On February 6, 1959 RCA Victor released "For LP Fans Only". Billboard started to list the record on their "Pop Albums Chart" on March 23rd. It had a run of eight weeks and peaked at number 19. In its initial sales period "For LP Fans Only" sold 150,000 units, worldwide RCA was able to retail 1.5 million copies. This amount of physical sales equals 225 million paid streams of the complete album or 2.25 billion paid streams of individual tracks. Compared to "King Creole" the sales had shrunken by 45%. At the first sight the figures look disastrous, but a closer look reveales, that this album was the second or even third exploitation of the songs. There was no need to complain. In the present "For LP Fans Only" accumulates 142 million streams on Spotify alone and therefore is more popular than "Loving You" (1957) and "Elvis" (1956).

The sleeve of "For LP Fans Only" was nominated for a Grammy in the category "Best Album Cover". It was the first cover in the history of recorded music, that didn't name the artist. The picture was taken in 1956 and showed Elvis with his natural, blonde hair. The backcover presented a newer photo of the singer, posing in his uniform.

On the streaming platforms "For LP Fans Only" is presented the way it was issued in 2016 as part of the set "The Album Collection". This means, it features "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine" and "Let Me" as bonus tracks. For this project all tracks were scanned with high-resolution equipment and remastered. Therefore the album can be presented with the golden Hi-Res emblem. The better sound of these versions is owed exclusively to the new mastering (the elimination of interfering noise). Because first one cannot turn an analogue recording into a high resolution recording just by scanning the tape with hd equipment and second even an old cd with 16 bit/44.1 kHz exceeds the auditory sense of a human being.

Of course RCA Victor would have loved to schedule recording sessions for Elvis in Germany, but Colonel Parker heavily opposed to this idea and his client followed the advice. And so the label compiled some songs, that hadn't been released on a longplayer before. However, all of them had been issued on singles or on eps. Some of the tracks had even appeared on both formats. So all songs had already earned their costs back and this second or third exploitation was a nice bonus. With a running time of 23:28 minutes the long player didn't play too long.

In December 2018 Follow That Dream Records released a collector's edition of "For LP Fans Only". As a bonus it also included recordings of tv appearances (For TV Fans Only) and appearances on radio shows (For Radio Fans Only) as well as home recordings, made in Germany. For a review of this special edition just tap HERE.

The song was written and first recorded in 1946 by Arthur Crudup. Elvis, Scotty and Bill played "That's All Right" faster and did without the blues elements. They focused on the rhythm and the voice of the lead vocalist. The group taped the track on July 5, 1954 at SUN Records in Memphis/Tennessee. Sam Phillips, the owner of the studio, acted as producer and engineer. Elvis and Scotty played guitar, Bill Black was on bass. The first two attempts to record "That's All Right" were canceled, takes number 3 and 4 are complete performances. The 4th take was released on the single "That's All Right" / "Blue Moon Of Kentucky". After the re-release on this album, RCA Victor also included the track on the extended player "A Touch Of Gold - Volume 2" (1959) as well as on the albums "A Legendary Performer - Volume 1" (1974) and "The Sun Sessions" (1976). Live performances can be heared on "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden" (1972) and "Elvis In Concert" (1977).

Lloyd Price had written and recorded the song in 1952. On February 3, 1956 Elvis put 12 takes on tape at the RCA Studio 1 in New York and selected number 10 as the master. I like the song very much, RCA Victor released it in 1956 on an extended player and on a single. Live performances can be found on "Elvis" (1968) and "Elvis As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis" (1974). In the movie "Change Of Habit" (1969) Dr. John Carpenter (Elvis) plays a few bars of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" on the piano, a complete version could be seen in "Elvis On Tour" (1972).

"Mystery Train" was first recorded in 1953 by Hank "Little Junior" Parker, who had also written the song together with Sam Phillips. The lyrics are simple, the loved one departs by train and the singer hopes, she will return and stay with him. The fascinating thing is the sound. It's almost unbelievable, that the music was produced just with two guitars and a bass. Elvis' voice also sounds great, including his howling and laughing at the end of the song. It became the king's final SUN single. RCA re-released the song on an ep called "Any Way You Want Me" (1956), on this album and on "The Sun Sessions" (1976). Elvis also performed the song in his concerts on a regular basis, mostly as a medley with "Tiger Man". A live recording can be found on the double album "From Memphis To Vegas / From Vegas To Memphis" (1969). The studio recording was made on July 21, 1955 at SUN Records in Memphis/Tennessee.

