The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50s Masters
Box set by Elvis Presley
Released	June 23, 1992
Recorded	July 1953–September 1958
Genre	Rock and roll rockabilly country
Length	5:39:26
Label	RCA Records
Producer	Ernst Mikael Jorgensen Roger Semon
Elvis Presley chronology
The Lost Album (1990) The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50s Masters (1992) From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential 60s Masters (1993)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
MusicHound	[3]
Q	[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]
Rough Guides	[6]

The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters is afive-discbox set compilation of the complete known studiomaster recordings by American singer and musicianElvis Presley during the decade of the 1950s. Issued in 1992 byRCA Records, catalog number 66050-2, it was soon followed by similar box sets covering Presley's musical outputin the 1960s and1970s. This set's initial long-box release included a set of collectible stamps duplicating therecord jackets from every PresleyLP on RCA Victor, everysingle that had a picture sleeve, and most of hisEP releases. The set includes a booklet with an extensive session list anddiscography, and a lengthy essay byPeter Guralnick. It peaked at #159 on thealbum chart and was certified agold record on August 7, 1992, by theRIAA. Further certifications were for platinum on November 20, 1992, and for double platinum on July 30, 2002.

The first four discs present the Elvis masters in chronological session order. Disc one commences with "My Happiness", a private testdemo from the summer of 1953 atSun Studio and the first recording ever made by Presley, and continues with the completeSun Records masters through track 19. The remainder of disc one, and discs two through four, comprise the entirety of his output for RCA Victor during the decade. Disc four ends with an interview by Presley prior to his departure overseas to serve in thearmy in 1958, released on theEPElvis Sails. Included as well are the officially released recordings on RCA Victor for each one of Elvis' fourfeature films of the 1950s:Love Me Tender,Loving You,Jailhouse Rock, andKing Creole.

The fifth disc compiles rare outtakes and unreleased recordings, starting off with the companionacetate to "My Happiness" in an early version of "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". Tracks two and five are more acetates recorded by the standard Presley trio of Elvis,Scotty Moore on guitar, andBill Black on bass, at an unknown location inLubbock, Texas, during January 1955, presumably around the time whenBuddy Holly converted torock and roll after seeing Presley in concert. Tracks three and four present live recordings from the Municipal Auditorium inShreveport,Louisiana in 1955, again with the trio. Tracks thirteen through sixteen present live recordings from theFrontier Hotel inLas Vegas, Nevada, in 1956, with the trio plus drummerD.J. Fontana. An outtake from theMillion Dollar Quartet sessions appears on track nine, with the following personnel: Presley,Carl Perkins on guitar, his brother Clayton on bass,Jerry Lee Lewis on piano, andW.S. Holland on drums. AlthoughJohnny Cash is billed as the fourth of the headlining quartet and his presence is corroborated by anecdotal evidence, aural evidence of his participation on record is difficult to discern. The remainder of disc five containsalternate takes of released masters.

Collecting every master recording made in the 1950s,The King of Rock 'n' Roll encapsulates the era for which Presley remains most revered, that of the young international phenomenon at the forefront of therock and roll explosion. RCA issued three similarly configured box set companions for the subsequent decades of his career. The 1960s output was collected in two releases:From Nashville to Memphis, consisting of everything he did not record for film and television soundtracks; these were collected inCommand Performances.Walk a Mile in My Shoes compiled his "essential" 1970s recordings.

Professional recordings made at Sun Studio,RCA Studios inNew York andNashville,Radio Recorders inHollywood, and at the studio soundstages of20th Century Fox,Paramount, andMGM inHollywood. The furlough recording session of June 10, 1958, took place in RCA's newly constructedstudio in Nashville, where Presley would continue to record through 1971. Original recordings produced bySam Phillips orSteve Sholes.

This compilation received a 1992Grammy nomination forBest Historical Album, only to lose that award to the boxed setThe Complete Capitol Recordings of The Nat 'King' Cole Trio.

