Elvis' Golden Records
Elvis' Golden Records is a compilation album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor in March 1958. It compiled his hit singles released in 1956 and 1957, and is widely believed to be the first greatest hits album in rock and roll history. It is the first of five RCA Victor Elvis' Golden/Gold Records compilations, four of which would be released during Presley's lifetime. It peaked at number three on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. It was certified Gold on October 17, 1961, Platinum on May 20, 1988, 5x Platinum on March 27, 1992 and 6x Platinum on August 17, 1999 by the Recording Industry Association of America.[1]
| Elvis' Golden Records | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | March 21, 1958 | |||
| Recorded | July 1954-September 1957 | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 32:03 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Producer | Steve Sholes, Elvis Presley | |||
| Elvis Presley chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Elvis' Golden Records | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
Content
Elvis' Golden Records comprises nine number one A-sides along with four B-sides, "Loving You", "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", "Treat Me Nice" and "Anyway You Want Me", and one album track, "Love Me", originally issued on the 1956 LP Elvis. Every flip-side also hit the chart separately from its parent hit side, with four making the Top 40; chart positions noted for those tracks individually. "Love Me" was also included on the Elvis Vol. 1 EP single which made the top ten on the singles chart.
In the 1950s, a gold record awarded for a single referred to sales of one million units, different from the definition in use by the late 1970s for albums, where a gold record came to mean album sales of 500,000 units. Exact figures from the RIAA are difficult to confirm, but in the press conference from September 22, 1958, originally released on the RCA Victor EP Elvis Sails in 1958 and included on disc four of the RCA CD boxed set The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50s Masters, the interviewer asks Presley for a tally of his gold records. Presley responds, saying "I have 25 million sellers, and two albums that have sold a million each."[2]
Most of the songs in the compilation were recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, with other sessions at the RCA Victor studios in New York, at 20th Century-Fox's Stage One in Hollywood, and the RCA Victor studios in Nashville.[3] Although RCA Victor executive Steve Sholes was the in-house A&R man for Presley, and nominally in charge of his recording sessions at RCA Victor, accounts by Presley historian Peter Guralnick and Presley discographer Ernst Mikael Jorgensen indicate that Presley himself acted as the producer for his RCA Victor sessions in the 1950s.
The unified Billboard Hot 100 singles chart was not created until August, 1958, after the release of this compilation, and of course after the release of all of these singles. Chart positions referenced would be taken from the Best Sellers In Stores chart, although early measurement of rock and roll records also came from the Most Played In Jukeboxes chart.
Reissues
RCA first reissued the original 14 track album on compact disc in 1984. This release, in reprocessed (fake) stereo sound, was quickly withdrawn and the album was reissued in original monophonic. RCA reissued the album on CD again in 1997 and added six bonus tracks, with "Blue Suede Shoes" an unusual track in that it was issued simultaneously in conjunction with every track from Elvis' debut LP Elvis Presley in singles form, more than five months after the release of the album on March 23. Two more charting B-sides, "I Was the One" and "My Baby Left Me", and three Sun Records tracks rounded out the compact disc. RCA Victor had purchased the rights to reissue Sun material when buying Elvis' contract from Sam Phillips in 1955, using Sun recordings to fill out album tracks throughout the decade.
Track listing
Chart positions for singles taken from Billboard Pop Singles chart except as indicated.
Original release | ||||||||
| Side one | ||||||||
| No. | Z | Song Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Catalogue | Release date | Chart Peak | Time |
| 1. | "Hound Dog" | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | July 2, 1956 | 47-6604b | July 13, 1956 | 1 | 2:15 | |
| 2. | "Loving You" | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | February 24, 1957 | 47-7000b | June 11, 1957 | 20 | 2:12 | |
| 3. | "All Shook Up" | Otis Blackwell and Elvis Presley | January 12, 1957 | 47-6870 | March 22, 1957 | 1 | 1:57 | |
| 4. | "Heartbreak Hotel" | Mae Axton, Tommy Durden, Elvis Presley | January 10, 1956 | 47-6357 | January 27, 1956 | 1 | 2:09 | |
| 5. | "Jailhouse Rock" | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | April 30, 1957 | 47-7035 | September 24, 1957 | 1 | 2:27 | |
| 6. | "Love Me" | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | September 1, 1956 | LPM 1382 | October 19, 1956 | 2 | 2:43 | |
| 7. | "Too Much" | Lee Rosenberg and Bernard Weinman | September 2, 1956 | 47-6800 | January 4, 1957 | 1 | 2:31 | |
| Side two | ||||||||
| No. | Song Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Catalogue | Release date | Chart Peak | Time | |
| 1. | "Don't Be Cruel" | Otis Blackwell and Elvis Presley | July 2, 1956 | 47-6604 | July 13, 1956 | 1 | 2:02 | |
