let the muSSSic play

This was the theme song to the first of 31 Elvis movies. The movie was titled The Reno Brothers before it was renamed to capitalize on the song.
Originally, Elvis had just a small role in the movie, but during filming it became apparent that he was a really big deal, and his role was expanded to take advantage of his stardom. His character is killed at the end of the movie, but Elvis re-appears to reprise the song. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

The music is based on a 1861 Classical piece called "Aura Lee."

RCA Records received over 1 million pre-orders for this song, making it the first single to ship as a gold record before it was released.

This was released as a single in September 1956. It didn't appear on an album until March 1958, when it was included on Elvis' Golden Records. (thanks to Eileen for above 2)

This was also a hit for Richard Chamberlain in 1962 and Percy Sledge in 1967.

Linda Ronstadt covered this in 1978. US Radio stations edited her version together with Elvis' original, creating a duet. This version became very popular, but was never released as a single or available for sale.

In 1956, this replaced "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog" on the Billboard chart, making Elvis Presley the first artist to replace himself in the #1 position. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France