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Songs from ELVIS 2ND TO NONE, 1 / 5
An In-Depth Look at the Songs from the New Hit Album ELVIS 2ND TO
NONE:
THAT'S ALL RIGHT
This song was written and recorded by blues singer Arthur "Big Boy"
Crudup. Mr. Crudup also wrote two other songs that Elvis would
record, "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine". Elvis said in a
1956 interview for the "Charlotte Observer" newspaper in North
Carolina, "...I used to hear Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do
now and I said that if I ever got to the place where I could feel
all old Arthur felt, I'd be a music man like nobody ever saw." Elvis
recorded "That's All Right" July 5/6, 1954 in first formal recording
session at Sun Studio in Memphis. Sam Phillips was the
producer/engineer, Elvis and Scotty Moore played guitar and Bill
Black played the upright bass. It was released as Elvis's very first
single in July 1954 with "Blue Moon of Kentucky" as the flip side.
RCA re-released it on their label in December 1955 after they bought
Elvis's Sun Records contract. Some of the others who have recorded
it are Roy "Smiley" Maxedon, Marty Robbins, Billy Swan, Bob Dylan,
Ann Wilson, Canned Heat, Grateful Dead, Albert King, Rod Stewart,
Waylon Jennings, Sunny Burgess, Jimmie Rogers and Paul McCartney.
I FORGOT TO REMEMBER TO FORGET
This song was written by Stanley Kesler and Charlie Feathers in
1955. Stan Kesler was a steel guitarist who eventually became a
recording engineer working with artists like the group Sam the Sham
& The Pharoahs, and later he became a member of the 1986 Sun Rhythm
Section band. Charlie Feathers was a Sun Rercords artist who often
worked with Mr. Kesler on his demos. Elvis recorded the "I Forgot to
Remember to Forget" on July 11, 1955 at Sun Studio. Elvis and Scotty
Moore played guitar. Bill Black played the bass. Johnny Bernero,
whose regular job was working for Memphis Light Gas and Water,
played the drums. It was Mr. Bernero's drum work that helped to
convince Elvis to record this song, one that he hadn't had much
interest in before. It was released as a single with "Mystery Train"
as the flip side in August of 1955. It became Elvis's first national
#1 hit, spending a total of 39 weeks on "Billboard" magazine's
country chart with 5 of those weeks at the #1 position. Among the
other artists to have recorded it are: Toni Arden, Charlie Feathers,
Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, Jerry Lee Lewis, Barbara Pittman, B.J.
Thomas, Johnny Rivers and the Beatles.
BLUE SUEDE SHOES
This song was written by, and first recorded by, Carl Perkins, whose
single was released on January 1, 1956 on the Sun Records label. It
was very successful, reaching all three major U.S. charts and
battling Elvis's eventual #1 hit "Heartbreak Hotel" for chart
position from week to week. On the "Billboard" pop chart, Carl's
single peaked at # 2 for 4 weeks. Elvis recorded it on January 30,
1956 at RCA's New York studios. Elvis and Scotty Moore played
guitar. Bill Black was on bass and D.J. Fontana played the drums.
Shorty Long played piano. Elvis's version was released in March 1956
as one of four songs on an EP (extended play, multi-song) single
called "Elvis Presley" and as a track the album entitled "Elvis
Presley. In the U.S.A., Elvis's "Blue Suede Shoes", although on an
EP, peaked at #20 on the "Billboard" pop singles chart. (The EP
peaked at #24. The album hit #1.) Elvis's recording of "Blue Suede
Shoes" was then broken out as a regular two-song single release in
August 1956 with "Tutti Frutti" as the flip side. In Britain, Elvis
peaked at #9 with this song, spending a total of 10 weeks on the
U.K. singles chart. Elvis lip-synched to this recording for part of
his movie screen test and it played on a jukebox in a scene in his
1960 film "GI Blues". A much loved song, some of the other artists
who have recorded it are: Johnny Rivers, Ozzy Osborne, Eddie
Cochran, Dion, Conway Twitty, Nine Inch Nails, Ace Cannon, Buddy
Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, John Lennon, Freddy Cannon,
Charlie Rich, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Albert King, Commander
Cody, Ritchie Valens, and Black Sabbath.
I WANT YOU, I NEED YOU, I LOVE YOU
Written by Maurice Mysels and Ira Kosloff. (Labels for early
pressings have Mysels misspelled as Myself.) Elvis recorded this
song on April 14, 1956 at RCA studios in Nashville, Tennessee.
Elvis, Scotty Moore and Chet Atkins played guitar. Bill Black played
the bass. D.J. Fontana was on the drums and Marvin Huges played
piano. Gordon Stoker, Ben Speer and Brock Speer provided vocal
accompaniment. In April 1956, Elvis and the band were keeping a
frantic tour schedule. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, arranged for
them to fly to Nashville for a one-day recording session after a
show in Amarillo, Texas. The chartered plane's pilot got lost flying
in the dark and there were problems with the fuel tank.
Understandably, when they finally arrived in Nashville, none of them
was in the mood to record.
At the studio RCA presented Elvis with a gold record for "Heartbreak
Hotel" and Life magazine had photographer Don Cravens there to do a
story on him.
In the photos Elvis can be seen recording in his stocking feet. In
the three-hour session they recorded only "I Want You, I Need You, I
Love You".
Elvis and the band flew back to Memphis - this time with bad weather
being the stress factor for their flight.Then they rejoined the tour in Texas. The single "I Want You, I
Need You, I Love You" with "My Baby Left Me" as the flip side was
released in May 1956.
It had a 24-week run on the "Billboard" pop chart with one of those
weeks at #1.
It spent 11 weeks on the UK singles chart, peaking at #14. The song
has also been recorded by the Starlight Drifters and by Keith Sykes.
Elvis's recording was also used in the 1989 movie "Heart of Dixie".
LOVE ME
This song was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1954. They
were not impressed with their own work and would later call it the
worst song they'd ever written. Elvis recorded it on September 1,
1956 at Radio Recorders studio in Hollywood, California. Elvis and
Scotty Moore played guitar. Bill Black played the bass. D.J. Fontana
played drums. Elvis and Gordon Stoker shared duties at the piano
during this session. The Jordanaires were the vocal backup. The song
was released in October 1956 on the EP "Elvis, Vol. 1" and on the
album "Elvis". The song peaked at #2 on the "Billboard" pop singles
chart, the EP peaked at #6 and the album hit #1. Prior to Elvis,
"Love Me" was recorded by the duo Willie and Ruth and by Georgia
Gibb. Since
Elvis, it has been recorded by The Mavericks. |
