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

, written by Mac Davis and Billy Strange and published by Gladys Music, Inc., originally performed in the film '' Live a Little, Love a Little''. The song became a minor hit in the United States when released as a single with "

Almost in Love ''Almost in Love'' is a compilation album by American singer Elvis Presley, released in November 1970 by RCA Records on their budget label, RCA Camden. It was the first of several albums on the low-priced RCA Camden label (others including ''C'mo ...

" as the

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

. A 2002 remix by Dutch musician Junkie XL 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 "

", another song from the movie. The song was not released on an LP until November 1970, when it was included on the RCA Camden budget label LP ''

''. 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, 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 Sim ...

, bass.

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 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 A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

recording of three months earlier into

E major E major 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, F-flat maj ...

and featured a vocal and heavy reverb with backup vocals from The Blossoms. In the mid-1990s, Joseph A. Tunzi sold this recording to

Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music c ...

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 heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Ted Griffin. A remake of the 1960 film of the same name, it serves as the first installment in the ''Ocean's'' franchise. The film features an ense ...

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

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 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 many other countries, reaching number one in 13 of them. In 2002, "A Little Less Conversation" as remixed by Junkie XL was used for Nike's

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"''. 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, 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

References