When "Moody Blue" hit the stores in July 1977 it had been over a year since RCA Records had released a Presley album with new songs. To promote the release, the company pressed the first 250,000 copies on blue vinyl. On July 23rd "Moody Blue" entered Billboard's "Top LPs Chart" where it peaked at number 24. On the "Hot Country LPs Chart" the album became a number one hit.

The comparably high ranking on the "Top LPs Chart" indicates that "Moody Blue" sold better than "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee" and maybe would have moved 2.5 million units if Elvis had not died. However, when he passed away there was a huge request for the album and RCA Records switched the production of their pressing plant in Indianapolis completely to "Moody Blue", once again using blue vinyl. On the "Top LPs Chart" the album climed to number three, on the "Hot Country LPs Chart" it kept his number one position for a solid ten weeks. In December 1977 the RIAA honored the US sales with a Gold Award, in 1992 it was updated to Double Platinum. Abroad "Moody Blue" also was quite popular and sold 8 million units worldwide. Today that would be 1.2 billion paid streams of the whole album or 120 billion paid streams of individual songs! Even nowadays "Moody Blue" is quite popular and accumulates more than 150 million streams on Spotify alone.

For the album cover RCA Records used two pictures made way back  in 1972. The one on the front was shot in November, the photo on the back in June.

On the streaming platforms "Moody Blue" 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.

In 2013 Sony's own collectors label Follow That Dream Records released a classic album edition of "Moody Blue". Besides the masters of the original album this special edition also includes studio outtakes and additional live recordings. For whatever reason FTD sticks to the dying compact disc format and doesn't release their products digitally. So the classic album is not available for streaming. Tap HERE for the review.

As written in the article regarding the album "Welcome To My World", Elvis was supposed to deliver 24 new masters in February 1976. Unfortunately he just completed 12 tracks, leaving RCA Records with two unreleased songs after the album "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee" was compiled. So there was another recording session in October. To meet the contract with RCA an additonal 12 tracks were needed, but considering they already had 2 unreleased songs in the can I guess everybody would have been happy to get another eight masters to be able to release another album. This time it went even worse, Elvis didn't finish more than 4 songs. As a result there was a third session in January 1977 at Creative Workshop in Nashville, but this time the singer didn't show up at all. Finally producer Felton Jarvis accompanied Elvis on tour in March and April, using an old fashioned 4-track recorder and hoping to catch some songs not featured on one of the many live albums of his employer. Finally he was able to come up with an album of ten songs and a running time of 31:35 minutes.

The first track was recorded on April 24, 1977 at the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor/Michigan. On stage Elvis accompanied himself on piano, the band just added little touches here and there. On May 9th and June 9th Felton Jarvis added bass, percussion and a moog synthesizer. Because the king wasn't a very good piano player, Bobby Odgin re-recorded the part. Sherrill Nielsen was on hand to fix the final note of the song, which Elvis had missed on stage. As a final step the harmony voices were braught to the fore. The result was some kind of miniature opera. Very kitschy, but also very impressive. The "Unchained Melody" was the title song of a movie named "Unchained" in 1955. The original performer is Todd Duncan, but there are more than 500 (!) cover versions of this song. The best known was released by the Righteous Brothers and became a massive hit in 1990 when it was used in the blockbuster movie "Ghost". The arrangement is 100% different to Elvis' version, because it lacks all the drama and bombast the king put into it.

In 1974 the country pop had been a top10 hit for Olivia Newton-John and Elvis picked it up for his stage show almost immediately. It was written by John Rostill, the recording on this album was made on April 25, 1977 at the Civic Center in Saginaw/Michigan. On May 9th Felton Jarvis added a few instruments to beef it up a bit. If one doesn't listen too closely the performance is quite nice. But compared to the similar "Let Me Be There" (recorded on March 20, 1974), it's obvious that Elvis sounds somewhat sluggish and tired.

