CHRISTMAS WITH ELVIS

Christmas was a special time for Elvis and every year he decorated Graceland, inside and out, with an impressive display of lights and decorations to celebrate the festive season. With his love of the season it seemed an obvious move for him to record a selection of Christmas songs for release on an album, or at least The Colonel and RCA thought so.

In the 1950s artists including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Perry Como and even Gene Autry had all recorded and released Christmas albums. However, Elvis wasn't that excited about the thought of recording a selection of festive material.

At this time his priority was to attempt the song Treat Me Nice again, in an effort to produce a better version than the one he'd recorded a few months earlier for Jailhouse Rock, and also make a further attempt at One Night. There was also My Wish Came True and another song, the ballad Don't, from the song-writing team of Leiber & Stoller who had already provided several hits for him.

Elvis finally agreed and sessions were booked at Radio Recorders in Hollywood for three days in September 1957 to record enough tracks for an album to celebrate the season. 

Produced by Steve Sholes the sessions would see Elvis backed by regulars Scotty Moore (guitar), Bill Black (bass), D. J. Fontana (drums), Dudley Brooks (piano) and The Jordanaires (vocals). Elvis also requested the services of soprano singer Millie Kirkham.

Eight Christmas songs were recorded over the three days, one on the 5th, three more on the 6th and a further four on the 7th.

The three aforementioned songs were also recorded during the session, Treat Me Nice, My Wish Came True and Don't. It was rumoured that Elvis also planned to record I'm A Hog For You Baby and Fools Hall Of Fame during the sessions, although the latter may have been attempted no tapes have ever been located. In fact no outtakes exist for any of the songs recorded during the sessions.

The eight seasonal recordings were expanded into a twelve track album with the inclusion of the four religious songs Elvis had recorded back in January 1957, originally released on the extended play album Peace In The Valley (EPA-4054) in April 1957. The four songs, Peace In The Valley, I Believe, Take My Hand Precious Lord and It Is No Secret (What God Can Do) all fitted well with the religious theme of the album, even if many fans felt short-changed having to buy the tracks again to get just eight new songs. It was a practice that RCA (and The Colonel) would be guilty of many times in the years to come.

Elvis' Christmas Album (LOC-1035) was released on 15 October 1957 and would spend four weeks at the #1 spot, go on the sell over 175,000 copies by the New Year and would eventually be certified 3 x Platinum by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Side A featured six popular Christmas songs while the second side consisted of two traditional carols and four religious tracks.

The album opens with Santa Claus Is Back In Town. Although it is the opening track of the album, as requested by Elvis, it was a song that had not been originally planned or chosen to record. Realising they needed one extra song The Colonel asked Leiber & Stoller to go and write a Christmas song. They disappeared to a room and ten minutes later returned with the song Christmas Blues, the original title of Santa Claus Is Back In Town. Typical of the Colonel, when the pair returned with the newly written song he asked, "What took you so long!" Elvis loved the song and completed a finished master in seven takes. With its double-meanings, raunchy performance and lyrics that included 'pretty stockings' and 'big black cadillacs' as opposed to the more traditional snow, sleighs and toys it is the standout track on the album.

In 1942 Bing Crosby recorded and released the Irving Berlin song White Christmas which has become the best selling single of all time with his version shifting over 50 million copies. It is also one of the most popular Christmas songs which receives regular airplay on stations across the world. Elvis followed the arrangement of the Clyde McPhatter and Drifters version and laid down a satisfactory master in nine takes. This is the song that caused a major uproar when the album was released, as we shall see later on in this article.

Here Comes Santa Claus has been recorded by many artists including one of its composers Gene Autry. The song, which only took a couple of takes, followed the recording of another old standard, White Christmas. Written as a humourous children's song, Elvis manages to make it playful and more adult with his performance.

Another song associated with Bing Crosby followed. I'll Be Home For Christmas had been written by Walter Kent, Kim Gannon and Buck Ram and it took fifteen takes before a satisfactory master was completed. 

Blue Christmas features great backing from the band and especially the vocal accompaniment from Millie Kirkham and The Jordanaires. Composed by Billy Hayes and Jay Johnson it was the first of the Christmas songs recorded at the sessions. Apparently Elvis was reluctant to record the song and had mentioned this to Millie Kirkham. Before recording started he told her, "Well let's just have fun. Just do something silly!" With Kirkhams 'ooo-ing' in the background he joked, "Well, that's one they'll never release." Fortunately they did and despite his reservations it has become a favourite with fans everywhere and the definitive version. During the recording of the 1968 TV Special he commented before singing the song that, "I'd like to do my favourite Christmas song of all the ones I've recorded." Strange considering his lack of interest in the song when he recorded it. However, when more recordings from the TV Special appeared it was clear he was talking about Santa Claus Is Back In Town.

The first side closes with the upbeat and jaunty Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me written by song-writing team Aaron Schroeder & Clause Demetrius who had previously written I Was The One and Mean Woman Blues, both recorded by Elvis. It was a song he obviously enjoyed singing.

Two carols open side two. O Little Town Of Bethlehem dates back to the mid 19th-century when Phillip Brooks wrote a poem and then music was added with the help of Lewis Redner. With the organ backing and vocal support from The Jordanaires it receives a sincere performance from Elvis. It only took four attempts to complete the master. Whereas the first side of the album was dedicated to popular Christmas songs this opened the second side which covered the Christian side of Christmas.

The final Christmas song Silent Night is beautifully sung by Elvis with great support from the band and vocalists. His voice is crystal clear and the song is sung with sincerity and reverential calm. Originally an 1818 poem, Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht, written by Josephh Mohr, it was set to music by Franz Gruber, a church organist. English lyrics were added by Rev. John Freeman Young in 1863 and the carol has been recorded by many artists over the years. It was yet another song that was probably influenced by Bing Crosby.

The remining four tracks are not Christmas songs but the four gospel recordings that Elvis recorded back in January 1957 and first issued on the Peace In The Valley extended play album.

I Believe was written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman and had been recorded, successfully by Roy Hamilton and Frankie Laine before Elvis turned his attention to the hymn.

Written by Thomas A. Dorsey, Take My Hand Precious Lord, was one of Elvis' favourite gospel songs and the recording by The Golden Gate Quartet was no doubt an influence on his own recording. The song was performed by The Blackwood Brothers at the funeral of Gladys Presley in 1958.

A beautiful performance of It Is No Secret (What God Can Do) follows. Written and recorded by Stuart Hamblen the hymn took thirteen takes before Elvis was happy to move on.

The album is bought to a close with another Thomas A. Dorsey composition, Peace In The Valley, a song Elvis had sung during the famed 'Million Dollar Quartet' session at Sun Records back in December 1956. Another sincere performance from Elvis that would demonstrate, along with the rest of the album, that he wasn't just a rock 'n' roller but could handle many styles of music. 

All four are handled well by Elvis and do not feel out of place on the album. However, one wonders what other Christmas songs could have been included.

Apparently a few other songs were suggested but rejected including, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Santa You've Done Me Wrong, Let's Play Jingle Bells and You're All I Want For Christmas.

The album was issued in a booklet style which included promotional photos from Jailhouse Rock although these were dropped for future issues of the album. A gold foil tag was attached to the shrink-wrap that read, 'TO______, FROM______, ELVIS SINGS' followed by a list of the tracks.

The album had advance orders in excess of the planned original production. W. W. Bullock, RCA Victor album department chief, commented at the time, "...the greatest advance album order in the history of the company."

Reviews were mixed and AP Newsfeature Writer Hugh Mulligan didn't hold back in his review headed 'Elvis' Christmas Album Is Sung In A Whisper.' He wrote, "If the carolers outside your door this Christmas season come decked out in dovetail haircuts and Victorian sideburns, you'll know the Elvis Presley's latest album has had its usual fallout effect on the nation's teen-agers. In a masterpiece of seasonal miscasting. RCA Victor has called on the undulating one to warble (whisper, actually) a few Christmas carols and has plastered his sugarplum features on the jacket of a gaudy album otherwise decorated with colour prints of Elvis in his latest movie, an unseasonal drama entitled 'Jailhouse Rock.' The result is ludicrous and pathetic. It's not that Elvis is irreverent, blasphemous or sacrilegious in chanting such hymns as 'Silent Night' and 'O Little Town Of Bethlehem.' Far from it. Most of the time, he's hushfully reverent in his approach to these unfamiliar themes that he just isn't there at all."

With a reference to a well-known stripper from the time, a disc jockey in Los Angeles compared playing the album for his listeners would be like, "... having Tempest Storm give Christmas gifts to my kids!"

It was one song in particular that caused the greatest uproar, White Christmas. When its composer Irving Berlin heard Elvis' version he saw it as  a "profane parody of his cherished yuletide standard." He asked his New York staff to contact radio stations demanding that the song be banned from receiving any airplay. Fortunately most ignored this request leading to one DJ in Portland, Oregon being fired for playing the song.

A newspaper article at the time told of the event. "Radio Station KEX said that it has fired Al Priddy, disc jockey, because he played Elvis Presley's recording of 'White Christmas' on the air. Mel Bailey, station manager, said Priddy violated the ban the station put on the Presley recording about three weeks ago. The record was banned, Bailey said, because 'it is not in the good taste we ascribe to Christmas Music. Presley gives it a rhythm and blues interpretation. It doesn't seem to me to be in keeping with the intent of the song."

Ironically the version by The Drifters, on which Elvis based his version, received no kind of reaction from Berlin despite being a top ten R&B hit. This could have been due to the fact that The Drifters version was only being played on black radio stations. In any case it is hypocritical of Berlin to have the reaction he had to Elvis.

Despite the issues over White Christmas and differing opinions the album was a hit with the fans and in the years since its release has become a well-deserved classic and, according to the RIAA, the album and various reissues have sold more than seventeen million copies in the USA alone and also the best selling Christmas album of all time.

The album was reissued two years later in October 1959 (LPM-1951) while Elvis was on duty in Germany, with the same tracks but featuring a new cover design, a picture of Elvis superimposed over a snow covered backdrop. Unlike the original release this included all the titles on the cover along with the words 'Elvis Sings Christmas Songs', an unnecessary addition as the title told the listener what to expect. The publicity photos from Jailhouse Rock were also omitted from this re-issue.

In the UK the album was issued with the catalogue number RD-27052 and used a publicity image from Love Me Tender on the cover and the message 'Best Wishes, Elvis' printed on the photo.

