EAP Index World: King Creole, Volumes I & 2 (EP

King Creole was the title of two volumes of an EP released by RCA that helped promote the LP of the same name released on August 10, 1958, Elvis' second soundtrack album on the label.

Recorded in five days at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, the LP contained songs written and recorded expressly for the 1958 film of the same name, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Top Pop Albums.

Most of the songs originated from the group of writers hired by Hill & Range, the publishing company jointly owned by Presley and Colonel Tom Parker: Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Claude Demetrius, Aaron Schroeder, Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were notorious for their relatively limited contribution, with only three of their songs used on the soundtrack.

The songs "Hard Headed Woman" and "Don't Ask Me Why" appeared as two sides of a single on June 10, 1958, to boost the film's theatrical release on July 2, and reached No. 1 and 25, respectively, on the genre chart.

Released five weeks after film production, on August 10, 1958, the LP was certified Gold on July 15, 1999 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Capitalizing on the film, RCA also released two EPs. "King Creole, Volume 1" hit stores on July 15, 1958 and featured the four main songs from the soundtrack, excluding the tracks already released on the June single. "King Creole, Volume 2" was released on July 29 and featured four more songs from the film, opening with the promising "Trouble". Between the single and the EPs, only "Steadfast, Loyal and True" would remain unreleased until the LP's release.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title:

King Creole, Volume 1

Label:

RCA Victor [EPA 4319]

Format:

Number of tracks:

Running time:

8:15

Type of album:

Studio / Compilation

Linked to:

Official discography

Year:

1958

Recorded:

January 15, 16 & 23, 1958

Released:

July 15, 1958

Singles:

"Hard Headed Woman/Don't Ask Me Why" (June 10, 1958)

King Creole, Volume 1 was the first EP to redistribute content from the KING CREOLE LP, which would be released on August 10, 1958. It contained four tracks present on the aforementioned album, all from the January 1958 sessions. The work includes the following tracks:

ORIGINAL EP

SIDE A

1. King Creole

2. New Orleans

SIDE B

3. As Long As I Have You

4. Lover Doll (Undubbed)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title:

King Creole, Volume 2

Label:

RCA Victor [EPA 4321]

Format:

Number of tracks:

Running time:

8:20

Type of album:

Studio / Compilation

Linked to:

Official discography

Year:

1958

Recorded:

January 15, 16 & 23, 1958

Released:

July 29, 1958

Singles:

"Hard Headed Woman/Don't Ask Me Why" (June 10, 1958)

King Creole, Volume 2 was the second and last EP to redistribute content from the KING CREOLE LP. It contained four other tracks from the aforementioned album, all of them again from the January 1958 sessions. The work includes the following tracks:

ORIGINAL EP

SIDE A

1. Trouble

2. Young Dreams

SIDE B

3. Crawfish (dueto com Kitty White)

4. Dixieland Rock (Drum Intro Cut)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RECORDING SESSIONS

Dates:

January 15, 16 & 23, 1958

Studio:

Radio Recorders Studio B

Paramount Sound Stage

Location:
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
Saxophone: Justin Gordon
Clarinet: Mahlon Clark
Trumpet: Teddy Bruckner
Trombone: Elmer Schneider
Backing Vocals: The Jordanaires, Blanche Thomas (Crawfish)

Sound engineer / Recording engineer:

Thorne Nogar, Wally Kamin

JANUARY 15, 1958
Turtles, Berries, Gumbo (Blanche Thomas)
Hard Headed Woman J2PB 3603-10
Trouble J2PB 3604-05
New Orleans J2PB 3605-05
King Creole (Alternate Master) J2PB 3606-18
Crawfish J2PB 3607-07

JANUARY 16, 1958
Dixieland Rock J2PB 3608-14
Lover Doll (EP Version) J2PB 3609-07
Don't Ask Me Why J2PB 3610-12
As Long As I Have You J2PB 3611-10
Muskrat Ramble (Instrumental)
Steadfast, Loyal & True (Vocal & Piano) WPA5 2586-06
As Long As I Have You (Short Movie Version)
As Long As I Have You (Long Movie Version) WPA5 2509-08

JANUARY 23, 1958
King Creole (Revised) J2PB 3612-13 (2:22)
Young Dreams J2PB 3613-08 (2:37)
King Creole (Main Title - Instrumental) (1:47)
Banana (Liliane Montevecchi)
My Wish Came True (Tryout) J2WB 0178-NA
Doncha' Think It's Time (Tryout) J2WB 0179-NA

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SESSION LOGS