S.O.D. "Don't Be Cruel" by Elvis Presley
4/19/2015 In 1956 Elvis was the hottest new singer around, and the producers, writers and all the people working with him day in and day out treated him as such. Even though Elvis didn't write this tune, Otis Blackwell, the true composer along with Presley's publishers didn't mind giving him a co-writing credit and 50% of the royalties to make sure that Elvis was the singer that covered it. "Don't Be Cruel" took turns with its B-side, "Hounddog" placing #1 on the charts and did so for 11 straight weeks.
Elvis held this record until 1992 when Boyz II Men composed "End of the Road". The two-sided multi hit single sold more than 4 million copies by the end of 1956. Billboard ranked "Don't Be Cruel" as the #2 song of the year for 1956. This is the first song Presley's publishers brought to him to record and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. It remains the 197th Greatest Song of All Time as rated by Rolling Stone Magazine. More on Elvis later.