EAP Index World: ELVIS (Single / EP / LP

Title:

Elvis

Label:

RCA Victor [LPM 1382]

Format:

Number of tracks:

Running time:

30:20

Type of album:

Studio

Linked to:

Official discography

Year:

1956

Recorded:

January 30 - September 3, 1956

Released:

October 19, 1956

Singles:

"Too Much / Playing For Keeps" (January 4, 1957)

ELVIS is the singer's second LP by RCA. As with the first LP, "Elvis Presley", it was released in the UK with a different cover and titled Elvis Presley Rock 'n' Roll Nº 2, to allude to the first, sold there under the title Elvis Presley Rock 'n' Roll. The main recording sessions took place on September 1, 2 and 3, 1956 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, and an extra track from the January 30 session was used to close out the time and number of tracks for an acceptable LP.

RCA Victor producer Steve Sholes has commissioned two new songs for this batch of sessions: "Paralyzed" by Otis Blackwell and "Love Me" by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the authors respectively of both sides of the hit single "Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel". Presley chose three Little Richard covers ("Rip it Up", "Long Tall Sally", "Ready Teddy") and three new Country ballads ("First in Line", "How's the World Treating You", "How do You Think I Feel"). "First in Line" was the first contribution by the duo Aaron Schroeder/Ben Wesiman, who were hired by Hill & Range, the Colonel's publishing company, and who would write dozens of songs for Presley during the 1960s. Also included was the song with which Elvis had won the third (or fifth) prize at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair & Dairy Show on October 3, 1945, when he was ten years old, "Old Shep" by Red Foley.

With 11 of the album's 12 tracks recorded in a single set of sessions in September 1956, Presley and his band, along with The Jordanaires, were able to recreate the aural feel of the days at Sun Studio, blending Rhythm & Blues, Country and Western styles like on their first singles. They reinforced this effect by including material that harked back to their time at Sun: "So Glad You're Mine", 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 some outsiders, such as his girlfriend at the time, actress Natalie Wood, and actor Nick Adams, who had starred in "Rebel Without a Cause," Elvis' favorite film with James Dean. Steve Sholes was RCA's man at the sessions and handled the paperwork, but basically he and Elvis personally chose the songs, led the sessions, made all the decisions about which take would be the Master and so on. So it would be fair to say that, for more practical purposes, Elvis himself, in this session and throughout his career, would do most of the things that a record producer normally does.

The pianist on this album is not recorded in RCA's official archives, except for the song "So Glad You're Mine", which was recorded at an earlier session in New York. In a 1984 interview conducted by Jan-Erik Kjeseth, Gordon Stoker of The Jordanaires stated that he was the pianist on most of the songs on the album. In an article written by Kjeseth for Flaming Star magazine, it was argued that the pianist in "Love Me", "Old Shep" and "How's the World Treating You" was Elvis. Kjeseth also claims that Elvis played the piano on this session's single, "Playing For Keeps". Ernst Jørgensen, writer of "Elvis Presley - A Study In Music", seems to be of the same opinion.

The album spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums in 1956, making Elvis the first artist to have two albums at number one in the same year. It was certified Gold on February 17, 1960 and Platinum on August 10, 2011 by the RIAA.

RCA reissued the original album on CD in 1984 with reprocessed stereo sound (false stereo), a version that was quickly withdrawn from the market and replaced by the original mono. The expanded edition of the LP was released in 1999 and contained six extra tracks taken from singles released around the same time as the record.

The 2005 reissue was remastered using DSD technology, with the bonus features remaining in mono. This critically acclaimed remaster was the work of audio restorer Kevan Budd, who also contributed to numerous other titles such as Elvis at Sun, and later went on to provide his services to FTD releases. These tapes are believed to have been dumped into the Delaware River near RCA Camden's New Jersey branch in the late 1950s.

