www.elvis-presley.website

The ultimate site about the king of the analogue age

 

On August 31, 1956 RCA Victor released eight singles in one swoop. Besides "Shake, Rattle & Roll" / "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" the label also issued all tracks of the album "Elvis Presley". The most successful one was "Blue Suede Shoes" / "Tutti Frutti", which didn't chart but sold more than a million copies in the US and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. The other ones didn't even came close to this number, but nevertheless the label sold several 100,000 units of each single.

The single is not available on the streaming platforms since the tracks can be found on the album "Elvis Presley". In 2016 the complete Presley catalogue was restored and remastered by Vic Anesini for a boxed set of 60 compact discs called "The Album Collection". Sony Music Entertainment provides the streaming platforms with the same versions of the individual tracks, albeit in 24 bit/90 khz flac. That means, if the platform of your choice supports high resolution audio, you can enjoy the songs in the same quality Sony used to scan and master them. On Spotify, which has a market share of approximately 30% and is the only platform that publishes streaming figures, "I Got A Woman" accumulates 14 million streams, "I'm Counting On You" clocks in at 3 million.

The records were sold in simple brown paper sleeves, nobody bothered to design proper covers. The whole idea was to generate some extra money by releasing the tracks in another format. 

 

I Got A Woman

In early 1955 Ray Charles had stormed the R&B-Charts with a song called "I've Got A Woman" and a very young Elvis had included it in his live show almost immediately. The song was based on the gospel "It Must Be Jesus" and was written by Renald Richard and Ray Charles. The Hillbilly Cat recorded it on January 10, 1956 at the RCA Studio in Nashville/Tennessee and needed eight takes to do so. Elvis himself obviously loved the song because he kept it in his live show until the very end. It's also featured on "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis" (1974) and "Elvis In Concert" (1977).

I'm Counting On You

The ballad was penned by Don Robertson and recorded by Elvis on January 11, 1956 at the RCA Studio in Nashville/Tennessee. The slow song costed him some effort, he needed 17 takes before he archived a satisfactory result. In general I like this song, but I am sure that Elvis would have performed it better an later years.

  

Verdict

 Without doubt this single displays the versatility of the young singer, but it's not a double-punch like "Blue Suede Shoes" / "Tutti Frutti".

 (C) RCA Victor