''Love Me Tender'' is an EP by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, containing the four songs from the motion picture of the same name. It was 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 A ...

in November 1956. The EP peaked at #9 on Top Pop Albums chart with sales of over 600,000, as well as making it to #35 on the

singles chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

. It was simultaneously certified Gold and Platinum 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/ ...

on March 27, 1992.

Background

The film was originally intended to be a straight acting role for Presley,Victor, ''The Elvis Encyclopedia'', pages 314/315 but due to the popularity of the single "Love Me Tender" and

Colonel Tom Parker Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997),

's desire to promote Presley's films with a soundtrack and vice versa, four songs were added to the film. Parker would very seldom deviate from this formula for the remainder of Presley's film career. Instead of a full long-playing album

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

, for ''Love Me Tender'' the four songs appearing in the film were released as an extended-play or E.P. seven-inch 45 RPM record on

, ''Love Me Tender'', catalog EPA 4006, during November 1956.

Content

The four EP soundtrack songs were recorded at Fox's Stage One in

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) * Hollywoo ...

, at three sessions on August 24, September 4, and October 1, 1956. The title song was released as a single on September 28, 1956, and went to #1 on the singles chart. The music was based on the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

Aura Lee "Aura Lea" (sometimes spelled "Aura Lee") is an American Civil War song about a maiden. It was written by W. W. Fosdick (lyrics) and George R. Poulton (music). The melody was used in Elvis Presley's 1956 hit song " Love Me Tender". History ...

," with new lyrics by Ken Darby. Darby, in fact, wrote all of the soundtrack songs, but credited them to his wife, Vera Matson, while Parker cut his publishing company, Hill and Range, in on the royalties by further crediting the writing to Presley as well. A reprise of "Love Me Tender" was recorded on October 1 and is heard at the end of the film; this short track was not released until after Presley's death. The sessions for these songs were the only time in the decade that Presley recorded with musicians outside his regular coterie.

Track listing

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Vito Mumolo –

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

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, ...

* Luther Rountree –

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

* Dom Frontieri –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"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 ree ...

on August 24 * Carl Fortina –

on September 4 * Mike "Myer" Rubin –

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

* Richard Cornell –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

* Rad Robinson –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

* Jon Dodson –

* Charles Prescott –

Charts

References

External links

*
Love Me Tender (EP)
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

{{Authority control Film soundtracks 1956 soundtrack albums RCA Records soundtracks Elvis Presley soundtracks 1956 EPs Elvis Presley EPs RCA Records EPs Albums produced by Lionel Newman