It's always "Jailhouse Rock" (1957).
The Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller composition was written for the movie of the same name. Actually, to be accurate, the film's working title was The Hard Way when the writing duo received the film treatment. The title only became Jailhouse Rock after Leiber and Stoller penned the song and the studio realized it was going to be the centerpiece of the film.
Story goes, Leiber and Stoller had been flown in from Los Angeles to New York to meet with Atlantic Records owners, Nesuhi and Ahmet Ertegün, about writing and producing for the label. They'd also been commissioned by the producer of The Hard Way (a.k.a. Jailhouse Rock) to write music for the film. But instead of spending their time writing music in their hotel room, they were busy hanging out at jazz clubs every night and soaking in the city by day.
Time passed. Deadlines, too.
Finally the film's music publisher decided to drop by their hotel, just to see what kind of progress they were making, which was none. After lecturing them about the importance of meeting deadlines, he pushed a sofa in front of their door and barricaded them in the room until they fulfilled their obligation.
Leiber and Stoller ended up churning out four songs that afternoon, including "Jailhouse Rock," just so they could get the publisher off their backs and hit the town again. They had no clue the song was going to be a massive hit.
In any case, it's hands down Presley's hardest rocking song. I'd even venture to say it was the hardest rock song produced up to that point. From the moment the drums and that clanging, two-chord guitar intro kick in to Scotty Moore's righteously unhinged solo, it burns like a five-alarm fire.
It's also Presley's best (rock) vocal: gritty, full of attitude, and delivered with confidence. Personally, I hear the echoes of that performance in everything from Van Morrison's vocals for the band Them to Kurt Cobain's scream on the chorus of "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
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