On April 8, 1960 RCA Victor started to ship the long awaited comeback album of the rock'n'roll king. With 300,000 sales "Elvis Is Back!" entered Billboard's "Best Selling LPs Chart" on May 5th, stayed for 56 weeks and peaked at number 2. The RIAA honored the domestic sales with a Gold Award. In Great Britain the longplayer became a number one hit, worldwide RCA Victor was able to retail 3 million copies, which translates to 450 million paid streams of the complete album or 4.5 billion paid streams of individual tracks. After "For LP Fans Only" and "A Date With Elvis" had not sold as well as the king's previous albums, the business people at RCA now were reassured of Elvis' success. Ironically the situation is different today since "Elvis Is Back" accumulates 78 million streams on Spotify while "Date" and "LP Fans" clock in at 138 million / 143 million requests.

To push the sales, the first edition of "Elvis Is Back!" featured a cover, that could be hung on the wall and used as decoration. The sleeve didn't feature a tracklist, because RCA wanted to get the album out as fast as possible and pre-produced the covers. The tracklist was later added in form of a yellow sticker.

On the streaming platforms "Elvis Is Back!" is presented the way it was issued in 2016 as part of the set "The Album Collection". 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.

Barely three weeks after his return to the States, Elvis found himself at RCA Studio B in Nashville/Tennessee to record new songs. On March 20th and 21st he taped his new single "Stuck On You" / "Fame And Fortune" and four songs for the album. The sessions were produced by Steve Sholes as well as Chet Atkins and engineered by Bill Porter. The latter one was most important, because Elvis was recording in the brand new stereo format. The band consisted of Scotty Moore (guitar), D.J. Fontana (drums), Hank Garland (guitar and bass), Bob Moore (bass), Murrey Harman (drums) and Floyd Cramer (piano). The harmony vocals were provided by The Jordanaires (Gordon Stoker, Hoyt Hawkins, Neal Matthews and Ray Walker). On April 3rd and 4th the group recorded the remaining songs of the album plus "It's Now Or Never", "I Gotta Know" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight". The band was the same, but enhanced with Homer Randolph (saxophone) and Charlie Hodge (harmony vocals). On April 5th there was an overdub session for "It's Now Or Never", on which Floyd Cramer and Murrey Harman added piano and percussion parts. The album has a running time of 31:54 minutes.

In 2005 Follow That Dream Records released a collector's edition of "Elvis Is Back!", which included the hit singles of 1960 and several outtakes. For a review tap HERE. Fourteen years later the label went a step further and released "The ELVIS IS BACK! Sessions". This boxed set offers every available take in chronological order. The review can be found HERE.

The album starts with "Make Me Know It", the first recording of Elvis since June 10, 1958. The narrator askes his girl for a proof of her love, because actions speak louder than words. The king and his crew needed 19 takes to record the song by Otis Blackwell, but the result was perfect.

This one was also written by Otis Blackwell. Because he was tied to another publisher, he used the alias "John Davenport". Eddie Cooley was credited, because the basic concept of "Fever" was his. The song was first recorded by Little Willie John, who scored a number one with it on Billboard's "R&B Best Seller Chart" in 1956. Two years later Peggy Lee released a differently arranged version, the song was also covered by Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Madonna and Beyonce' Knowles. Elvis taped "Fever" on April 3, 1960 within four takes. He basically copied the version of Peggy Lee, but he performs the song so sexy and cool, that his recording is the definite one. The track was re-released on the album "Pure Gold" (1975), a live version can be found on the double album "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite" (1973).

In 1959 Charlie Blackwell released "The Girl Of My Best Friend" on the b-side of his single "Choppin' Mountains", two years later Ral Donner scored a top 20 hit with the ballad. Elvis recorded it on April 4, 1960 and needed ten takes to get it right. The narrator is in love with the girl of his best friend and fears to loose them both if he reveals his feelings. Compared to the original version the king's performance sounds more smooth. It's quite obvious how much he had improved since the 1950s. The song was written by Beverly Ross and Sam Bobrick. In 1976 RCA released "The Girl Of My Best Friend" on a single and provided Elvis with another top 10 hit in Great Britain.

