Maps of Music

Elvis Is Back! (1960)

Where the lyrics of Elvis Is Back! take you, and where it was really made.

Recorded in Nashville days after Presley left the US Army, this comeback album topped the UK chart but sold fewer than 300,000 copies in the United States.

Key places

RCA Victor Studio B in Nashville (1960)

Recording site RCA Studio B — Sessions for Elvis Is Back! took place at this studio in late March and early April 1960, after the studio had recently been fitted with a new three-track recorder. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Elvis Is Back!: fourth studio album by American singer Elvis Presley
• Released April 8, 1960 by RCA Victor
• First album of new material since the 1958 King Creole soundtrack
• First Presley album recorded and released in stereophonic sound
• Marked Presley's return to music after his discharge from the U.S. Army

Background

• Two-year military service in Germany; RCA Victor and Paramount progressively released material recorded before his enlistment
• Inducted into the Army March 24, 1958; joined the 3rd Armored Division in Friedberg, Germany on October 1
• Returned to the United States March 2, 1960; honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant March 5
• Final months in the Army spent preparing new material and improving his performance
• Friend Charlie Hodge taught breathing techniques to improve range; by the end of his German service he had added a full octave
• Musical direction mixes early rock and roll with sophisticated pop, blues, R&B and the Nashville sound associated with Chet Atkins
• Produced by Chet Atkins and Steve Sholes
• Reunited with guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana from the original Blue Moon Boys

Recording

• Two blocks of sessions in late March and early April 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee
• Session personnel included Floyd Cramer, Hank Garland, Bob Moore, Buddy Harman and The Jordanaires
• Bill Black declined to join because he was enjoying success with the Bill Black Combo
• Musicians were first told they were playing a Jim Reeves session to prevent fan disruption
• Telefunken U-47 microphones were placed in RCA Victor's Studio B
• "Stuck on You" was recorded during the March session as a non-album cut

Cover

• Front cover shows Presley in front of a blue stage curtain, wearing an Army trench coat
• Back cover shows him in an Army regulation fatigue jacket and cap
• Gatefold inside features fifteen photographs taken during his Army service

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

• Initial reviews were mixed
• Billboard: praised him as singing better than ever in the rock and roll style he made famous
• The New York Times: called the record drab and lackluster
• High Fidelity: said he found it hard to recapture his old gusto, and that the recordings may be first attempts at new styles
• HiFi/Stereo Review: called the album musically schizoid while judging the overall recording good
• HiFi/Stereo Review: said the ballads were the worst he had made, but praised his former vitality in the commercial rockabilly romps

Reappraisal

• Over later years the critical reception became more positive, with critics praising stylistic variety, production quality and mature sound
• AllMusic (Bruce Eder): said the album shows a mature Presley and that he comes off better than on any other album since arriving at RCA
• Rolling Stone (Will Hermes): praised its wildly varied material, revelatory singing and stereo sound
• Rough Guides (Paul Simpson, 2004): noted a heavily played copy in Graceland's collection and admired the blues singing on Like a Baby and Reconsider Baby
• PopMatters (Steve Horowitz): said the album helped Presley grow from teen idol to adult entertainer
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer: gave a favorable review, citing versatility across song styles
• The Daily Telegraph (Neil McCormick, January 2015): included it among essential works and called it arguably Presley's masterpiece
• Daily Express (Simon Gage): described it as Presley's finest
• Robert Dimery included the album in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

Records

• Number one on the UK Albums Chart
• Number two on Billboard's Top LP's
• Fewer than 300,000 copies sold in the United States, a commercial disappointment
• Certified Gold by the RIAA on July 15, 1999

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The single "Stuck on You" was released two days after its recording, with "Fame and Fortune" on the B-side, and drew 1.4 million advance orders.
• The session musicians were known as "The Nashville A-Team", and the studio used recording equipment considered state-of-the-art for its time.
• "Dirty, Dirty Feeling" had been written by Leiber and Stoller and was previously discarded from the King Creole soundtrack.
• Presley refused an offer to splice the ending of "It's Now or Never" and kept trying until he got the full vocal ending he wanted.
• After the March session, Presley left for Miami, where he taped The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis.
• The album was reissued in 2005 on the Follow That Dream label as a 2 CD collection with previously unreleased outtakes.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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