Elvis Presley (album)

Elvis Presley Studio album by Elvis Presley Released March 23, 1956 Recorded July 1954 to January 1956 Genre Rock and roll, rockabilly Length 28:03 Label RCA Victor Producer Sam Phillips (Sun recordings only)










]

Elvis Presley It was released on RCA Victor, in mono, catalogue number LPM 1254, in March 1956. The recording sessions took place on January 10 and January 11 at RCA recording studios in Nashville, Tennessee, and on January 30 and January 31 at RCA studios in New York. Additional material originated from sessions at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 5, August 19 and September 10 of 1954, and on July 11, 1955.

The album spent ten weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart in 1956, the first rock and roll album ever to make it to the top of the charts. It also has the distinction of being the first million-selling rock and roll album.[4] In 2003, it was ranked number 55 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Elvis Presley was also one of three Presley's albums accoladed in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, the other being Elvis is Back! and From Elvis in Memphis. It was certified Gold on 11/1/1966 and Platinum on 8/10/2011 by the R.I.A.A.

Content

By the second half of 1955, singles on Sun Records by Presley began making the national country and western singles chart, "Baby, Let's Play House" and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" going to #5 and #1 respectively. Colonel Tom Parker, the new manager of Presley, had extensive dealings with RCA through his previous client, singer Eddy Arnold, especially with the head of the Country and Western and Rhythm and Blues division, Steve Sholes.[6] At the urging of Parker, on November 21, 1955, Sholes bought Presley's contract from Sam Phillips, the head of Sun Records and Studio, for the unprecedented sum of $35,000. Presley and rock and roll were still untested properties for the major labels in the music business, but this album, along with the #1 single "Heartbreak Hotel", proved the selling power of both: it was RCA's first pop album to earn more than $1,000,000, and in 1966 it became the first LP to sell over one million units.[4]

Presley made appearances in four consecutive weeks on the Dorsey Brothers television program Stage Show in early 1956, on January 28, February 4, February 11, and February 18. RCA wanted an album in the stores fast to capitalize both on the nationwide TV exposure and the success of his first hit single on the pop charts with "Heartbreak Hotel", swiftly climbing to the top after its release on January 27. At the same time, there had only been two series of Presley recording sessions for RCA by the end of the Dorsey stint, after which Presley and his band were back on the road. Those two sessions yielded an additional eleven tracks, almost enough to fill an entire LP, although some tracks had singles potential. In the 1950s, general practice dictated tracks having greater commercial potential to be released as singles, with tracks of lesser appeal placed on albums; as such, RCA neither took all eleven tracks and simply made an album, nor placed the already released and briskly-selling "Heartbreak Hotel" on it. The rights to the Sun Studio tapes had transferred to RCA with the sale of his contract, so five previously unreleased Sun songs, "I Love You Because", "Just Because", "Trying to Get to You", "I'll Never Let You Go (Lil' Darlin')", and "Blue Moon" were added to seven of the RCA sessions tracks to bring the running time of the album up to an acceptable length.[4] Phillips produced the sessions at Sun, and no producer was officially listed for the RCA sessions, leading to the belief that Presley himself produced them.[8]

As the Sun tracks were mostly country-styled, Elvis and RCA leavened the selections with covers of recent rhythm and blues songs. Two of these, "Money Honey" by Jesse Stone, known to Elvis from a version by Clyde McPhatter, and Ray Charles' 1955 hit "I Got A Woman", had been in Presley's live act for a year.[9] A third was the frenetic announcement to the world of the existence of Little Richard in 1955, "Tutti Frutti". A rockabilly number that was believed to be a potential hit and could hold its own with the R&B material, "Blue Suede Shoes", was not initially released as a single from a promise by Sholes to Sam Phillips to protect the career of another Sun artist, Carl Perkins, the author of the song.[10] Instead, it was diverted into being the opening track on the album.

