In December 1975 PICKWICK released a set of two longplayers called "Double Dynamite!". At the time the budget compilation didn't chart and the sales figures are not known. But because the RIAA honored the US sales with a Platinum Award in 2004, it's safe to say that it sold at least a million copies. Considering the fact, that 40% of the king's sales were archived abroad, "Double Dynamite!" might have sold approximately 1.5 million units worldwide. This figure translates to 225 million paid streams of the complete album or 2.25 billion paid streams of individual tracks.

The photos on the cover were already known. One had been used by RCA Victor on the sleeve of "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden", the other by CAMDEN on the backside of "Elvis Sings Hits From His Movies - Volume 1".

PICKWICK was a budget label, that licenced and re-issued songs from the catalogues of well-known aritsts. In 1975 the company had aquired the rights to Presley's CAMDEN releases and continued to sell these albums under their own label. Further PICKWICK had the right to issue a budget version of "Frankie And Johnny", which they would do in November 1976. To make some further money, the label used the tracks on these records to compile this double album. After Elvis' demise RCA reclaimed the rights.

Elvis recorded the rock'n'roll tune on March 28, 1972 at RCA Studio C in Hollywood/California within six takes. On April 27th Felton Jarvis added further instruments and shortened the recording of half a minute. The song was written by Dennis Linde and originally released by Arthur Alexander. Even though "Burning Love" is a straight rock song, Elvis doesn't perform it with the necessary agression. Maybe it was because of his peddled dislike of the song, maybe he simply wanted to sound like a popsinger. The recording was released on the single "Burning Love" / "It's A Matter Of Time", which sold three million copies and became Elvis' biggest hit since 1969. A live version can be found on "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite" (1973).

This song was written and recorded by Bobby Darin in 1959. Elvis followed him on January 22, 1969 at American Sound Studio in Memphis/Tennessee. He recorded six takes and selected the thrid attempt for post-production and release. Chips Moman, the producer of the session, added harmony vocals (January 24th), strings (May 5th) as well as horns and additional harmony vocals (May 6th).

The uptempo song was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and was released for the first time in 1956 by The Drifters. Elvis recorded "Fools Fall In Love" on May 28, 1966 within five takes. It's a boisterous performance and pure joy to hear. The singer claims that only fools fall in love and latterly he's one of them. The track had been originally released in early 1967 on the b-side of "Indescribably Blue".

The snappy title song (guess on which ep it was released) was written by Fred Wise and Ben Weisman, Elvis recorded it within six takes. The king performs the happy tune with enthusiasm. To me "Follow That Dream" is one of the best movie songs of the man from Memphis.

Elvis recorded "You'll Never Walk Alone" on September 11, 1967 at RCA Studio B in Nashville/Tennessee and delivered one of his very best performances. He seems to loose himself in the song, his voice is full of emotion and he sounds absolutely stunning. The master is a splice of takes 1 and 8. "You'll Never Walk Alone" was written by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II in 1945 for a musical called "Carousel". In the same year Frank Sinatra also recorded a version of this classic. Elvis received artistic recognition when the Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences nominated his performance of "You'll Never Walk Alone" for a Grammy Award. In early 1968 RCA Victor had released the song on the b-side of "We Call On Him", which sold poorly and barely reached the mark of half a million copies.

On  August 8, 1960 Elvis taped "Black Star", the title song of his latest movie, at Radio Recorders in Hollywood/California. After 13 takes he also produced 5 insert-takes, the master was a splice of the takes 13 and 5. Unfortunately 20th Century Fox re-named the western to "Flaming Star", so Sid Wayne and Sherman Edwards had to adjust their song and Elvis had to record it again. He did so on October 7th and needed 6 takes to archive a satisfactory result. Originally RCA Victor hadn't planned to release any music from that movie, but when several radio stations played illegal copies of "Flaming Star", the label hastily compiled an extended player named "Elvis By Request" and included this very song.

Randy Starr and Fred Wise compiled the traditionals for the movie "Viva Las Vegas". Rusty (Elvis) sings it in a casino in front of a bunch of hillbillies. The recording was made at Radio Recorders in Hollywood/California on July 10, 1963. The king recorded 9 takes of the medley. Because professional singers would have sounded too good for a casino audience, the part was done by the instrumentalists.

At the time of the release of Elvis' second album "Old Shep" must have been a real surprise, because nobody expected a sad ballad about a boy and his dog from somebody, who was said to be the king of rock'n'roll. In fact Elvis loved "Old Shep" and sang this song since his childhood days. I like the track very much, because it's one of the very few ballads, that Elvis sang well at the time. In the 1950s he was really good at uptempo songs, but he simply lacked the technique to perform the slow tunes well. On September 2, 1956 the king recorded five takes of "Old Shep", but finally approved his first attempt for release. Because of a mistake some pressings of "Elvis" include take 5 of the song. Today these versions of the album are quite expensive. The song was written by Red Foley, who was also the first to release it.

