The new longplayer was called "Elvis Country - I'm 10,000 Years Old" and was released in January 1971. On the 23rd of the month the record entered Billboard's "Top LPs Chart", where it stayed for 21 weeks and peaked at number 12. On January 30th the magazine also started to list the album on their "Hot Country LPs Chart". Here it had a run of 26 weeks and peaked at number 6. In its initial sales period "Elvis Country - I'm 10,000 Years Old" sold 500,000 units, the RIAA honored the domestic sales with a Gold Award in October 1977. Worldwide RCA was able to retail three million copies, which equals 450 million paid streams of the complete album or 4.5 billion paid streams of individual tracks. Today "Elvis Country - I'm 10,000 Years Old" isn't all that popular anymore and accumulates just 14 million streams on Spotify.

To emphasize the country roots and humble beginnings of the king, the cover was designed with a colorized photo of Elvis at the age of two. The backside presented a current picture of the king on stage.

On the streaming platforms "Elvis Country - I'm 10,000 Years Old" is available as released on "The Album Collection" in 2016. 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.

The majority of the tracks was recorded between June 4th and 8th, 1970 in Nashville/Tennessee. The sessions were produced by Felton Jarvis and engineered by Al Pachucki. Elvis' band consisted of James Burton (guitar), Chip Young (guitar), Charlie Hodge (guitar), Jerry Carrigan (drums), David Briggs (piano), Norbert Putnam (bass) and Charlie McCoy (organ, harmonic, vibraphone and marimbaphone). The live recordings were made between August 10th and 13th 1970 at the Showroom Internationale of the International Hotel in Las Vegas/Nevada. Here the king was accompanied by James Burton (guitar), Charlie Hodge (guitar & harmony vocals), John Wilkinson (guitar), Jerry Scheff (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums) and Glen D. Hardin (piano) as well as The Joe Guercio Orchestra. The harmony vocals were provided by The Sweet Inspirations (Myrna Smith, Silvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown and Ann Williams), The Imperials (Armond Morales, Terry Blackwood, Jimmie Murray, Roger Wiles and Joe Moscheo) and Millie Kirkham. Because there was not enough material for the country-project, another session was scheduled on September 22, 1970. Once again it was produced by Felton Jarvis and engineered by Al Pachucki. The band consisted of Eddie Hinton (guitar), Chip Young (guitar), Norbert Putnam (bass), Jerry Carrigan (drums), David Briggs (piano) and Charlie McCoy (organ and harmonica). The harmony vocals were recorded on September 22nd and 23rd. To give the longplayer the feel of a concept album, it was decided to use "I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago" as a link between the songs. The final product has a running time of 38:49 minutes.

In 2008 Follow That Dream Records released a collector's edition of "Elvis Country - I'm 10,000 Years Old". For a review, just tap HERE.

Elvis' performance of "Snowbird" is a straight copy of Anne Murray's original. But even though it wasn't an act of creativity, the song fits him like a glove. The narrator yearns for his loved one, even though she was unfaithful and left him. Mrs. Murray's single was still on the charts when Elvis recorded "Snowbird" on September 22, 1970. He taped six takes of the song, afterwards he recorded his harmony vocals. Further post-production was done on September 23rd (harmony voices) and October 27th (strings).

The song was written by Johnny Bond and Ernest Tubb, who also released it in 1945. Elvis recorded is version on June 7, 1970. The master take is a splice of take 13 and workpart-take 1. The latter one featured the ending of the song. On June 30th Felton Jarvis added strings and horns, harmony vocals followed on October 1st. It's a great song and a great performance. The loved one promises to marry the singer tomorrow, but as time goes by he has to realize, that tomorrow will never come. I just love this song, because it really showcases the king's voice and it's such a joy to hear him singing his heart out and performing with such an obvious love for what he's doing. "Tomorrow Never Comes" is a highlight by any means!

This one sounds like a spontaneous jam, but in fact Elvis recorded two takes of "Little Cabin On The Hill" on June 4, 1970 and the banjo as well as the fiddle were added in post-production on July 22nd. It's obvious, that everyone has fun and the king's coarse guitar playing just adds to the atmosphere of the bluegrass song. The narrator was left and now he sits in that little cabin on the hill and remembers the times, when it was their mutal home. "Little Cabin On The Hill" was written by Bill Monroe and Lester Flat. Monroe recorded the song in 1947, albeit by the name of "Little Cabin Home On The Hill".

At the time most people remembered the version by Jerry Lee Lewis, but people like James Faye Hall (who had co-written the song with Dave Williams under the pseudonym Sunny David), Dolores Fredericks and a group named The Commodores had recorded the tune before him. In general Elvis' performance was a jam. On September 22nd Jerry Carrigan played a rhythm pattern on his drums and the king suddenly started to sing "Whole Lotta' Shakin' Goin' On". It sounded great and it was decided to record it. After a short rehearsal (which was considered to be the first take) the group went to work and delivered a catchy perfomance right on the spot (considered to be the second take). On October 12th Felton Jarvis shortened the performance and added horns. Finally Elvis rejected the overdubs and the horns were removed. I like this track very much. It's so powerful and playful, once again the pure joy of making music is so very obvious here. In 1973 and 1974 "Whole Lotta' Shakin' Goin' On" became a part of different medleys, which can be heared on "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite" (1973) and "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis" (1974). But both times the king didn't even come close to his great studio recording.

