Heartbreak Hotel told Durden, "Everybody in the world has someone who cares. Let's put a Heartbreak Hotel at the end of this lonely street". They were interrupted by the arrival of Glenn Reeves, a local performer who had previously worked with Axton. The duo asked Reeves to help with the song, but after hearing the title he remarked that it was "the silliest thing I've ever heard", and left them to finish it themselves. The song was written within an hour, and Durden recorded it onto Axton's tape recorder. Reeves returned, and after hearing the song he was asked to provide a
Heartbreak Hotel and listened to it ten times, memorizing the song. After signing with RCA on November 21, 1955, Presley accepted Axton's offer of a third of the royalties if he made the song his first single on his new label. Presley performed the song for the first time in Swifton, Arkansas on December 9, 1955, and declared to the audience that it would be his first hit. "Heartbreak Hotel" was the second song Presley recorded at RCA Victor, following "I Got a Woman", during his debut session at 1525 McGavock Street in Nashville on January 10, 1956. Presley arrived at the