Don't Be Cruel

"Don't Be Cruel" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956.^[1] It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was listed #197 in Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song is currently ranked as the 92nd greatest song of all time, as well as the fifth best song of 1956, by Acclaimed Music.^[2]

Elvis Presley

Recording

"Don't Be Cruel" was the first song that Presley's song publishers, Hill and Range, brought to him to record.^[3] Blackwell was more than happy to give up 50% of the royalties and a co-writing credit to Presley to ensure that the "hottest new singer around covered it".^[1]

Presley recorded the song on July 2, 1956 during an exhaustive recording session at RCA studios in New York City.^[1] During this session he also recorded "Hound Dog", and "Any Way You Want Me".^[3] The song featured Presley's regular band of Scotty Moore on lead guitar (with Presley usually providing rhythm guitar), Bill Black on bass, D.J. Fontana on drums, and backing vocals from the Jordanaires. The producing credit was given to RCA's Steve Sholes, although the studio recordings reveal that Presley produced the songs in this session by selecting the song, reworking the arrangement on piano, and insisting on 28 takes before he was satisfied with it.^[1] He also ran through 31 takes of "Hound Dog".^[3]

Release

The single was released on July 13, 1956 backed with "Hound Dog".^[1] Within a few weeks "Hound Dog" had risen to #2 on the Pop charts with sales of over one million.^[3] Soon after it was overtaken by "Don't Be Cruel" which took #1 on all three main charts; Pop, Country, and R 'n' B.^[1] Between them, both songs remained at #1 on the Pop chart for a run of 11 weeks tying it with the 1950 Anton Karas hit "The Third Man Theme" and the 1951/1952 Johnnie Ray hit "Cry" for the longest stay at number one by a single record until 1992's smash "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men. By the end of 1956 it had sold in excess of four million copies.^[1][3]

Presley performed "Don't Be Cruel" during all three of his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in September 1956 and January 1957.^[1]

Legacy

"Don't Be Cruel" went on to become Presley's biggest selling single recorded in 1956, with sales over six million by 1961.^[1] It became a regular feature of his live sets until his death in 1977, and was often coupled with "Jailhouse Rock" or "Teddy Bear" during performances from 1969.^[1]

Many artists including Barbara Lynn (1963, Jamie #1244 45 RPM), Bill Black Combo, Billy Swan, Cheap Trick, The Judds, Merle Haggard, John Lennon, Jerry Lee Lewis, Neil Diamond, Jackie Wilson, and Roland Cedermark have recorded the song. Presley was said to be so impressed with Wilson's version that he would later incorporate many of Wilson's mannerisms into future performances.^[1] Debbie Harry recorded the song for the Otis Blackwell tribute album "Brace Yourself! A Tribute to Otis Blackwell".^[4] Cheap Trick's version of this song became a hit when it reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988.

The main bass riff of the song is also used as the background music in the Nintendo video game Donkey Kong.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers lip-synched the original version of the song in a scene from Elvis, where it shows him performing at the Jacksonville Theatre.

Chart positions

Billy Swan

Year-End Chart

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Victor (2008), The Elvis Encyclopedia, p.115-116
2. ^ "Acclaimed Music Top 3000 songs". 27 May 2009. http://www.acclaimedmusic.net. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Guralnick/Jorgensen, Elvis: Day by Day, p.77-78
4. ^ Che, Cathy (1999), 'Deborah Harry: Platinum Blonde', MPG Books Ltd, Cornwall, p.238
5. ^ http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Billy+Swan&titel=Don%27t+Be+Cruel&cat=s