www.elvis-presley.website

The ultimate site about the king of the analogue age

 

The extended player "Just For You" was released on August 21, 1957. It also might have been called "Loving You - Volume 3", because three fourth of the songs came from the soundtrack album. On October 7th the record entered the "Best Selling Pop EPs Chart", had a run of 17 weeks and peaked at number 2. For some unknown reason Billboard also listed the extended player on their "Pop Albums Chart", where it reached number 16. Worldwide RCA sold 650,000 copies, which translates to 97.5 million paid streams of the complete ep. The second exploitation of the tracks on extended players was a good business. The songs from the "Loving You" album were sold twice and generated another 2.65 million sales. Today this would mean an additional 397.5 million paid streams.

The cover photo was an alternate version of the one, which had been used for the cover of Elvis' second longplayer. The backside of the sleeve promoted other extended players from RCA Victor. Because Ricky Nelson was successful with "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" at the time, the label placed an ad in Billboard Magazine, claiming "Big Version Is By Elvis".

The ep is not available on the streaming platforms, because the songs can be heared on the albums "Loving You" (1957) and "A Date With Elvis" (1959).

 

I Need You So

The ballad was written by Ivory Joe Hunter, who was also the first to record it. On February 23, 1957 Elvis taped "I Need You So" within eight takes. It's also no highlight, but certainly nice enough.

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You

In 1944 Lulu Bell & Scotty had recorded the song for a movie, but it took two years until it was released on a record. Later it was covered by Red Foley, Tex Ritter and The Songs Of The Pioneers. Elvis taped his version on January 19, 1957 at Radio Recorders, take number 15 became the master. It's a nice popsong, but it doesn't stay with you.

Blueberry Hill

On January 19, 1957 Elvis covered Fats Domino, who had stormed the charts with "Blueberry Hill" the previous year. But even then it was an old song, originally recorded by The Sammy Kaye Orchestra & Tony Ryan way back in 1940. The music was composed by Vincent Rose, the lyrics were written by Larry Stock and Al Lewis. Elvis needed nine takes to record the song. He sings it well, but not as well as Fats Domino. A live version can be found on the album "Elvis As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis" (1974).

Is It So Strange

Elvis taped Faron Young's "Is It So Strange" on January 19, 1957 within 12 takes. On the same day Steve Sholes also recorded harmony vocals, which were added to the master take. I neither like the song, nor Elvis' performance.

 

Verdict

Everybody knew, that the best songs of the album had been used on the extended players "Loving You - Volume 1" and "Loving You - Volume 2". So RCA spiced this ep up with a previously unreleased track called "Is It So Strange", but it wasn't a masterpiece either.

 (C) RCA Victor