On August 31, 1956, RCA took the unusual step of releasing the entire album as singles, which undoubtedly kept the new single released simultaneously, "Shake, Rattle & Roll" backed with "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," from reaching the charts. However, "Blue Suede Shoes", released in single form as a part of this experiment by RCA, kept the promise to Phillips and Perkins by waiting over eight months since the song's release on Sun, and made it to #20 on the singles chart. RCA first issued the original 12 track album on compact disc in 1984. On May 18, 1999, it was reissued with an altered running order, adding on six bonus tracks from three non-album singles, including the chart-toppers "Heartbreak Hotel" and "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You." On January 11, 2005, Sony BMG reissued the album again, remastered using DSD technology with the six bonus tracks appended in standard fashion. A two-disc set was released on the Follow That Dream collectors label on August 15, 2006, with bonus tracks and numerous alternate takes.

Personnel

• Elvis Presley – vocals, guitar, piano
• Scotty Moore – guitar
• Chet Atkins – guitar
• Floyd Cramer – piano
• Shorty Long – piano
• Marvin Hughes – piano
• Bill Black – bass
• D. J. Fontana – drums
• Johnny Bernero – drums on "Trying to Get to You"
• Gordon Stoker – backing vocals
• Ben Speer – backing vocals
• Brock Speer – backing vocals

Track listing

Side One

Track Recorded Song Title Writer(s) Time 1. 1/30/56 Blue Suede Shoes Carl Perkins 1:58 2. 1/11/56 I'm Counting on You Don Robertson 2:24 3. 1/10/56 I Got A Woman Ray Charles and Renald Richard 2:23 4. 1/30/56 One-Sided Love Affair Bill Campbell 2:09 5. 7/5/54 I Love You Because Leon Payne 2:42 6. 9/10/54 Just Because Sydney Robin, Bob Shelton, Joe Shelton 2:32

Side Two

Track Recorded Song Title Writer(s) Time 1. 1/31/56 Tutti Frutti Dorothy LaBostrie and Richard Penniman 1:59 2. 7/11/55 Trying to Get to You Rose Marie McCoy and Margie Singleton 2:33 3. 1/31/56 I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You) Howard Biggs and Joe Thomas 2:05 4. 9/10/54 I'll Never Let You Go (Lil' Darlin') Jimmy Wakely 2:25 5. 8/19/54 Blue Moon Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart 2:43 6. 1/10/56 Money Honey Jesse Stone 2:36

Artist:    Elvis Presley
Album:   Elvis Presley    (Released 1956)
Record Label:    RCA
Catalog #:    LPN 1254
Country:    USA
Genre:    Rock n Roll
Cover Grade:    VG++/NEAR MINT (slight ding at top right corner, no wear or no split seams, no scuffs, no scratches, no ink or markings of any kind) *THIS ALBUM DOES NOT HAVE ANY DRILL HOLES OR CUT-OUTS!!!
Vinyl Grade:    NEAR MINT
Format:    LP
Additional Info:    

***If you would like to insure your item(s), email me for costs before paying final invoice.***

                                                                    ***100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED*** 
I strive for 5-star service by stating up front my policies, my shipping rate & my shipping frequency. I ship same day whenever possible or withing 24 hours, though of course on Saturday, Sunday or holidays items will ship on the next business day. If you were pleased with this transaction, please respond with all 5 stars! If you are not pleased, let me know via e-mail, and I'll work to make it that way.

All items 100% Guaranteed to your satisfaction!! If you are not happy with the item you receive for ANY reason I will refund you 100% minus shipping!! Thank you for considering this item. Please shop my Ebay auction for more collectibles. I have many more items for sale.

Thanks again, Bill

RETURN POLICY
Your satisfaction is important to me - Return or exchange an item - My 100% money back guarantee
• If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, simply return the item to me in its original condition within 14 days of receipt.
• I will issue a full refund on receipt, excluding the original delivery charge. Alternatively should you prefer, if the item is new and we have additional of the same item in stock I will be happy to exchange the item. Please help me to help you by noting the following:
1. Goods can only be accepted for return if they are dispatched within 14 days of delivery, unless I have notified you otherwise
2. Remember, the item is your responsibility until it reaches me. Therefore for your own protection I recommend that you send the parcel using a delivery service that insures you for the value of the goods, supplies a tracking service, or requires a signature by me for receipt.
3. The cost of returning the item to me is your responsibility.