Two Extended Play albums were released in America. Elvis Sings Christmas Songs (EPA-4108) was issued in November 1957 and featured four tracks from the album, Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me, Blue Christmas, Santa Claus Is Back In Town and I'll Be Home For Christmas. The cover was a cropped image from the album.

The following year Christmas With Elvis (EPA-4340), featuring the same cover images as the 1959 release of the album, bought together the four remaining songs from the album, White Christmas, Here Comes Santa Claus, Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem and Silent Night. Billboard had established an Extended Play chart and Elvis Sings Christmas Songs topped the chart. Christmas With Elvis couldn't repeat the success and failed to even chart.

In Britain RCA released the extended play album Elvis Sings Christmas Songs (RCX-121) featuring Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me, Blue Christmas, Santa Claus Is Back In Town and I'll Be Home For Christmas. The cover, which followed the design of similar releases by Perry Como, Harry Belafonte and Mario Lanza, had a picture of Elvis from the film King Creole that had originally been used on the cover of the American King Creole Vol. 2 EP.

No singles were released in America at the time of the album's release. However, in Britain RCA paired two of the strongest tracks from the album and released them as a single in November 1957. Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me/Santa Claus Is Back In Town (RCA-1025) reached #7 on the charts.

Reviewing the single in the UK Keith Fordyce wrote, "The seasonal rush (or is it rash?) of Christmas records is already in full swing. Perhaps the most surprising contributor is Elvis Presley, who offers a complete Yuletide pairing on RCA 1025.This is one time when I can feel quite safe in unreservedly predicting a hit; the selling side will undoubtedly be 'Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me.' This is normal Elvis--the connection with Christmas is in the words. The beat is not only good, but fairly happy and bouncy, too, so it should appeal to the semi-squares as well as the fans. Maybe that includes me, 'cos I thoroughly enjoyed this song, and I'm no Elvis fan, just an admirer." 

A second single was issued in the UK when Blue Christmas backed with White Christmas (RCA 1430) was released in late-1964 just stalling outside the top ten peaking at #11.

It would be seven years after the albums release before a single was issued in the USA, pairing Blue Christmas with the non-festive movie hit Wooden Heart (447-0720). The single peaked at #1 on the Billboard Christmas Singles Chart. The following year RCA released Santa Claus Is Back In Town and for the second time in the space of a year Blue Christmas found release on a single (447-0647), this time as a b-side. The single peaked at #4 on the Christmas Singles Charts.

The tracks on Elvis' Christmas Album have been been re-issued many times over the years on various releases and compilations. However, two to avoid are the awful duets album released in 2008 and even worse the 2017 album recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, neither of which deserve any further mention here!!!

In 2014 the album was issued on the Follow That Dream label as part of their 7-inch classic album series. With no outtakes from the Christmas sessions, the album was expanded with the three non-festive songs (Treat Me Nice, My Wish Came True and Don't) along with outtakes of Peace In The Valley and It Is No Secret (What God Can Do). 

This article only covers the original releases in America and Britain of the album, extended plays, singles and the recent FTD release as to cover every release is far beyond the scope of this article.

All that leaves is for me to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year... I'm off to enjoy Santa Claus Is Back In Town and all the other Christmas classics once again.

With thanks and reference to the following books - The Best Of British - The RCA Years 1957-1958 (Trevor Simpson) and Elvis Presley: A Life In Music - The Complete Recording Sessions (Ernst Jorgensen)

THE FABULOUS JOHNNY CASH

Johnny Cash's debut album for his new label Columbia was released in November 1958 and to celebrate this we look back at the recording, release and success of the album The Fabulous Johnny Cash.

A week after his last session for Sun Records, Johnny Cash was at the Owen Bradley Studios in Nashville cutting his first sides for his new label, Columbia. This first session produced six songs and a few weeks later on 8 August a further ten tracks were recorded during two sessions on that day. To enable them to have enough tracks for their first album and singles a further session was held five days later with nine more songs successfully recorded.

To expand the basic sound of the Tennessee Two Columbia brought in some additional musicians and on the first session Morris Palmer and Marvin Hughes, on drums and piano, were also present. An unknown chorus was around to add vocal support on some tracks and for the first time since A.W. ‘Red’ Kernoddle had made his one and only studio appearance back in 1955, a steel guitar was present. Don Helms played the instrument on just the one song, Suppertime. Drummer Murry M. ‘Buddy’ Harman joined them for the first August sessions and by the second had replaced Morris Palmer who, along with Marvin Hughes, did not appear on any of the songs recorded that day.

Two songs recorded during these sessions, What Do I Care and All Over Again were paired up and became Cash’s first single on his new label although they would not appear on the album. On the country charts What Do I Care spent fifteen weeks reaching #7 while the flipside spent nineteen weeks on the chart peaking three places higher at #4. Both sides made the pop chart reaching #52 and #38 respectively.

Cash's Sun Records had been issued in the UK on the London label and his new Columbia records would be released on the Philips label.

The UK pop weekly Disc reviewed his new single in their 15 November issue. "The deep brown voice of Johnny Cash turns up now on the Philips label after a long spell with London. And Philips should be pleased, because Johnny might have one of his biggest successes on this side of the water with this coupling. What Do I Care is a rich, steady country romancer that lopes along in company with a rhythm group backing. Both songs on this release were written by Johnny himself. And it may be that All Over Again will turn out to be the bigger attraction of the pair. Quicker than the other side with some chorus work behind Cash, it's catchy stuff."

Of the twenty-five tracks recorded over this short time twelve would make the final selection for Cash’s first Columbia album, The Fabulous Johnny Cash.

The album, which was an eclectic mix, opens with the first of five songs written, co- written or adapted by Cash, Run Softly Blue River, and there is no mistake that you are listening to a Johnny Cash album.

The other songs credited to Cash are Frankies Man Johnny, which he adapted from the old nineteenth century New Orleans ballad Frankie and Albert, I Still Miss Someone, written with his nephew Roy Cash, Jr., Don’t Take Your Guns To Town and Pickin’ Time.

Don’t Take Your Guns To Town with its story about a farm boy who, convinced that he was grown-up, failed to heed his mothers warnings and lost his life to a stranger who was quicker on the draw. It is the strongest song on the album and, as we will see, was a successful single.

I Still Miss Someone was a song that Cash would perform live throughout his career and re-record several times. It is a beautiful country ballad about lost love that Cash handles well.

With Pickin’ Time we return to a theme he covered on Country Boy a few years earlier, his rural upbringing. These were strong songs and it is clear to see why he refused to record any of his own material during his final few months with Sun Records, preferring to keep them for his new label.

One of the songs he tried at Sun but never completed a finished master is One More Ride and he returned to the song for his new album producing a similar sounding version.

Sam Phillips had not let him record gospel material during his time at Sun but with Columbia he was given more freedom and he covers two songs with religious overtones, That’s Enough and Suppertime which takes on a more religious meaning towards the end of the track. The remaining tracks, That's All Over, The Troubadour, I'd Rather Die Young and Shepherd Of My Heart all fitted in well. Cash and Columbia records were both satisfied with the debut album.

Released in November 1958 The Fabulous Johnny Cash became his first album chart success when, on 8 December 1958, it entered the US pop charts at #20. Having spent three weeks in the chart at the end of the year, reaching #19, it re-entered the charts in February 1959 and spent a further six weeks on the pop charts peaking at #21.

Billboard voted the album ‘Favourite C&W Album.’ Initial sales of the album approached 400,000. Released in time for the Disc Jockey Convention in Nashville it was there that Columbia Vice-President Bill Gallagher and producer Don Law presented Cash with his Gold award for All Over Again. 

It had been a succesful year for Cash with his debut album for Columbia far exceeding expectations, a gold award single and to cap it all at the end of the year he was voted ‘Favourite Country and Western Artist by Billboard magazine and for the second time Cash Box voted him ‘Most Programmed Male Country Vocalist.’

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It was common practice with record companies in the late fifties and early sixties to take an artist’s latest album and release the material on separate extended play releases. The twelve tracks on The Fabulous Johnny Cash were spread over three EPs, with each featuring a different cover shot from the same photo session.

In their 18 April 1959 review Disc, the UK pop weekly, did not agree with the title and in a review headed “Fabulous? Not On Your Life” they wrote, “The sleeve note hails Johnny Cash as ‘fabulous.’ I disagree. He is a good performer and I’ll admit that he is a lot better than most in his field of singing. But ‘fabulous’ — never. People are too free with flowing praise nowadays with the result that many adjectives have lost their meaning. ‘Fabulous’ is one of the most overworked of all. This is a good album and the Cash boy has a rich voice which should make him pretty popular. He sounds a little like a young Ernie Ford but lacks the richness of that artist’s voice.”

Speaking about the album in 2002 Cash said, “It was 1958 and I had a new album called The Fabulous Johnny Cash. Someone says ‘What’s the name of your new album?’ Try answering without a shred of ego. ‘It’s called The Fabulous Johnny Cash.’ Oh well. that was over forty years ago. Ancient history.”

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Don’t Take Your Guns To Town backed with I Still Miss Someone was the first single lifted off the album for release and in the UK Disc, who had been less than impressed with the album were more complimentary this time round. They wrote, "I Still Miss Someone is a typical Cash country song, and would be chosen as the prototype for anyone planning an impersonation of this dark, sorrowful-voiced westerner. Not as good as some of his recent recordings, but still worth a spin. Don't Take Your Guns To Town is a narrative song in true cowboy tradition. Johnny drawls about a young cowpoke who insisted on taking his guns to town despite his mother's pleas. Story continues in all the best cliches to it's doleful end."

In December Billboard reviewed the single, "Don't Take Your Guns To Town is a Westernish, folkish effort that Cash gives his usual fine reading. It's an offbeat side for the artist, but it's already doing well in some areas. Flip is also a fine approach on a melancholy weeper. Strong potential on both pop and c&w markets."

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The album wasn’t alone in achieving chart success. Don’t Take Your Guns To Town managed a twenty-week run during which time it held the top spot for six weeks during March and April 1959. It couldn’t repeat the success on the pop charts where it stalled at #32. I Still Miss Someone, despite being a strong record, failed to achieve any chart action.

Frankie’s Man Johnny was also lifted for release and was paired with a non-album track You Dreamer You. The a-side spent eleven weeks on the country charts reaching #6 while the flip peaked at #13. On the pop charts Frankie's Man Johnny spent seven weeks reaching only #57.

On their 1990 release The Man in Black 1954-1958 Bear Family Records devoted a complete CD to outtakes with multiple takes of eight of the tracks recorded at the 13 August session. Many are false starts or breakdowns and it is interesting to hear the songs coming together in the studio.

