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Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4
Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4
Greatest hits album by Elvis Presley
Released	January 2, 1968
Recorded	June 1958 to June 1966
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	29:03
Label	RCA Victor
Producer	Steve Sholes, Joseph Lilley, Chet Atkins, Urban Thielmann, George Stoll, Elvis Presley, Felton Jarvis
Elvis Presley chronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]

Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 is a greatest hits album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3921, in January 1968, with recording sessions taking place over an eight-year span at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, and at RCA Studios and Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It is a compilation of hit singles released between 1961 and 1967, peaking at number 33 on the Billboard 200.^[2] It was certified Gold on March 27, 1992, by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[3]

Content

Although he had remained a popular artist since the release Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3 (1963), placing eight albums in the Top Ten and 17 singles in the Top 40, Presley's sales had cooled off since his heyday.^[2] The compilation album Elvis for Everyone (1965) was his first to sell under 300,000 copies, and his last five soundtrack albums had all done progressively worse in the marketplace, units shifted dropping to under 200,000.^[4] Singles were no longer reaching the Top 40 automatically, and while his recent single "Big Boss Man" sold 350,000, that fell short of the needed 500,000 to qualify for gold status in US singles sales.^[5] Usually a guaranteed seller, this volume sold only 400,000 copies; better than his recent soundtrack albums, but well off the mark set by its three predecessors.^[6] Colonel Tom Parker's ignorance of popular music trends and styles and Presley's unwavering loyalty to Parker were ruining Presley's career.

Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 comprises five Top 40 A-sides along with seven b-sides, five of which also made the Top 40. Three songs had not been written expressly for Presley: "Love Letters" came from the 1945 film of the same name; "Witchcraft" had been a 1956 hit record for The Spiders; and "What'd I Say" was the Ray Charles classic from 1959.^[7] Three B-sides, "Lonely Man", "A Mess of Blues", and "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" were old enough to have been included on Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3, and another b-side, "Ain't That Loving You Baby", came from RCA's furlough session of June 10, 1958, set up to augment their stock of Presley product while their star was in the United States Army.^[8]

The first three Gold Records volumes covered two to three years of singles releases, but there was a five-year gap between this and the previous volume. This would be the last of the series issued during Presley's lifetime. Elvis' Gold Records Volume 5, which included singles from 1969 to 1977, was released posthumously in 1984.

By 1968, the practice of releasing LPs in monophonic sound was being discontinued. As a result, RCA Victor issued very few mono copies of Elvis' Gold Records Vol. 4 and they are considered valuable collector's items.^[9]

Since these songs had been recorded over a period of several years, the album had several producers, including Steve Sholes, Joseph Lilley, Chet Atkins, Urban Thielmann, George Stoll, Presley himself, and Felton Jarvis.

Reissues

RCA first reissued the original 12 track album on compact disc in 1989. The 1997 reissue added six bonus tracks and altered the running order. "Rock-A-Hula Baby" dated from the 1961 soundtrack to Blue Hawaii, pulled off that album as the flip to accompany "Can't Help Falling In Love" as a single.^[10] Three tracks were the advance singles for their respective soundtracks: "Bossa Nova Baby" for Fun in Acapulco; "Kissin' Cousins" for its album; and "Return to Sender", released a month before Girls! Girls! Girls!.^[11] "Viva Las Vegas" (the flipside to "What'd I Say"), by the team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, would prove a more durable Elvis recording, receiving myriad cover versions including those by the Dead Kennedys, Bruce Springsteen, and Nine Inch Nails. The gospel song "Crying in the Chapel" had been recorded during the sessions for His Hand in Mine, this five-year-old track going to number three and selling a million copies as a single in 1965.^[12]

Track listing

Chart positions for singles taken from Billboard Pop Singles chart.