Chart positions for LPs and EPs fromBillboard Top Pop Albums chart; peak positions for EPA 4114 and EPA 4325 from EP chart commenced October 1957; positions for singles fromBillboard Pop Singles chart. Certain recordings derive fromacetates or from primitive recording equipment, and are not of professional sound quality; these are marked with an asterisk.

+ overdubs added prior to release on LSP 3450

• Elvis Presley – vocal, guitar, piano,percussion, bass guitar(on(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care)
• Scotty Moore – lead guitar except "My Happiness", "We're Gonna Move", "Love Me Tender", "Poor Boy", "Let Me", "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", "I Need Your Love Tonight", "A Big Hunk O' Love", "Ain't That Loving You Baby", "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I", "I Got Stung", and "Ain't That Loving You Baby (Fast Version)"
• Chet Atkins – acoustic rhythm guitar
• Hank Garland – lead guitar on "I Need Your Love Tonight", "A Big Hunk O' Love", "Ain't That Loving You Baby", "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I", "I Got Stung", and "Ain't That Loving You Baby (Fast Version)"
• Tiny Timbrell – acoustic rhythm guitar, possible acoustic rhythm/lead guitar on "Steadfast, Loyal, and True"
• Floyd Cramer – piano
• Shorty Long – piano
• Dudley Brooks – piano
• Mike Stoller – piano
• Marvin Hughes – piano
• Bill Black –double bass except "My Happiness", "We're Gonna Move", "Love Me Tender", "Poor Boy", "Let Me", "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", "I Need Your Love Tonight", "A Big Hunk O' Love", "Ain't That Loving You Baby", "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I", "I Got Stung", and "Ain't That Loving You Baby (Fast Version)"
• Bob Moore – double bass on "I Need Your Love Tonight", "A Big Hunk O' Love", "Ain't That Loving You Baby", "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I", "I Got Stung", and "Ain't That Loving You Baby (Fast Version)"
• D.J. Fontana – drums
• Jimmie Lott – drums on "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone"
• Johnny Bernero – drums on "Tryin' to Get to You"
• Millie Kirkham – backing vocals
• Ben Speer,Brock Speer – backing vocals on "I'm Counting On You", "I Was the One", and "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"

The Jordanaires

• Gordon Stoker – piano, backing vocals
• Hoyt Hawkins – backing vocals,organ
• Neal Matthews – backing vocals, bass, guitar
• Hugh Jarrett – backing vocals
• Ray Walker – backing vocals

Love Me Tender Sessions

• Vito Mumolo – guitar on "Love Me Tender", "Poor Boy", "We're Gonna Move", and "Let Me"
• Myer Rubin – double bass on "Love Me Tender", "Poor Boy", "We're Gonna Move", and "Let Me"
• Richard Cornell – drums on "Love Me Tender", "Poor Boy", "We're Gonna Move", and "Let Me"
• Luther "Red" Roundtree – banjo on "Love Me Tender", "Poor Boy", "We're Gonna Move", and Let Me"
• Dominic Frontieri – accordion on "Love Me Tender", "Poor Boy", "We're Gonna Move", and "Let Me"
• Ken Darby Trio – backing vocals on "Love Me Tender", "Poor Boy", "We're Gonna Move", and "Let Me"

Million Dollar Quartet

• Carl Perkins – lead guitar and vocals on "Reconsider Baby"
• Jerry Lee Lewis – piano on "Reconsider Baby"
• Clayton Perkins – bass on "Reconsider Baby"
• W.S. Holland – drums on "Reconsider Baby"
• Johnny Cash – possible vocals on "Reconsider Baby"

• Elvis Presley compilation albums
• 1992 compilation albums
• RCA Records compilation albums
• Albums recorded at Sun Studio
• Compilation albums published posthumously

• Use mdy dates from May 2025
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• Album chart usages for Billboard200