Here the narrator meets his ex and starts a conversation. The lyrics just present the singer's part of the discussion, but it's obvious, that he still has feelings for the lady and is jealous of her new lover. Elvis first performed "Funny How Time Slips Away" in August 1969 during his comeback season at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. On June 7, 1970 he finally taped the song in the studio within a single take. Harmony vocals were added on September 21st and October 1st, strings followed on October 27th. The king sings with much emotion and delivers a great, absolutely believable performance. A live version can be found on "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden" (1972). "Funny How Time Slips Away" was written by Willy Nelson, who also recorded the song several times. But the first release was by Billy Walker, whose version peaked at number 23 on the "Hot C&W Sides Chart" in 1961.

The song was written by Don Robertson and Howard Barnes and recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1953. The narrator dosn't want to know anything about the past of his loved one, knowing, that she had many affairs. Elvis recorded "I Really Don't Want To Know" on June 7, 1970 within four takes. Strings were added on June 30th, harmony vocals followed on October 1st. Compared to the single the version on this album features a different mix. RCA re-mixed the track again in 1977 and released the result on the album "Welcome To My World". The king's performance is very emotional. He's obviously in love, but also hurt and angry. On May 30, 1977 Elvis included "I Really Don't Want To Know" in his stage show, albeit just in a shortened form. A live recording can be heared on the double album "Elvis In Concert" (1977).

 "There Goes My Everything" was written by Dallas Frazier and was first recorded in 1965 by Ferlin Husky. The following year Jack Green scorded a number one hit with the song, in 1967 Engelbert Humperdinck's version peaked at number 2 of the UK Charts. Elvis taped "There Goes My Everything" on June 8, 1970 and needed three takes to archive a satisfactory performance. The king recorded his harmony vocals on June 23rd, horns and strings followed seven days later. The background singers were recorded on September 21st and October 1st. The singer has to watch his wife leaving him. The melody is saccharine, the lyrics are on the kitschy side. Nevertheless Elvis performs the song in a believable way. In 1970/71 "There Goes My Everything" appeared in some of the king's stage shows, for his gospel album "He Touched Me" he recorded a religious version called "He Is My Everything".

Supposingly "It's your baby, you rock it" was Vernon's dictum and Lamar Fike, one of Elvis' buddies, suggested it as a song title to Shirl Milete. He liked the saying and wrote a song, in which the narrator has warned his friend of the unfaithfulness of his loved one, because he once had a releationship with this lady, too. Of course his buddy didn't listen, got cheated and complaines. "It's Your Baby, You Rock It" is a very good, uptempo countrysong and it suits Elvis very well. He recorded the song on June 5, 1970 within five takes. On June 22nd Felton Jarvis added harmony vocals.

This was one of Elvis' long time favorites, in 1959 he even made a home recording of "The Fool" while he served his country in Germany. Originally it was recorded by Sanford Clark in 1956. According to the credits "The Fool" was written by Naomi Ford, but in fact it was written by her husband, Lee Hazlewood. The song is about a man, who once let his loved one go and now considers himself to be a fool. In contrast to Elvis I don't like this song all that much. The king recorded it on June 4, 1970. Maybe because he knew the track inside-out, he just needed two takes. Harmony vocals were added on October 1st.

Originally Elvis had planned to recorded "Faded Love" in 1966, but after the sessions were canceled it vanished from his agenda. At least until June 4, 1970. The king and his crew tried the song out, but he couldn't remember the lyrics and went on to record something else. Finally "Faded Love" was taped on June 7th, all Elvis needed was a single attempt. On June 30, 1970 Felton Jarvis added strings and horns and shortened the recording of a minute. Once again the singer remembers a lost love, but this time in a quite rocking fashion. I like Elvis' performance very much. Originally "Faded Love" was an instrumental, which was released by Bob & Johnnie Wills in 1946. Four years later Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys released a chanted version.

This is country rock at its very best! On June 7, 1970 Elvis recorded one take of "I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water" and delivered a perfect performance. Everyone is runny at full throttle and it's pure joy to listen to these highly talented musicians having fun. On June 20th Felton Javis shortened the track and added horns. "I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water" was written by Joe Babcock, the first recording was in 1964 by Stonewall Jackson.

Elvis recorded the country ballad on June 7, 1970 within three takes. The master-take is a splice of take 3 and a workpart take of the finale. On September 21st and October 1st harmony vocals were added, strings followed on October 27th. In early 1977 RCA released a remix of "Make The World Go Away" on the album "Welcome To My World", but for some reason this was just take 3 without the workpart-take. Nevertheless this version included the overdubs. Elvis delivers a great performance of this sad ballad, it's a true highlight. "Make The World Go Away" was written by Hank Cochran and recorded in 1963 by Ray Price.