Elvis Presley's 1950s Discography with RCA

As with the discography of Chuck Berry that we have looked at in previous blog entries, Elvis' 1950s discography was also kind of a mess. Albums by rock and pop acts just weren't taken that seriously at the time. And in fact, Elvis was almost always more interested in singles than albums throughout his career.

I previously created a "lost" album from Elvis' days at Sun Records. Here we tackle his albums from 1956 through 1959. All of these tracks are available on the box set The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete '50s Masters.

ELVIS PRESLEY

SIDE A

1. Blue Suede Shoes

2. I'm Counting on You

3. I Got a Woman 

4. One Sided Love Affair

5. Lawdy Miss Clawdy

6. Heartbreak Hotel

SIDE B

1. Tutti Frutti

2. So Glad You’re Mine

3. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)

4. My Baby Left Me

5. I was the One

6. Shake, Rattle and Roll

7. Money Honey

To make this a more contemporary album, I removed the five songs recorded for Sun Records (“I Love You Because,” “Just Because,” “I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’)” and “Tryin' to Get to You") and replaced them with six tracks recorded in 1956 (“Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “So Glad You’re Mine,” “My Baby Left Me,” “I was the One” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll”). Mixing tracks that were recorded by different producers in different studios for different labels and using some different musicians just doesn't make for a proper listening experience. This version of the album would have been a much better album to release, IMHO.

ELVIS

SIDE A

1. Rip It Up

2. Love Me

3. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

4. Long Tall Sally

5. First in Line

6. Paralyzed

SIDE B

1. Reddy Teddy

2. Old Shep

3. Anyplace is Paradise

4. How's the World Treating You

5. How Do You Think I Feel

RCA did better with Elvis' second album. This LP is actually almost perfect the way it is, with the one exception being the inclusion of “So Glad You’re Mine.” That had been recorded during earlier sessions, and I already included it on the first re-imagined RCA album above. 

LOVING YOU

SIDE A

1. Mean Woman Blues

2. Party

3. Lonesome Cowboy

4. Got a Lot of Livin' to Do

5. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear

6. Hot Dog

SIDE B

1. Loving You

2. We're Gonna Move

3. Poor Boy

4. Let Me

5. Love Me Tender

The soundtrack to Elvis’ second movie, “Loving You,” contained not only the seven songs featured in the film but also five other tracks. For this re-imagined album, I removed those five tracks and replaced them with the four songs from Elvis’ first film, “Love Me Tender,” which hadn’t previously been included on an album (just an EP). Think of this as a “double feature” soundtrack. I modified the original cover slightly to show that the "Love Me Tender" songs are included.

ELVIS’ CHRISTMAS ALBUM

SIDE A

1. Santa Claus is Back in Town

2. White Christmas

3. Here Comes Santa Claus

4. I'll be Home for Christmas

5. Blue Christmas

6. Santa Bring My Baby Back

SIDE B

1. Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

2. Silent Night

3. Peace in the Valley

4. I Believe

5. Take My Hand, Precious Lord

6. It's No Secret

This album is great just as it is, and has become something of a holiday classic. It includes eight holiday songs, plus four songs that had previously been released on a spiritual EP. I left this as is.

JAILHOUSE ROCK

SIDE A

1. Jailhouse Rock

2. Treat Me Nice

3. Young and Beautiful

4. I Want to be Free

5. (You're so Square) Baby I Don't Care

6. Don't Leave Me Now

SIDE B

1. I Want You I Need You I Love You

2. Hound Dog

3. Don't Be Cruel

4. Anyway You Want Me

5. Playing for Keeps

6. Too Much

Despite the popularity of the film Jailhouse Rock and the songs featured in it, there was never actually a soundtrack album at the time—just two EPs. I rectified that with the six songs in the film and six songs that had been issued previously as singles. To create a cover, I used one from a Jailhouse Rock EP and modified it a bit.

ALL SHOOK UP

SIDE A

1. One Night

2. That's When Your Heartaches Begin

3. Tell Me Why

4. Is It So Strange?

5. Blueberry Hill

6. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?

SIDE B

1. All Shook Up

2. I Beg of You

3. True Love

4. I Need You So

5. When It Rains It Really Pours

In March 1958, RCA issued the compilation album Elvis’ Golden Records. Elvis had only been recording for RCA for a little more than two years, which gives you an idea of just how popular he was. But a “best of” compilation would have been better if it had been saved for later. Instead, I offer a whole new album with 11 tracks that were recorded about this time. For a cover, I used the sleeve for the "All Shook Up" single and modified it a bit here and there.