In early 1957 "Playing For Keeps" had been the a-side of a single, but while the track stagnated at number 34, the supposed b-side "Too Much" became a number 2 hit. Therefore RCA had released this song on "Elvis' Golden Record" and ignored "Playing For Keeps". In 1970 the song would be re-released on the boxed set "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1". The ballad was recorded on September 1, 1956 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood/California. Because Elvis was not able to produce a satisfactory take, the master was spliced of takes 7 and 18. "Playing For Keeps" was written by Stanley A. Kesler. In the song, the singer swears everlasting faithfulness to his loved one. I neither like the song nor Elvis' performance of it.

Here we have a happy country song. The lyrics could be summarized by "I don't need money as long as I have you". The groundwork of the master was take 3, as recorded on August 24, 1956. On September 4th a "partial verse track" was produced to which vocals were added the following day. The final version is a splice of the takes 3 and 6. To fit to the basic recording the tape ran 0.45% slower. Originally "Poor Boy" had been released on the soundtrack ep "Love Me Tender", which had sold two million units. In 1971 it could be found on the boxed set "The Other Sides - Worldwide Gold Award Hits Volume 2".

RCA Victor had issued "My Baby Left Me" on the b-side of "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" (1956) and the ep "The Real Elvis" (1956) before it could be found on this album. Later it would re-appear on "The Other Sides - Worldwide Gold Award Hits Volume 2" (1971). A live version can be found on "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis" (1974). The song was written by Arthur Crudup and is basically a copy of his own "That's All Right". To me "My Baby Left Me" is better, because D.J. Fontana's drums provide a lot of drive and Elvis sings with more energy. The studio version was recorded on January 30, 1956 at the RCA Studio in New York.

The ballad in mid-tempo was written by Aaron Schroeder, Claude DeMetrius, Hal Blair and Bill Peppers. Elvis recorded it on January 11, 1956 within ten takes. Because Steve Sholes mixed up the numbering and announced the takes 2, 3 and 7 twice, the master take was labled as "take 7b". The singer was left by his girl and now approaches her new partner. Obviously he once had found the girl completely untouched and taught her how to kiss, to caress and to get the tears flowing if necessary. And now, after his magnum opus is finished, it's gone. Shit happens! Originally "I Was The One" had been the b-side of "Heartbreak Hotel", which became a number one hit and sold four million units. A few weeks later RCA exploited the song a second time on the ep "Heartbreak Hotel". After releasing it on this album, "I Was The One" was used on the boxed set "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1" (1970).

Here we have another song from the "Love Me Tender" soundtrack. In 1971 it would be re-released on "The Other Sides - Worldwide Gold Award Hits Volume 2". This track is based on the traditional "There's A Leak In This Old Building", the master is a splice of the takes 4 and 9, as recorded on August 24, 1956. On the same day harmony vocals, hand clapping and finger snapping were taped. Here the takes 2 and 1 were used. In the end it was decided to do without the harmony vocals.

Joe Turner recorded "Shake, Rattle & Roll" in 1954, the composer is named Carles Calhoun. The rock'n'roll pioneer Bill Haley had the biggest hit with the song, even though he alleviated the lyrics a bit. In his version the lady is in the kitchen instead of the bed and the see-through dress is substituted by a nice hairdo. Elvis also left out the raunchy dress, but the lady was back in the bed and the verse with the one-eyed cat and the seafood store (at the time extremely suggestive paraphrases of the male and femal genitals) was also used. This recording was also made on February 3, 1956 and take 12b was chosen as master take. On the same day Elvis, Scotty, Bill and D.J. overdubbed the backup vocals. "Shake, Rattle & Roll" first appeared on the extended player "Elvis Presley", later it became the b-side of the single "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy". So "For LP Fans Only" was RCA's third exploitation of the song.

Sam Kesler brought "You're Right, I'm Left, She's Gone" to Sam Phillips, who thought the track might be the perfect vehicle for his new star. Elvis, Scotty and Bill first tried to record the song in 1954, but the result wasn't all that satisfactory. In April 1955 the group made a second attempt, this time accompanied by the drummer Jimmie Lott. They were successful and the 6th take was considered to be worth a release. Unfortunately Sam Phillips messed up the title when he created the labels for the single and turned "You're Right, I'm Left, She's Gone" into "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone". Instead of correcting the name on further releases it was left that way. Originally the song was the b-side of the SUN single "Baby Let's Play House", in 1976 the song would re-appear on the album "The Sun Sessions".

Of course the compilation also included "You're A Heartbreaker", which was the b-side of the SUN single "Milkcow Blues Boogie". Even though the narrator offers a quite negative oppinion of his  ex-girlfriend, the melody is happy. The song by Jack Sallee is a tad on the leightweight side, but the tune stays with you.