Elvis Presley's introduction to the blues was likely more gradual and less romanticised than depicted in Baz Luhrmann's 2022 biopic, which shows him secretly discovering "the devil's music" through a Mississippi juke joint. Historical evidence suggests he actually grew up on white country and gospel music, only encountering blues directly as a Memphis teenager, drawn in by the fashion and sound of Beale Street rather than any single dramatic moment. This distinction matters because it reshapes understanding of how segregation-era Memphis shaped one of rock and roll's founding figures, and highlights the overlooked Black musicians whose work underpinned his success.

The article credits Mississippi bluesman Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup as the single biggest influence on Presley, who reportedly told a Dutch journalist he "wanted to be as good as Arthur Crudup" after seeing him perform in 1949, aged 14. Jim Crow laws would have prevented Presley from attending mixed-audience blues shows, so he may have first heard the genre via Memphis radio station WDIA. In July 1954, Presley recorded Crudup's 1946 track "That's All Right" as his debut single, launching his career, and later covered two more Crudup songs — "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine" — though Crudup himself received little recognition for this influence during his lifetime.