EAP Index World: Pot Luck With Elvis (Single/LP

Title:

Pot Luck With Elvis

Label:

RCA Victor [LPM 2523]

Format:

Number of tracks:

Running time:

28:10

Type of album:

Studio

Linked to:

Official discography

Year:

1962

Recording date:

March 22, 1961 - March 19, 1962

Release date:

June 5, 1962

Singles:

"Kiss Me Quick / Suspicion" (April 14, 1964)

Pot Luck With Elvis is Elvis' fifteenth RCA album. Its content comes from sessions taken over the one year period between March 1961 and March 1962 and contains some of Elvis' rarest recordings.

The album is dominated by songwriting duo Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, who wrote "Surrender" and the single "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame", which featured "Little Sister" on the B-side.

The rest of the tracks originated from regular Presley contributors such as Don Robertson, Otis Blackwell and Paul Evans, with "(Such an) Easy Question" also being used for a single in June 1965 and rising to #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary and Hot 100 charts, during a time when Presley was primarily involved in film and soundtrack work.

"That's Someone You Never Forget", with concept and title by Elvis, was written in conjunction with Red West and possibly in memory of Gladys. The song would later move to number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1967 as the B-side to the single "Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On)". Another song from these sessions, "You'll Be Gone", also written by Presley and West, this time with help from Charlie Hodge, would appear as the B-side of the "Do the Clam" single in 1965. "Steppin' Out of Line", written for "Blue Hawaii" but not used on the soundtrack or film, also found light on this LP release.

Although like its 1960 and 1961 predecessors - "Elvis Is Back!" and "Something For Everybody", - Pot Luck easily reached the top ten on the album charts, the three were largely outclassed by the soundtracks of "G.I. Blues" and "Blue Hawaii", a standard that would continue to hold for Presley well into the mid-1960s.

Soundtracks had the advantage of having films as a promotional tool, but the Colonel was against standard practice in the American record industry, refusing to include hit singles on albums, which would likely have increased sales. As a result, Elvis would focus on his movie career and not make another studio album other than a soundtrack or Gospel album for another seven years, until "From Elvis in Memphis".

On its original release, Pot Luck With Elvis reached No. 4 on the North American Pop LP charts. RCA re-released the album on July 13, 1999, changing the running order and including five extra tracks from two sides of a single, a B-side and two tracks from the 1965 "Elvis For Everyone!" compilation. All bonus tracks were recorded at Studio B in Nashville.

Pot Luck was reissued by the Follow That Dream label in 2007 on a double CD with the original album and numerous alternate takes. In 2011 the label released a double LP with part of the recording sessions.

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RECORDING SESSIONS

Date:

March 22, 1961 - March 19, 1962

Studio:

Radio Recorders Studio B
RCA Studio B

Location:

Hollywood, California

Nashville, Tennessee

Musicians:

Voice: Elvis Presley
Electric guitar: Scotty Moore, Hilmer J. 'Tiny' Timbrell, Hank Garland
Accoustic guitar: Alvino Rey
Bass: Bob Moore
Drums: DJ Fontana, Hal Blaine
Percussion: Bernie Mattinson
Piano: Dudley Brooks, Floyd Cramer
Celeste: Dudley Brooks
Harmonica: George Fields
Saxophone: Homer 'Boots' Randolph
Ukelele: Fred Tavares, Bernie Lewis
Backing Vocals: The Jordanaires, The Surfers

Sound engineer / Recording engineer:

Thorne Nogar

MARCH 22, 1961
Blue Hawaii M2PB 2984-07
Ito Eats M2PB 2992-09
Ito Eats (Tag For Movie)
Hawaiian Wedding Song M2PB 3015-02
Island Of Love M2PB 3000-13
Steppin' Out Of Line M2PB 3038-17
Steppin' Out Of Line (Movie Version) WPA5 2549-SP
Almost Always True M2PB 2985-08
Moonlight Swim M2PB

JUNE 25, 1961
Kiss Me Quick M2WW 0857-12
That's Someone You Never Forget M2WW 0858-08
I'm Yours M2WW 0859-06
I'm Yours (Work Part 1 - Ending)
I'm Yours (Composite - Single Version) M2WW 0859-SP
I'm Yours (vocal overdub - album version) M2WW 0859-SP
(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame M2WW 0860-08
Little Sister M2WW 0861-04

OCTOBER 15, 1961
For The Millionth And The Last Time M2WW 1002-12
Good Luck Charm M2WW 1003-04
Anything That's Part Of You M2WW 1004-10
I Met Her Today M2WW 1005-18
Night Rider M2WW 1006-03

MARCH 18, 1962
Something Blue N2WW 0685-07
Gonna Get Back Home Somehow N2WW 0686-07
(Such an) Easy Question N2WW 0687-05
Fountain of Love N2WW 0688-10
Just For Old Time Sake N2WW 0689-05
Night Rider (Remake) N2WW 0690-05
You'll Be Gone N2WW 0691-03

MARCH 19, 1962
I Feel That I've Known You Forever N2WW 0692-05
Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello N2WW 0693-06
Suspicion N2WW 0694-05
Suspicion (Work Part)
Suspicion (Composite) N2WW 0694-SP
She's Not You N2WW 0695-05
She's Not You (Work Part)
She's Not You (Composite) N2WW 0696-SP
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SESSION LOGS

