a building bustling with Methodists.

Presley at that point had only regional hits to his name. The giant RCA Records had gambled on the young singer and bought his contract from the small Sun Records.

The sounds of the South — rhythm & blues, country and rock — were starting to transform American airwaves. However, RCA did not yet have a studio of its own in the burgeoning "Music City" of Nashville. Instead, the record company leased studio space in a building it shared with the Methodist Church's Television, Radio and Film Commission — one of the predecessors of today's United Methodist
Communications.

So it was that on Jan. 10, 1956 — two days after his 21st birthday — Presley arrived at the Nashville studio at 1525 McGavock St. for his first recording session with his new label.

The session would prove one of the most momentous in Presley's career. It was also a highlight in a little-known chapter of Methodist Church history — when the denomination's communications agency shared its office and studio space with a major record label.

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