During their days in the US Army Elvis and Charlie Hodge had sung "I Will Be Home Again" quite often. On April 3, 1960 they recorded the song professionally and needed four takes to do so. Mr. Hodge had been a member of the Foggy River Boys and performed with stars like Red Foley and Gene Autry. I like the king's first duet recording very much. "I Will Be Home Again" was written by Bennie Benjamin, Raymond Leveen and Lou Singer and was first recorded by The Golden Gate Quartet. 

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller had written the song for the movie "King Creole", but at the time it was refused. Elvis finally recorded the song on April 4, 1960 and selected the 4th attempt for release. The singer discovers that his girlfriend is gone and vows to bring her back - at any cost. "Dirty Dirty Feeling" offers a rockin' melody and funny lyrics. In 1965 the recording was used for the movie "Tickle Me" and also appeared on the soundtrack ep.

The ballad with a touch of gospel was written by Stan Kesler and recorded in 1958 by Carl McVoy under the name of "A Woman's Love". Because the recording was released in 2002 (and therefore 25 years after the king's demise), it's not known if McVoy's performance was used as a demo or if Elvis knew the recording at all. However, he taped his version on April 4, 1960 within three takes and delivered one of the highlights of this album. 

"Soldier Boy" was the second song of the comeback-session on March 20th and the first ballad Elvis recorded since two years. In the past this kind of music hadn't been his key competence, but his performance made clear, that he had improved a lot. The song fits "Elvis Is Back!" like a glove, because the singer ensures a lovesick army buddy, that his girl will be waiting for him. The original was released by The Four Fellows in 1955, the writers are David Jones and Theodore Williams jr. It is said that Elvis decided to record "Soldier Boy" while he was on duty in Germany and the 15 takes certainly prove, that he was serious about the song.

Elvis was a huge fan of Clyde McPhatter and so he recorded his r&b hit "Such A Night" on April 4, 1960. The 5th take became the master. In 1964 RCA Victor re-released the track on a single and provided the king with another top 20 hit. Twelve years later the takes 2 and 3 of "Such A Night" were issued on the album "A Legendary Performer - Volume 2". Elvis didn't stray all that much from McPhatter's performance, but his (Elvis') version sounds more relaxed and the balance between a suggestive undertone and humorous exaggeration worked out better.

The bluesy "It Feels So Right" was written by Fred Wise and Ben Weisman and recorded by Elvis on March 21, 1960 within five takes. The king worked himself up into the song and delivered one of his classic performances. In 1965 "It Feels So Right" also appeared in the movie "Tickle Me" and was re-released on the b-side of "(Such An) Easy Question".

Elvis recorded the song as a friendly gesture to Scotty Moore, whose buddy Thomas Wayne had written it together with Bill Rise. Unfortunately Wayne's single was released in May 1960, which caused the impression that he had covered a Presley song. The king recorded "The Girl Next Door Went A-Walking" on April 3, 1960 and needed four takes to do so. I like this popsong very much, especially the interaction between Elvis and The Jordanaires.

Vikki Nelson had recorded this song by Jesse Stone in 1957 and there was also another version by Tony Arden. Elvis recorded "Like A Baby" on April 3, 1960 and approved the 6th take for release. The king almost seems to loose himself in this edgy r&b song and delivers one of his best blues performances ever. Great, great stuff!

The same applies to "Reconsider Baby". It was the final song of the "Elvis Is Back!" sessions and everyone was running at full throttle. Elvis really feels the song and Homer Randolph surpasses himself with his dirty saxophone sounds. The track was recorded on April 4, 1960 within two takes and belongst to my all time favorites.