"A Little Less Conversation" is a 1968 song recorded by American singer

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, written by

Mac Davis Morris Mac Davis (January 21, 1942 – September 29, 2020) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. A native of Lubbock, Texas, he enjoyed success as a crossover artist, and during his early career he wrote for Elvis Presley, ...

and

Billy Strange William Everett Strange (September 29, 1930 – February 22, 2012) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and an actor. He was a session musician with the famed Wrecking Crew, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and M ...

and published by Gladys Music, Inc., originally performed in the film ''

Live a Little, Love a Little ''Live a Little, Love a Little'' is a 1968 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley. It was directed by Norman Taurog, who had directed several previous Presley films. This was to be Taurog's final film, as he went blind shortly after p ...

''. The song became a minor hit in the United States when released as a single with " Almost in Love" as the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. A 2002 remix by

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musician

Junkie XL Tom Holkenborg (born 8 December 1967), also known by his stage name Junkie XL or occasionally JXL, is a Dutch composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, and engineer. Originally known for his trance productions, he has moved to producing e ...

of a later re-recording of the song by Presley became a worldwide hit, topping the singles charts in nine countries and was awarded certifications in ten countries by 2003. The song has made numerous appearances in popular culture and has been covered by several artists.

Original recordings

"A Little Less Conversation" was first recorded on March 7, 1968, at Western Recorders in Hollywood, California, and released on a single backed by " Almost in Love", another song from the movie. The song was not released on an LP until November 1970, when it was included on the

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budget label LP '' Almost in Love''. There are several different takes that were made of the song in the session on March 7. The single version used take 16, which was also used for the soundtrack of the film. The version released on the ''Almost in Love'' album is take 10, which is 1 second longer in duration. The musicians on the March 7 recording session included

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

, drums; Al Casey, guitar and

Larry Knechtel Lawrence William Knechtel (August 4, 1940 – August 20, 2009) was an American keyboard player and bassist who was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles-based session musicians who worked with such renowned artists as Simon ...

, bass. The backing vocalists on the March 7 recording session and alternate version were BJ Baker, Sally Stevens, Bob Tebo, and John Bahler. Many think that The Blossoms sang background vocals on this song but that was listed on the liner notes by mistake. There was one session where alternate versions were recorded using the same vocalists.

1968 television special re-recording

It was thought Presley re-recorded the song in June 1968 for the soundtrack of his 1968 comeback special, with the intent of performing it during the program (in part due to ''Live a Little, Love a Little'' being scheduled for release about a month before the special's broadcast date). Ultimately, it was decided not to use this recording, and the song was dropped from the planned special. The newer version transposed the key of

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

recording of three months earlier into

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

and featured a vocal and heavy reverb with backup vocals from

The Blossoms The Blossoms are an American girl group that originated from California. During their height of success in the 1960s, the group's lineup most famously consisted of Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Jean King. Although the group had a recording ...

. In the mid-1990s,

Joseph A. Tunzi Joseph Anthony Tunzi (born July 25, 1953) is a Chicago, Illinois-based author, publisher, and producer. He has been described as "a renowned author from Chicago" and "one of the foremost authorities on Elvis Presley," authoring, self-publishing, a ...

sold this recording to

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and it was initially included on the 1998 release '' Memories: The '68 Comeback Special''. Tunzi had been the first to document this recording in his 1996 book ''Elvis Sessions II: The Recorded Music of Elvis Aron Presley 1953-1977''. After the tapes from the original session were rediscovered, it is now known to be take 2, recorded on March 7, 1968.

Charts

Junkie XL / JXL remix

Following the song's use in the 2001 film ''

Ocean's Eleven ''Ocean's Eleven'' is a 2001 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Ted Griffin. The first installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy, it is a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film of the same name. The fil ...

'', "A Little Less Conversation" was remixed by Dutch musician Tom Holkenborg, better known as

(billed as JXL). The electronic remix featured Elvis with his baritone voice, and added emphasis to the 1968 guitars, horns, and a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

drum beat. Holkenborg is the first artist outside the Presley organization to receive authorization from the Presley estate to remix a Presley song. (in the 1980s, Elvis' longtime producer

Felton Jarvis Charles Felton Jarvis (November 15, 1934 – January 3, 1981) was an American record producer and singer. Career As an RCA Victor record producer, Jarvis was responsible for most recordings of Elvis Presley in the years 1966–1977. He also rele ...

had overseen remixes of a number of Elvis recordings that saw new backing added to Presley's original vocals, the first of which were released as the album ''Guitar Man'' in 1981). The electronic version of the song became a number-one hit in the UK in 2002. The song also became a top 10 hit in upwards of 17 other countries, reaching number-one in 13 of them. In 2002, the TV special version of "A Little Less Conversation" remixed by Junkie XL was used for

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

advertising campaign, titled ''"

Secret Tournament "Secret Tournament" (also known as "Scorpion KO" or "The Cage") was a Nike, Inc., Nike global advertising campaign coinciding with the 2002 FIFA World Cup. With a marketing budget estimated at US$100 million, the advert featured 24 top contemp ...

"''. A single, credited to "Elvis vs. JXL", was issued and went on to become a number-one hit in over 20 countries. At about the same time, a compilation of Presley's US and UK number-one chart hits, titled '' ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits'', was being prepared for release. At the last minute, "A Little Less Conversation (Junkie's remix version)" was added as the album's 31st and final track, just before its release in October 2002. The full 6:09 version was edited slightly and extended to 6:22, and this version was featured on the US version of Junkie XL's 2003 album '' Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin''.

Chart performance

In the United States, the song peaked at number 50 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also spent four consecutive weeks at number-one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, which is the only number-one hit by Elvis Presley to be released after his death in 1977. The song was re-released as a single in the United Kingdom in 2005, and reached No. 3.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Other covers and remakes

An uptempo

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remix was recorded by CJ Crew, appearing on the 2002 dance compilation '' Dancemania Speed 10''.

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Dancemania Speed 10
/ref> There are three very exclusive releases in Spanish, the film ''Live a Little, Love a Little'' and two mixes played by Marco T., a Colombian rockabilly musician. In addition, Dolph Lundgren performed this song at Melodifestivalen 2010. In ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'', Will Schuester (

Matthew Morrison Matthew James Morrison (born October 30, 1978) is an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television show ''Glee (TV series), Glee'' (2009–2015). He has s ...

) sings a combination of a Spanish and English version of the song. The song is covered by

Trisha Paytas Trisha Paytas (; born May 8, 1988) is an American YouTuber and singer. Her YouTube channel consists of a wide variety of content including lifestyle-oriented vlogs, music videos, and mukbangs. As of July 2022, she has accumulated roughly 5 mil ...

on her ''Fat Chicks EP''.

References