Welcome to the Origins of Modern Music Archive

Documenting the Earliest Spark of Greatness

Louis Armstrong, born to a teenage single mother, bought his first cornet at age 11 with $5 of borrowed money and first became a band leader in juvenile detention.

In 1953, 18-year-old Elvis Presley cut his first record, My Happiness, on an acetate disk that he left at his friend’s house because his family didn’t have a record player. He borrowed $4 to pay for the recording session at Sun Records in hopes of impressing the studio owner. It worked! A year later Elvis returned to record That’s All Right and launch his legendary career.

The ultimate owner of that Elvis acetate? Jack White, lead singer of the White Stripes, who had his own unique debut. His first record, Makers of High Grade Suites, came packed with furniture repair-related odds-and-ends, including business cards for his own upholstery shop. His band name at the time? The Upholsterers.

You’ll find these stories and more here, an archive of the beginnings of musical greatness. Explore the Archive to discover the home garages, back-street bars, and tiny studios where then-unknown musicians forged their world-shaping acts.