In the movie "Girls! Girls! Girls!" (1962) the ballad was sung by The Amigos. For a possible record release Elvis had also produced a version of this song, but finally it was decided to do without this track of 58 seconds. And so CAMDEN used the short song by Charles O' Curran and Dudley Brooks to fill this budget album. The song is somewhat kitschy, but there are certainly worse movie tunes than "Mama".

The song was written by Bunny Warren, a nom de plume of Ben Weisman. Elvis recorded "Rubberneckin'" within two takes on January 20, 1969 at American Sound Studio in Memphis/Tennessee. Between January 22nd and 24th Chips Moman added harmony vocals, on March 19th horns were recorded. Even though it wasn't intended to be a movie song, somehow it ended up in Universal's "Change Of Habit". Even though "Rubberneckin'" was supposed to be the a-side, it was "Don't Cry Daddy" that got all the airplay and peaked at number 6 of the Billboard Charts. In total the original single sold 3 million copies. 33 years later "Rubberneckin'" earned some fame, too, when Paul Oakenfold's remix made it in the top 10 of Australia and several European countries.

In early 1968 this track was the b-side of "Stay Away", but while the main song stalled at number 67 of the "Hot 100", the supposed bonus track peaked at number 28. With sales of a million copies the 45 can be called a moderate success. "US Male" was written by Jerry Reed, who was also the first to release it. The narrator talks to his rival and threatens him with a diversity of hardship if he doesn't stop paying attention to his wife. Elvis mimes the over-confident Southener with audible joy, performs the talking-blues in heavy accent and even moves the birthplace of the narrator from Georgia to Mississippi to match his own biography. Just like the track on the a-side, "US Male" was recorded on January 16, 1968 at RCA Studio B in Nashville/Tennessee. The king had Mr. Reed flown in to perform his guitar overdubs. On the same day he also overdubed "Stay Away" and needed three takes to get it right.

The traditional from the 19th century was also known as "Frankie And Albert". It exists in many different versions, but they all have in common that Frankie kills her lover Johnny (or Albert) because of jealousy. In some versions she lands in jail, in others she gets executed. Alex Gottlieb, Fred Karger and Ben Weisman adapted the traditional for Elvis, who recorded it on May 14, 1965 within six takes. "Frankie And Johnny" is one of my favorite movie tunes, because it differs from the usual ones and is performed very well.

The song by Red West and Joey Cooper sounds like a typical movie tune of its time. However, the brass section adds a nice touch. Elvis recorded "If You Think I Don't Need You" for the movie "Viva Las Vegas" on July 9, 1963 within 13 takes.

The title song was written by Ben Weisman and Sid Wayne and was recorded by Elvis on September 28, 1966 within nine takes. The singer claims to have a girl in every port, everything is easy and uncomplicated. It's a nice, uptempo movie tune. The extended player sold just 30,000 (!) copies and became the king's biggest commercial flop.

In the song, the narrator splits from his wife and therefore has to leave his little daughter, too. "Separate Ways" was written by Red West and Richard Mainegra directly for Elvis and fit the current situation of the king like a glove. On March 27, 1972 he recorded 25 takes at RCA Studio C in Hollywood/California and selected the 21st attempt for release. On the day of the recording Felton Jarvis added harmony voices, strings and horns followed on May 8th. Later the violins were removed, because Elvis didn't like the arrangement.

On January 6, 1957 Elvis had surprised his audience when he performed the gospel "Peace In The Valley" on "The Ed Sullivan Show". Seven days later he recorded it in the studio within nine takes. Originally Thomas A. Dorsey had written the song for Mahalia Jackson, but the big hit was by Red Foley & The Sunshine Boys. Their version made it to number 7 on the "Country & Western Charts" in 1951 and became the first gospel record that sold more than a million copies. I am known for disliking most of the ballads Elvis recorded in his early days, but "Peace In The Valley" is the big exception. His voice sounds nothing but great and he performs with depth, warmth and believable feelings. RCA Victor had released "Peace In The Valley" on an extended player of the same name and on "Elvis' Christmas Album".

The song was written by Al Smith and Luther Dixon and released by Jimmy Reed in 1960. Elvis recorded his version on September 10, 1967 within eleven takes. The narrator confronts his boss and tells him that he slave-drives him by letting him work all around the clock. The king sounds quite aressive and performs the r&b styled number extremely well. The track was released on a single and as a bonus song on the "Clambake" soundtrack. For his television special "SINGER presents Elvis" he re-recorded "Big Boss Man" and also performed it during his concerts from 1974 to 1977.

This country-styled ballad was written by Clive Westlake, whose daughter was a well-known tv show host in Germany. Elvis sings the song with a touch of sadness in his voice, which fits the wistful melody well. He recorded "It's A Matter Of Time" on March 29, 1972 at RCA Studio C in Hollywood/California and approved the 5th attempt for release. Felton Jarvis added strings and horns, but didn't meet the king's taste and therefore had to remove his overdubs.