Another Top 10 Elvis Presley Songs

 
As with “Love Me Tender”, “Surrender” was a reworked, revamped take on a much older song. Composed in 1902, it was originally a Neapolitan-flavoured ballad called “Torna a Surriento”, and later retooled by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. With new lyrics from Shuman the song became “Surrender”, a massive hit for Elvis. It would go on to become one of the best-selling songs of Presley’s career. Featuring a prototypical James Bond-like chord progression, and piano from Nashville legend Floyd Cramer, the track allowed Elvis to push beyond his emblematic pop and rock sounds.



 

 
Lord almighty! “Burning Love” may not have started life as an Elvis song, but once he put his stamp on it, it was in the King's domain for all time. First released to semi-obscurity in early 1972 by Arthur Alexander, it was quickly picked up, covered and re-released by Presley in August of the same year, becoming a #2 hit and Elvis' last American top 10. Brimming with energy, with lead guitar from songwriter Dennis Linde, and the incredibly busy drum work of Ronnie Tutt, Elvis had actually been reluctant to record the rocker, due to his recent and difficult separation from Priscilla. But, six takes in, the old magic was back.



 

 
Gwen McCrae, and, more famously, Brenda Lee, may have released it first, and it may have netted Willie Nelson a Grammy long after the fact, but for many the definite version of “Always on My Mind” belongs to Elvis. Originally written by Wayne Carson in around 10 minutes, it was eventually sent to Presley to be recorded in March of 72, just weeks after Elvis and Priscilla separated. Released as a B-side to his single “Separate Ways”, this heartfelt track remains an unforgettable country ballad.
  




Previously recorded by Arthur Crudup, Elvis jokingly started playing a sped-up version of  “That's All Right” during a recording session while guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black were taking a break. Producer Sam Phillips, hearing a hit, made them start over so he could record it, and two days later the song officially made its radio debut. It was popular enough to get 14 plays that night and forced Elvis out of a movie theatre and into an on-air interview. Two weeks later, “That's All Right” was officially released, selling 20,000 copies – launching Elvis's career and, arguably, birthing rock and roll as we know it.




 
Many songs had a long, full life before Elvis recorded them, but none can touch this. Originating in 1885 in Sweden, it was performed as a nine-verse waltz until 1894, when it was changed to common time. In 1967, Elvis recorded the song in Nashville, making it the title track for his twenty-eighth studio album. Always popular, the album ended up going Gold in 1968, Platinum and Double Platinum in 1992, and in 2010 went Triple. Elvis unique rendition of the hymn brought it back into the modern consciousness and also won him a Grammy for Best Sacred Performance in 1967.
 
 



 
“That's All Right” might be the moment Elvis's career launched, but this is the moment he became The King. Incidentally, since “Mystery Train” was the B-side to “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” it's also the moment that established him as a country star. A cover of a Junior Parker song – itself loosely based on the Carter Family's “Worried Man Blues” – it is also the track that announced Scotty Moore as a bona fide guitar hero. Using a hollow-body Gibson guitar and a dose of slapback reverb, Moore helped create something livelier and firer than the world had ever heard, and served as the perfect introduction of Elvis to the country music world.









Originally written for – and rejected by – Aretha Franklin, this track was retooled and presented to Presley for the film “Live a Little, Love a Little” ... a box office dud. Released as a B-side to “Almost in Love” it barely charted and took over two years to find a home on an album. It was re-recorded for the 68 Comeback Special, but this do-over was ultimately not used... until 2002, when it was remixed by Dutch dj/producer Junkie XL. Modernized and revamped, the track went to #1 in 13 countries, finally becoming a monster hit long after Elvis had left the building for good.  

 



 
Although he wasn't the first to present this medley to the world, and he did not release a studio recording of it, “An American Trilogy” became synonymous with Elvis nonetheless. A musical weaving of three iconic and symbolic American songs – the unofficial Confederate anthem “Dixie,” the African-American spiritual “All My Trials,” and the Union Army march “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” – the trilogy was first arranged and released by Mickey Newbury in 1971. By 1972 it had become a show-stopping mainstay in Elvis's concerts, allowing him to demonstrate the true power and range of his voice while also expressing his deep love of his home country.

 


 
Dilemma: You're the musical director of an important TV special, the producers just cut “I'll Be Home for Christmas” and they need you to come up with a replacement. What. Do. You. Do? Well, if you're W. Earl Brown, you write “If I Can Dream”, and if you're Elvis, it changes your life. Slotted as the final song in Elvis's '68 Comeback Special, the song makes nods to the then recently assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert Kennedy. It so moved Presley that he decided then and there to never sing a song or act in a film he didn't truly believe in ever again.

 


Before we unveil our top pick here are a few honourable mentions.
 
“Kentucky Rain” 
Single (1970) 



“(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame” 

Single (1961) 


 
 
 “I, John” 

He Touched Me (1972)






 
Written by Mac Davis and originally subtitled “The Vicious Circle,” the marriage of “In the Ghetto” and Elvis Presley almost never happened. Davis had first offered the song to Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers, and then singer-comedian Sammy Davis, Jr, both of whom turned it down. Elvis himself had been reluctant to record it, given its overt social commentary, but once he took it on it became the perfect showcase for the power, and emotional depth of his voice. It also provided him with a 13-week run on the American charts, and a UK Top 10 – charting out at number 2 – as well.