Songs included are Lead Me Father, That's Enough, I Still Miss Someone, One More Ride, Pickin' Time, Don't Take Your Guns To Town, I'd Rather Die Young, Shepherd Of My Heart and one song, Cold Shoulder, that did not find release until Bear Family included it on the 1978 album The Unissued Johnny Cash. 

In 2002, to celebrate Cash’s seventieth birthday, Sony reissued the album on CD adding an additional six tracks - Oh What A Dream, Mama’s Baby, Fools Hall Of Fame, I’ll Remember You, Cold Shoulder and Walkin’ The Blues two of which were previously unreleased and the remaining four previously unavailable in the USA. All six tracks were recorded during the aforementioned three sessions in July and August.

In the sleevenotes to this re-issue Cash had this to say about the album, “At the time it was, to me, the best collection of my work that I could put together. Songs I’d written while still in the Air Force were coming back.”

ELVIS - A LEGENDARY PERFORMER

Throughout Elvis Presley's long career his record company had never, intentionally, released any previously unreleased material. However, an alternate version of Old Shep had been issued in error on some early import pressings of his second album, Elvis, released in October 1956. A second mistake occurred in 1973 when, after releasing the studio recording of Stay Away, Joe in 1970 on the budget release Let's Be Friends, the movie version was included in error on the budget album Almost In Love. This was soon corrected on later pressings.

All this would change in 1974, long before the advent of the Follow That Dream label which has given fans a wealth of unreleased material over the past twenty-plus years.

In the mid-1970s RCA Records created a new series of albums with the generic title A Legendary Performer. Artists that were featured in the series included Jim Reeves, Perry Como, Glenn Miller, Henry Mancini, Bing Crosby, Jimmie Rodgers and Elvis Presley.

Although I haven't seen every release in the series I do believe that the four Elvis Presley albums were the only ones to include previously unreleased material. Elvis was also one of only two artists to have more than one volume released, the other being Glenn Miller who had three albums issued. 

The packaging, for the time, was impressive with a circular cut-out on the front through which the inner sleeve could be seen. Each album included a booklet with colour front, back, inside front and inside back covers with the remaining pages in black and white. The booklets featured a wealth of photos and memorabilia including session paperwork, tape boxes and much more.

It was Joan Deary who was responsible for the Elvis - A Legendary Performer series. She had been Steve Sholes secretary at RCA, and later was administrator of Elvis releases and had a good working relationship with The Colonel. However, a fall-out with Elvis' producer Felton Jarvis, over the track selection on the Elvis (Fool) album had caused a rift which would not be healed.

In 1973 Elvis and The Colonel had signed a new contract with RCA Records worth over $5 million by selling the rights to all his back-catalogue. They both needed money and this seemed a good option. However, in hindsight it was one of the worst managerial decisions ever made.

Following the sell-out to RCA Records the way was open for them to release Elvis' early recordings and they wasted no time. Deary compiled a new deluxe compilation to include a selection of old recordings and previously unreleased material, all owned by RCA under the new contract.

On it's release, the commercial failure of the Raised On Rock album would lead to more attempts by RCA to get rid of producer Felton Jarvis. They hadn't counted on Elvis' loyalty to Jarvis and when they approached him about the subject he told them in no uncertain terms that there would be no sacking.

As if RCA didn't have enough problems, further complications arose at the time when The Colonel found out that the forthcoming Joan Deary compilation would be released at the same time as Raised On Rock. He was furious and made attempts to stop the release of the album. All he achieved was delaying the album until January 1974.

While Joan Deary may not have been popular within the Elvis circle there can be no debate as to how successful the albums would become. The first release in the series would sell over 700,00 copies, outsell and peak higher than Elvis' current release, Raised On Rock, and the previous album, Elvis (Fool). The RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) would eventually award the album 'Gold' status. It would appear that by the mid-seventies Elvis' back-catalogue was more popular than his current recordings.

Future releases would also perform well with Volumes 2 and 3 both charting at 46 and 112 respectively with both gaining Gold awards from the RIAA. Volume 4 could not repeat the success and no further volumes were released.

Having looked back at the history of how the Legendary Performer series came about we will now look in detail at each of the four Elvis releases in the series.

In January 1974 RCA released Elvis - A Legendary Performer Volume 1, and I still remember to this day waiting for my mother to return from town with my copy that I had asked her to pick up for me.

'RCA Records proudly presents the Legendary Performer collection... a series of recordings by the world's finest musical artists. Glowing with energy that transcends time, these are performances which will recall fond memories for collectors, and bring the joy of new discovery to young audiences.'

Volume 1 featured fourteen tracks with five previously unreleased or hard to find along with two interview excerpts. The seven previously released tracks dated from the 1950s and early-1960s and included That's All Right, Heartbreak Hotel, Don't Be Cruel, Love Me Tender, Peace In The Valley, A Fool Such As I and Can't Help Falling In Love.

The most interesting previously unreleased track was the version of I Love You Because recorded at Sun Records in 1954. When released by RCA on his debut album Elvis Presley the version of I Love You Because was a splice of takes 2 and 4 while here we get the complete take 2 including the spoken part.

Three previously unreleased live recordings from the 1968 TV Special 'sit-down shows' were included, Love Me, Trying To Get To You and Are You Lonesome Tonight?