| 2. | "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" | Fred Fisher, Billy Hill, William Raskin | January 13, 1957 | 47-6870b | March 22, 1957 | 58 | 3:21 | |
| 3. | "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" | Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe | January 24, 1957 | 47-7000 | June 11, 1957 | 1 | 1:45 | |
| 4. | "Love Me Tender" | Vera Matson and Elvis Presley | August 24, 1956 | 47-6643 | September 28, 1956 | 1 | 2:41 | |
| 5. | "Treat Me Nice" | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | September 5, 1957 | 47-7035b | September 24, 1957 | 18 | 2:10 | |
| 6. | "Anyway You Want Me (That's How I Will Be)" | Cliff Owens and Aaron Schroeder | July 2, 1956 | 47-6643b | September 28, 1956 | 20 | 2:14 | |
| 7. | "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" | Lou Kosloff and George Mysels | April 14, 1956 | 47-6540 | May 12, 1956 | 1 | 2:40 | |
1997 reissue bonus tracks | ||||||||
| The 1997 CD reissue of Elvis' Golden Records included the original 14 tracks along with the following bonus tracks: | ||||||||
| No. | Song Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Catalogue | Release date | Chart Peak | Time | |
| 15. | "My Baby Left Me" | Arthur Crudup | January 30, 1956 | 47-6540b | May 4, 1956 | 31 | 2:12 | |
| 16. | "I Was the One" | Aaron Schroeder, Claude DeMetrius, Hal Blair, Bill Peppers | January 11, 1956 | 47-6357b | January 27, 1956 | 19 | 2:34 | |
| 17. | "That's All Right" | Arthur Crudup | July 5, 1954 | Sun 209 | July 19, 1954 | — | 1:55 | |
| 18. | "Baby, Let's Play House" | Arthur Gunter | February 5, 1955 | Sun 217 | April 10, 1955 | 5 (C&W) | 2:16 | |
| 19. | "Mystery Train" | Herman Parker Jr. and Sam Phillips | July 11, 1955 | Sun 223b | August 6, 1955 | 11 (C&W) | 2:24 | |
| 20. | "Blue Suede Shoes" | Carl Perkins | January 30, 1956 | 47-6636 | August 31, 1956 | 20 | 1:59 | |
Original UK release | ||||||||
| The UK issue (LPM-1717) has a footnote attributed to "RCA Records, London": "This album, as issued in the U.S.A., contains 14 of ELVIS PRESLEY'S 16 consecutive Golden Records. Four of these, "Loving You", "Jailhouse Rock", "Teddy Bear", "Treat Me Nice", have already been issued on the RCA label in this country. So in response to many letters from Elvis' fans all over the British Isles, we have replaced them with four earlier recordings which have NEVER BEFORE BEEN ISSUED IN THIS COUNTRY. These are, I LOVE YOU BECAUSE, YOU'RE A HEARTBREAKER, I'LL NEVER LET YOU GO, I FORGOT TO REMEMBER TO FORGET. | ||||||||
| Side one | ||||||||
| No. | Song Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Catalogue | Release date | Chart Peak | Time | |
| 1. | "Hound Dog" | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | July 2, 1956 | HMV POP 249 | September 1956 | 2 | 2:15 | |
| 2. | "I Love You Because" | Leon Payne | July 5, 1954 | — | — | — | 2:42 | |
| 3. | "All Shook Up" | Otis Blackwell and Elvis Presley | January 12, 1957 | HMV POP 359 | June 1957 | 1 | 1:57 | |
| 4. | "Heartbreak Hotel" | Mae Axton, Tommy Durden, Elvis Presley | January 10, 1956 | HMV 7M 385 | March 1956 | 2 | 2:09 | |
| 5. | "You're a Heartbreaker" | Jack Sallee | January 2, 1954 | — | — | — | 2:12 | |
| 6. | "Love Me" | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | September 1956 | HMV POP 295b | February 1, 1957 | 25 | 2:43 | |
| 7. | "Too Much" | Lee Rosenberg and Bernard Weinman | September 2, 1956 | HMV POP 330 | April 1957 | 6 | 2:31 | |
| Side two | ||||||||
| No. | Song Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Catalogue | Release date | Chart Peak | Time | |
| 1. | "Don't Be Cruel" | Otis Blackwell and Elvis Presley | July 2, 1956 | HMV POP 249b | September 1956 | 1 | 2:02 | |
| 2. | "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" | Fred Fisher, Billy Hill, William Raskin | January 13, 1957 | HMV POP 359b | June 1957 | 1 | 3:21 | |
| 3. | "I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')" | Jimmy Wakely | September 10, 1954 | — | — | — | 2:24 | |
| 4. | "Love Me Tender" | Vera Matson and Elvis Presley | August 24, 1956 | HMV POP 253 | December 1956 | 11 | 2:41 | |
| 5. | "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" | Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers | July 11, 1955 | — | — | — | 2:28 | |
| 6. | "Anyway You Want Me (That's How I Will Be)" | Cliff Owens and Aaron Schroeder | July 2, 1956 | HMV POP 253b | December 1956 | 11 | 2:14 | |
| 7. | "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" | Lou Kosloff and George Mysels | April 14, 1956 | HMV 7M 424 | July 1956 | 14 | 2:40 | |
Chart performance
| Chart (1958) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 | 3 |
Certifications/sales
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[4] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[5] | 6× Platinum | 6,000,000^ |
|
*sales figures based on certification alone | ||
External links
- Elvis' Golden Records at Discogs (list of releases)
- LPM-1707 Elvis Presley Guide part of The Elvis Presley Record Research Database
References
- "Searchable datebase". RIAA. 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013. Note: Enter search for "Presley, Elvis"
- The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50s Masters, disc 4, track 24
- "Keith Flynn's Elvis Presley Pages". RIAA. 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
- "Canadian album certifications – Elvis Presley – Elvis' Golden Records". Music Canada.
- "American album certifications – Presley, Elvis – Elvis' Golden Records, Volume 1". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
