Elvis Presley
The Originals

Writing about the February 1976 sessions in his book, "Elvis Presley: A Life In Music," Ernst Jorgensen refers to this number as "a new song by Dennis Linde." This, however, was not the case, for it had already been recorded and released by Teresa Brewer. "For The Heart" appeared on her album "Unliberated Woman," released in 1975 on the Signature label (BSL1-0935).
Born Teresa Breuer in 1931, Brewer was a talented child, who toured the USA and appeared as a regular for seven years on the radio show, "Major Bowes Amateur Hour." By 1948 she had changed her name to Brewer and was singing and dancing in New York. She was signed to the British record label, London, and in late 1949 recorded "Music, Music, Music," the song which is probably still most associated with her. In 1951 she signed for Coral and the following year recorded her biggest selling record, "Till I Walz Again With You." A fan of that song was Elvis Presley, who sang it during a show in Humes High School.

Al Bernard was an American vaudeville singer, known as "The Boy From Dixie," who was popular from the 1910s to the early 1930s. He was born in New Orleans in November 1888 and died in New York in March 1949. He made the first recording of "Frankie and Johnny" in May 1921 for release on Brunswick 2107 (backed with W.C. Handy's composition, "Memphis Blues"). Frankie Crumit with the Biese Trio recorded the number shortly after, in June 1921 and their recording was released on Columbia A3459. These are just two of many recordings of the song, made under a variety of titles, throughout the 1920s and subsequent decades. (Earlier recordings dealing with the same storyline, but with different titles and different tunes, such as Mamie Smith's February 1921 "Frankie's Blues" are ignored here.) The oldest known publication of the tune dates from 1904, under the title "He Done Me Wrong (The Death Of Bill Bailey)" (not to be confused with Marion Harris's recording "He Done Me Wrong," made in 1920—totally different), written by Hughie Cannon, and the song was first published as "Frankie And Johnny" in 1912, with composer and lyricist credits going to The Leighton Brothers and Ren Shields. The songs origins, however, go back much further, but would require their own book to be fully investigated. The number, then, is a traditional, though the version for the film seems to have merited its own writers credits.

Born on 13 July 1895 in Point Leavell, Kentucky, Bradley Kincaid was a folk musician who was a popular radio act in the late 1920s. He learned many traditional British ballads from his mother. To these perhaps 80 songs he added more folk ballads after meeting John H. Smith when studying at Bellea College in 1914. After serving two years in France during the First World War, Kincaid married and moved to Chicago, where by 1926 he was taking part in the National Barn Dances radio variety show, which later led to a series of highly successful concerts. In December 1927 Kincaid made his first recordings for the Chicago-based Gennet Records, which also released his tracks on the Silvertone label. During his second session, in February 1928, one of the songs recorded was "Froggie Went a-Courtin'." Kincaid continued performing into the 1960s and was nominated for the Country Music Hall of Fame in the late 1980s. He died in 1989. Clearly,
Exactly what Peretti and Creatore, who are more associated with Elvis as part of the team that came up with "Can't Help Falling In Love," had to do with the writing of this traditional ballad (which dates back to the 16th century), is a mystery.

Ned Miller recorded the original version of his own "From A Jack To A King" in 1957, when it was released as a single on the Dot label, but failed to chart. It was reissued in 1962 on the Fabor label, then reaching number 2 on the Billboard Country chart and number 6 on the Hot 100 chart. Miller also wrote "Dark Moon."

Composer Willie Nelson recorded his own version in 1962. A concert version by Elvis recorded at Shreveport, Louisiana on June 7, 1975 is listed in the box set "Elvis Aron Presley."

Surely one of the highlights of the "From Elvis In Memphis" album, which itself must rank as one of Elvis's very best. If you want only one Elvis album in your collection, get this one and forget about the rest. I can stick the headphones on, set the CD player to replay, and listen to this number over and over again. A real gem! John Hartford was something of an eccentric; as well as being a musicina and composer, he was also an author and riverboat captain and could dance a mean soft-shoe shuffle. He died in 2001.

