Record #0680: Viva Las Vegas / What’d I Say – ELVIS PRESLEY

 

RCA Victor 47-8360 (original) USA, 28. April 1964
Words & Music by:  Side A – Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman; Side B – Ray Charles
Musicians: Elvis Presley (lead vocals), Billy Strange (guitar), Hilmer “Tiny” Timbrell (guitar on side A), Scotty Moore (guitar on side A), Glen Campbell (guitar on side B), Alton Hendrickson (guitar on side B), Frank Carlson / Murrey “Buddy” Harman / D.J. Fontana (drums), Roy Harte (percussion on side B), Bob Moore (bass on side A), Ray Siegal (bass on side B), Dudley Brooks / Floyd Cramer (piano on side A), Artie Kane (piano on side B), Homer “Boots” Randolph / William Green (sax on side A), Steve Douglas (sax on side B), James Zito (trumpet on side A), Harb Taylor, Randall Miller (trombones on side A), the Jordanaires (backing vocals on side A), the Jubilee Four, the Carol Lombard Quartet (backing vocals on side B)
Recording sessions: Radio Recorders Studio B, Hollywood, CA, Side A – 7.00pm-11.00pm on 10. July 1963; Side B – on 30. August 1963
Highest chart positions:  Side A - US #29, Australia #4, UK #17, Norway #6, Sweden #5, Denmark #3, Finland #9; Side B – US #21

Both side A and side B appear in Presley’s 1964 movie “Viva Las Vegas”. Oh, those early 60’s dance crazes! :D

The list of musicians includes some members of the Wrecking Crew.

List price:  Very Good+ is $6, Near Mint is $12.

Record #0679: O sole mio (It’s Now or Never) / Make Me Know it – ELVIS PRESLEY

 

RCA Victor 47-9314 (original, German release) Germany, 9. August 1960
Words & Music by:  Side A – Eduardo Di Capua, Aaron Schroeder, Wally Gold; Side B – Otis Blackwell
Musicians: Elvis Presley (lead vocals, guitar), Hank Garland (guitar on side A, electric bass on side B), Scotty Moore (guitar), Bob Moore (bass), D.J. Fontana / Murrey “Buddy” Harman (drums), , Floyd Cramer (piano), the Jordanaires (backing vocals)
Recording sessions: Produced Steve Sholes and Chet Atkins at RCA Studio B in Nashville, TN, Side A – on 3. April 1960; Side B – on 20. March 1960
Highest chart positions:  Germany #2, US #1, US R&B #7, Canada #1, UK #1, Norway #1, Finland #1

This was Elvis’ best selling single. It has sold 20 million physical copies, which puts it at the 7^th position in the list of best-selling physical singles in all genres and the 2^nd position in rock’n’roll. Sorry, I don’t count Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” (33 million copies) as rock. The #1 position in rock is held by the record I had in my previous post: “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets has sold 25 million copies.

Elvis appeared to be more restrained and less rebellious when he returned from his military service in March 1960. I do admit that the rock scene had also become softer by 1960, so he was probably trying to fit in.
The flip side was the first song he recorded after his honorable discharge. The other songs in the same session were “Soldier Boy”, “Stuck on You”, “Fame and Fortune”, “A Mess of Blues” (which was the B-side of this single in the US) and “It Feels So Right”.

The single topped the Finnish charts for 4 months, starting in September 1960.

List price:  German release, not in the catalog. These go for 10-30 euros in eBay.

Record #0678: Thirteen Women (and Only One Man In Town) / (We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock – BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS

Decca 9-29124 (original, 1^st pressing) USA, 10. May 1954
Words & Music by:  Side A – Dickie Thompson; Side B – Jimmy DeKnight, Max C. Freedman
Musicians: Bill Haley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Franny Beecher (guitar), Danny Cedrone (lead guitar), Marshall Lytle (upright bass), Billy Williamson (steel guitar), Joey Ambrose (tenor sax), Johnny Grande (piano), Billy Gussak (drums)
Recording sessions: Produced by Milt Gabler at Decca Studios, Pythian Temple, New York, NY, 12. April 1954
Highest chart positions:  US #1, US R&B #3, UK #1, Australia #1, Germany #18

70 years ago today, Bill Haley and His Comets had just left Essex record label and signed for Decca, for which this was their first recording session – and what a session it was!

When released, the single wasn’t an instant hit and the sales were quite slow, too. It took more than a year until “Rock Around the Clock” (originally the B-side of the single) topped the US charts on 9. July 1955 and became the first rock’n’roll song to do so. The breakthrough for the success came when the song appeared in the movie “Blackboard Jungle”, which came out in March 1955. The high demand of the single led to its re-release in May 1955.

A popular claim is that this was the first rock’n’roll record, but this wasn’t even Haley’s first r’n’r.

My favorite part of the record is in “Thirteen Women”, when the solo starts and Lytle begins to slap his upright bass. Priceless.

List price:  Very Good+ is $35, Near Mint is $70