''Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3'' is a

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

by American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

singer

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

, released by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

as LPM/LSP-2765 on August 12, 1963. The album was the third volume of an eventual five volume collection, and his eighteenth altogether. It is a compilation of hit singles released in 1960, 1961, and 1962. The album was originally released as a mono and

stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

LP record The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...

and was reissued several times on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

. It peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Top Pop Albums chart. The album was certified Gold on November 1, 1966, and Platinum on March 27, 1992, by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

Background

Presley's manager,

Colonel Tom Parker Colonel Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997) was a Dutch people, Dutch talent manager and concert promoter, best known as the manager of Elvis Presley. Parker was born in the Netherlands and Il ...

, envisioned a marketing strategy of alternating

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

albums with independent studio recordings, accompanied by singles. By mid-1963, Presley's studio albums had struggled while the soundtrack albums had all done brisk business. Sessions in late May had failed to produce material cohesive enough for a regular album, those tracks surfacing on singles and pell-mell on soundtracks and the '' Elvis for Everyone'' compilation. The immediate solution was another compilation of hit singles, the sales numbers proving the success of this interim strategy.

Content

''Golden Records Volume 3'' comprises eight Top Five A-sides along with four b-sides which also made the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

, " Fame and Fortune", " I Gotta Know", " Little Sister", and " Anything That's Part of You". Five A-Sides, " Stuck on You", " It's Now or Never", " Are You Lonesome Tonight?", " Surrender", and " Good Luck Charm" went to #1. "It's Now or Never" had been adapted from the 1898 Neapolitan song " 'O sole mio," and "Are You Lonesome Tonight", a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

from 1926, had been a rare request from Parker to Presley for Parker's wife.Jorgensen, op. cit., p. 127. As with the other titles in the series, all singles in this compilation are certified by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

as attaining gold status with sales of at least 500,000 copies. Original recordings produced by

Steve Sholes Stephen Henry Sholes (February 12, 1911 – April 22, 1968) was a prominent American recording executive with RCA Victor. Career Sholes was born in Washington, D.C., and moved with his family to Merchantville, New Jersey, at the age of ni ...

, Joseph Lilley,

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...

, Urban Thielmann, Jeff Alexander, and Hans J. Salter.

Reissues

RCA first issued the original 12-track album on compact disc in 1989. The second CD reissue in 1997 added six bonus tracks, those being two album tracks, two songs originally issued on EP singles, another b-side, and the number two hit single " Can't Help Falling In Love" from the

to '' Blue Hawaii''. "The Girl of My Best Friend" was taken from the album ''

Elvis Is Back! ''Elvis Is Back!'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Elvis Presley, released on April 8, 1960 by RCA Victor. It was Presley's first album of new material since 1958's '' King Creole'' soundtrack as well as his first to be recorded a ...

'', and " Wooden Heart" from the soundtrack to '' G.I. Blues''. "Wooden Heart" would be reissued as a b-side twice, once in 1964 and again in 1965, and the b-side "Wild in the Country" is the title track to the film of the same name. The remaining pair of film songs, "Follow That Dream" and "King of the Whole Wide World", are respectively from the EP soundtracks to the Presley movies '' Follow That Dream'' and '' Kid Galahad''. RCA later reissued the album on CD again with the bonus tracks removed and the original running order restored.

Track listing

Chart positions for singles taken from ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart where noted.

Original release

1997 Reissue bonus tracks

Personnel

– vocals,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic ...

–

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

on "Stuck on You" and "Fame and Fortune" *

Hank Garland Walter Louis Garland (November 11, 1930 – December 27, 2004), known professionally as Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and release ...

– lead guitar,

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

on "Stuck on You," "Fame and Fortune," and "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" *

Tiny Timbrell Hilmer J. "Tiny" Timbrell (January 15, 1917 – May 7, 1992) was a Canadian-born session musician, session guitarist. Timbrell was born in Canada but moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue his career in music. For a time, he sold guitars at ...

– guitar on 1997 bonus tracks "Wooden Heart", "King of the Whole Wide World," and "Wild in the Country" * Neal Matthews – lead guitar on "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame", rhythm guitar on 1997 bonus track "King of the Whole Wide World" * Harold Bradley – guitar on "She's Not You” and six-string bass on "Little Sister" * Jerry Kennedy – lead guitar on "Good Luck Charm" and "Anything That's Part of You" * Grady Martin – guitar or

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

on "She's Not You" *

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "whole-step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatur ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, organ * Gordon Stoker – piano * Dudley Brooks – piano on 1997 bonus track "Wild in the Country" * Bob Moore –

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

* Ray Siegel – double bass on 1997 bonus track “Wooden Heart" * Meyer Rubin – double bass on 1997 bonus track “Wild in the Country" * D.J. Fontana –

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s * Buddy Harman – drums * Hal Blaine – drums or percussion on 1997 bonus track “Can’t Help Falling In Love” * Bernie Mattinson – drums, percussion * Boots Randolph –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

, vibraphone *

Jimmie Haskell Jimmie Haskell (born Sheridan Pearlman; November 7, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American composer and arranger for motion pictures and a wide variety of popular artists, including Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steely D ...

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

on 1997 bonus track "Wild in the Country" *

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

– backing vocals * Millie Kirkham – backing vocals

Charts and certifications

Album

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control Albums produced by Steve Sholes Elvis Presley compilation albums 1963 greatest hits albums RCA Victor compilation albums