In April 1962 RCA Victor released the soundtrack of Mirisch's "Follow That Dream". Because Billboard had canceled the chart for extended players, the record was listed on the singles chart "Hot 100". On May 12, 1962 "Follow That Dream" entered the chart at number 58 and peaked at number 15. In total the ep was listed for 10 weeks. At the same time "Follow That Dream" could also be found on the "Easy Listening Chart". Here it had a run of six weeks and peaked at number 5. In 1992 the RIAA honored the US sales with a Platinum Award. In Great Britan "Follow That Dream" was on the ep-chart for 51 weeks and stayed at the number 1 for 20 weeks. Worldwide the record sold 1.2 million copies, which translates to 180 million paid streams of the ep or 720 million paid streams of individual tracks. Considering the declining popularity of the format (at least in the USA) the result was very good.

The cover was designed with promotion photos for the accordant movie, which makes "Follow That Dream" one of the very few RCA releases which shows Elvis with his real hair color. The back cover was designed with additional b/w shots, the track listing and advertising for the forthcoming album "Pot Luck".

On the streaming platforms the "Follow That Dream" ep is available in various incarnations, on of them released on January 23, 2023 by Vinyle Numerique. This is possible due to the European copyright law, according to which the rights run out 50 years after the initial release of the tracks. Sony Music Entertainment renounces the release, because the tracks are available on the albums "C'mon Everybody" and "I Got Lucky".

The songs were recorded on July 2, 1961 at RCA Studio B in Nashville/Tennessee. The session was produced by Hans Salter and engineered by Bill Porter. The band was made up of Scotty Moore (guitar), Hank Garland (guitar), Neal Matthews (guitar), Bob Moore (bass), D.J. Fontana (drums), Murrey Harman (drums), Floyd Cramer (piano) and Homer Randolph (saxophone). The harmony vocals were provided by The Jordanaires (Gordon Stoker, Hoyt Hawkins, Neal Matthews and Ray Walker) and Millie Kirkham. Besides the songs on the extended player the group also recorded "A Whistling Tune" and "Sound Advice". The first one was finally rejected for "Follow That Dream", but would be used on the next project ("Kid Galahad"). At the time Elvis regarded "Sound Advice" as too bad to be released on a record. However, in 1965 he approved the song to be issued on "Elvis For Everyone!".

In 1971 RCA Records re-released the songs on the CAMDEN albums "C'mon Everybody" (for a review tap HERE) and "I Got Lucky" (for a review tap HERE).

Sony Music Entertainment's own collector's label Follow That Dream Records released a special edition of the extended player in 2004. This version also included bonus songs and outtakes. To read a review just tap HERE.

The snappy title song 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.

Here we have a beautiful love song that also could have been released on a regular studio album. Elvis needed seven takes for the ballad, which was written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett.

Another nice, uptempo popsong and once again performed very well. "What A Wonderful Life" was penned by Sid Wayne and Jerry Livingston and recorded by Elvis within seven takes.

In the movie the song is ok, on the record it sounds a bit weak. Mr. Presley needed eight attempts to put the composition by Mack David on tape.