Elvis (1956 Album) - Content

Content

RCA executive Steve Sholes had commissioned two new songs for this batch of sessions, "Paralyzed" from Otis Blackwell, and "Love Me" from Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the authors respectively of both sides of Presley's monster summer hit of 1956, "Don't Be Cruel" backed with "Hound Dog," the first record to top all three of the Billboard singles charts then in existence: pop, R&B, and C&W. Presley decided upon three Little Richard covers, and selected three new country ballads respectively from regular Everly Brothers writer Boudleaux Bryant and guitarist Chet Atkins, Sun staff musician and engineer Stan Kesler, and Aaron Schroeder and Ben Weisman. The latter two, contracted to the Colonel's publishing company, Hill and Range, would write dozens of songs for Presley through the 1960s. Also included was the song with which Presley won second prize at a fair in Tupelo when he was ten years old, Red Foley's 1941 country weeper about a dead dog, "Old Shep."

With all but one track on the album recorded at a single set of sessions over three days in September, Presley and his touring band of Moore, Black, and Fontana, along with The Jordanaires, managed to recreate the loose feel from Sun Studio days, mixing rhythm and blues and country and western repertoire items as they had on all of his Sun singles. They reinforced this effect by including material echoing his very first Sun record: a blues by Arthur Crudup, author of "That's All Right (Mama);" and a song recorded by bluegrass founder Bill Monroe, "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again." The sessions were attended by a few outsiders, namely his current girlfriend at the time, actress Natalie Wood and actor Nick Adams, both of whom had starred in Rebel Without a Cause, Presley's favorite James Dean film. Steve Sholes was the RCA man at the session, and handled the paper work and such, but basically Elvis himself chose the songs, led the session, made all the decisions concerning which take would be the master and so forth. Thus it would be fair to say that for most practical purposes, Elvis himself at this session and throughout his career would continue to do most of the things that a regular record producer normally would do.

The piano player on this album is not registered in the official RCA archives, except for the song "So glad you're mine", which was cut at a previous session in New York. In a 1984 interview conducted by Jan-Erik Kjeseth, Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires stated that he was the piano player on most of the songs on the album. In an article written by Mr Kjeseth for the "Flaming Star" magazine, it was argued that the piano player on "Love me", "Old Shep" and "How's the world treating you" was Elvis himself. Ernst Jørgensen, writer of "Elvis Presley-A study in music", seems to be of the same opinion. Mr Kjeseth also claims that Elvis played the piano on the single from this session, "Playing for keeps". Again, Mr Jørgensen seems to be of the same opinion. Gordon Stoker played the piano on tracks such as "Rip it up" and "Anyplace is Paradise".

The original 1984 CD issue in reprocessed (fake) stereo sound, was quickly withdrawn and reissued in original monophonic. The album was reissued for compact disc in an expanded edition on May 18, 1999, and again on January 11, 2005. For the 1999 reissue, six bonus tracks were added that were both sides of three singles, altering the running order. Four of the tracks were chart-toppers, the title song to Presley's debut film, "Too Much," and the double-sided classic "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel." Bonus tracks recorded on July 2 at RCA Studios in New York City, in September at Radio Recorders, and "Love Me Tender" at 20th Century Fox Stage One during the sessions for Love Me Tender.

On January 11, 2005, Sony BMG upgraded the album again, remastered using DSD technology with the six bonus tracks appended in standard fashion, in the following order: "Playing for Keeps," "Too Much," "Don't Be Cruel," "Hound Dog," "Any Way You Want Me (That's How I Will Be)," and "Love Me Tender." This acclaimed latest remaster was the handiwork of audio restorer Kevan Budd, who also drew praise for his 2005 remasters of Elvis' first album, his third ("Loving You") as well as the stellar 2004 upgrade known as "Elvis at Sun." Due to missing tapes, it is believed there will be no further expanded edition of Elvis' second U.S. album to be released on Sony's Denmark-based collector "Follow That Dream" label as was done in 2-CD fashion in their "classic albums" series for other titles in the catalog. These rock-n'roll tapes are believed to have been among those ignobly dumped in the river near RCA's Camden, New Jersey plant in the late 1950s.