Elvis’s 50 best songs
EOkanagan Weekend lvis Presley recorded more than 700 songs in his lifetime — most of them were good. Recognizing this weekend’s Penticton Elvis Festival, here are my choices for his 50 best songs, in order. Let the debate begin. You will undoubtedly hear most of these songs if you attend all three days of the Elvis festival.
1. Can’t Help Falling in Love. It debuted in Blue Hawaii and the melody was based on a French love song from the 17th century. It was Elvis’s best ballad and it could be one of the best love ballads ever — top five at least. The song itself was introduced to new audiences over the years thanks to many cover version, most notably Corey Hart and UB40.
2. Jailhouse Rock. This song, Elvis’s best rocker, had such staying power, it was re-released in England in 2005 and went all the way to No. 1 on the UK charts that year. In real life, Shifty Henry, mentioned in the lyrics, was an American musician, not an inmate.
3. Hound Dog. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the 19th greatest rock song of all-time, it was first a minor hit for blues singer Big Mama Thornton in 1952.
4. Suspicious Minds. When songwriter Mark James (who also wrote Hooked on a Feeling and Always on My Mind) was unable to make this song a hit when he recorded it, it was handed over to The King for what would be his 17th and final No. 1 single (U.S. Billboard pop charts).
5. Love Me Tender. Adapted from a Civil War ballad, it quickly skyrocketed to the top of the charts where it would remain for five weeks. In 1962, actor Richard Chamberlain did a remake of the song, reaching No. 21 on the pop charts. (I hate to think what that would have sounded like.)
6. Viva Las Vegas. Although only moderately successful at the time of its release in 1964, this is to Vegas as I Left My Heart in San Francisco or New York, New York are to those cities. Pure joy from the opening bars. The movie of the same title was the top grossing film of Presley’s career. The City of Las Vegas has tried for years to make it the
7. In the Ghetto. Written by Mac Davis, who went on to have a successful career as a country musician in the 70s, this was a narrative about child poverty and remains as relevant today as it did in 1969.
8. Heartbreak Hotel. First performed by Presley on stage with the Louisiana Hayride, it became his first No. 1 single. The inspiration of the song was a true story about a suicide of a lonely man who jumped to his death from a hotel window.
9. Don’t Be Cruel. Presley’s third No. 1 single, reportedly there were tons of takes done during the recording of this single.
10. Are You Lonesome Tonight. The origins trace back to the 1920s and Elvis’s now legendary spoken word s oliloquy was inspired by Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Its power is in the simplicity of the arrangement. It was later a minor hit by Jaye P. Morgan from The Gong Show.
11. Blue Suede Shoes. One of Elvis’s first hit singles, this remake of a Carl Perkins tune is considered one of the first rockabilly songs to cross-over into the mainstream.
12. My Boy. One of his last singles, released shortly before his death, this song translated from French is an ode to the joys of parenthood.
13. It’s Now Or Never. Inspired by the Italian song O Sole Mio (which Elvis also performed live, later in his career), this was his best selling international single.
14. Return to Sender. Featured in Girls! Girls! Girls!, arguably, Elvis’s best movie. It was his only feature film to receive a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy).
15. (You’re the) Devil in Disguise. When released in 1963, John Lennon quipped that Elvis “was like Bing Crosby now.” What’s wrong with Bing?
16. All Shook Up. A huge hit in 1956, my introduction to this song title as a child was the punchline to a joke about a drunken mouse with flatulence.
17. Old Shep. A real tear-jerker about a man who doesn’t have the heart to put his dog down, it was reportedly the first song Elvis ever sang in public. He was 10 when he sang Old Shep at the Mississippi Alabama Fair.
18. Don’t. A No. 1 hit from 1958, it’s a classic example of his crossover appeal to the R&B charts.
19. If I Can Dream. Recorded only months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. King’s quotations are used throughout the single. The performance was a pivotal part of Presley’s 1968 Comeback Special.
20. Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear. Back in the 1950s, songs weren’t nearly as sexually suggestive as they are today, but if you really dissect the lyrics to this one, you can imagine whatever you want.
21. Burning Love. His last mammoth hit, it stalled at No. 2 on Billboard. There’s no justice because this was boxed out of No. 1 by Chuck Berry’s My Ding A Ling. There’s also no justice in that Chuck’s only No. 1 single was a three-minute penis joke..
22. My Way. Written by Ottawa’s Paul Anka, there’s only two people who should be allowed to sing this song — Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. It was rushed as a single a few weeks after Presley’s death, peaking at No. 22 on Billboard.
