EAP Index World: A Touch of Gold, Volumes I, II & 3 (EP

A Touch of Gold was a series of three RCA EPs created to bring fans Elvis' Golden Singles for the first time on albums.

When he was finally called up to serve in the US Army on March 24, 1958, Elvis had some uncertainties about the future of his career. His meteoric rise since signing his contract with RCA in November 1955 could very well have been interrupted by those two years of media absence, but he also had some confidence in Parker, who had pulled his strings so the singer could record plenty of material in advance and not leave the market empty in the period in which he would serve.

Between June 10 and 11, 1958, the singer went to RCA Studio B in Nashville, at the request of Parker and RCA, to record some backup songs. The Masters from that session would be released over the course of the following year along with unreleased recordings from previous years and would become known as some of his greatest hits.

After these sessions and the upcoming departure to Germany, Elvis would not enter the studio for almost two years, but even so, his fame would remain intact. In the nearly 18 months he was in the Army, Elvis had continuous releases of singles, EPs and LPs that would pay off big and keep him in vogue.

Starting on January 7, 1958, RCA would release a series of singles recorded the previous year, in addition to the King Creole LP and its two EPs, and the Elvis Sails EP, which turned out to be a huge - and unexpected - hit for sales.

As early as 1959, without having many new recordings and building on the success of Elvis' Golden Records the previous year, the label began creating compilation LPs of songs that had received the Gold seal when released as singles in previous years. As a result, many songs like "That's All Right" would reach the public for the first time on long-play albums.

For LP Fans Only was the first work to put the concept into practice,when it was released on January 23, 1959. Opening with "That's All Right", the LP was responsible for bringing 4 Sun recordings to the world long-play market, in addition to six other RCA hits in 1956 among its ten tracks.

The dynamic continued with A Date With Elvis on July 24, 1959, this time divided into exactly 5 tracks for each label and concentrating the RCA Masters in the year 1957. With that, only "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine", which had already been re-released in the Any Way You Want Me EP in 1956, was left out of the LP re-releases.

On November 13, 1959, RCA released Elvis' last work that year, the compilation Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 2. This work aimed to bring the 1957 and 1958 singles to LP lovers, with 10 tracks with only RCA Gold Masters.

The label saw this as a great source of profit and a surefire way to continue selling Elvis material on new records, but even these three LPs, two singles, the re-release of Elvis' Christmas Album and the Christmas With Elvis EP were not enough to cover the year 1959 with new releases.

So that fans would not go more than 45 to 60 days without a release from their idol, RCA launched the line Gold Standard Series, a collection of three EPs entitled A Touch of Gold that would only bring out the biggest sellers interspersing the LPs and singles over a period of 11 months - one every 5 months on average.

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Title:

A Touch of Gold, Volume I

Label:

RCA Victor [EPA 5080]

Format:

Number of tracks:

Running time:

9:10

Type of album:

Compilation

Linked to:

Official discography

Year:

1959

Recorded:

September 12-16, 1954 - January 15, 1958

Released:

April 21, 1959

Singles:

"Hard Headed Woman/Don't Ask Me Why" (Sept. 8, 1959)

A Touch of Gold, Volume I was then released on April 21, 1959, having on its cover one of the photos of the iconic photo shoot with the now famous Gold Lame Suit. The EP's 4 tracks were chosen to benefit the present without forgetting the past, placing the recent hit "Heard Headed Woman" as the opening track and then returning to a Sun Studio classic, closing with 2 singles from 1957. Excluding "Good Rockin' Tonight" which had already gone Gold the previous year, the other three singles rose to that level in September 1959 thanks to their appearance on this EP. The work includes the folliwing tracks:

ORIGINAL EP

SIDE A

1. Hard Headed Woman

2. Good Rockin' Tonight

SIDE B

3. Don't

4. I Beg of You

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Title:

A Touch of Gold, Volume II

Label:

RCA Victor [EPA 5101]

Format:

Number of tracks:

Running time:

8:55

Type of album:

Compilation

Linked to:

Official discography

Year:

1959

Recorded:

July 5, 1954 - February 1, 1958

Released:

September 9, 1959

Singles:

"I Got Stung / One Night" (Sept. 8, 1959)

A Touch of Gold, Volume II hit stores on September 9, 1959, a day after the release of a series of 12 Gold singles. With two new photos from the photo shoot with the Gold Lame Suit, the EP featured 4 more Gold singles - three released as such the day before and "That's All Right", which had achieved the feat in September 1958. The work includes the following tracks:

ORIGINAL EP

SIDE A

1. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck

2. Treat Me Nice

SIDE B

3. One Night

4. That's All Right

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Title:

A Touch of Gold, Volume 3

Label:

RCA Victor [EPA 5141]

Format:

Number of tracks:

Running time:

8:40

Type of album:

Compilation

Linked to:

Official discography

Year:

1960

Recorded:

July 7, 1954 - January 16, 1958

Released:

February 23, 1960

Singles:

"Fool Such as I/Need Your Love Tonight" (Feb. 16, 1960)

A Touch of Gold, Volume 3 was released omn February 23, 1960, being the last of the A Touch of Gold series. Its cover contains the exact same photo used on the Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 2 compilation from 1959 and was the last to carry an image of the iconic Gold Lame Suit photoshoot. The 4 tracks on the EP remind fans of hits from 1954 to 1957, with "Blue Moon of Kentucky" as the oldest. The work includes the following tracks:

ORIGINAL EP

SIDE A

1. Too Much

2. All Shook Up

SIDE B

3. Don't Ask Me Why

4. Blue Moon of Kentucky

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RECORDING SESSIONS

Dates:

July 5 and 7 & September 12-16, 1954; September 2, 1956; January 12, February 23 & September 5 and 6, 1957; January 15 and 16 & February 1, 1958

Studio:

Sun Studio

Radio Recoders Studio B

Radio Recoders Studio 1

Location:

Memphis, Tennessee

Hollywood, California

Musicians:

1954

Voice: Elvis Presley

Guitar: Elvis presley
Electric guitar: Scotty Moore
Bass: Bill Balck

Producer/ Sound engineer:

Sam Phillips

1956 / 1957

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

1958

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

JULY 5, 1954
Harbor Lights EPA3 2742-03
I Love You Because G2WB 1086-SP
That's All Right F2WB 8040-04

JULY 7, 1954
Blue Moon Of Kentucky F2WB 8041-NA

SEPTEMBER 12-16, 1954
Tomorrow Night F2WB 8115-07
I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin') F2WB 8116-NA
Satisfied
I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine F2WB 8042-03
Just Because F2WB 8118-NA
Good Rockin' Tonight F2WB 8043-02

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

FEBRUARY 23, 1957
Don't Leave Me Now H2WB 0414-29
I Beg Of You H2WB 0259-34
One Night H2WB 0415-10
True Love H2WB 0416-20
I Need You So H2WB 0417-08

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

SEPTEMBER 6, 1957
My Wish Came True H2PB 5524-28
White Christmas H2PB 5526-09
Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) H2PB 5527-02
Silent Night H2PB 5528-09
Don't H2PB 5529-07

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

FEBRUARY 1, 1958
My Wish Came True (Remake) J2WB 0178-NM
Doncha' Think It's Time (Single Version) J2WB 0179-SP
Doncha' Think It's Time (Album Version) J2WB 0179-SP
Your Cheatin' Heart J2WB 0180-10
Wear My Ring Around Your Neck J2WB 0181-22

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SESSION LOGS