Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4
Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 | ||||
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Greatest hits album by Elvis Presley | ||||
Released | January 2, 1968 | |||
Recorded | June 1958 to June 1966 | |||
Genre | Rock and roll | |||
Length | 29:03 | |||
Label | RCA Victor | |||
Elvis Presley chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 is the thirty-first album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3921, in January 1968, with recording sessions taking place over an eight-year span at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, and at RCA Studios and Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It is a compilation of hit singles released between 1961 and 1967, peaking at number 33 on the Billboard 200.[2] It was certified Gold on March 27, 1992 by the Recording Industry Association of America.[3]
Content
Although he had remained a popular artist since the release Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3 (1963), placing eight albums in the Top Ten and 17 singles in the Top 40 Presley's sales had cooled off since his heyday.[2] The compilation album Elvis for Everyone (1965) was his first to sell under 300,000 copies, and his last five soundtrack albums had all done progressively worse in the marketplace, units shifted dropping to under 200,000.[4] Singles were no longer reaching the Top 40 automatically, and while his recent single "Big Boss Man" sold 350,000, that fell short of the needed 500,000 to qualify for gold status in US singles sales.[5] Usually a guaranteed seller, this volume sold only 400,000 copies; better than his recent soundtrack albums, but well off the mark set by its three predecessors.[6] The future of Presley's career was certainly in question.
Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 comprises five Top 40 A-sides along with seven b-sides, five of which also made the Top 40. Three songs had not been written expressly for Presley: "Love Letters" came from the 1945 film of the same name; "Witchcraft" had been a 1956 hit record for The Spiders; and "What'd I Say" was the Ray Charles classic from 1959.[7] Three B-sides, "Lonely Man", "A Mess of Blues", and "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" were old enough to have been included on Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3, and another b-side, "Ain't That Loving You Baby", came from RCA's furlough session of June 10, 1958, set up to augment their stock of Presley product while their star was in the United States Army.[8]
The first three Gold Records volumes covered two to three years of singles releases, but there was a five-year gap between this and the previous volume. This would be the last of the series issued during Presley's lifetime. Elvis' Gold Records Volume 5, which included singles from 1969 to 1977, was released posthumously in 1984.
The July 15, 1997 reissue of Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 added six tracks and altered the running order. "Rock-A-Hula Baby" dated from the 1961 soundtrack to Blue Hawaii, pulled off that album as the flip to accompany "Can't Help Falling In Love" as a single.[9] Three tracks were the advance singles for their respective soundtracks: "Bossa Nova Baby" for Fun in Acapulco; "Kissin' Cousins" for its album; and "Return to Sender", released a month before Girls! Girls! Girls!.[10] "Viva Las Vegas" (the flipside to "What'd I Say"), by the team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, would prove a more durable Elvis recording, receiving myriad cover versions including those by the Dead Kennedys, Bruce Springsteen, and Nine Inch Nails. The gospel song "Crying in the Chapel" had been recorded during the sessions for His Hand in Mine, this five-year-old track going to number three and selling a million copies as a single in 1965.[11]
By 1968, the practice of releasing LPs in mono was being discontinued. As a result, RCA issued very few mono copies of Gold Records Vol. 4 and are considered collector's items.[12]
Original recordings were produced by Steve Sholes, Joseph Lilley, Chet Atkins, Urban Thielmann, George Stoll, and Felton Jarvis.
Track listing
Chart positions for singles taken from Billboard Pop Singles chart.
Side one | ||||||||
No. | Z | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Catalogue | Released | Chart peak | Time |
1. | "Love Letters" | May 26, 1966 | 47−8870 | June 8, 1966 | 19 | 2:30 | ||
2. | "Witchcraft" |
| May 26, 1963 | 47−8243b | October 1, 1963 | 32 | 2:19 | |
3. | "It Hurts Me" | January 12, 1964 | 47−8307b | February 10, 1964 | 29 | 2:27 | ||
4. | "What'd I Say" | Ray Charles | August 30, 1963 | 47−8360 | April 28, 1964 | 21 | 3:02 | |
