Elvis Presley, The #2 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Seven

 

(Continued from Part Six)

Elvis released the studio album Pot Luck (#1 in the U.K. and #4 in the U.S.), followed by the "Girls!  Girls!  Girls!" Soundtrack, which also went Gold and reached #2 in the U.K. and #3 in the U.S.

 

The former yielded Elvis's version of "Suspicion", a  song that would be a big hit by Terry Stafford in 1964 for which many thought it was by Elvis.

"Gonna' Get Back Home Somehow" is also featured on Pot Luck.

 

Fred Wise and Ben Weisman wrote this song that Elvis recorded in July of 1964.  "Follow That Dream" is from Elvis's EP of the same name that included four songs from the motion picture, released in April of 1962.

Leiber and Stoller joined Pomus to write this one for Presley.  "She's Not You" led the way in the United Kingdom (#1 for three weeks), New Zealand, Italy and Norway and reached #5 in the U.S.

When Parker saw that including the smash "Can't Help Falling In Love" actually increased sales of the "Blue Hawai'i" Soundtrack, contrary to what he had always thought, he decided to include a single on the "Girls!  Girls!  Girls!" Soundtrack.  Soon after, of course, it became widely known in the industry that hit songs were essential to sell albums.  Had Parker known that, Presley's album sales would have been much bigger than they were.

That single was added at the last minute when Otis Blackwell, who to that point had just one song in the upcoming film, mentioned to Parker that he and Winfield Scott had just finished a song.  Although it wasn't written for the movie, Parker had Blackwell play it and then, to Otis's astonishment, told him , "That will go into the movie.  It's a great song."

Although Elvis was blessed with great musicians, including Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana, Boots Randolph on saxophone and the great Hal Blaine on drums, he was not enthusiastic about the material for the soundtrack.  But he became more inspired when he began singing "Return To Sender" and he finished the song in two takes.  Moore and Fontana believed, according to Ace Collins' 2005 book Untold Gold:  The Stories Behind Elvis's #1 Hits, that the "old magic of Presley's earlier work had returned."

"Return To Sender"  hit #1 in the U.K., Canada, Australia, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden and achieved Platinum status, but was stuck at #2 in the United States, another of The Top #2 Songs of the Rock Era*.

In January, 8 of 1993, the U.S. Postal Service released a stamp commemorating Elvis on what would have been his 58th birthday.  Wise stamp collectors put Elvis stamps on letters that day and mailed them to false addresses so they would be sent back marked "Return To Sender" and thus became collector's items.  

 

Elvis released the single "(You're The) Devil In Disguise" (written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye) in 1963, which peaked at #1 in the U.K., Canada, France, Italy, Norway and Sweden and #3 in the U.S.  It is yet another Gold record from the King.

 

Along with the Jordanaires, the Amigos also sang backing vocals.  They joined Elvis the previous year for the "Girls!  Girls!  Girls!" Soundtrack.   Elvis sang "Bossa Nova Baby" (which peaked at #8) for his movie Fun In Acapulco.  It was part of a Bossa Nova trend in 1963 led by Eydie Gorme's "Blame It On The Bossa Nova" and Joe Harnell's "Fly Me To The Moon" in 1963 and the great song by Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz the following year, "The Girl From Ipanema".   

Presley released the compilation album Elvis' Golden Records, Volume 3 in 1963.  

 

"Kiss Me Quick" is another song from Pot Luck that was released as a single in the U.K. in 1963 and in the U.S. in 1964.

 

"Viva Las Vegas" (from the movie of the same name), even though it stalled at #27, went Gold and has become one of Presley's most recognizable songs.

 

Elvis recorded this song in the same session that he did a cover of Chuck Berry's "Memphis", but he felt he could do both songs better, so he went back in the studio in January to re-record both.  His faith in "Ask Me" was rewarded with sales of 700,000, a #3 peak in Canada and #12 in the U.S.

 

Elvis recorded this track on June 10, 1958 but it wasn't released as a single until it was paired with "Ask Me".  "Ain't That Loving You Baby" (as well as "Ask Me") was later included on the compilation Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4.

Presley's standard "Blue Christmas" was originally included on Elvis' Christmas Album, but not released as a single until 1964.

The Beatles had hit the scene.  How would Elvis fare against The British Invasion?  Stay tuned for Part Eight, exclusively on Inside The Rock Era!

Elvis Presley, The #2 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Six

 

(Continued from Part Five)

 

The album Elvis Is Back! hit #2 and Elvis was indeed back.  The two-year Army stint seemed to have no effect on his career.  The Gold album climbed to #1 in the U.K. and #2 in the United States despite not having any hit singles on it--(Presley fans were just clamoring for new material!)-- and "Reconsider Baby" has turned out to be one of his most popular songs.  