The movie G. I. Blues and soundtrack album featured the song Tonight Is So Right For Love but here the listener was treated to an alternate version, Tonight's All Right For Love, previously unavailable in the UK and USA. Due to copyright issues the version featured in the movie and soundtrack album in the United States, Tonight Is So Right For Love, was replaced with Tonight's All Right For Love in the European version of the film and soundtrack.

The two interview excerpts were lifted from the hard-to-find Elvis Sails Extended Play, recorded on 22 September 1958 and originally released the following November. 

As we read earlier this release was well-received and sold better than Elvis' current product and would set the scene for future releases in the series.

Between 1974 and 1976 Elvis released three studio and one live album, Good Times, As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis, Promised Land and Elvis Today, all a major improvement on his Raised On Rock album. Following the success of the first volume it seemed time for a second volume of the Legendary Performer series and this was released in 1976.

'For collectors everywhere, RCA Records proudly presents Elvis-A Legendary Performer-Volume 2... fascinating musical insights into the fabled Presley saga.'

Once again this release featured a mix of previously released and unreleased material. However, the listener was treated to more unreleased material on this second volume.

Of the fourteen tracks included, Blue Christmas, Jailhouse Rock, It's Now Or Never, Such A Night, How Great Thou Art and If I Can Dream were all previously released leaving a further eight tracks previously unavailable.

Two more live recordings from the 1968 TV Special 'sit down shows' were featured, Blue Suede Shoes and Baby What You Want Me To Do. Another track, Blue Hawaii, is listed as a live recording but was actually recorded after the taping of the Aloha From Hawaii special in 1973, once the audience had left the auditorium, so classing it as a 'live' recording is not totally accurate.

From his days at Sun Records comes Harbor Lights, recorded at the same July 1954 session as I Love You Because, That's All Right and Blue Moon Of Kentucky.

An alternate take of I Want You, I Need You, I Love You, Elvis second RCA single originally released in 1956, is included. The original was a splice of takes 14 and 17 and it was originally thought that the version included here was the complete take 14. Further research has confirmed it is actually take 15.

A Cane And A High Starch Collar comes from the 1960 movie Flaming Star and although shown in the movie the song was never released at the time. It is making it's first appearance on the album along with a false start.

Although not mentioned on the sleeve there are two false starts preceding the song Such A Night, both previously unreleased.

Like Volume 1 there were two interviews. However, unlike the earlier release, where the interviews had been previously issued on a hard to find 1958 extended play release, these were both previously unavailable. One dated back to 1956 and was taped in Wichita Falls, Texas during one of Elvis' tours. The second dated from 25 March 1961, and was an excerpt from a press conference and presentation of an award to Elvis on the same day he played his charity concert at The Bloch Arena, Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

'For collectors everywhere, RCA records presents another chapter in the career-and life-and above all, in the music of the man who became the greatest legend of the modern entertainment world... ELVIS-A LEGENDARY PERFORMER, VOLUME 3.'

The Legendary Performer albums had become a popular and profitable series for RCA Records and, as we saw earlier, Elvis was only one of two artists to have more than two volumes in the series released.

Elvis tragically passed away in August 1977 and there was a renewed interest in his music. In 1978 RCA issued A Legendary Performer Volume 3, which followed the successful pattern of previous releases.

This time the listener would be treated to eight previously unreleased tracks which sat alongside the previously released material, Hound Dog, Crying In The Chapel, Surrender and In The Ghetto.

Once again they turned to the 1968 TV Special but rather than including more live recordings they turned their attention to the staged sections of the show. Both Let Yourself Go and It Hurts Me were filmed for the Guitar Man/Road sequence but were not included in the original broadcast.

The only live recording that made it to the album was a February 1970 recording of Let It Be Me, originally recorded in French back in 1955 as Je t'appartiens and a 1960 hit for The Everly Brothers.

Elvis' movie career was well represented on this release with four previously unreleased/alternate tracks featured. Frankfort Special and Guadalajara came from G.I. Blues and Fun In Acapulco respectively. The former was a faster version of the song than the one that featured in the movie and on the soundtrack. The latter was an earlier take of the song that featured on the Fun In Acapulco soundtrack.

Like Cane And A High Starch Collar that was included on Volume 2 the song Britches was another intended for the film Flaming Star. Unlike Cane And A... this song never appeared in the movie and was never released at the time. It makes its first appearance on this compilation.

Danny, a song also recorded by Marty Wilde back in 1959, was recorded during the sessions for King Creole but never used. It was considered as the title song to the movie but King Creole, a better choice, was picked instead. 

The only studio track included was an alternate take of the 1960 hit Fame And Fortune, the b-side to his first post-army release Stuck On You.

Excerpts from an August 1956 interview with Elvis and The Colonel taped in Lakeland, Florida and intended for TV Guide, continued the theme of including interview material on the Legendary Performer releases. 

One difference between this volume and earlier releases was the fact that the actual album was a picture disc, possibly the first time in the history of Elvis releases.

It would be a few years before the final volume in the series would be released and in the intervening years RCA issued the 8-LP box set Elvis Aaron Presley (more often referred to as The Silver Box). The first serious attempt at a career overview it contained a wealth of unreleased material... concerts from his early years, movie outtakes, live recordings from the 1970s, rare singles and much more. 