Although listed as a Lennon-McCartney composition, it was Paul McCartney who was solely responsible for "Get Back," composed at a difficult time for The Beatles and in an attempt to "get back" to their roots. The recording featured Paul on lead vocal and Billy Preston on organ, who was also credited on the record label. Elvis sometimes coupled "Get Back" with "Little Sister" during live appearances in the 1970s. A recording of Elvis rehearsing the number on 29 July 1970 also exists.

Having failed to get music publishing companies interested in his songs, Stan Jones recorded several of them, including this one, himself. Composer Eden Ahbez (best known for the hit "Nature Boy") heard "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" and brought it to Burl Ives, who cut it for Columbia Records. It was later picked up by Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, and Vaughn Monroe, as well as dozens of others, and Jones had a new career and major Hollywood representation. Whetehr Jones's own recording served only as a demo or was eventually released, is unknown. Elvis's recording is taken from a rehearsal and was not originally intended for release; indeed, it was not released officially for over thirty years!

Thomas Wayne, co-writer and original recording artist, was a graduate of L.C. Humes High School, just like Elvis! His original single carried the title "Girl Next Door;" early pressings of "Elvis Is Back!" listed the number as "The Girl Next Door" and later pressings as "The Girl Next Door Went a-Walking." Wayne's original was recorded in 1959 on Scotty Moore's own short-lived Fernwood record label and released in May 1960 on Fernwood 122. Thomas Wayne was born Thomas Wayne Perkins in 1940 and was the brother of Luther Perkins, who played guitar for Johnny Cash. Thomas Wayne died in 1971.

Les Reed and Barry Mason were major songwriting forces in the 1960s, especially in the UK, where seldom did a week go by without at least one of their numbers in the charts. They worked together, individually, or with other partners, to produce such hits as "Tell Me When" (Applejacks), "Here It Comes Again" (Fortunes), "Delilah" (Tom Jones, though written for P.J. Proby) and "The Last Waltz" (Engelbert Humperdinck), along with many others.
Engelbert Humperdinck was born Arnold George Dorsey, in Madras, India, in 1936. After taking the name of a German opera composer as his stage name, Humperdinck became an internationally successful pop singer in the 1960s and 1970s. Humperdinck's original version of "Girl Of Mine" appeared on his 1972 album "In Time," but may have been recorded earlier, as at least one site (www.lesreed.com no less) indicates that it was already released in 1970.

The Coasters, one of THE groups of the 50s and early 60s, recorded many Leiber and Stoller numbers. They recorded the original version of "Girls! Girls! Girls!" for Atlantic ein February 1961, making it a two-part song. Part 1 was recorded just before "Little Egypt" and Part 2 some time later during the same session. Both parts were released together on a single, which reached number 96 in the US pop charts in August 1961. "Little Egypt" was another Leiber and Stoller number that both the Coasters and Elvis recorded.

Frizzel was a real innovator in style and presentation and a major influence on others singers. After a less than successful spell as a boxer, Frizzell turned to singing, with considerably more success: in 1951 he held the number one position in the Country charts for more than half the year. And Elvis's rhinestone-encrusted jumpsuits can also be traced back to Lefty! Frizzell was the first singer to wear rhinestones on stage, in an outfit designed by none other than Nudie Cohen—now where have we heard that name before? Lefty Frizzell died in 1975. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982. As for Elvis's version of this number, well, it appeared on a rather mysterious 2-song CD put out on the Suedes label (KAYS 1955-578-1) which might be a recording of Elvis performing the number live on a radio show. The cover reads, "We cannot make any statements about the identity of the singer, firstly because of legal reasons and secondly because we really dont know." However, another source indicates that this and the other song on the Suedes release ("Uncle Pen") are really by Paul Ansell who fronts the group No.9, with some sound effects to "age" the recording.

Was Roy Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight" the first Rock'n'Roll record? Brown first offered his number to Wynonie Harris, who turned it down. Brown recorded it himself and the number reached the R&B Top 20, so Wynonie Harris then recorded it and scored a number one R&B hit in 1948. Pat Boone (!) sung the only version to get into the American top 100. Sorry, but can you really imagine Pat Boone singing "Good Rockin' Tonight..."?