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RECORDING SESSIONS

Date:

January 30; September 1, 2 and 3, 1956

Studio:

RCA Studio 1
Radio Recorders Studio 1

Location:

New York, New York

Hollywood, California

Musicians:

Voice: Elvis Presley
Guitar: Elvis Presley
Electric guitar: Scotty Moore
Bass: Bill Black
Drums: D. J. Fontana
Piano: Elvis presley, Gordon Stoker
Backing Vocals: The Jordanaires

Sound engineer / Recording engineer:

Thorne Nogar, Ernie Oehlrich

JANUARY 30, 1956
Blue Suede Shoes G2WB 1230-10
My Baby Left Me G2WB 1231-09
One-Sided Love Affair G2WB 1232-08
So Glad You're Mine G2WB 1233-10

SEPTEMBER 1, 1956
Playing For Keeps G2WB 4920-SP
Love Me G2WB 4921-09
Paralyzed
I Need You So
How Do You Think I Feel G2WB 4923-07
How's The World Treating You G2WB 4924-07

SEPTEMBER 2, 1956
Paralyzed
When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again G2WB 4925-10
Long Tall Sally G2WB 4926-04
Old Shep G2WB 4927-01
Paralyzed (Insert)
Paralyzed (Composite) G2WB 4922-SP
Too Much G2WB 4928-12
Too Much (Insert)
Too Much (Composite) G2WB 4928-SP
Anyplace Is Paradise G2WB 4929-22

SEPTEMBER 3, 1956
Ready Teddy G2WB 4930-12
First In Line G2WB 4931-27
Rip It Up G2WB 4932-19

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SESSION LOGS

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ASSOCIATED LP, SINGLES AND EPS

ELVIS (LP)

October 19, 1956

1. Rip It Up

2. Love Me

3. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

4. Long Tall Sally

5. First In Line

6. Paralyzed

7. So Glad You're Mine

8. Old Shep

9. Ready Teddy

10. Anyplace Is Paradise

11. How's the World Treating You

12. How Do You Think I Feel

ELVIS, VOLUME 1 (EP)

October 19, 1956

1. Rip It Up

2. Love Me

3. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

4. Paralyzed

ELVIS, VOLUME 2 (EP)

October 19, 1956

1. So Glad You're Mine

2. Old Shep

3. Ready Teddy

4. Anyplace Is Paradise

PLAYING FOR KEEPS (SINGLE)

January 4, 1957

1. Too Much

2. Playing For Keeps

STRICTLY ELVIS (EP)

January 25, 1957

1. Long Tall Sally

2. First In Line

3. How Do You Think I Feel

4. How's The World Treating You

ALL SHOOK UP (SINGLE)

March 22, 1957

1. All Shook Up

2. That's When Your Heartaches Begin (Remake)

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FTD'S VERSION

Title:

Elvis

Label:

FTD [FTD 125] [506020 975067]

Format:

Number of tracks:

Running time:

100:00

Linked to:

FTD discography

Year:

1956

Recorded:

January 30 - December 15, 1956

Released:

March 2014

Singles:

---

While there is not enough material in alternate takes and new singles to create a CD within the publisher's common standard, FTD has gone to great lengths to recover some of the singles and takes from the sessions. The first CD contains the following tracks:

ORIGINAL ALBUM

1. Rip It Up

2. Love Me

3. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

4. Long Tall Sally

5. First In Line

6. Paralyzed

7. So Glad You're Mine

8. Old Shep

9. Ready Teddy

10. Anyplace Is Paradise

11. How's the World Treating You

12. How Do You Think I Feel

SINGLES

13. Playing For Keeps

14. Too Much

15. Don't Be Cruel

16. Hound Dog

17. Any Way You Want Me (That's How I Will Be)

ALTERNATE TAKES

18. Rip It Up (takes 10-14)

19. Rip It Up (takes 15)

20. Rip It Up (takes 16)

21. Rip It Up (takes 17)

22. Rip It Up (takes 18, 19 / Master)

23. Old Shep (take 5)

With no more material available and saving other singles for releases where they are more relevant, FTD chose to make the full December 15, 1956 show at the Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana, the last at The Louisiana Hayride available. The same was taken from another Sony release without any correction, continuing with the audio slower than the original speed. The second CD contains the following tracks:

LAST SHOW AT THE LOUISIANA HAYRIDE

1. Heartbreak Hotel

2. Long Tall Sally

3. I Was the One

4. Love Me Tender

5. Don't Be Cruel

6. Love Me

7. I Got a Woman

8. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

9. Paralyzed

10. Hound Dog

In fact, it seems that FTD didn't put much attention on this CD due to the lack of content. The release's booklet, while containing interesting photos and facts, has misspellings and wrong song timing information. It informs you that all tracks on CD 2 are 2 minutes and 46 seconds long.