This Blues standard recorded by Lowell Fulson in 1954 has transcended genres and when Elvis recorded and released it, it brought the song to a new audience.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame includes "Reconsider Baby" in its list of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".  

Jesse Stone wrote this song, originally recorded by Vikki Nelson in 1957.  Elvis recorded "Like A Baby" on April 3, 1960 in Nashville.

Two of the biggest stars the world has ever known joined together on May 12 as Frank Sinatra invited Elvis as a guest on his television special.  Presley released the "G.I. Blues" Soundtrack with his film of the same name, and it promptly rose to #1 and went Platinum. 

This next song is based on the German Folk song "Muss i denn" by Friedrich Silcher.  German composer Bert Kaempfert, along with Fred Wise, Ben Weisman and Kay Twomey created the English version which features several lines from the original.  

Elvis's version includes two German parts, the first four lines of "Muss i denn" and another towards the end based on a translation of the English version (Sei mir gut, sei mir gut, sei mir wie du wirklich sollst, wie du wirklich sollst..., which is "Be good to me, be good to me, be to me how you really should, how you really should..." in English). 

"Wooden Heart" was a huge hit in the U.K., going to the top of that chart for six weeks, but in the United States, it is the cover version of Joe Dowell that is better known.  Dowell's version is famous for knocking Bobby Lewis's classic "Tossin' And Turnin'" from the #1 position in 1961.  Presley finally placed "Wooden Heart" on the flip side of his 1964 Christmas standard, "Blue Christmas".

Elvis released the Gospel album His Hand in Mine, which sold over one million copies.  At a benefit luncheon in Memphis, RCA presented Presley with a plaque certifying worldwide sales of over 75 million records, an unprecedented accomplishment considered he had amassed that total in a mere four years, with two of those four years spent in the Army.

 

In 1961, Elvis released the album Something for Everybody.  It too reached #1 and went Gold.    The piano playing of Floyd Cramer is the highlight of "I Want You With Me".  

Cramer was a Louisiana native who met Elvis on the Louisiana Hayride in 1954 and he began playing piano for Presley in the spring of 1955.  Cramer also played on "It's Now Or Never", "Surrender", Crying In The Chapel", "Little Sister" and many others, and also on Patsy Cline's "Crazy", "Only The Lonely" by Roy Orbison and "(Til) I Kissed You" by the Everly Brothers.

The "Blue Hawai'i" Soundtrack, from Elvis's romantic comedy, also hit #1 and has sold over six million.  Ben Weisman, Fred Wise and Dolores Fuler wrote this song for the movie, "Rock A-Hula Baby", released as a double A-side with "Can't Help Falling In Love" in the U.K.  

"Music for the film Blue Hawai'i was a challenge," Weisman noted.  "Because of the locale, I thought the music should have a Hawaiian flavor, but with a rock beat," he said.  "At the time, the twist was very hot, and I found that the twist and the hula were perfect together.  Out of that combination, "Rock-A-Hula Baby" was born."

Presley performed in Hawai'i to raise money for the Pearl Harbor memorial on March 25.  It would be the last public performance Elvis would make for seven years.

Pomus and Shuman had adapted the Italian song "O Sole Mio" into "A Mess Of Blues" for Elvis earlier.   Presley was inspired to record another English version of an Italian song, "Torna a Surriento".  Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin had already recorded an Anglicized version ("Come Back To Sorrento"), but Elvis wanted something more uptempo.

Pomus felt "Surrender" was just another songwriting job, according to his biographer, Alex Halberstadt, who said Pomus was shocked by Presley's performance of his song:

             Presley imbued "Surrender" with sly humor 

             and an almost maniacal ardor, transforming

             it into a dramatic showcase for his 

             genuinely amazing chops...Doc was 

             humbled by the result.  [Not impressed by

             Elvis initially], he had to admit that Elvis 

             was a songwriter's dream.  he could make 

             a mediocre song distinctive, make a good

             one great, and make a great one

             indelible.  When he wanted to, he sang

             anything--from spirituals to Popular music--

             brilliantly, finding just the right emotional

             shading.

             

Presley released the single "Surrender", which shot up to #1 in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden and reached the Top 10 in every country in the world.  "Surrender", with more of that great piano work from Cramer, became Elvis's 20th Gold single and 17th Platinum release and his 16th career #1.

Parker's original idea for this single was to pair the title song from the movie Wild In The Country with another song from the picture, "I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell".  But RCA executive Bill Bullock overruled him and insisted that one of the songs from Elvis's March 1961 album session in Nashville be substituted.  Elvis chose  "I Feel So Bad", which hit #5 in the United States and #6 in Canada and was also certified Gold.