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LP AND RELATED SINGLES TRACKS (RCA, 1962-1964)

GOOD LUCK CHARM (SINGLE)

February 27, 1962

1. Good Luck Charm

2. Anything That's Part of You

POT LUCK WITH ELVIS (LP)

June 5, 1962

1. Kiss Me Quick

2. Just For Old Time Sake

3. Gonna Get Back Somehow

4. (Such An) Easy Question

5. Steppin' Out of Line

6. I'm Yours

7. Something Blue

8. Suspicion

9. I Feel That I've Known You Forever

10. Night Rider

11. Fountain of Love

12. That's Someone You Never Forget

SHE'S NOT YOU (SINGLE)

July 17, 1962

1. She's Not You

2. Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello

KISS ME QUICK (SINGLE)

April 14, 1964

1. Kiss Me Quick
2. Suspicion

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FTD VERSIONS

Title:

Pot Luck With Elvis

Label:

FTD [FTD 067] [88697 03629 2]

Format:

Double CD

Number of tracks:

Running time:

161:00

Type of album:

Studio / Recording session

Linked to:

FTD discography

Year:

2007

Recording date:

March 22, 1961 - March 19, 1962

Release date:

November 12, 2007

Singles:

---

In the beginning of the 1960s, Elvis and RCA were working in harmony and having similar opinions about what should be recorded and released. A memorable album emerged from this good phase, which FTD managed to rescue and remaster to perfection, releasing it on a double CD of supreme quality.

To maintain the high standard, the label provides a 16-page booklet with memorabilia, backstage photos and rarities such as international record covers, posters and curiosities.

The work contains the following tracks:

CD 1

ORIGINAL ALBUM

1. Kiss Me Quick

2. Just For Old Time Sake

3. Gonna Get Back Home Somehow

4. (Such an) Easy Question

5. Steppin' Out of Line

6. I'm Yours

7. Something Blue

8. Suspicion

9. I Feel That I've Known You Forever

10. Night Rider

11. Fountain of Love

12. That's Someone You Never Forget

SINGLES

13. She's Not You

14. Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello

15. You'll Be Gone

BONUS SONGS

16. For the Millionth and the Last Time

17. I Met Her Today

FIRST TAKES

18. Kiss Me Quick (Take 1)

19. Just For Old Time Sake (Take 1)

20. Gonna Get Back Somehow (Take 1)

21. (Such an) Easy Question (Take 2)

22. I'm Yours (Take 1)

23. Something Blue (Take 1*)

24. Suspicion (Take 1*)

25. I Feel That I've Known You Forever (Take 1)

26. Night Rider (Take 1)

27. Fountain of Love (Takes 1, 2)

28. That's Someone You Never Forget (Take 1)

29. She's Not You (Take 1)

30. Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello (Take 1)

31. You'll Be Gone (Take 1)

32. For the Millionth And the Last Time (Take 1)

33. I Met Her Today (Take 1)

CD 2

MARCH 1962 SESSIONS

1. Something Blue (Take 2)

2. Something Blue (Takes 3, 4)

3. Gonna Get Back Home Somehow (Take 2)

4. Gonna Get Back Home Somehow (Takes 3*, 5)

5. (Such an) Easy Question (Takes 1, 3)

6. Fountain of Love (Takes 4*, 9*)

7. Just For Old Time Sake (Takes 2*, 3, 4)

8. Night Rider (Takes 2, 3)

9. Night Rider (Take 5)

10. You'll Be Gone (Take 2)

11. You'll Be Gone (Take 4)

12. I Feel That I've Know You Forever (Takes 4*, 3)

13. Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello (Take 2)

14. Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello (Take 4)

15. Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello (Take 5)

16. Suspicion (Takes 3*, 2)

17. She's Not You (Take 2*, Work Part Take 4)

OCTOBER 1961 SESSION

18. For the Millionth and the last Time (Takes 10*, 7*)

19. I Met Her Today (Take 4)

20. I Met Her Today (Takes 8, 9)

21. I Met Her Today (Take 16)

22. Night Rider (Takes 1-FS, 2)

JUNE 1961 SESSION

23. Kiss Me Quick (Take 4)

24. I'm Yours (Take 2)

25. I'm Yours (Take 4)

26. I'm Yours (Take 5)

27. That's Someone You Never Forget (Take 5)

28. That's Someone You Never Forget (Take 7)

*takes hitherto unreleased

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Title:

Pot Luck With Elvis

Label:

FTD [FTD 295] [88697 03629 2]

Format:

Double LP

Number of tracks:

Running time:

82:00

Type of album:

Recording session

Linked to:

FTD discography

Year:

2011

Recording date:

March 22, 1961 - March 19, 1962

Release date:

June 2011

Singles:

---

With an eye on the potential market for resurgent LPs and in order to please Elvis fans on vinyl, in 2011 FTD released an exclusive limited version in the format that brought the highlights of the sessions to the original 1962 album.

The work contains the following tracks:

LP 1

SIDE A

1. Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello (Take 1)

2. Just For Old Time Sake (Take 1)

3. Suspicion (Take 1)

4. Kiss Me Quick* (Take 1)

5. Gonna Get Back Somehow (Take 1)

6. (Such An) Easy Question (Take 2)

7. I Feel That I've Known You Forever (Take 1)

8. She's Not You (Take 1)

9. Night Rider (Take 1 - 0690)