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ALTERNATE VERSION IN MONO

Title:

Rebel with a Cause '56

Label:

FTD [FTD 219] [506020 975123]

Format:

Book + CD

Number of tracks:

Running time:

75:00

Linked to:

FTD discography

Year:

2018

Recorded:

September 1, 2, 3 and 26, 1956

Released:

March 2018

Singles:

---

Rebel with a Cause '56 was FTD's 171st CD. It contains tracks recorded between September 1 and 26, 1956 in studio, on TV and in Elvis' only recorded performances in Tupelo. It accompanies a 312-page book that tells almost step by step the events between the King of Rock's arrival in Hollywood, on August 16, 1956, and his return to Memphis for a well-deserved rest on September 30 of that same year.

Not wanting to repeat itself after having already reworked the album "ELVIS" in 2014, FTD made available in this work the version of the LP released in the United Kingdom, entitled "Elvis Presley Rock 'n' Roll nº 2", in mono, which brings, among other modifications, take 5 of "Old Shep" instead of the Master (Take 1).

The full performance on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 9, 1956 and the 2:30 pm concert on September 26 of the same year in Tupelo, previously published as one of the bonus features on the label's 2014 reissue of the "Love Me Tender" EP, also compose the album, which is closed by interviews from the same day. The CD contains the following tracks:

ORIGINAL "ELVIS PRESLEY ROCK 'N' ROLL Nº 2" ALBUM

1. Rip It Up

2. Love Me

3. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

4. Long Tall Sally

5. First In Line

6. Paralyzed

7. So Glad You're Mine

8. Old Shep (Take 5)

9. Ready Teddy

10. Anyplace Is Paradise

11. How's the World Treating You

12. How Do You Think I Feel

THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW (Sept. 9, 1956)

13. Don't Be Cruel

14. Elvis talks

15. Love Me Tender

16. Ready Teddy

17. Hound Dog

TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI (Sept. 26, 1956, 2:30 pm)

18. Heartbreak Hotel

19. Long Tall Sally

20. Presentations

21. I Was the One

22. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You

23. Elvis talks

24. I Got a Woman

25. Don't Be Cruel

26. Ready Teddy

27. Love Me Tender

28. Hound Dog

BONUS

29. Interview with Vernon & Gladys Presley (26/09/56)

30. Interview with Nick Adams (26/09/56)

31. Interview with Judy Hopper (26/09/56)

32. Interview with Elvis (26/09/56)

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REVISED VERSION

Title:

Love Me Tender - Through the Lens of Robert Vose

Label:

FTD [FTD 225] [506020 975156-6]

Format:

Book + double CD

Number of tracks:

Running time:

47:30

Linked to:

FTD discography

Yeat:

2021

Recorded:

August 24 - October 1, 1956

Released:

May 2021

Singles:

---

Love Me Tender - Through the Lens of Robert Vose was the 194th FTD CD. It contains tracks recorded between August 24 and October 1, 1956 for the "Love Me Tender" movie soundtrack and for the "ELVIS" album. It comes with an extremely detailed 400-page book with photos that had not been published since September 1956. The CDs contain the following tracks:

CD 1

ORIGINAL EP (MONO)

1. Love Me Tender

2. Let Me

3. Poor Boy

4. We're Gonna Move

BONUS

5. Love Me Tender (End Title Version)

6. The Truth About Me (Excerpt)

OUTTAKES

7. We're Gonna Move (Take 4)

8. We're Gonna Move (Take 9)