5. | "Please Don't Drag That String Around" | May 26, 1963 | 47−8188b | June 18, 1963 | − | 1:54 | ||
6. | "Indescribably Blue" | Darrell Glenn | June 10, 1966 | 47−9056 | January 10, 1967 | 33 | 2:48 | |
Side two | ||||||||
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Catalogue | Released | Chart peak | Time | |
1. | "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" | May 26, 1963 | 47−8188 | June 18, 1963 | 3 | 2:20 | ||
2. | "Lonely Man" |
| November 7, 1960 | 47−7850b | February 7, 1961 | 32 | 2:43 | |
3. | "A Mess of Blues" | March 20, 1960 | 47−7777b | July 5, 1960 | 32 | 2:39 | ||
4. | "Ask Me" |
| January 12, 1964 | 47−8840 | September 22, 1964 | 12 | 2:07 | |
5. | "Ain't That Loving You Baby" | 1958 | 47−8840b | September 22, 1964 | 16 | 2:22 | ||
6. | "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" | March 19, 1962 | 47−8041b | July 17, 1962 | 55 | 1:52 | ||
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Catalogue | Release date | Chart peak | Time | |
1. | "Return to Sender" |
| March 27, 1962 | 47−8100 | October 2, 1962 | 2 | 2:06 | |
2. | "Rock−a−Hula Baby" | March 23, 1961 | 47−7968b | November 22, 1961 | 23 | 1:57 | ||
3. | "Love Letters" | May 26, 1966 | 47−8870 | June 8, 1966 | 19 | 2:30 | ||
4. | "Bossa Nova Baby" |
| January 22, 1963 | 47−8243 | October 1, 1963 | 8 | 2:02 | |
5. | "Witchcraft" |
| May 26, 1963 | 47−8243b | October 1, 1963 | 32 | 2:19 | |
6. | "Kissin' Cousins" | September 30, 1963 | 47−8307 | February 10, 1964 | 12 | 2:12 | ||
7. | "It Hurts Me" |
| January 12, 1964 | 47−8307b | February 10, 1964 | 29 | 2:27 | |
8. | "Viva Las Vegas" |
| July 10, 1963 | 47−8360b | April 28, 1964 | 29 | 2:21 | |
9. | "What'd I Say" | Ray Charles | August 30, 1963 | 47−8360 | April 28, 1964 | 21 | 3:02 | |
10. | "Please Don't Drag That String Around" |
| May 26, 1963 | 47−8188b | June 18, 1963 | − | 1:54 | |
11. | "Indescribably Blue" | Darrell Glenn | June 10, 1966 | 47−9056 | January 10, 1967 | 33 | 2:48 | |
12. | "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" |
| May 26, 1963 | 47−8188 | June 18, 1963 | 3 | 2:20 | |
13. | "Lonely Man" |
| November 7, 1960 | 47−7850b | February 7, 1961 | 32 | 2:43 | |
14. | "A Mess of Blues" |
| March 20, 1960 | 47−7777b | July 5, 1960 | 32 | 2:39 | |
15. | "Ask Me" |
| January 12, 1964 | 47−8840 | September 22, 1964 | 12 | 2:07 | |
16. | "Ain't That Loving You Baby" |
| 1958 | 47−8840b | September 22, 1964 | 16 | 2:22 | |
17. | "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" |
| March 19, 1962 | 47−8041b | July 7, 1962 | 55 | 1:52 | |
18. | "Crying in the Chapel" | Artie Glenn | October 31, 1960 | 47−0643 | April 6, 1965 | 3 | 2:24 |
Personnel
- Elvis Presley − vocals, guitar
- Scotty Moore – guitar
- Hank Garland − guitar, bass
- Barney Kessell − guitar
- Chet Atkins − guitar
- Billy Strange − guitar
- Glen Campbell − guitar
- Tiny Timbrell − guitar
- Chip Young − guitar
- Harold Bradley − guitar
- Grady Martin − guitar
- Pete Drake − steel guitar
- Floyd Cramer − piano, organ
- Dudley Brooks − piano
- David Briggs − piano
- Artie Cane − piano
- Calvin Jackson − organ
- Henry Slaughter − organ
- Bob Moore − bass
- Ray Siegel − bass
- Meyer Rubin − bass
- D. J. Fontana − drums
- Buddy Harman – drums, tympani
- Hal Blaine − drums
- Frank Carlson − drums
- Boots Randolph − saxophone
- Rufus Long − saxophone
- Steve Douglas − saxophone
- The Jordanaires − backing vocals
- Millie Kirkham − backing vocals
- Dolores Edgin − backing vocals
- June Page − backing vocals
Charts
Album
Certifications and sales
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References
- ↑ Allmusic review
- 1 2 "Elvis Presley (awards)". Allmusic. Rovi Corp. 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- ↑ "Searchable datebase". RIAA. 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013. Note: Enter search for "Elvis Golden Records, Volume 4"
- ↑ Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998; pp. 201, 222, 224, 240.
- ↑ Jorgensen, op. cit., p. 240.
- ↑ Jorgensen, op. cit., p. 244.
- ↑ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 180, 184.
- ↑ Jorgensen, op. cit., p. 107.
- ↑ Jorgensen, op. cit., p. 164.
- ↑ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 170, 177, 185.
- ↑ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 200.
- ↑ Jerry Osborne's Presleyana: The Elvis Presley Record, CD, and Memorabilia Price Guide
- ↑ "American album certifications – Elvis Presley – Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
External links
- Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 at Discogs (list of releases)
- LPM−3921 Elvis' Gold Records − Volume 4 Guide (monaural) part of The Elvis Presley Record Research Database
- LSP−3921 Elvis' Gold Records − Volume 4 Guide (stereo) part of The Elvis Presley Record Research Database