Composer Danny O'Keefe recorded this number on no less than three separate occasions! The original dates from 1967, on the Jerden label; then came a version on the Cotillion label in 1971; finally O'Keefe recorded his hit version for the Signpost label in 1972. Elvis did not sing the lines "I got my pills to ease the pain, Can't find a thing to ease my brain."

Ann Cole originally recorded with her own gospel group, the Colemanaires, under her own name, Cynthia Coleman, but changed names when she started recording R&B numbers in the 50s. Got My Mojo Working might be associated with Muddy Waters, but he learned the number form Ann Cole, who sang it as part of the warm-up act at Muddy's concerts. Both artists recorded the song at about the same time, but Muddy's version had the benefit of better distribution and so became the bigger hit.Others identify far older numbers as the original, including for example, Coot Grant and Kid Wilson's 1932 "Keep Your Hands Off My Mojo" and Leadbelly's "Keep your Hands Off Her" (along with numerous other candidates, too many to list). None of these, however, match in tune or lyrics the song that Elvis sang, even if the sentiment might be similar. Both this number and "Keep Your Hands Off Of It" seem to come from the same root, the one developing more in the Country area (Hands), the other (Mojo) in the R&B area.

Curly Putman's own version also dates from 1965, but Johnny Darrell's recording was first. That same year also saw versions by Porter Wagoner, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Ferlin Husky. Welshman Tom Jones's UK number one version was recorded in 1966. It was this version that persuaded Elvis to record the number.

Pepe Guízar wrote the number in 1938 and then went on to perform it in the film "Caminos de Ayer" (also called "La Mano de Dios").

Jerry Reed and Jerry Hubbard (composer) are one and the same — Hubbard is the real name. Jerry was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1937. He started to play guitar at age eight and was particularly inspired by Merle Travis's "I Am A Pilgrim." He started recording for Capitol in 1955, but with little success, so thathe left the company in 1958. By 1961, Jerry had completed his miltary service (1959 to 1961), during which he played as a member of the army's Circle-A Wranglers band, and had developed his "claw style" method of guitar playing. After a brief and unsuccessful time with Columbia Records, Reed signed with RCA. His first top 20 hit came in 1967 with "Tupelo Mississippi Flash," a song about Elvis. He was voted Instrumentalist of The Year in 1970 by the Country Music Associatiion and won a Grammy for the number "When You're Hot, You're Hot" in 1971. He won two other Grammy awards, together with Chet Atkins, one in 1970 and the other in 1992. In the mid-1970s he began acting in films such as "Smokey And The Bandit" and enjoyed occasional parts for the rest of his life. Jerry Reed died in September 2008. Jerry played guitar on Elvis's recording of "Guitar Man." See also "A Thing Called Love," "U.S. Male" and "Talk About The Good Times."

This was McShann's biggest hit, featuring Priscilla Bowman on vocals. According to the sleeve-notes of "The Home Recordings," this number was recorded in Perugia Way, Bel Air; the book, "A Life In Music," however, gives Monovale Drive, Hollywood, as the recording location. The number itself isn't original, being a rewrite of a country song called "Keep Your Hands Off Of It (Birthday Cake)."

Yes, "Happy Birthday To You." But that's not how the song started out! The sisters Mildred and Patty Hill wrote the original song for children and published it in 1893 as "Good Morning To All." Robert Coleman published the song again in 1924 without the sisters' permission, adding a second verse—"Happy Birthday To You." This verse became so popular that everyone forgot about the first! Enter sister number three, Jessica Hill: she, together with Patty (Mildred died in 1916), sued for and won ownership of the song. The family now legally owns the song and is entitled to a royalty payment each time it is played for commercial purposes! The version on "Collectors Gold" was sung in concert in Las Vegas for James Burton. Some unofficial releases also provide renditions of the song by Elvis in concert: at Fort Worth for sound engineer Bruce "Goose" Jackson, 3 June 1976 ("Cajun Tornado")and on Tuesday, May 3, 1977, he sang it at a concert in Saginew for Linda Thompson ("Springtime in Saginew"). So what's all this got to do with the Leningrad Philharmonic, I hear you ask? Well, composer Shostakovich included the tune in the trumpet solo of his Symphony Number 2, written to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution! This was a performance, rather than a recording, but it looks good, doesn't it? As for the first recording, this was probably made by Shirley Temple in her 1934 film, "Baby Take a Bow" (her first film, incidentally).

