Post by erik on Jan 7, 2023 23:02:42 GMT -5
On the weekend that he would have turned 88, Elvis Presley is spotlighted in this first Pop Music Hits Spotlight of 2023 with the first #1 he had after having been discharged from the U.S. Army.
STUCK ON YOU (Elvis Presley; RCA; 1960)—When he was given his draft notice in 1957, signaling that he would have to do two years of service for Uncle Sam, Elvis feared that being away from the public for that two-year span was going to kybosh his career (and many of his detractors hoped that it would; better to get rid of the “lewd” gyrations). But through recording sessions he did prior to his taking on his patriotic duties, Elvis kept having hit after hit in 1958 and 1959, until he returned to America in March 1960, having been honorably discharged as Sergeant Presley. He was so anxious to get back into the studio that he didn’t hesitate. Just a few days after returning, he entered RCA’s Nashville home offices to record a whole treasure trove of songs, including what would become his thirteenth chart-topping smash, a jaunty mid-tempo number called “Stuck On You”. Written by Aaron Schroeder and J. Leslie MacFarland, “Stuck On You” was a song that Elvis latched onto right from the start. Along with his usual crew of Scotty More, J.D. Fontana and Bill Black, this session also included such Nashville heavyweights as Floyd Cramer (who was about to have an instrumental piano hit of his own with “Last Date”), Bob Moore (who would have his own instrumental hit “Mexico” in 1961) and Hank Garland. “Stuck On You” reached the top of the Billboard pop singles chart in the first week of May 1960, replacing Percy Faith’s recording of “Theme From ‘A Summer Place’”, which had spent nine weeks in that position; and it also made it to #3 on the R&B chart as well. Elvis would have two more classic #1’s in 1960 with “It’s Now Or Never” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”; but as time went on, Colonel Tom Partker would confine his one and only client to making movies and doing recording sessions largely based in service of those movies. And although it was initially successful at first, the formulaic nature of the films and the recording sessions eventually ate into Elvis’ career with deleterious results as the 1960’s wore on.
STUCK ON YOU (Elvis Presley; RCA; 1960)—When he was given his draft notice in 1957, signaling that he would have to do two years of service for Uncle Sam, Elvis feared that being away from the public for that two-year span was going to kybosh his career (and many of his detractors hoped that it would; better to get rid of the “lewd” gyrations). But through recording sessions he did prior to his taking on his patriotic duties, Elvis kept having hit after hit in 1958 and 1959, until he returned to America in March 1960, having been honorably discharged as Sergeant Presley. He was so anxious to get back into the studio that he didn’t hesitate. Just a few days after returning, he entered RCA’s Nashville home offices to record a whole treasure trove of songs, including what would become his thirteenth chart-topping smash, a jaunty mid-tempo number called “Stuck On You”. Written by Aaron Schroeder and J. Leslie MacFarland, “Stuck On You” was a song that Elvis latched onto right from the start. Along with his usual crew of Scotty More, J.D. Fontana and Bill Black, this session also included such Nashville heavyweights as Floyd Cramer (who was about to have an instrumental piano hit of his own with “Last Date”), Bob Moore (who would have his own instrumental hit “Mexico” in 1961) and Hank Garland. “Stuck On You” reached the top of the Billboard pop singles chart in the first week of May 1960, replacing Percy Faith’s recording of “Theme From ‘A Summer Place’”, which had spent nine weeks in that position; and it also made it to #3 on the R&B chart as well. Elvis would have two more classic #1’s in 1960 with “It’s Now Or Never” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”; but as time went on, Colonel Tom Partker would confine his one and only client to making movies and doing recording sessions largely based in service of those movies. And although it was initially successful at first, the formulaic nature of the films and the recording sessions eventually ate into Elvis’ career with deleterious results as the 1960’s wore on.