The following article was written for the Music Zone Magazine in around the time of the release of the "ELV1S album. It was edited slightly for that publication, and is presented here without the edits:
Elvis Is Back!
By David Parker
August
16, 2002 marked the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s untimely
death. Before the anniversary it a had already been reported that BMG were
striving to reach a new younger audience for Elvis’ music, and plans were
already underway to compile a single CD of 30 U.S. and U.K. number one hit
singles, which will be released in September. What came next was a marketing
masterstroke. A relatively unknown Elvis song titled “A Little Less
Conversation” had captured the imagination of Dutch DJ Tom Holkenborg a.k.a.
JXL, after being featured in the soundtrack to the remake of the rat pack movie
“Oceans Eleven”. Nike was planning a huge advertising campaign for the World
Cup Finals, and it was decided that JXL’s remix of “A Little Less
Conversation” would be used as the soundtrack to the Nike commercials, after
the remix was approved by the Presley Estate. The remix credited to “Elvis
Versus JXL” spent four weeks at the top of the British charts during the
summer, and enjoyed similar success throughout Europe. It will now be added to
the “30 Number Ones” CD as a bonus track. During this article we will take a
look at some of the stories behind the music on the forthcoming album.
“Heartbreak Hotel” was Elvis’ first single for RCA Victor in the U.S. after they had bought out his Sun Records contract from Sam Phillips at the end of 1955. The song was recorded at RCA’s New York studios on January 10, 1956, and was rush released by RCA in the U.S. just seventeen days after it was recorded.
Whilst the music recorded at these first RCA sessions is now regarded as classic Presley, back in January 1956, the producer of the session, RCA’s Steve Sholes, wasn’t totally convinced that they had a hit record on their hands. There was some disappointment in the studio as they hadn’t been able to recreate the legendary “Sun Sound”, and plans were already underway for Elvis to record additional material in case the record flopped. Elvis made his debut on national television on January 28, 1956 on the Dorsey Brothers Stage Show, and during five further appearances on the same show between February and March of 1956, “Heartbreak Hotel” was performed three times. The record finally entered the U.S. charts at No.68 on March 3, 1956, and within seven weeks it had climbed all the way to the No.1 spot. Any reservations Steve Sholes and his fellow RCA executives had about the January recordings were finally swept aside.
Elvis was performing at the
New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas during May 1956, and would often attend some of
the other shows in the city when he wasn’t performing. It was whilst he was
watching a performance of “Hound Dog” by Freddie Bell and The Bellboys, that
he was first made aware of the song’s hit potential. After the Las Vegas
concerts were over, Elvis made an appearance on the Milton Berle show on June 5,
1956 in Los Angeles, and performed the song on national television for the first
time. He ended the song in a slow blues style, complete with wild stage
movements, and the performance caused controversy amongst television critics the
next day.
In an attempt to present Elvis in a different light, he appeared wearing a tuxedo during his next TV appearance on the Steve Allen show, on July 1, 1956, in New York. The show featured Elvis, looking rather ill at ease, singing “Hound Dog” to a basset hound! Later in his career when telling the story of his life from the stage, he would joke, “they had me singing to a dog, man”, but privately he was less than impressed with the way he was presented on the show. Both “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog” were recorded in RCA’s New York studios the day after the television broadcast, and the New York fans let it be known that they wanted the real, gyrating Elvis the next time he appeared on television.
Elvis made four movies during the ‘50’s and these provided him with a further four U.S. No.1 singles, with the title song from “Jailhouse Rock” hitting the top spot in both the U.S. and the U.K. His career suffered it’s first real set back when he was drafted in March 1958, but there was still time for a stopgap session at RCA’s Nashville studios in June of the same year. Here, Elvis dressed in his army uniform, and backed by the finest session musicians in Nashville recorded both “A Fool Such As I” and “A Big Hunk Of Love”, which kept his name associated with the number one position whilst he continued his national service.
Whilst Elvis was stationed in Germany he would make home recordings, and consider songs that might possibly be suitable for release upon his return. The first post army sessions were held at RCA’s Nashville studios on March 20-21, 1960, and Elvis was due to record an eagerly awaited new single, and start work on his first post army album. The single “Stuck On You” was recorded on the second day of the session. RCA already had the covers printed, and the track was rush released, and made No.1 in the U.S. and No.3 in the U.K. Elvis took a break from recording to appear on the “Welcome Home Elvis” TV special, which was hosted by Frank Sinatra. He sang both sides of his new single “Stuck On You” and “Fame & Fortune”, before returning to Nashville in April to continue recording. It was during the April sessions that some of the songs Elvis had first considered during his army service were recorded. These included “It’s Now Or Never”, which was based on the Italian song “O Sole Mio”, and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” Both songs hit the top spot in both the U.S. and the U.K.
The early sixties were very successful for Elvis. He continued to record at RCA’s Nashville studios, and had resumed his acting career in Hollywood. The emphasis was on lighthearted musicals, and the soundtrack recordings were very popular with the fans. Between 1961 and 1962 Elvis scored eight U.K. and two U.S. number one hits. These consisted of both Nashville recordings such as “Surrender” and “His Latest Flame”, and soundtrack recordings such as “Wooden Heart” and “Return To Sender”. Following a short Nashville session in January 1964, Elvis didn’t return to RCA’s Nashville studios until May 1966. The rest of this period was spent making movies in Hollywood, but the soundtrack songs were generally not strong enough to hit the top spot. However, Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker had another trick up his sleeve. During a 1960 Nashville session, which produced the gospel album “His Hand In Mine”, Elvis had recorded the song “Crying In The Chapel”, but the song had remained unreleased. The Colonel made a deal with RCA who paid an extra $10,000 to release the track as an “Easter Special” single, and the record made No.3 in the U.S. and No.1 in the U.K.
Despite the success of this
single, Elvis continued to make movies, although he was becoming increasingly
disillusioned with both the scripts, and the quality of the soundtrack material.
Things had to change, and in 1968 a deal was made with NBC Television for a one
hour TV special. The show, known as the “Comeback Special”, was a resounding
success, and it’s closing number “If I Can Dream” restored Elvis to the
top 20 in both the U.S. and the U.K.
Following the special Elvis returned to Memphis to record at Chips Moman’s American studios in January and February of 1969. His recording of Mac Davis’ “In The Ghetto”, made No.3 on the U.S. Billboard charts, and No.1 on the NME charts in the U.K. The follow up single “Suspicious Minds” gave Elvis his first U.S. No.1 since “Good Luck Charm” in 1962, and a No.2 hit in the U.K. Following the sessions Elvis returned to live performances, and opened at the International Hotel, Las Vegas on July 31, 1969. His performance of “Suspicious Minds” quickly became the centrepiece of his stage show, and Elvis’ record producer Felton Jarvis held an overdub session in Las Vegas before the single was released. In an attempt to recreate the arrangement used on the live version, Felton added horns to the track, and extended it by fading out the refrain, and fading it back again. This created problems for radio DJ’s, and caused a rift between Felton and the song’s original producer Chips Moman. An alternate mix of the song, which is probably closer to what Chips originally intended, can be found on the album “The Memphis Record”.
“Suspicious Minds” was Elvis’ last No.1 single on the U.S. Billboard chart. He was back at the top of the U.K. charts in 1970, with a live version of “The Wonder Of You” recorded during his second Las Vegas season in February 1970, and he continued to have top ten hits in the U.K. throughout the decade. In 1972 his excellent rendition of Dennis Linde’s “Burning Love” made No.1 on the U.S. Cashbox chart, and No.2 on the Billboard chart. Elvis spent more and more time playing Las Vegas and touring the U.S., and whilst the concert tours were successful, and he continued to record new material, there were no more No.1 hits during his lifetime. His last single, “Way Down” was recorded at Graceland in October 1976, and was slipping down the U.K. charts at the time of his death. Following the events of August 16th, it climbed back up the U.K. charts and reached the top spot, giving Elvis his 17th U.K. number one. Twenty-five years later, with a little help from Tom “JXL” Holkenborg, he was back again.