KING CREOLE

SIDE A

1. King Creole

2. As Long As I Have You

3. Hard-Headed Woman

4. Trouble

5. Dixieland Rock

SIDE B

1. Don't Ask Me Why

2. Lover Doll

3. Crawfish

4. Young Dreams

5. Steadfast Loyal and True

6. New Orleans

“King Creole” was the first Elvis film that included enough songs to fill an entire album. As such, I don’t change anything.

A DATE WITH ELVIS

SIDE A

1. Ain't That Loving You Baby

2. Don't 

3. I Got Stung

4. Doncha Think It's Time

5. Your Cheatin' Heart

6. I Need Your Love Tonight

SIDE B

1. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck

2. (Now and Then There's a) Fool Such As I

3. My Wish Came True

4. Danny

5. A Big Hunk O' Love

When Elvis was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1958, RCA was left in a predicament. Their star would be gone for two years. The first year was handled with the King Creole soundtrack. But what to do in 1959? RCA tried to make the best of it by issuing three compilation albums, For LP Fans Only, A Date with Elvis and Elvis’ Gold Records, Vol. 2. They included various hits, songs that hadn't been included on albums previously, and some tracks leftover from Sun Records. In truth, RCA had enough recently recorded songs to create one all-new album. Reusing the title A Date with Elvis and its cover, the 11 tracks include one outtake from King Creole – “Danny.”

ELVIS’ GOLDEN RECORDS

SIDE A

1. Hound Dog

2. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

3. All Shook Up

4. Heartbreak Hotel

5. I was the One

6. Love Me

7. Too Much

SIDE B

1. Don’t Be Cruel

2. That’s When Your Heartaches Begin

3. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear

4. Love Me Tender

5. Blue Suede Shoes

6. Any Way You Want Me

7. I Want You I Need You I Love You

  

Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but RCA would have been better served waiting a year and a half before issuing this album. To make this more chronological, I replaced “Loving You,” “Jailhouse Rock” and “Treat Me Nice” (saving them for the second volume) with “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again,” “I Was the One” and “Blue Suede Shoes” -- hit songs that for whatever reason weren't included originally.

50,000,000 ELVIS FANS CAN’T BE WRONG: ELVIS’ GOLD RECORDS - VOLUME 2

SIDE A

1. I Need Your Love Tonight

2. Don’t

3. Treat Me Nice

4. Hard Headed Woman

5. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck

6. My Wish Came True

7. I Got Stung

SIDE B

1. One Night

2. A Big Hunk O’ Love

3. Loving You

4. I Beg of You

5. A Fool Such As I

6. Jailhouse Rock

7. Dontcha' Think It’s Time

Elvis’ Golden Records included 14 tracks, but Vol. 2 only had 10 songs. This is kind of silly, as there were enough hits to equal the first compilation. To the original track list, I added “Treat Me Nice,” “Hard Headed Woman,” “Loving You,” and “Jailhouse Rock.” The original cover included a list of the tracks. I removed the list and added another Elvis.

And so ended Elvis’ golden era. Below is my revised 1950s RCA discography for Elvis.

1956

• SINGLE: Heartbreak Hotel / I Was the One (January)
• ALBUM: Elvis Presley (March)
• SINGLE: I Want You, I Need You, I Love You / My Baby Left Me (May)
• SINGLE: Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog (July)
• SINGLE: Blue Suede Shoes / Tutti Frutti (September)
• SINGLE: Love Me Tender / Any Way You Want Me (September)
• SINGLE: Love Me / Rip It Up (October)
• ALBUM: Elvis (October)

1957

• SINGLE: Too Much / Playing for Keeps (January)
• SINGLE: All Shook Up / That's When Your Heartaches Begin (March)
• EP: Peace in the Valley (April)
• SINGLE: Teddy Bear / Loving You (June)
• ALBUM: Loving You (June)
• SINGLE: Jailhouse Rock / Treat Me Nice (September)
• ALBUM: Jailhouse Rock (October)
• SINGLE: Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me / Santa Claus is Back in Town (November)
• ALBUM: Elvis' Christmas Album (November)

1958

• SINGLE: Don't / I Beg of You (January)
• ALBUM: All Shook Up (March)
• SINGLE: Wear My Ring Around Your Neck / Don'tcha Think It's Time (April)
• SINGLE: Hard Headed Woman / Don't Ask Me Why (June)
• SINGLE: King Creole / Dixieland Rock (September)
• ALBUM: King Creole (September)
• SINGLE: One Night / I Got Stung (October)

1959

• ALBUM: A Date with Elvis (January)
• SINGLE: (Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I / I Need Your Love Tonight (March)
• SINGLE: A Big Hunk o' Love / My Wish Came True (June)
• ALBUM: Elvis' Golden Records (July)
• ALBUM: 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong: Elvis' Gold Records, Volume 2 (October)