Original release
Side one
No.	Z	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Catalogue	Released	Chart peak	Time
1.		"Love Letters"	Edward Heyman Victor Young	May 26, 1966	47−8870	June 8, 1966	19	2:30
2.		"Witchcraft"	Dave Bartholomew Pearl King	May 26, 1963	47−8243b	October 1, 1963	32	2:19
3.		"It Hurts Me"	Joy Byers Charlie Daniels	January 12, 1964	47−8307b	February 10, 1964	29	2:27
4.		"What'd I Say"	Ray Charles	August 30, 1963	47−8360	April 28, 1964	21	3:02
5.		"Please Don't Drag That String Around"	Otis Blackwell Winfield Scott	May 26, 1963	47−8188b	June 18, 1963	−	1:54
6.		"Indescribably Blue"	Darrell Glenn	June 10, 1966	47−9056	January 10, 1967	33	2:48
Side two
No.		Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Catalogue	Released	Chart peak	Time
1.		"(You're the) Devil in Disguise"	Bernie Baum Bill Giant Florence Kaye	May 26, 1963	47−8188	June 18, 1963	3	2:20
2.		"Lonely Man"	Bennie Benjamin Sol Marcus	November 7, 1960	47−7850b	February 7, 1961	32	2:43
3.		"A Mess of Blues"	Doc Pomus Mort Shuman	March 20, 1960	47−7777b	July 5, 1960	32	2:39
4.		"Ask Me"	Domenico Modugno Bernie Baum Bill Giant Florence Kaye	January 12, 1964	47−8840	September 22, 1964	12	2:07
5.		"Ain't That Loving You Baby"	Clyde Otis Ivory Joe Hunter	June 10, 1958	47−8840b	September 22, 1964	16	2:22
6.		"Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello"	Jerry Leiber Mike Stoller	March 19, 1962	47−8041b	July 17, 1962	55	1:52
1997 Reissue with Bonus Tracks
No.		Title	Writer(s)	Recorded	Catalogue	Release date	Chart peak	Time
1.		"Return to Sender"	Otis Blackwell Winfield Scott	March 27, 1962	47−8100	October 2, 1962	2	2:06
2.		"Rock−a−Hula Baby"	Fred Wise Ben Weisman Dolores Fuller	March 23, 1961	47−7968b	November 22, 1961	23	1:57
3.		"Love Letters"	Edward Heyman Victor Young	May 26, 1966	47−8870	June 8, 1966	19	2:30
4.		"Bossa Nova Baby"	Jerry Leiber Mike Stoller	January 22, 1963	47−8243	October 1, 1963	8	2:02
5.		"Witchcraft"	Dave Bartholomew Pearl King	May 26, 1963	47−8243b	October 1, 1963	32	2:19
6.		"Kissin' Cousins"	Fred Wise Randy Starr	September 30, 1963	47−8307	February 10, 1964	12	2:12
7.		"It Hurts Me"	Joy Byers Charlie Daniels	January 12, 1964	47−8307b	February 10, 1964	29	2:27
8.		"Viva Las Vegas"	Doc Pomus Mort Shuman	July 10, 1963	47−8360b	April 28, 1964	29	2:21
9.		"What'd I Say"	Ray Charles	August 30, 1963	47−8360	April 28, 1964	21	3:02
10.		"Please Don't Drag That String Around"	Otis Blackwell Winfield Scott	May 26, 1963	47−8188b	June 18, 1963	−	1:54
11.		"Indescribably Blue"	Darrell Glenn	June 10, 1966	47−9056	January 10, 1967	33	2:48
12.		"(You're the) Devil in Disguise"	Bernie Baum Bill Giant Florence Kaye	May 26, 1963	47−8188	June 18, 1963	3	2:20
13.		"Lonely Man"	Bennie Benjamin Sol Marcus	November 7, 1960	47−7850b	February 7, 1961	32	2:43
14.		"A Mess of Blues"	Doc Pomus Mort Shuman	March 20, 1960	47−7777b	July 5, 1960	32	2:39
15.		"Ask Me"	Domenico Modugno Bernie Baum Bill Giant Florence Kaye	January 12, 1964	47−8840	September 22, 1964	12	2:07
16.		"Ain't That Loving You Baby"	Clyde Otis Ivory Joe Hunter	1958	47−8840b	September 22, 1964	16	2:22
17.		"Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello"	Jerry Leiber Mike Stoller	March 19, 1962	47−8041b	July 7, 1962	55	1:52
18.		" Crying In The Chapel"	Artie Glenn	October 31, 1960	47−0643	April 6, 1965	3	2:24

Personnel

Elvis Presley − vocals; guitar on "Lonely Man," "A Mess of Blues," and "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby"
Scotty Moore – rhythm guitar except "What'd I Say," "A Mess of Blues," and "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby," lead guitar on "A Mess of Blues"
Hank Garland − lead guitar on "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby", bass on "A Mess of Blues"
^[a]
Barney Kessell − guitar^[b]
Chet Atkins − guitar on "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby"
Billy Strange − lead guitar
^[c]
Glen Campbell − guitar on "What'd I Say"
Tiny Timbrell − guitar
Chip Young − guitar on "Indescribably Blue" and "Love Letters"
Harold Bradley − acoustic lead guitar on "Indescribably Blue", guitar on "Please Don't Drag That String Around," tic-tac bass guitar on "(You're the) Devil in Disguise"
Grady Martin − lead guitar on "Please Don't Drag That String Around" and "(You're the) Devil in Disguise"
Pete Drake − steel guitar on "Indescribably Blue"
Floyd Cramer − piano, organ
Dudley Brooks − piano
David Briggs − piano
Artie Cane − piano
Calvin Jackson − organ
Henry Slaughter − organ
Bob Moore − bass
Ray Siegel − bass
Meyer Rubin − bass
D. J. Fontana − drums
Buddy Harman – drums, tympani
Hal Blaine − drums
Frank Carlson − drums
Boots Randolph − saxophone
Rufus Long − saxophone
Steve Douglas − saxophone on "What'd I Say"
The Jordanaires − backing vocals
Millie Kirkham − backing vocals
Dolores Edgin − backing vocals
June Page − backing vocals

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1968	Billboard Pop Albums	33

Certifications and sales


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[13]	Gold	500,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

^ also lead guitar on 1997 bonus track "Crying in the Chapel"
^ only on 1997 bonus track "Return to Sender"
^ also lead guitar on 1997 bonus track "Viva Las Vegas"

References

^ Allmusic review
^ ^a ^b "Elvis Presley (awards)". Allmusic. Rovi Corp. 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
^ "Searchable datebase". RIAA. 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013. Note: Enter search for "Elvis Golden Records, Volume 4"
^ Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998; pp. 201, 222, 224, 240.
^ Jorgensen, op. cit., p. 240.
^ Jorgensen, op. cit., p. 244.
^ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 180, 184.
^ Jorgensen, op. cit., p. 107.
^ Jerry Osborne's Presleyana: The Elvis Presley Record, CD, and Memorabilia Price Guide
^ Jorgensen, op. cit., p. 164.
^ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 170, 177, 185.
^ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 200.
^ "American album certifications – Elvis Presley – Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4". Recording Industry Association of America.