EAP Index World: Elvis' Golden Records (LP

Title:

Elvis' Golden Records

Label:

RCA Victor [LPM 1707]

Format:

Number of tracks:

Running time:

32:35

Type of album:

Studio

Linked to:

Official discography

Year:

1958

Recorded:

January 10, 1956 - September 5, 1957

Released:

March 21, 1958

Singles:

---

Elvis' Golden Records is the first hits compilation of the King of Rock's career. The LP features eight singles that reached #1 on the charts and five B-sides that reached positions between #2 and #40. The only exception to this rule is the song "Love Me", which was not released as a single but garnered much public attention on its original release on the 1956 LP ELVIS, the singer's second for RCA.

In the 1950s, a gold record awarded for a single referred to sales of one million units or more, unlike the definition in use in the late 1970s for albums, where a gold record meant sales of 500,000 copies. Exact data from the RIAA is difficult to confirm, but at the September 22, 1958 press conference, originally released on the Elvis Sails EP and included on disc four of the 1992 The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50s Masters box set, the interviewer asks Presley to talk about his gold records. Elvis responds, saying, "I have 25 million sales (total) and two albums that sold a million each."

Although RCA executive Steve Sholes was A&R's inside man for Presley and nominally in charge of his recording sessions at RCA Victor, historian Peter Guralnick and Presley disciple Ernst Mikael Jorgensen indicate that Elvis acted as a producer for his sessions in the 1950s.

Without Sholes closely following recordings and sales, and the fact that the unified Billboard Hot 100 chart wasn't created until August 1958, after the release of this compilation, and of course, after the release of all these singles, the positions of each music were taken from the Best Sellers in Stores chart, although rock and roll record sales figures, which were not included on the charts until earlier that year, also came from the Most Played in Jukeboxes chart. This would create large discrepancies in the numbers in the RIAA count.

Even without almost any control, the LP was released on March 21, 1958 and became an immediate best seller for containing all the singles that had ranked #1 on the charts in the previous two years. Unlike as they usually did, RCA decided not to release a single to please buyers and instead chose to sell singles with more recent recordings, which would only appear again towards the end of 1959 on the LP Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 2, and a single to promote the film King Creole.

On September 30, 1958, following the success of the compilation and with Elvis going to Germany, the label made an unusual decision and re-released all of Presley's singles on the label up to that point to try to capitalize even more.

Reaching number three on the national charts, the record was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on October 17, 1961, Platinum on May 20, 1988, and 5x Platinum on March 27, 1992.

RCA re-released the album on CD with reprocessed stereo sound (false stereo) in 1984, but quickly withdrew it from the market after the technology did not take its toll and sales failed. On July 15, 1997, the label tried again, this time releasing a remastered CD with six extra tracks, which earned the album a 6x Platinum certification on August 17, 1999, making it one of Elvis Presley's best-selling compilations, his second best-selling work in the world (the first being RCA Camden's 1970 reissue of Elvis' Christmas Album, which has an unprecedented 10x Platinum certification).

In 2015 FTD released the album on a double CD filled with extras from other works from 1956-57 and the full sessions from January 1957.

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RECORDING SESSIONS

Dates:

January 10, April 14, July 2, August 24, September 1 and 2, 1956; January 12, 13 and 16, February 24, April 30 and September 5, 1957

Studio:

RCA Studio B
RCA Studio 1
20th Century Fox Stage 1
Radio Recorders Studio 1

Location:

Nashville, Tennessee

New York, New York

Hollywood, California

Musicians:

Voice: Elvis Presley
Guitar: Elvis Presley
Electric guitar: Scotty Moore, Neal Matthews
Bass: Bill Black, Ray Siegal, Neal Matthews
Drums: DJ Fontana
Piano: Dudley Brooks
Cymbals: Hoyt Hawkins
Bongos: Gordon Stoker
Saxophone: Justin Gordon
Clarinet: Mahlon Clark
Trumpet: Teddy Bruckner
Trombone: Elmer Schneider
Backing Vocals: The Jordanaires

Sound engineer / Recording engineer:

Thorne Nogar / Wally Kamin

JANUARY 10, 1956
I Got a Woman G2WB 0208-08
Heartbreak Hotel G2WB 0209-07
Money Honey G2WB 0210-SP

APRIL 14, 1956
I Want You, I Need You, I Love You G2WB 0271-SP

JULY 2,, 1956
Hound Dog G2WB 5935-31
Don't Be Cruel G2WB 5936-28
Any Way You Want Me (That's How I Will Be) G2WB 5937-12

AUGUST 24, 1956
We're Gonna Move
Poor Boy
Love Me Tender G2WB 4767-02
We're Gonna Move ('Mens Chorus' Overdub)
We're Gonna Move ('Hand Claps' Overdub) G2WB 7260-01

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

JANUARY 12, 1957
I Believe H2WB 0253-09
Tell Me Why H2WB 0254-05
Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do! (Record Version) H2WB 0255-09
All Shook Up H2WB 0256-10

JANUARY 13, 1957
Mean Woman Blues (Record Version) H2WB 0257-14
(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me) H2WB 0258-09
I Beg of You (Alternate Master) H2WB 0259-12
That's When Your Heartaches Begin H2WB 0260-SP
Take My Hand, Precious Lord H2WB 0261-14

JANUARY 16, 1957
Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do! (Opening - Alternate Master) HRA1 8674-17
Detour (Instrumental)
(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear H2WB 2193-13
Peter Cottontail (Instrumental)
One Night of Sin NPA5 5820-NA

FEBRUARY 24, 1957
Loving You H2WB 0418-04
When it Rains, it Really Pours H2WB 0419-08

APRIL 30, 1957
Jailhouse Rock (Alternate Master)
Jailhouse Rock
Jailhouse Rock (Pickup to instrumental, chorus and on)
Jailhouse Rock (Record Version - Composite) H2WB 6779-SP
Treat Me Nice (First Movie Version) HRA1 8681-19
Young and Beautiful (Record Version) H2WB 6777-22
Young and Beautiful (Alternate Master)
Young and Beautiful (Movie End Version - Composite)
Young and Beautiful (Solo / Prison TV Version) WPA5 2507-03
Young and Beautiful (Florita Club Version) HRA1 8682-07

SEPTEMBER 5, 1957
Treat Me Nice H2PB 5523-15
My Wish Came True (Tryout) H2PB 5524-NA
Blue Christmas H2PB 5525-03

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SESSION LOGS

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ASSOCIATED LP, SINGLES AND EPS TRACKS (RCA, 1958)

DON'T (SINGLE)

January 7, 1958

1. Don't

2. I Beg of You

ELVIS' GOLDEN RECORDS (LP)

March 21, 1958

1. Hound Dog

2. Loving You

3. All Shook Up

4. Heatbreak Hotel

5. Jailhouse Rock

6. Love Me

7. Too Much

8. Don't Be Cruel

9. That's When Your Heartaches Begin

10. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear

11. Love Me Tender

12. Treat Me Nice

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

14. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You

WEAR MY RING AROUND YOUR NECK (SINGLE)

April 1, 1958

1. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck

2. Doncha' Think It's Time

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FTD VERSION

Title:

Elvis' Golden Records

Label:

FTD [FTD 144] [506020 975085]

Format:

Double CD

Number of tracks:

Running time:

162:20

Type of album:

Studio

Linked to:

FTD discography

Year:

2015

Recorded:

January 10, 1956 - September 5, 1957

Released:

March 20, 2015

Singles:

---

This work focused on remastering the original album and bringing rare stereo and undubbed versions with binaural audio, in addition to the full sessions from January 1957.

The CD booklet features modernized photos and stills from the 1957 films, as well as posters, international covers and information about the songs and what happened around their recordings. The work includes the following tracks:

CD 1

ORIGINAL ALBUM

1. Hound Dog

2. Loving You

3. All Shook Up

4. Heartbreak Hotel

5. Jailhouse Rock

6. Love Me

7. Too Much

8. Don't Be Cruel

9. That's When Your Heartaches Begin

10. Teddy Bear