Just like "Unchained Melody" this was recorded in Ann Arbor on April 24, 1977. On May 9th additional instruments and backup voices were added. Elvis didn't take this song seriously, it was some kind of musical comedy, a piece to have fun with and an opportunity to use his falsetto. Such a performance certainly is entertaining in a concert but it's unsuitable on a record like this. It's obvious that the release of "Little Darlin'" is nothing but an act of desperation. By the way, the song was written by Maurice Williams, who recorded it with his band, The Gladiolas. However, the big success was by The Diamonds. In 1957 their version became a number 2 hit on the "Top 100".

On October 30, 1976 Elvis and the band were supposed to record some more songs in the den of the king's "Graceland" mansion, but the singer refused to leave his bedroom. So the musicians recorded rhythm tracks to which Elvis could add his vocals on a later date. He did it the very next day, as it turned out this would be his final "studio" recording. On April 7, 1977 Felton Jarvis added a guitar. The song was written by Joe and Audrey Allison and recorded in 1957 by Billy Brown. While this original rendition wasn't successful at all, the cover version by Jim Reeves held the top position of Billboard's Country Chart for 14 weeks and became one of the best sellers of this genre. In the song the narrator is phoning his lady and wants her to decide between him and another man. Elvis sounds sad and a little tired. He doesn't fight for her, he just wants a decision. I like Elvis' performance very much, "He'll Have To Go" is one of my favorites on this album.

The similarity to "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" is no coincidence, both songs were written by John Rostill for Olivia Newton-John. The use of this track is another desperate act, because it already had been released in 1974 on "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis".

The filler is followed by the current single of the king. On the country chart the track became a number 1, but on the more important "Hot 100" it didn't make it past the Top40. "Way Down" was written by Layng Martine jr, Elvis recorded it on October 29, 1976 at the den of "Graceland" mansion. The master take is numbered 2c, because Felton Jarvis messed up the counting. If it had been correct, it would have been take 5. On January 22, 1977 the producer added harmony vocals. I would describe "Way Down" as an uptempo popsong with retro rock'n'roll elements. It could have been great if Elvis had invested a little more energy. It's still a nice track, but also a missed opportunity.

On the same day Elvis also recorded "Pledging My Love". In contrast to his somewhat tired performace of the rocker this country ballad is sung with emotion and enthusiasm. To me this one is another highlight. The song was written by Ferdinand Washington and Don Robey and first performed in 1955 by Johnny Ace. According to some rumors the song was also on the set list of the young Mr. Presley. Twentyone years later he needed six takes to put the country ballad on tape. On January 22, 1977 Felton Jarvis added additional vocals and instruments and shortened the recording of two and a half minutes. RCA Records first released "Pledging My Love" on the flipside of "Way Down".

Mark James wrote and recorded the song in 1974, but it wasn't successful at all. On February 4, 1976 Elvis put the song on tape in the den of his "Graceland" mansion within 10 takes. Later Felton Jarvis added bass (February 15, 1976), drums (February 17, 1976), guitars (February 24, 1976) and strings (February 24, 1976). He also shortened the recording of 1.5 minutes. The result was released in November 1976 and became a number one hit on the "Hot Country Singles Chart" in early 1977. Here the singer struggles with his relationship with an inconsistently acting lady. He does it in form of a popsong with disco elements, which was quite popular back then. The style is atypical for Elvis, but works very well.

The b-side of "Moody Blue" was first released in 1962 by George Jones. In Dickey Lee's song the narrator was left by his lady, but refuses to admit that he still loves her. On February 2, 1976 Elvis toiled through 19 takes (because the numbers 2 and 12 were used twice the official master take is number 17), but still the final version includes several vocal shortcomings. Nevertheless the king sounds impressive at times and delivers the country ballad in a very emotional and believable way.

The singer once left his family for another woman, but now she is leaving him and he has to realize that it's much harder for him than it is for her. Elvis nails the song, vocally and emotionally it's an outstanding performance. Many fans and critics dislike "It's Easy For You", but I consider it a highlight. It was written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd-Webber and recorded by Elvis on October 29, 1976 at his "Graceland" mansion within 4 takes. The king selected take 2 for post-production and release. The final step was a guitar overdub on April 6, 1977.