Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. When Gene Austin arrived in Tampa in January of 1939 with his new, self-financed movie, Songs and Saddles, he was at loose ends.

Colonel Tom Parker questioned why one Elvis Presley song took all of 15 minutes to write. Elvis was a big fan of the track. It’s a lot dirtier than other tunes of the same genre. “Yeah, we did that in ...