Gilbert Lopez and his sister, Margo Sylvia, wrote "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" in 1952. Together with their cousin, Charlotte Davis, and Margo's husband, John, they formed the Tune Weavers and recorded the number in 1957, reaching number 5 on Billboard's Top 100 and number 4 on the R&B chart.
The recording of Elvis singing the song was made by his friend, Eddie Fadal, when Elvis was visiting his home in Waco Texas, during his national service.

Harbor Lights is not an American, but a British original, so the correct spelling of the original is Harbour Lights. Lyricist Jimmy Kennedy was born in Omagh, Northern Ireland. Because of the sort of lyrics he wrote, many thought that he was American. He was, indeed, one of the most successful British songwriters ever, with more hits in the USA than anyone until Lennon and McCartney. Among his other compositions are "Red Sails In The Sunset" and "Teddy Bear's Picnic." The first American spelling version was also recorded in 1937 by Claude Thornhill. The tune was used as the theme music for the 1940 film, "The Long Voyage Home," starring John Wayne. Some entries list Williams and Kennedy as the writers—there is no difference, as Hugh Williams was merely a pseudonymn employed by Austrian-born composer Wilhelm Grosz (who, incidentally, wrote "Tomorrow Night"). Kennedy also wrote "South Of The Border."

Based on a traditional tune, perhaps originating in the Ukraine. The tune itself is in the public domain, so anyone can publish, arrange and play about with it, though an exact reproduction of the originally published lead sheet (1932) would be an infringement of so-called mechanical rights. But wait, a lead sheet dated 1932, but the original recording in 1915—how can this be? Well, the history of "Hava Nagila" is a mystery—note the question-mark next to the writer's name! It seems that one of two people, or perhaps both of them, were responsible for the song we today know as "Hava Nagila." It was first "recorded" in 1915 (for this number I am not following my usual guideline to indicate the first released recorded version): this recording was made by Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, known as the father of Jewish Musicology, who recorded the number as played and "sung" by a group of Sadigura Hasidim. It is unclear what form his recording took, though it might have been made on a wax cylinder and at the time the song was a wordless chant. Exactly how the words we now associate with "Hava Nagila" came into being, is also unclear: either Idelsohn himself wrote them, or Moshe Nathanson, one of his students, did so at his behest. In any case, after Idelsohn's death, Nathanson claimed authorship.

Scotty Wiseman was a patient in Wesley Memorial Hospital, Chicago, for some weeks in 1944. As hiw wife, Lulu, was leaving him after a visit, she whispered the words, "Have I told you lately that I love you?" to him. He wrote the song with that title during the coming night and sang it to his wife the next day. A friend took the number to Gene Autry, who made the first recording of it in October or November 1945 on Columbia 37079. Lulu Belle and Scotty's own version was released on a Vogue Picture Record (R719) in 1946(?). Lulu Belle and Scotty were known as The Sweethearts Of Country Music.

The original title of this number, written in 1926 by Charles King, was "Ke Kali Nei Au." Charles King made a recording of his own song in 1926. Bing Crosby recorded an English language version in 1951, but new English lyrics were provided by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning in 1958, providing Andy Williams with a hit at the time when Hawaii became the fiftieth State of the USA. These are the lyrics used in Elvis's version of the number.

Al Hibbler's original reached number 4 in the US charts in 1955 (The McGuire Sister's cover of the same period got to number 10). Hibbler was born in Mississippi in 1915. He sang with the Duke Ellington Band through the 1940s, leaving in 1951 to pursue a solo career. He often sang in an idiosyncratic manner (as was the case with this number) and sometimes used a "Cockney" accent. Hibbler died in 2001.

Jack Greene had a big hit in 1966 with his original version of Frazier's "There Goes My Everything" (see below)—notice anything about the title? Pretty similar, isn't it? That's because composer Dallas Frazier simply rewrote the lyrics to his earlier secular success to come up with this modern gospel number, which Walker included on his 1968 album of the same name.

