''It Happened at the World's Fair'' is the sixth 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 in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2697, in April 1963. It is the soundtrack to the 1963 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 m ...

s took place at

Radio Recorders Radio Recorders, Inc. was an American recording studio located in Los Angeles, California. During the 1940s and 1950s, Radio Recorders was one of the largest independent recording studios in the world. Notable musicians recorded at Radio Recorder ...

in Hollywood on August 30 and September 22, 1962. It peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Top Pop Albums chart.

Content

Initially booked for August 28 and 29, sessions were delayed as Presley had taken ill, and only two numbers were completed satisfactorily on the first night of August 30. Ten songs were tackled for the soundtrack, the standouts being two written by one of Presley's favorite songwriters, Don Robertson (who took an active part in the sessions by playing keyboards), and one by

Otis Blackwell Otis Blackwell (February 16, 1931 – May 6, 2002) was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include " Fever" (recorded by Little Willie John), " Great Balls of Fire" and " Breathless" (recorded by Jerr ...

and

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

, the team that had written the No. 2 hit single " Return to Sender" the previous year. All three of these songs, "I'm Falling In Love Tonight", " They Remind Me Too Much of You", and " One Broken Heart for Sale", would be included on the 1995 compilation CD '' Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II''. "One Broken Heart for Sale" and "They Remind Me Too Much of You" would be released ahead of time on January 29 as a single to promote both the album and

the film The Film is a 2005 Indian thriller film directed by Junaid Memon also produced along with Amitabh Bhattacharya. The film stars Mahima Chaudhry, Khalid Siddiqui, Ananya Khare, Chahat Khanna, Ravi Gossain, Vaibhav Jhalani and Vivek Madan in lea ...

. "Broken Heart" just missed the top ten, peaking at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, with the b-side charting independently at number 53. It became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. Truncated with a verse excised to a very short length of 1:35, "One Broken Heart For Sale" was the first RCA single of Presley's career that did not make the top five, excluding "

Shake Rattle and Roll "Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone (usually credited as Charles Calhoun, his songwriting name). The original recording by Big Joe Turner is ranked number 127 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of The 500 Gr ...

" which did not chart at all after being released on August 31, 1956, simultaneously with Presley's debut album divided up into six singles. Originally a deluxe-priced gatefold sleeve album was planned, but with only 21 minutes of music and the relative failure of "One Broken Heart For Sale" the idea was abandoned. Although promoted as a full album at the time of its release, its very short running time actually renders it an EP under some modern charting criteria, such as that from the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...

in the UK.

Reissues

In 2003 ''It Happened at the World's Fair'' was reissued on the Follow That Dream edition that contained the original album along with numerous alternate takes.Sources: * *

Track listing

Original release

2003 Follow That Dream reissue

Personnel

* Elvis Presley – vocals *

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, Vocal ...

– backing vocals on "Relax" and "Happy Ending” * The Mello Men – backing vocals except "Relax" and "Happy Ending” * Clifford Scott – saxophone *

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 *

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 ...

– lead guitar, overdubbed

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

on "Take Me to the Fair" * Tiny Timbrell – acoustic guitar *

Dudley Brooks Dudley Brooks (December 22, 1913 – July 17, 1989) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. Biography Brooks was born on December 22, 1913, in Los Angeles, California.

– piano, organ * Don Robertson – piano, organ * Ray Seigel – 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 relationshi ...

– drums * Frank Carlson – drums

References

External links

*
LPM-2697 It Happened At The World's Fair Guide
part o
The Elvis Presley Record Research DatabaseLSP-2697 It Happened At The World's Fair Guide
part o
The Elvis Presley Record Research Database
{{Authority control Musical film soundtracks 1963 soundtrack albums Elvis Presley soundtracks RCA Records soundtracks Albums produced by Leith Stevens Albums recorded at Radio Recorders