Here's another great coupling of songs for a 45, both written by Pomus and Shuman.  Both were recorded in another all-night session in Nashville on June 26.  "(Marie's The Name) Of His Latest Flame" topped charts in the U.K. (four weeks at #1), Canada and Spain and reached #2 in Australia and #4 in the U.S. (#2 Easy Listening) and also went over one million units sold.  The single was one of nine #1's in the U.K. from 1960-62.

 

The flip side, "Little Sister", was also a big hit at #1 in the United Kingdom and #5 in the U.S.  Moore was called on again to play lead guitar on the track.

The melody for this next classic is based on "Plaisir d'amour", a popular French love song composed by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini in 1784.  To get Colonel Parker's permission to take the song off of a best-selling album and release it as a single (the Colonel always opposed mixing single and album releases), RCA was forced to guarantee payment for a million sales.  

There was never a doubt--"Can't Help Falling In Love" hit #1 in the U.K. for four weeks and #1 on the Easy Listening Chart in the U.S. for six weeks but only #2 Popular, making it one of The Top #2 Songs of the Rock Era*.  A Platinum seller, it ranked #210 in The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era* in 2016.

Presley's return from the Army had gone very well.  But something was about to happen that would be pivotal to his career and signal a significant downturn in his fortunes.  

To this point, Presley (through his publishing company Gladys Music) had insisted that all songs Elvis sang would belong to him--of course Elvis did very little songwriting and then only contributed bits and pieces.  After Presley recorded this song, Gladys Music filed a copyright notice.  But shortly after Aaron Schroeder, who had penned numerous songs for Elvis, including some of his biggest hits, also filed a notice.

Schroeder, who in the past had complied with Parker's requirement that songwriters sign over the publishing rights to Elvis, drew a line in the sand and refused to do so with this song.  Aaron had written hundreds of songs, with his tunes recorded by many other top artists of the time, including Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Pat Boone, Roy Orbison, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Duane Eddy, and he decided he would not afford Elvis special treatment.   

This dispute over publishing rights to "Good Luck Charm" led to Schroeder never writing another song for Presley to record.  Soon, other songwriters, including Leiber and Stoller, Pomus and Shuman, and Otis Blackwell, all who had provided hit songs for Elvis, either stopped or only rarely provided any more material for Presley.    

Presley released the single, which displaced future Elvis's leading lady Shelley Fabares and "Johnny Angel" at #1.  It was another Top 10 smash across the globe, including in the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

However, Presley's "Good Luck Charm" in 1962 was anything but, as he would go seven more years before landing another #1 song.  With his stable of songwriters who to this point had been extremely dependable now gone, and without the ability to write a hit song himself, Elvis would suffer through years of mediocrity.  

But it was far from the end for the King.  Join us for Part Seven of Elvis exclusively on Inside The Rock Era! 

Elvis Presley, The #2 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Five

 

(Continued from Part Four)

Elvis was drafted in the Army as a private on March 24, 1958 and he undertook his basic training at Fort Hood, Texas.  While on leave in June, Presley recorded five songs in Nashville.  

RCA kept Presley front and center with compilations and other albums of unreleased material.  Elvis' Golden Records, released three days before he left for military duty, has now sold 12 million copies in the United States alone.

Claude DeMetruis wrote this song in either late 1957 or early 1958 and Elvis must have been a fan for it is the fourth he recorded, following "I Was The One", "Santa, Bring My Baby Back (To Me)" and "Mean Woman Blues".  RCA Victor consistently spelled Claude's name wrong on the three previous releases by Presley, but finally got it right on this one.  

"Hard Headed Woman" from the "King Creole" Soundtrack went to #1 for two weeks and has sold over one million copies.  However, the scene where Elvis sang the sung was cut from the movie.

"Trouble" is one of three songs that Leiber and Stoller wrote for the "King Creole" Soundtrack.

 

Elvis recorded this but Presley, Parker and the record company all had reservations about the suggestive lyrics.  Elvis continued to work with the song while he was filming Loving You, finally rewriting "One night of sin is what I'm now paying for" into "One night with you is what I'm now praying for."  Presley's remake of a Smiley Lewis song reached #4--"One Night".

In August, Gladys was diagnosed with hepatitis, and Presley was granted emergency leave to visit her.  Elvis arrived in Memphis on August 12 and two days later, his mother died of heart failure at the age of 46.  Elvis was devastated.