'For collectors everywhere, RCA Records proudly presents ELVIS-A LEGENDARY PERFORMER-VOLUME 4... newly discovered performances by the man whose music swept the world and made his name both a household word and a synonym for superstar.'

Possibly based on the success of the Elvis Aaron Presley set, RCA released a fourth, and final, album in the Legendary Performer series in 1983.

Unlike the previous three volumes this last release featured all previously unreleased material, with one exception.

It was another mix of live recordings, studio outtakes and rare recordings this album offered a much better selection than previous releases and a number of highlights.

The first highlight comes from Elvis' Sun days and is an early version of When It Rains, It Really Pours, a song he would return to later in his career.

Both Mona Lisa and I'm Beginning To Forget You are 'home' recordings which were actually taped during Elvis' time in Germany in 1959.

The best track on the album, and a recording that was never known to exist, is an alternate version of One Night, actually recorded as One Night Of Sin and taped a month before the single version. With it's risque lyrics it is obvious why this version was overlooked at the time.

From the movies comes an alternate of Wooden Heart, from G.I. Blues, Plantation Rock, a song recorded but not featured on the Girls! Girls! Girls! soundtrack, a new version of Swing Down Sweet Chariot recorded specially for the film The Trouble With Girls (And How To Get In To It) and finally an unreleased duet from Viva Las Vegas, The Lady Loves Me, recorded with his co-star Ann Margaret. 

The 1968 TV Special had been mined for several tracks on previous releases and for this final album they turned to a live recording of Elvis' first record, That's All Right. Two live performances from the Madison Square Garden afternoon show also make an appearance, Reconsider Baby and I'll Remember You.

Yet another interview excerpt is include, this time from Tampa, Florida in 1956.

The only previously released track was the 'laughing version' of Are You Lonesome Tonight? which had been included on the Elvis Aaron Presley (Silver) box a few years earlier. 

It is unbelievable that this release offered the most unreleased material and yet was the only one of the four not to chart.

I bought all four volumes on the day of release and in the weeks that followed they were rarely off the turntable. I was fascinated by the amount of memorabilia included in the booklets and while recent releases offer much more there was something special about seeing the paperwork, session information, tape boxes, rare photographs and other items... it certainly made a change from the effort that RCA, The Colonel and Elvis put into their current product.... the never ending stream of live photos on studio albums, the poorly designed covers, especially on the back which often was just used to advertise other Elvis releases and the lack of information about the contents (studios, musicians etc etc).

Although they would not offer anything new I would love to see these four albums issued on the Follow That Dream label. While they couldn't recreate the original packaging, with the cutout on the sleeve, they could still use the original images and keep the same design. The booklets could also be reproduced, maybe in black and white as the originals.

THE GIRL FROM CHICKASAW COUNTY

With the release of the 2-CD retrospective The Girl From Chickasaw County I am taking a look back at the career of Bobbie Gentry and this new set.

Bobbie Gentry was born Roberta Lee Streeter on 27th July 1942 on a small farm just outside Woodland in Chickasaw County, Mississippi. She grew up on her grandparents farm and in a 1973 interview she recalled that her grandmother noticed how much she liked music. She went on to say, "When I was still very young, I used to sit and listen to jazz music and blues music from New Orleans on an old battery-powered radio. Then I'd go over to the piano and try to pick out the tunes."

She lived with her father in Greenwood, Mississippi for a few years, during which time she learned to play the guitar and banjo. When she was 13 she moved to Palm Springs to live with her mother. It was around this time she changed her name after watching the film Ruby Gentry. In the film Ruby was a poor but beautiful girl from the backwoods who ended up marrying the town tycoon. She recalled, "I was intrigued with that movie and started using that name. I still like it."

In 1960 she graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles where she studied philosophy at UCLA before moving to the Conservatory of Music, taking classes in music theory, composition  and arranging.

To earn a living she modeled swimsuits and started performing at nightclubs in the Los Angeles area. It was there that she met Jody Reynolds who she gigged with occasionally. This led to her singing two duets with Reynolds, Stranger In The Mirror and Requiem For Love, issued as a single in 1966 it failed to create much interest.

All this time Gentry was writing her own songs and she recorded demos of twelve of her own compositions that would eventually become the basis for her first album. Her ambition was to write songs for other people. She had recorded a song called Ode To Billie Joe which she took to Capitol Records. She felt it was cheaper than hiring a professional. However, it was another of her compositions, Mississippi Delta, that gained her a recording contract.

Jimmie Haskell overdubbed a string arrangement onto Gentry's demo of Ode To Billie Joe and when Capitol Records heard it they had no doubts about it being the A-Side. Released on 10 July 1967 it hit the top of the Billboard Pop Singles Chart five weeks later and would also appear on the Adult Contemporary, Hot R&B and Hot Country Songs charts. In the UK it peaked at #13.

Ode To Billie Joe is one of my favourite songs from the 1960s and to cover the songs background and history would require an article of its own (maybe a future blog article). However, it is worth giving a brief history of the track here. Performed as a first-person narrative it tells the story of a rural Mississippi family's reaction to the news of the suicide of Billie Joe McAllister. He was a local boy connected to the daughter (the narrator of the song). The song leaves the listener unsure of what really happened and what was actually thrown from the Tallahatchie Bridge. There has been much debate over the years but Gentry always said it wasn't important. The mystery is something that can never be resolved.

