In 1975 RCA seemed to fire off one Presley album after another. In January there had been "Promised Land", followed by the greatest hits compilation "Pure Gold" in March. Now it was May and "Elvis Today" hit the stores. On June 7th Billboard listed the longplayer on their "Top LPs Chart", were it stayed for 13 weeks and peaked at number 57. On June 28th "Elvis Today" also entered the "Hot Country LPs Chart". Here it had a run of 37 weeks and made it up to number 4. In Japan the album won the Best Seller Award, in Europe the success was just moderate. During the initial sales period RCA retailed 400,000 units, worldwide 2 million copies were sold. Translated to the present the physical amount equals 300 million paid streams of the complete album or 3 billion paid streams of individual tracks. Regarding the studio albums "Elvis Today" was the king's most successful release since "He Touched Me" in 1972. Nevertheless it would have been considered a commercial failture if it had been released in the 1950s or 1960s. However, as time went on the 1970s became the favorite era of the Presley fans and the Legacy Edition of "Today" was streamed about 415 million times on Spotify alone (the original version accumulates another 26 million requests) and therefore surpassing physical sales giants like "GI Blues".

In contrast to what the title suggested RCA didn't use a current photo of the singer. To hide his weight gain Colonel Parker made sure the cover showed an older picture (shot in the summer of 1973) on which his client looked slim and tanned. The backside of the sleeve advertised Elvis' latest four RCA albums.

On the streaming platforms "Elvis Today" is available in form of the Legacy Edition as released in 2015. This version includes the original album plus the songs in form of rough mixes (without the overdubs) and live recordings, made by the sound engineer through the mixing desk in the summer of 1975. 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 album was recorded between March 10th and 12th, 1975 at RCA Studio C in Hollywood/California. It was produced by Felton Jarvis and engineered by Rick Ruggieri. Because Elvis wanted to rehearse for his upcoming Vegas engagement afterwards, he used his stage band for the recording sessions, too. This group consisted of James Burton (guitar), John Wilkinson (guitar), Charlie Hodge (guitar), Duke Bardwell (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums) and Glen D. Hardin (piano). Further musicians were David Briggs (clavinet), Greg Gordon (clavinet) and Tony Brown (piano). The harmony vocals were provided by Voice (Donnie Sumner, Tim Baty, Sherrill Nielsen and Tommy Hensley). Between April 8th and 14th there were overdub sessions at the Quadrafonic Sound Studio in Nashville/Tennessee. Further instruments and voices were added and the bass tracks of Duke Bardwell were replaced. The only exception was "T-R-O-U-B-L-E", which was prepared for release before the overdub sessions took place. In total "Elvis Today" has a running time of 34:50 minutes.

30 years after the original release Follow That Dream Records issued a collector's edition of the album. It included the tracks of the album, rough mixes and outtakes. For a review tap HERE.

Even though it's a rock'n'roll song in classic Jerry Lee Lewis style, Elvis performs it without any aggression. I like his relaxed, but still powerfull vocals very much. No wonder, RCA released "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" on a single. Between April and August 1975 it was also a regular feature of his live show. The song was written by Jerry Chesnut especially for Elvis, who recorded it on March 11, 1975 within four takes.

In 1973 Perry Como scored a top 30 hit with "And I Love You So", but the first release was four years earlier by Don McLean, who had also written it. Elvis taped the ballad on March 10, 1975 and selected the 10th attempt for post production. On April 8th a new bass track was recorded, later Felton Jarvis added harmony vocals (April 9th), brass (April 10th) and strings (April 14th). Elvis sings very emotional and the song accentuates his great voice. Between 1975 and 1977 "And I Love You So" was included in many shows, a live version from June 19, 1977 can be heared on "Elvis In Concert". But it has to be said that it doesn't even come close to his great studio recording.

The singer remembers his bygone loves and realizes, that none of them was like Susan. In contrast to many other songs of this kind, this one is no mourning ballad, but an uptempo country-pop. Elvis obviously has fun and I like "Susan When She Tried", too. The song was written by Don Reid and released by The Statler Brothers in 1973. The king covered it on March 11, 1975 and needed six takes to get it right. On April 8th the bass part was re-recorded and the track was shortened of 40 seconds.

This ballad was also written by Jerry Chesnut, but not especially for Elvis. The original recording was by Bob Luman in 1968. The king followed him on March 11, 1975 and taped the song in a single attempt. The harmony voices were added on April 9th, the strings followed on April 14th. Because the narrator's wife knows that he doesn't love her and therefore often cries at night, he comes to the conclusion, that a man without love is only half of a man, but a woman is nothing at all. I guess humbug like that was already considered reactionary in the 70s of the past century, but the melody is nice and Elvis performs the song with emotion.

In 1953 Faye Adams' original recording had blocked the number one spot of the "R&B Charts" for nine weeks. Elvis recorded the song by Joe Morris on March 11, 1975 within 3 takes. His performance has a touch of gospel, which I like very much. Later the track was enhanced with a new bass track (April 8th), harmony vocals (April 9th) and horns (April 10th).

One could really believe, that this is Elvis' life confession. His career as a singer, the women, the failed marriage. Everything is there. If the waterglass full of whiskey was substituted by a handfull of pills it would fit in every detail. On top of that the king performs the song with much emotion, it seems he takes the listener into his confidence. In fact, "Pieces Of My Life" has nothing to do with Elvis at all. It was written by Troy Seals, who also released the song in 1973 on an album. The king recorded it on March 12, 1975, the fourth take was approved for post production. On April 8th the bass track was re-recorded, six days later strings were added.

The country-pop was written by Anita and Bonnie Pointer and became a top 20 hit for The Pointer Sisters in 1974. Elvis recorded his version on March 10, 1975 within three takes. On April 8th Felton Jarvis added a fiddle and re-recorded the bass track, harmony vocals were taped the following day. The production was finalized on April 14th with the addition of strings and the shortening of the recording of 50 seconds. The narrator confronts his partner with her coldness and Elvis' voice is full of sandness and anger. I like the song very much. "Fairytale" was also a more or less regular feature of the king's live shows and can be found on "Elvis In Concert" (1977). This version was also taped on June 19, 1977 and doesn't hold a candle to the studio recording.

Elvis recorded "I Can Help" on March 10, 1975 within a single take. Officially the master is take 2, but the first take was nothing but a false start. Another try might have been a good idea, because the king can be heared gasping for breath here and there. But that doesn't keep me from loving this track, because the performance sounds so spontaneous and everybody obviously has fun. Felton Jarvis enhanced the track with the re-recording of the bass track (April 8th), harmony vocals (April 9th) and horns (April 10th). The harmony vocals were later removed on Elvis' behalf. "I Can Help" was written by Billy Swan, who scored a number one hit with the song in late 1974.

The sentimental ballad was written by Greg Gordon and recorded in January 1975 by Brenda Lee. Elvis taped his version on March 12, 1975 within four takes. On April 8th the bass track was re-recorded, harmony vocals were added the following day. On April 14th the track was further enhanced with strings. Even though Brenda Lee was the first to record "Bringing It Back", Elvis was the first to release the song. When Brenda scored a minor hit with it in the fall of 1975, RCA jumped on the bandwagon and quickly released Elvis' version on a single, too. But the plan didn't work out at all and the 45 became a commercial flop.

The narrator returns to his old homeland, meets his family and his beloved Mary and visits places of his childhood and youth. But in the thrid verse it gets obvious, that he is just dreaming and actually sitting in a death cell, where he awaits the capital punishment. "Green Green Grass Of Home" was written by Claude Putman jr. and was recorded first by Johnny Darrell. In 1966 Tom Jones scored a number one hit with the song on the "UK Charts" and it was his recording that got Elvis' attention. It is said that he once was on a trip back to Memphis and called the radio station several times and asked them to play the song. However, it took him almost a decade before he recorded "Green Green Grass Of Home" himself. On March 10, 1975 he needed five takes to archive a satisfactory result. The master take was enhanced with a new bass track (April 8th), harmony voices (April 9th) and strings (April 14th).