''Kissin' Cousins'' is the eighth soundtrack album by American singer and musician

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 ...

, released by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2894, in April 1964. It is the soundtrack to the 1964 film of the same name starring Presley.

Recording session The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance. Studio cast recordings In the case of Broadway musi ...

s took place at RCA Studio B in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, on May 26 and 27, and September 29 and 30, 1963. It peaked at number six on the ''Billboard''

Top LPs The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

chart. The album was certified Gold 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

Since the sessions for ''

Viva Las Vegas ''Viva Las Vegas'' is a 1964 American musical film directed by George Sidney and starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. The film is regarded by fans and film critics as one of Presley's best films, and it is noted for the on-screen chemistry bet ...

'' had gone way over budget, released after but completed before '' Kissin' Cousins'', Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker determined for fiscal prudence to have the songs recorded at Studio B, away from

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

and its distractions, and its platoon of available on-call musicians. Demand for songs to fill long-playing soundtrack albums, by now a regularity as the EP single was becoming less and less a viable sales item, strained the resources of the stable of Presley songwriters, with five songs alone originating from the team of Giant, Baum and Kaye.

Content

Ten soundtrack songs were recorded by Presley with members of

the Nashville A-Team The Nashville A-Team was a nickname given to a group of session musicians in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, who earned wide acclaim in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. They backed dozens of popular singers, including Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, Pats ...

during two evening sessions in September, with two distinct versions by different songwriters of the title track, one (titled " Kissin' Cousins") recorded in Presley's normal voice and the other (titled "Kissin' Cousins (No. 2)") with a mock-

hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...

twang. The former version of "Kissin' Cousins" would be issued as a single in February 1964, with " It Hurts Me" on the

B-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 compan ...

. It would peak at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, its flipside making it independently to No. 29. It became a gold record. "Anyone (Could Fall In Love With You)", included in the album, was omitted from the film. "Pappy, Won't You Please Come Home", performed by

Glenda Farrell Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American actress. Farrell personified the smart and sassy, wisecracking blonde of the Classical Hollywood films. Farrell's career spanned more than 50 years, appearing in numerous Broadwa ...

, is included in the film but omitted from the album. As had happened with soundtrack of '' Fun in Acapulco'', two additional tracks, "Echoes of Love" and "

(It's a) Long Lonely Highway "(It's a) Long Lonely Highway" is a song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and originally recorded by Elvis Presley. It reached number 44 in francophone Belgium in 1965. Composition The song was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. Recordi ...

" by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman were taken from the aborted "lost" album sessions of May 1963, and added here to bring the running order up to twelve tracks. Three selections — "Once Is Enough", "One Boy, Two Little Girls", and the single – were on the 1995 soundtrack compilation, '' Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II''.

Track listing

Note *" Kissin' Cousins (Number 2)" was released as a single (RCA 47-8307) on February 10, 1964. It reached number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The single's B-side, "It Hurts Me" (not from the film) reached number 29. The British release of the single (RCA 1404) reached number 10. Guralnick, Peter, '' From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential '60s Masters'' (Booklet for CD box-set)

Personnel

* Elvis Presley – vocals * The Jordanaires – backing vocals * Millie Kirkham – backing vocals *Dolores Edgin – backing vocals *Winnifred Brest – backing vocals *

Boots Randolph Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit "Yakety Sax" (which became Benny Hill's signature tune). Randolph was a major part of the "Nashville sound" for most o ...

– saxophone, jug on "Barefoot Ballad" * Bill Justis – saxophone *

Cecil Brower Cecil Lee Brower (November 28, 1914 – November 21, 1965) was a classically trained American jazz violinist who became an architect of Western swing in the 1930s. Perhaps the greatest swing fiddler, he could improvise as well as ''double shuff ...

–

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

* Scotty Moore – electric guitar * Grady Martin – electric guitar * Jerry Kennedy – electric guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

on "Smokey Mountain Boy" *

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

– electric guitar, banjo on "Barefoot Ballad" *

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

– piano *

Bob Moore Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented record ...

– double bass *

D.J. Fontana Dominic Joseph Fontana (March 15, 1931 – June 13, 2018) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years. In 1955, he was hired to play drums for Presley, which marked the beginning of a 15-year relationsh ...

– drums * Buddy Harman – drums

Charts

Album

References

External links

* {{Elvis Presley 1964 soundtrack albums Elvis Presley soundtracks RCA Records soundtracks Albums produced by Gene Nelson Albums produced by Fred Karger Comedy film soundtracks Musical film soundtracks