23. Mean Woman Blues. A classic blues song, it was featured in the movie Loving You, but Roy Orbison had more commercial success with it five years later.
24. How Great Thou Art. Where would the Sunday gospel show at Okanagan Lake Park be without at least one Elvis tribute artist performing this one?
25. Blue Christmas. Hard to believe, but it virtually went ignored failing to chart in 1964 and again with a re-release. However, it remains a staple on pop radio every December. Ernest Tubb had more success with it, reaching No. 1 on a country chart.
26. Good Luck Charm. A No. 1 single from 1961, it was his second-last song to hit No. 1 and it would take another eight years before Suspicious Minds would rise to the top of the charts.
27. Do the Clam. It didn’t take off like The Twist or The Hustle but sue me, this goofy dance tune is irresistible. From the movie Girl Crazy, it was one of several Presley songs penned by Dolores Fuller, best known for co-starring in some of the God-awful Ed Wood movies.
28. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You. According to Jim Steinman, it inspired him to write Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad for Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell.
29. Lawdy Miss Clawdy. Its roots trace back to New Orleans. It was the song Jaydee Bixby sang in front of the judges for the first time on Canadian Idol.
30. Peace in the Valley. Like so many songs of the era, many great singers recorded it. Elvis included this minor hit on a Christmas album from 1956.
31. Hard Headed Woman. There was speculation that Elvis was racist. I doubt it. He popularized R&B to white audiences This song, from King Creole was written by Claude Demetrius, an African American.
32. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck. Elvis’s string of No. 1 hits stopped at this one which stalled at... No. 2.
33. A Big Hunk o’ Love. During Elvis’s two years of service in the army, he had only one recording session and it resulted in this No. 1 single.
34. Little Sister. Elvis often performed it live in a medley with Get Back by The Beatles. The lyrics and play-onwords are what makes this song a treat.
35. Rock-A-Hula Baby. From Blue Hawaii, it’s what happens when hula music is crossed with rock-and-roll.
36. Bossa Nova Baby. The only good thing to come out of Fun In Acapulco was this minor hit.
37. Stuck on You. Elvis’s first No. 1 single after his stint in the army, it knocked off Theme from a Summer Place from the top spot after a nineweek run.
38. Milk Cow Blues. One of Elvis’s earliest releases, it went unnoticed as few at the time remember the recording by blues legend Robert Johnson, 20 years earlier.
39. Always On My Mind. Willie Nelson and the Pet Shop Boys had hits with this, but Elvis’s version remains the definitive arrangement. It was used prominently near the end of the documentary This Is Elvis.
40. I Need Your Love Tonight. It was the lead track to 50 Million Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong, considered by many to be a trailblazing compilation album. The album cover was parodied by everyone from Rod Stewart to Adam Sandler.
41. Too Much. Recorded in 1956, it made its debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.
42. Treat Me Nice. Another Presley gem from Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also penned hits for other artists, most notably Stand By Me, Charlie Brown and Kansas City.
43. (Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame. It was first recorded by Del Shannon and released on the same album as Runaway, but Elvis made it a hit taking it to No. 4.
44. Steamroller Blues. Elvis covers James Taylor.
45. Kentucky Rain. Penned by Ronnie Milsap, before anyone had heard of him, it became an unofficial theme song of NFL quarterback Tim Couch who was born in — you guessed it — Kentucky.
46. Don’t Cry Daddy. Another Mac Davis song, Lisa Marie Presley later recorded it (as well as In the Ghetto) using her father’s vocals, a la Natalie Cole’s Unforgettable. Some critics suspect Elvis wrote Don’t Cry Daddy as a tribute to his own father, who lost his wife at an early age.
47. You’re the Boss. A duet with Ann Margret from Viva Las Vegas. Elvis did very few duets during his lifetime, strange considering it could have sent his music into a different direction. And nothing says 60s style and coolness better than Ann Margaret.
48. Surrender. This often-forgotten number was actually one of Elvis’s bestselling singles of all time. Its melody was inspired by a love song from Naples, circa 1902.
49. A Little Less Conversation. It was dropped at the last minute from The Comeback Special. When released in 1968, it failed to crack the Top 40, but when remixed by JXL in 2002 it went to No. 1 in the UK (only No. 50 in the U.S.).
50. An American Trilogy. Featuring songs from the Civil War, like Elvis himself, this was over-produced, ovethe-top, and far too dramatic ... yet irresistible.
James Miller is valley editor of Okanagan Newspaper Group and a rock/pop music historian. This column, since updated, first appeared in The Penticton Herald in June 2012.