It is extremely difficult to discover just who originally recorded this Mosie Lister song. Mosie probably wrote the song for The Statesmen in 1955, and they released the number as "Jesus Knows What I Need" on a 78 (number 1041) on their own Statesmen label, backed with "I Believe In The Man In The Sky," but I have been unable to confirm the recording date. Still, it is likely that this was before that of the Blackwood Brothers, who made their own version, now titled "He Knows Just What I Need," in December 1955 and released it on their 1956 RCA Victor album, "Hymn Sing." Composer Mosie Lister was a founder member of the Statesmen Quartet in 1948, for whom he also wrote and did arrangements. He soon became so popular and prolific as a songwriter that he gave up singing, however, to concentrate on churning out countless superb songs in the gospel tradition. Both the Statesmen Quartet and the Blackwood Brothers were great favourites of Elvis.

One of the most successful songwriters in all of Christian music, Bill Gaither was an original member of the renowned gospel music act the Gaither Trio (made up of Gaither, his brother Bill, and sister Mary Ann). Bill's wife, Gloria,later replaced Mary Ann in the group, which was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 1999. In addition to recording with the trio, Bill and Gloria recorded as a duo and as part of the Gaither Vocal Band. Bill Gaither released a solo CD in 2002 entitled "He Touched Me."

A number perhaps most associated with "Gentleman" Jim Reeves, who scored a C&W number one with it in 1959, but rockabilly artist Billy Brown recorded it first on Columbia 41380. Joe and Audrey Alison wrote the song as a result of their own difficulties on the telephone: Audrey spoke so softly that Joe would ask her to hold the phone closer to her mouth. Billy Brown's original failed to sell, so Reeves covered it for release as the B-side of "In a Mansion Stands My Love." DJs flipped the record, however, and it went on to become a huge hit in both the country and pop charts.
"He'll Have To Go" was the last song that Elvis recorded in an organized session (held in the Jungle Room, Graceland).

A fairly recent Elvis "find," having first appeared officially on the 1999 "Sunrise" double-CD set—a very early and very scratchy live recording, possibly made in Lubbock, Texas, at a concert attended by Buddy Holly, though more likely to have been made when Elvis performed on the Louisiana Hayride.
Johnny Torrence, Dee Hawkins, James Brown and Rudy Jackson released a record as The Marbles, then added a new member to the group's lineup and renamed it The Jewels. Their first release was "Hearts Of Stone," which had been written by Rudy Jackson and Eddie Ray. A cover version by Otis Williams and The Charms received better promotion and became the bigger hit. The Jewels had several more releases, but broke up in 1956.

It is possible that Larry Gatlin recorded his own version of his composition in 1972, but I have been unable to verify this. Johnny Cash featured the song in a film that year, but did not record it until considerably later. Former Golden Gloves boxer Kris Kristofferson turned down an offer to teach at the USA military academy at West Point and instead moved to Nashville to become a country musician. A big fan of Willie Nelson, he became one of the on-and-off group "The Highwaymen," along with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Nelson himself. Kris Kristofferson's version featured on his LP "Jesus Was A Carpenter" and is sung as a duet with Gatlin.

Kris Kristofferson was born in 1936 and started writing songs in the late 1940s. After a spell with the US military he moved to Nashville in 1965 and signed a recording contract with Monument in 1969. On 29 October of that year he recorded the original version of his own composition, "Help Me Make It Through The Night," which was released the following year on his debut album "Kristofferson." Sammi Smith's 1970 recording of the number reached number one in the C&W charts. Smith won a Grammy for best country vocal performance by a female singer in 1971 for "Help Me Make It Through The Night." The song also won Kris Kristofferson a grammy for best country song. Sammi Smith died on 12 February 2005, aged just 61. See also "Why Me Lord."

When Gene Autry took part in a Christmas parade in Hollywood in November 1947, he heard children shouting "Here Comes Santa Claus" all along the route. By December he and Oakley Haldeman had written the song and Autrey's own recording was in the Billboard Best Selling Singles top ten.

Included only because the title is mentioned in the playlist of the unofficial CD of which it forms part. Elvis sings no more than the title of "Here We Go Again" at the breakdown of a take of "Burning Love."
Although originally recorded by Ray Charles in 1966, the version manufactured much later as a duet with Norah Jones and included on his last album (Charles died in June 2004) was the one to be awarded a Grammy in 2005 as record of the year. Charles also recorded the original version of "I Got A Woman."
Red Steagall was named "Official Cowboy Poet of Texas" in 1991.