Presley joined the 3rd Armored Division in Friedberg, Germany on October 1.  It was there that a sergeant introduced him to amphetamines and he became interested in karate.  By all accounts, Elvis insisted on being treated like every other soldier despite his fame.  He donated his Army salary to charity.

While in Friedberg, Presley met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu and began a seven-and-a-half-year courtship.

 

Elvis recorded this one in June of 1958 when he went to Nashville while in the army but waiting to go to Germany.  "I Got Stung" hit #8 and sold over two million singles.

RCA released the compilation 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong Elvis' Gold Records, Volume 2 in 1959 and it went Platinum.  This song from the album, written by Bill Trader in 1952, was originally a Country hit for Hank Snow until Elvis spread its popularity beyond that narrow genre.  

Presley recorded it on June 10, 1958 at RCA Studios in Nashville while he was on leave, his first session without Scotty Moore and Bill Black.  Chet Atkins played guitar with bass from Bob Moore, drums by D.J. Fontana with Buddy Harman and piano from Floyd Cramer.  

 

"(Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I" was originally released as the B-side until DJ's turned it over and the public loved it.   It topped charts in the U.K. and Canada and stopped at #2 in the United States and sold two million copies.

 

Elvis recorded the flip side, "I Need Your Love Tonight", at that same June 10 session.  It ruled the U.K. chart for five weeks, hit #4 in the U.S. and went Gold.

Parker, for as much as he limited Presley's career by leading him to spend hundreds of days away from recording in the movie studio, seemed to understand supply and demand.  That strategy was never to give the public, or the record company, as much material as was asked for.  "A Big Hunk o' Love" also raced to #1 in the U.S. and Canada and went Gold.

Presley was honorably discharged from the Army on March 5, 1960 with the rank of sergeant.  The train that Elvis took from New Jersey home to Tennessee was mobbed every step of the way.  

Presley recorded in Nashville on March 20 in a session that yielded "Stuck On You", written by Aaron Schroeder and Sidney Wyche (under the name Sid Jaxon) and the lead single from his album, Elvis. 

Presley's first new studio album in two years (Elvis Is Back) reached #1 in the U.S., Canada and Australia and #3 in the U.K. and has sold over two million copies in the United States alone.

Another magical session two weeks later produced two all-time classics.  Elvis got the idea for this song while he was stationed in Germany.  He heard "O Sole Mio", a song popularized by Mario Lanza.  

When Presley was discharged, he asked RCA to write an English translation for him (Tony Martin wrote the first such translation in 1949.)  The aforementioned Schroeder teamed up with Wally Gold to accomplish the task in 30 minutes, using the same melody and chord progression as "O Sole Mio".  "It's Now Or Never" rocketed up to #1 in 12 countries including the U.S. (#1 for 5 weeks), the U.K., Australia and Canada.  The single has also topped two million units sold and is The #21 Song of the Rock Era*. 

 

Schroeder went on to write 17 songs for Elvis, and also wrote another song you may be familiar with, the theme to the animated TV series Scooby Doo, Where Are You?  "A Mess Of Blues" (written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman) is the flip side of "It's Now Or Never" and received considerable airplay of its own, hitting #2 in the U.K. and #32 in the United States.

 

"Are You Lonesome To-night?" was the other song recorded on that famous day when Elvis recorded "It's Now Or Never", yet another big seller (over four million copies) and #1 for Presley in the United States, the U.K., Canada, Australia and five other countries.  It marked the return of Moore on lead guitar, albeit as a session man, and is The #40 Song of the Rock Era*.

 

Paul Evans and Matt Williams wrote this song with Elvis in mind, knowing that there was a lucrative payout if Presley recorded a song.  "I Gotta' Know" received considerable distribution as the flip side to "Are You Lonesome To-night?" and is highly regarded by Elvis fans.  Evans explained how he tailored his songwriting for Presley:

                I would imagine how he sang, because 

               Elvis had a specific style.  He would mumble

               a little bit, he wasn't clear, necessarily, on his

               lyrics.  And so I would sing it like he would

               sing it, the kind of guttural and sexy thing

               that he always did.  So if we wanted to write

               for Elvis, we would have to try to feel like

               Elvis, and what does he say in his songs?  

               I would do the demo, and I would do the

               singing.  For an artist of that stature you had

               to be very careful with your demos, because

               generally speaking you would get the final

               from Elvis back with basically the 

               arrangement of the demo.  Of course, 

               instead of me singing 4-part harmonies, 

               you'd get the Jordanaires, and instead of my

               5-piece orchestra, you'd have whatever he

               wanted on his session, or his producer

               wanted.

Elvis was back in America, and back in the recording studio, and seemed to pick up where he left off before going into the U.S. Army.  But would that high level of success last?  Stay tuned for Part Six!