The History of Elvis: 1960

History:

The conventional wisdom about rock and roll in the early Sixties -- as willfully ignorant of messy details as most conventional wisdom is -- writes it off as dead, or rather sleeping, patiently waiting for the four Prince Charmings called the Beatles to come and kiss it back to life. True, Chuck Berry was in jail, Buddy Holly was dead, and Little Richard was in the ministry, but if you want evidence of a real cultural shift you need only look at Elvis' post-Army days: they weren't worthless, but they weren't exactly exciting, either. Like most Southern boys, Presley just went back to his old job when he finished his tour of duty, but most grunts don't have an NBC special with Frank and the rest of the Rat Pack waiting for them, either. Elvis' good-old-boy act may have been his greatest role, but everyone in the world knew better.

Still, it had become clear that rock and roll had finally been absorbed into the mainstream; 1960 was the day of sanitized teen idols aping the sounds (if not the mannerisms) of the music's founding fathers. When The King and the Chairman of the Board squared off during that special, Frank swinging "Love Me Tender" and Elvis injecting a dark danger into "Witchcraft," it wasn't a standoff or even a good-natured rivalry -- it was a clear signal to the world that the music business had come to terms with this new mutation, that Elvis was finally, in the stilted words of Ed Sullivan, "a real fine boy." Except that the boy had become a man in the Army, as so many boys do, meeting the love of his life, testing the waters of decadence, finding his place in the outside world.

The main difference between Presley and others who'd lost their mothers at a young age was that he could afford to create his own family out of hangers-on, childhood acquaintances, business associates, and the occasional actual blood relative. It wasn't a real family, because it never challenged him, but it would have to do: oddly enough, being the world's biggest celebrity was the only thing Elvis had left. As a result, there are more than a few people who think The King died the minute he stepped off that troop ship, and merely took another seventeen years to fall down; like a lot of conventional wisdom, it's a big lie that nonetheless contains a few seeds of elemental truth.

Recording:

March 20: "Make Me Know It," "Soldier Boy" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
March 21: "Stuck On You," "Fame And Fortune," "A Mess Of Blues," "It Feels So Right" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
April 3: "Fever," "Like A Baby," "It's Now Or Never" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
April 4: "The Girl Of My Best Friend," "Dirty, Dirty Feeling," "Thrill Of Your Love," "I Gotta Know," "Such A Night," "Are You Lonesome To-night?" "The Girl Next Door Went A-walking," "I Will Be Home Again," "Reconsider Baby" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
April 27: "Shoppin' Around," "Didja' Ever," "Doin' The Best I Can," "G.I. Blues," "Frankfort Special," "Tonight Is So Right For Love" (RCA Studio A, Hollywood, CA)
April 28: "Big Boots," "What's She Really Like?," "Pocketful of Rainbows," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Wooden Heart" (RCA Studio A, Hollywood, CA)
May 6: "Tonight's All Right for Love" (RCA Studio A, Hollywood, CA)
August 8: "Black Star," "Summer Kisses, Winter Tears," "Britches," "A Cane And A High Starched Collar" (Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA)
October 7: "Flaming Star" (Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA)
October 30: "Milky White Way," "His Hand In Mine," "I Believe In The Man In The Sky," "He Knows Just What I Need," "Surrender," "Mansion Over The Hilltop" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
October 31: "In My Father's House," "Joshua Fit the Battle," "Swing Down, Sweet Chariot," "I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs," "If We Never Meet Again," "Known Only to Him," "Crying In The Chapel," "Working On The Building" (RCA Studio B, Nashville, TN)
November 7: "Lonely Man," "In My Way," "Wild In The Country," "Forget Me Never," "I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell" (Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA)

Singles:

March 28: "Stuck On You" b/w "Fame And Fortune" (RCA Victor 47-7740)
July 11: "It's Now Or Never" b/w "A Mess Of Blues" (RCA Victor 47-7777)
November 7: "Are You Lonesome To-night?" b/w "I Gotta Know" (RCA Victor 47-7810)

EPs:

February:

A Touch Of Gold, Volume 3 (RCA EPA 5141):
Side 1:
"Too Much"
"All Shook Up"
Side 2:
"Don't Ask Me Why"
"Blue Moon Of Kentucky"

Albums:

April:

Elvis Is Back (RCA LPM 2231):
Side 1:
"Make Me Know It"
"Fever"
"The Girl Of My Best Friend"
"I Will Be Home Again"
"Dirty, Dirty Feeling"
"Thrill Of Your Love"
Side 2:
"Soldier Boy"
"Such A Night"
"It Feels So Right"
"The Girl Next Door Went A-walking"
"Like A Baby"
"Reconsider Baby"

October:

G.I. Blues (RCA LPM 2256):
Side 1:
"Tonight Is So Right For Love"
"What's She Really Like?"
"Frankfort Special"
"Wooden Heart"
"G.I. Blues"
Side 2:
"Pocketful Of Rainbows"
"Shoppin' Around"
"Big Boots"
"Didja' Ever"
"Blue Suede Shoes"
"Doin' The Best I Can"

November:

His Hand In Mine (RCA LPM 2328):
Side 1:
"His Hand In Mine"
"I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs"
"In My Father's House"
"Milky White Way"
"Known Only To Him"
"I Believe In The Man In The Sky"
Side 2:
"Joshua Fit The Battle"
"He Knows Just What I Need"
"Swing Down, Sweet Chariot"
"Mansion Over The Hilltop"
"If We Never Meet Again"
"Working On The Building"

Movies:

November 23: G.I. Blues
Also starring: Juliet Prowse, Robert Ivers, James Douglas, Letícia Román, Sigrid Maier, Arch Johnson, Mickey Knox, John Hudson, Kenneth Becker, Jeremy Slate, Beach Dickerson, Trent Dolan, Carl Crow, Fred Essler
Directed by: Norman Taurog
Screenwriters: Edmund Beloin, Henry Garson
Produced by: Hal B. Wallis

December 20: Flaming Star
Also starring: Steve Forrest, Barbara Eden, Dolores del Rio, John McIntire, Rodolfo Acosta, Karl Swenson, Ford Rainey, Richard Jaeckel, Anne Benton, L.Q. Jones, Douglas Dick, Tom Reese, Marian Goldina
Directed by: Don Siegel
Screenwriters: Clair Huffaker, Nunnally Johnson
Produced by: David Weisbart