I remember hearing the title at least from one of those TV mail-order Elvis hits comp LPs from the mid-70s. That's it for me. Of course, I'ver heard the entire song a few times. It's kind of catchy, but doesn't hold up like most-not all- his top 10 songs.
One of my favorite Elvis songs, especially among those that topped the chart. (I'm sure it's pure coincidence, but most of my favorites among his RCA singles just missed, like "One Night" and "A Fool Such as I".) Not too hard to see why this was to be his last #1 single until 1969, though, as it sounds fairly retro for its time. I have to admit the lyrics are pretty cliched, but what can I say, they work!
I like all those Elvis songs - in a year or two I started buying 45s of some of his then-current releases.
It would take 7 years for Elvis to top the chart again and from '64 through some of '69, would never reach the top 10 with the exception of 1965's Cryin' In The Chapel. He still had some good stuff coming out but I guess too many movie tunes couldn't hack it in the new rock world and he was considered passe. Imagine that. The man who drove the establishment crazy with his hip swiveling rock & roll some 5 years earlier was now regarded as uncool!
Why did that change for him? Because he was stuck doing all those movies? I could see him being passe once the British Invasion took hold, but this was still only 1962.
I was a young kid at this time but I think you are on the right track with the movie angle. That was what I knew Elvis as, some old rocknroller who was doing icky movies that not only the critics made fun but seemingly everyone. Six years was a long time anyway in the pop field. Also none of his fellow rock n rollers were doing much either. The style had changed to more commercial (Brill) songs, some of which were catchier tune-wise or softer r n' b ballad songs.
Yeah, a lot of popular acts suffered a similar fate after 1964 but this is Elvis we're talking about. The King.
He didn't keep up with the times stylistically and his dated material was crap compared to the tracks that made him a legend. Not hard to explain why he enjoyed an extended chart vacation. I'm not a big enough Elvis fan to know when he became a junkie, but I assume by this point he was getting kinda doped up.
I've never heard that before ('course I haven't seen most of those movies, or know how the song works in the plot). Great song!
The hits didn't stop coming right away. He still hit the top ten regularly through 1963, and then through the early years of the British Invasion he still made the top 20 more often than you probably think. Although only "Crying in the Chapel" cracked the top ten, he had eight other top 20 hits from 1964-66. It was only the last year and a half or so before his comeback that the bottom really dropped out. I don't know a whole lot about that portion of his career, but my understanding is by then the Colonel was more interested in his movie career than in his records. And as others have pointed out, even his relatively modest showing on the charts in the mid-60s was a lot better than his original contemporaries from the previous decade were doing by then. Chuck Berry had a few big hits when he first got out of prison, but other than that, Elvis was pretty much the last man standing.
Oh, I remember it well... and I watched Elvis movies when I was 8 and loved them. They had great music and were easy to follow.
He did have four Top 10 hits in between "Good Luck Charm" (1962) and "Crying in the Chapel" (1965) though-- "She's Not You" (#5, 1962), "Return to Sender" (#2, 1962, blocked from the top by "Big Girls Don't Cry" by the Four Seasons), "Devil in Disguise" (#3, 1963) and "Bossa Nova Baby" (#8, 1963). So, yes, things were starting to slow for him but the hits didn't dry up completely until mid-decade. And I think those are all quality songs too, especially "Sender" which is a bonafide classic. On the subject of this particular song, I think "Good Luck Charm" is pretty cute. Not one of his best, for sure, but still an enjoyable listen.
Well I guess we were a sterner crowd than you 70s kids. Anyway I was just responding to bluejeans who was puzzled why Elvis seemed to be fading even before The Beatles. As Hey Vinyl Man and I noted he was doing better than his 50s peers but there is no question that the movies hurt him with a certain segment of his fan base or potential fanbase. Perhaps it was the best long term strategy regardless to go that route but it definitely made him less cool to us kids and even slightly older siblings.
If you read my post which you quoted, you'll see I said between '64 and part of '69 he had but one top ten hit. I'm well aware of those you pointed out and he did continue to hit the charts regularly in the intervening years, just not as high as he used to.
I know, I meant no offense. I was just adding on to your thought. I thought those unfamiliar with Elvis' catalog may be interested in that info. I'm sorry if my intention was unclear.
No worries. It's hard to convey nuance, sarcasm, etc. with the written word. I'm just glad you didn't want to pick a fight like some tend to do.
I'm pretty sure Devil in Disguise was no. 1 in the U. K. the week I emigrated, early in August 1963. I think Return to Sender made it up there too. Those are two of my favourite Elvis tracks. I like Good Luck Charm and She's Not You as well, but always hated Crying in the Chapel.
"Return To Sender" was a fave when I was a little kid in the early '70s. I think it's the last truly great, classic Elvis single, although he still had two wonderful, more contemporary hits to come with "In The Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds".
Agreed, although Elvis' other '62 #1 hit was a good one. Come to think of it, the other one was getting a lot of air play in the early fall months of the year. That would mean it's 54 year anniversary is just around the corner.
Unless I'm mistaken, there is another one, but let me look. Yep, UR right, "Return To Sender" made it to #2, not 1 as I had thought, around Halloween. I have always enjoyed this particular song from the midpoint of Elvis' career. Given that, the personal story I had in mind for RTS will be abbreviated here and then forgotten. I had graduated from high school in June that year, and bought myself a brand new 1962 Corvair Monza convertible with the paper route money I had been saving up for years. It had the larger of the two engines available on the car, with the 4-speed transmission; it was burgundy in color with black vinyl interior and a white top. It was Halloween night and I was out to one of my girlfriend's house for a visit. My new car then just a few months old was parked on a residential street while I was enjoying myself inside. When I returned to my car, I noticed that someone had spray painted "Trick or Treat" on my convertible top giving me a large lump in the throat. Of course there was nothing I could do until I got home, so when I started the car, the song on the radio was Elvis' "Return To Sender" so I have since connected the song with this incident forever. GEICO covered the replacement of the top under my comprehensive plan with no deductible, BTW.
