Maps of Music

Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old) (1971)

Where the lyrics of Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old) take you, and where it was really made.

The album was assembled after the sessions realized they already had enough country songs for a full country album.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (1971)

Recording site RCA Studio B — The album was recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville. Most of the material came from five days of sessions in June 1970. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old): thirteenth studio album by Elvis Presley
• Released on RCA Records (LSP 4460) in January 1971
• Reached number 12 on the Billboard 200
• Peaked at number six in the United Kingdom
• Sold over one million copies worldwide
• Certified Gold by the RIAA on December 1, 1977

Background

• Lead single "I Really Don't Want to Know", backed with "There Goes My Everything", released December 8, 1970
• Single peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, number two on the Adult Contemporary chart, and number 23 on the country singles chart
• During the sessions, Presley and producer Felton Jarvis realized they had several country songs in hand
• They decided to record several more to create a full album of country material
• Eight tracks from the sessions were released two months earlier, in November 1970, on That's the Way It Is

Recording

• Bulk of the album came from five days of sessions in June 1970, yielding 35 usable tracks
• Presley performed every track live, recording his vocal part in the same take as the band
• Needing two more tracks, Presley returned to the same studio in September
• September session produced "Snowbird" and a one-take version of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"

Cover

• Sleeve image is a colourised photograph of Elvis as an infant
• Inset of the original shot shows the artist flanked by his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi; family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when he was 13.
• Began his career in 1954 at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring African-American music to a wider audience.
• Recorded "That's All Right" with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black in July 1954.
• A pioneer of rockabilly, a fusion of country music and rhythm and blues.

Members

• Classic quartet: Presley (vocals, guitar), Scotty Moore (lead guitar), Bill Black (bass), and D. J. Fontana (drums), who joined in 1955.

Career

• RCA Victor acquired his contract in 1955 for $40,000; "Heartbreak Hotel" hit number one in the US in 1956.
• Became a leading figure of rock and roll, though his style was considered a threat to white American youth by some.
• Made his film debut in Love Me Tender (1956) and devoted much of the 1960s to Hollywood films.
• Returned to the stage with the 1968 NBC special Elvis, followed by a Las Vegas residency and tours.
• Gave the first solo-artist concert broadcast worldwide, Aloha from Hawaii, in 1973.
• Died August 16, 1977 at Graceland, aged 42.
• Estimated to have sold 500 million records worldwide; won three Grammy Awards.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Reached number 12 on the Billboard 200
• Peaked at number six in the United Kingdom
• Lead single "I Really Don't Want to Know" was released on December 8, 1970, before the album
• Lead single peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100
• Lead single reached number two on the Adult Contemporary chart
• Lead single reached number 23 on the country singles chart
• Album was released on RCA Records in January 1971

Records

• Sold over one million copies worldwide
• Certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 1, 1977
• Chart and certification figures above are the album's main commercial results cited in the source

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Snippets of the song "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" act as a bridge between each track
• Nearly every style of country music is represented, including the then-nascent "outlaw" movement
• The sleeve image is a colourised photograph of Elvis as an infant, anticipating by several decades the rap fashion of using baby pictures on album covers
• After this album, Presley went back to recording a seemingly random batch of songs on each trip to the studio, letting his producer assemble them into albums

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact