''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) 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 ...

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 sessions took place at Radio Recorders 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) * 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 and

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861, and was a veteran of the War of 1812, American Indian Wars, Mexica ...

, the team that had written the No. 2

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

" 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. "Broken Heart" just missed the top ten, peaking at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, with the

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

charting independently at number 53. It became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. 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" 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 UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

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, Vo ...

– 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 – lead guitar, overdubbed

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

on "Take Me to the Fair" *

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 ...

– acoustic guitar * Dudley Brooks – 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