Her debut album, taking its title from the hit single, was a combination of blues, folk and jazz that continued her recollections of her homeland. The album knocked The Beatles Sgt Pepper album off the top spot and would go on to win three Grammy Awards ('Best New Artist', 'Best Female Pop Vocal' and 'Best Contemporary Song'). One reviewer wrote, "Bobbie Gentry is the most exciting thing to happen to popular music since the Beatles."

In 1968 Gentry released two more solo albums, The Delta Sweete and Local Gentry. The former was a concept album about her Mississippi Delta roots while the latter showed that her songwriting skills remained at a high.

The same year Gentry recorded an album with country superstar Glen Campbell. Three hit singles and a gold award proved how successful the partnership was. Unfortunately a second planned album never materialised. 

She was still writing her own songs and told Mid-South magazine, "I don't really have a great time doing it, but I have a need to write. I am driven to being industrious, and the finished product is well worth the effort."

In 1968 BBC 2 invited her to host her own show and she became the first female songwriter to front her own show on the channel. There were six 30-minute shows each year for three years - 1968, 1969 and 1970. 

Gentry's fourth solo album, released in 1969, found her moving away from her own compositions, the album only had two self-penned numbers, and choosing cover versions in an attempt to promote her as a blue-eyed soul singer. Touch 'Em With Love was recorded in Nashville and produced by Kelso Herston. Critically acclaimed at the time it became her most successful album in the UK no doubt helped by her version of I'll Never Fall In Love Again which, when released as a single, reached number one.

Fancy, her fifth solo release, issued in May 1970, was another album of mainly covers centered around the country-soul theme. The title track is one of her most accomplished story-songs - born poor white trash, groomed as a hooker by her mother and ends up in an elegant Georgia mansion. She spoke about the track in a 1974 interview with After Dark magazine, "Fancy is my strongest statement for women's lib, if you really listen to it." The song became her most successful single since Ode To Billie Joe and gained her a Grammy for 'Best Female Pop Vocal'.

May 1971 saw the release of what would become her last album, Patchwork. A diverse collection of short stories in song held together by a series of interludes. Covering pop, soul, folk, blues and gospel it was Gentry's first album to feature all her own self-written songs.

Following the release of her final album in 1971, Gentry reinvented herself as a live performer with lavish stage shows in many Las Vegas hotels including The Frontier, The Sahara, Caesar's Palace, The Sands and Aladdin. 

By the mid-1970s she reigned as the Queen of Las Vegas, breaking attendance records and performing more times than any other female performer on the Las Vegas Strip.

Unfortunately, as her recording career fell further behind her, she performed fewer of her own hits and concentrated on tributes to other artists, often covering the music of yesteryear with her homage to The Andrews Sisters. Following the death of Elvis Presley in August 1977 she started including a tribute to Elvis in her shows and, apparently, one such show was attended by the King himself.

Her last stage production in Las Vegas was at The Sahara in September 1980. With no fanfare, no talk of it being her farewell performance or any  announcement of her retirement, Bobbie Gentry disappeared from public view.

She made just two more guest appearances, in May 1981 on the NBC Special An All-Star Tribute To Mother's Day where she performed the Broadway tune Mama, A Rainbow, which she dedicated to her mother and her last public appearance the following year at the Country Music Awards.

Bobbie Gentry was 40-years old and since that last appearance she has not performed, recorded or been interviewed again.

Fortunately for fans of this talented singer her music would live on.

In 2018 Universal Music released the deluxe box set Bobbie Gentry - The Girl From Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters. Presented in a 10x10 slipcase the set featured all seven of Gentry's albums with each featuring bonus tracks (alternate versions, demos, undubbed versions, foreign recordings and live tracks). An eighth disc brought together twenty-six previously unreleased live recordings from her BBC Shows. The CDs were housed in two gatefold sleeves with complete track listings on the back.

There was also an 84-page, hard-backed book with previously unpublished photos, record sleeves, memorabilia and an informative essay written by Andrew Batt. Also included were eight postcards and a lyric sheet which included some of the original and unused lines from Ode To Billie Joe. The box cover featured a newly commissioned illustration by David Downton.

The set soon sold-out and is currently unavailable. It is unclear if more copies will be made available. I'm just grateful that I picked up my copy early as it is now selling on various sites for between £100 and £200!

Fortunately for those who missed the set, or who are looking for a cut-down retrospective of her career, Universal have just released The Girl from Chickasaw County - Highlights From The Capitol Masters.

A two-CD set that includes 46 tracks all lifted from the box set and covering Gentry's seven albums and the bonus Live At The BBC disc.

Opening with Ode To Billie Joe the set concentrates on many of her most well-known and popular songs - Mississippi Delta, Chickasaw County Girl, Oklahoma River Bottom Band, This Girl's In Love With You and Hushabye Mountain, the latter being one of four tracks remixed for this release. However, the set also includes many less well-known album tracks and a welcome addition is a few of the rare tracks that made their first appearance on the deluxe set.

A 36-page booklet includes liner-notes by Andrew Batt, track details and, like the box set, features some great photos and other memorabilia.

An excellent release and a great introduction to the talents of this singer-songwriter whose short recording career produced a wealth of classic recordings.

With thanks to Stuart Kirkham