The seventh and final Presley single of 1965 was "Tell Me Why" / "Blue River" and was released on December 14th. Both songs entered Billboard's "Hot 100" on January 1, 1966. "Tell Me Why" had a run of seven weeks and moved from number 75 to number 33. "Blue River" was listed only once and just at number 95. On the domestic market the single sold 500,000 units and was certified with a Gold Award by the RIAA. The biggest success was archived in Canada, where "Tell Me Why" became a top 10 hit. Globally the 45 sold a million copies, which equals 150 million paid streams. For a single by Elvis Presley with two unreleased tracks the sales were shockingly poor. Over the past few decades the situation hasn't changed all that much. On Spotify "Tell Me Why" barely accumulates 800,000 steams, "Tell Me Why" doesn't even reach half the amount.

For the cover RCA Victor used a promo shot, that had been made the previous year for the Paramount picture "Roustabout". On the front cover the label advertised the forthcoming soundtrack album "Frankie And Johnny", the back promoted the religious singles planned for the Easter business.

The single isn't available on the streaming platforms. "Blue River" can be found on the soundtrack album "Double Trouble" (1967), on which RCA Victor later released the track as a bonus song. Because "Tell Me Why" had been recorded all the way back in 1957, Sony Music Entertainment added the song as a bonus to the digital version of the soundtrack "Loving You" (1957).

The ballad was penned by Titus Turner, the first release was in 1956 by Marie Knight. Elvis recorded "Tell Me Why" on January 12, 1957 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood/California, but producer Steve Sholes thought it was a tad too close to "Just A Closer Walk To Thee" and feared legal issues. And so the master (take 5) was put in the vaults. By 1965 RCA Victor was desperately looking for unreleased material and so they decided to ignore the fear and put "Tell Me Why" out. The performance itself is ok, I am pretty sure Elvis would have done it better in at a later stage of his career. In 1971 the song could also be found on the boxed set "The Other Sides - Worldwide Gold Award Hits Volume 2".

This one was also an older recording, even though not that old. Elvis had put the song on tape on May 27, 1963 at RCA Studio B in Nashville/Tennessee. Take 2 became the basis of the master. Because "Blue River" was rather short, Steve Sholes repeated the final verse and a chorus in post-production. The song by Paul Evans and Fred Tobias was also released as a bonus track on the soundtrack album "Double Trouble" (1967).