The latest single of the rock'n'roll king was
released in June 1959 and continued his string
of success. On July 6th "A Big Hunk O' Love"
entered Billboard's "Hot 100" at number 43, was
listed for 14 weeks and made it up all the way
to the number one. On the "Rhythm & Blues Chart"
the track was listed for seven weeks and peaked
at number 10. "My Wish Came True" could be found
on the "Hot 100" for eleven weeks and reached
number 12. It also appeared on the "Rhythm &
Blues Chart", albeit just for three weeks.
Nevertheless it peaked at number 15. The US
sales were honored by the RIAA with a Gold
Award, the Academy Of Recording Arts And
Sciences nominated "A Big Hunk O' Love" for a
Grammy in the categories "Best Rhythm & Blues
Performance" and "Best Performance By A Top40
Artist". In Great Britain, Norway, Belgium and
The Netherlands the single became a top 10 hit,
in Germany, where Elvis was serving the US Army,
it didn't make it past number 23. Worldwide "A
Big Hunk O' Love" / "My Wish Came True" sold
three milion units, which translates to 450
million paid streams. Nowadays the audience
prefers the live version from 1973, which
accumulates around 22.5 million streams on
Spotify. The remake with the added sounds of the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra clocks in at the 5
million mark. "My Wish Came True" is almost
forgotten and didn't even find a million
listeners.
For the cover photo the king posed in front
of the Burgtor in Bad Nauheim/Germany. The
backside of the sleeve was used to promote the
extended player "Elvis Sails" and the long
player "A Date With Elvis".
On the streaming platforms the single is not
available. However, both tracks can be found on
the album "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong
- Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2" (1959).
A Big Hunk O' LoveThe
rock'n'roll song was written by Aaron Schroeder
and Sid Wyche and was recorded on June 10, 1958
in Nashville/Tennessee. Because no satisfactory
take could be archived, the master was a splice
of the attempts number four and three. RCA
Victor released the track on the album
"50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong - Elvis'
Gold Records Volume 2" (1959) and the boxed set
"Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1"
(1970). A live performance can be found on the
double-album "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite"
(1973). I like "A Big Hunk O' Love" very much.
It's an agressive rock'n'roll song performed by
Elvis at his very best.
My Wish Came True This one
is a different matter altogether. The
composition by Ivory Joe Hunter is nothing but a
mediocre ballad, the arrangement oft the harmony
voices is quite kitschy. But Elvis obviously
liked the song a lot, because on September 6,
1957 he recorded 28 takes of it. Because he
still wasn't convinced of the result, he tryed
again on January 23 and on February 1st, 1958.
Once again no satisfactory master could be
archived, so he finally chose the final take of
the September session. RCA Victor also released
it on "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong -
Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2" (1959), but on the
second boxed set "The Other Sides - Worldwide
Gold Award Hits Volume 2" (1971).
Verdict
With "A Big Hunk O' Love" Elvis finished
the decade as the reigning king of
rock'n'roll. Nine months later, in March
1960, he would return with a different style
and in brand new Stereo sound. But he would
never sing as wild and rough again.
(C) RCA Victor