Bo Diddley was born Ellas Bates in December 1928 near McComb, Mississippi. At eight months of age he was adopted by a cousin of his mother, called Gussie McDaniel and was taken to Chicago, where he grew up. He took her name and the McDaniel of the writer's credit is Bo Diddley himself. (Why Bo Diddley? He doesn't know himself, but it was a nickname given to him at school.) He studied classical violin for eight years (or twelve, depending on the source), but taught himself how to play guitar and soon developed a Latin-tinged, highly rhythmic style. He released his first single in 1955 on the Checkers label, coupling "Bo Diddley" with "I'm A Man" and went on to have great success until the early 1960s. He was never really forgotten, however, and his influence on others is enormous: Buddy Holly, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, The Doors, have all clearly demonstrated a debt to Bo Diddley. Elvis's "recording" of "Hey Bo Diddley" is really a showcase for his concert drummer, Ronnie Tutt, with Elvis just scatting along now and then.
Bo Diddley died in June 2008.

For contractual reasons, John Lennon's name appears in the writer credits, but the number was the sole work of Paul McCartney. He wrote it in the car whilst on his way to visit Lennon; the original title was "Hey Jules"—the Jules in question being Lennon's son, Julian.

Big problem. This track is listed in official RCA/BMG releases (In A Private Moment; Today, Tomorrow & Forever…) with writing credits to Lowry and Crosby, or Baxter, Lowry, Crosby, or some other similar combination. Even Jorgensen fell into the same trap in his otherwise excellent book, "A Life In Music." The problem arises because the full title of this gospel song is "O Rock Of Ages Hide Thou Me" and it's the "Rock Of Ages" part that causes the confusion. "Rock Of Ages" is one of the most popular non-conformist hymns and was indeed written by Crosby et al., but it has nothing to do with the song song by Elvis. Instead the lyrics were written by either B.N. Hulteman (or was it R.N. Hultsman?), whose version is in the public domain, or by Thoro Harris and L.R. Tolbert, who copyrighted the number in 1926 (renewed in 1954). The 1941 version by the Chuck Wagon Gang set to a more up tempo tune than that used by Elvis, and their version is credited to Hulteman. The same words are published for the Harris and Tolbert version and it is their tune that Elvis follows. All very confusing! Elvis's version was recorded at home in Rocca Place, California, and was never intended for commercial release.

Or even "Hi-Heel Sneaker", which was how the title of the original was written. Presumably assuming that his given name was not a commercial asset, Robert Higginbotham took Tommy Tucker as his performing nomer. Atlantic wasn't interested in this number and sold the rights to Chess, who promptly released the song. Alter ego Robert Higginbotham continued as a jazz musician, who played organ, piano, drums, bass and clarinet in a variety of bands. Tucker/Higginbotham died of poisoning on January 22, 1982 (some sources indicate food poisoning, others carbon tetrachloride poisoning).

Just a one-liner by Elvis during the recording of "Guitar Man." The song "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin'" was the theme song for the 1952 film "High Noon." The film won seven Academy Awards, including one for Best Song for its theme. Ritter sang the song at the first-ever televised Academy Awards show in 1953. He recorded the number on several occasions. Ritter's show-business career started after a university education. He appeared in several Broadway musicals in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He started recording in 1933 and appeared in his first film in 1936. He died in January 1974.

Mosie Lister, who wrote this number, did the arrangements for The Statesmen, but did not sing in the group. The Statesmen Quartet was formed by Hovie Lister in 1948 and was originally made up of Mosie Lister, Bobby Strickland, Bervin Kendricks and Gordon Hill. Jake Hess, a great favourite of Elvis and possibly an influence on his singing style, replaced Mosie Lister after a few months and sang lead on their original version of this number.

Young Jessie recorded this number in 1956 for the Modern label, but it was not issued until 1982 on the Ace label. A different number by the same name was recorded by Buck Owens under the pseudonym Corky Jones. Young Jessie was actually Obediah Donnell, originally a baritone singer with the Flairs (another member was Richard Berrie, who wrote "Louie Louie").

Rock'n'Roll in a nutshell: one of the truly great rock songs, written by one of the truly great rock writing teams and performed by the truly great performer, Elvis. But before him came Big Mama Thornton's version, which itself sold more than two million copies! Although released in 1953, the original recording was actually made in 1952. Its release was delayed, however, because of Johnny Otis's assertion that he should share in the authors' rights. Although Thornton had the original, Elvis did not base his version on hers. Rather, it would seem that he was heavily influenced by the performance of the number by Freddie Bell and The Bellboys, whom he saw during his first stint in Las Vegas.

For a long time I had doubts as to whether Jimmie Rodgers Snow or Red Sovine was responsible for the original of "How Do You Think I Feel." Both artists had singles with the song in 1954, but Red's came out first on Decca 29068 in April 1954, whereas Jimmie's version was only released in November of that year on RCA Victor 47-59000. Given the recording and release practices of the time, it's probably safe to assume that Sovine's recording was the first.

This number comes originally from Sweden, with English words by Stuart K. Hine. The number was originally a 9-verse poem called "O Store Gud" and was written in 1886 by Pastor Carl Boberg, inspired during a visit to a country estate in the south-east of Sweden, when he was caught in a huge thunderstorm which was followed by clear and brilliant sunshine and he then heard birds singing nearby. Several years later the words were set to a traditional Swedish folk melody. A German version was created in 1907 and some 5 years later a Russian version. English lyrics were provided for the first three verses by the Rev. Stuart Hine in about 1933 and for the fourth verse in 1947. Elvis loved singing this number in concert.

(Note that I came across all sorts of stories and dates when trying to find the origins of this number. I present here a synthesis that seems to approach the truth!)

This number was recorded by Lomax as his final single for the Beatles' Apple label. It was selected and produced by George Harrison. Lomax's single had another Elvis connection: the B-side, "Thumbin' a Ride", was written by Leiber and Stoller. Composer Clive Westlake's version of his own song was released in late 1973 on RCA2441 in the UK.

No less than Chet Atkins wrote this number, together with Boudleaux Bryant. Arnold's version got to number 4 in the Country Chart. Eddy Arnold was a big name in Country music, with over 140 hits to his credit. Tom Parker managed Arnold before he saw the gold in Elvis. Elvis seems to have seen some gold in Arnold, though—he covered seven of his numbers, this being the first. Eddy Arnold died in May 2008.

Roy Hamilton was born in 1929. As a young man he sang in church and in a gospel quartet, The Searchlight Singers. He was discovered singing in a club in Newark, New Jersey, in 1953. He went on to release more than 50 singles during his career, which was cut short in July 1969 when he suffered a stroke. Roy Hamilton is the typical big ballad singer that Elvis really liked. In addition to "Hurt," Elvis also recorded "You'll Never Walk Alone," Hamilton's first record and a major success in 1954.

"I Apologize" is probably most associated with Billy Eckstine, who had a million-selling hit with it in 1951. The number was, however, written by Al Hoffman, Al Goodhart and Ed Nelson in the 1930s, when both Bing Crosby and Nat Shilkret scored hits with it. Shilkret made the first recording on 29 July 1931, issued on Victor 22781, closely followed by Crosby on 19 August. There is no certainty that Elvis recorded "I Apologize" officially, though it is rumoured that he may have done so during his Sun days. In 1962 he sang a small part of the song, which can be heard before an alternate take of "Beyond The Bend" ("I Apologize" is not listed and the date for the recording of "Beyond The Bend" in the documentation accompanying the "Collectors Gold" set is incorrect!) and in 1974 he also sang a part of the song on stage in Lake Tahoe after having introduced Billy Eckstine, who was in the audience (this can be heard on the Fort Baxter CD "Last Tango In Tahoe").

RCA released this number on "A Golden Celebration" as "He's Only A Prayer Away." Elvis recorded the number on a Grundig reel-to-reel consumer tape recorder in his rented house in Goethestrasse, Bad Nauheim, during his military service in Germany. A number of artists had recorded the song earlier, including Kate Smith and Mahalia Jackson, but George Beverly Shea's 1955 recording, probably made in April of that year, on RCA 20-6113, seems to be the original.