Love Letters from Elvis

Love Letters from Elvis
Love Letters from Elvis
Studio album by Elvis Presley
Released	June 16, 1971
Recorded	June 4–9, 1970
Genre	Soft rock; pop; country; gospel;
Length	32:40
Label	RCA Victor
Producer	Felton Jarvis
Elvis Presley chronology
Singles from Love Letters from Elvis
	"Life" / "Only Believe"; Released: May 25, 1971;

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Billboard	Favorable^[2]
MusicHound	^[3]
Rough Guides	^[4]

Love Letters from Elvis is the fourteenth studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released in 1971. The album was critically panned upon release, and failed to crack the top 20 of the Billboard album charts but did reach No. 12 on the US Top Country Albums chart and No. 7 on the UK best-selling albums chart.

Content

The album was made up of leftovers from Elvis' marathon June 1970 recording sessions in Nashville. Most of the other 35 songs recorded during those sessions had been used in Elvis' 1970 albums That's the Way It Is and Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old). Wanting to squeeze out a third album from the sessions, RCA records had producer Felton Jarvis mix, overdub and compile the remaining songs.

The song's title track was a rare instance of Presley re-recording a past hit in the studio, his original version of "Love Letters" having been released as a single in 1966. "Got My Mojo Working" is edited down from an impromptu jam session; Presley's version incorporates lyrics from "Hands Off", a 1955 song by Frankie Castro released on the Wing record label (RCA often mislabelled this song "Keep Your Hands Off of It" when the complete jam was issued on CD years later).

Three songs from this album were released on singles. The single "Life" / "Only Believe" was released in March 1971 and reached only No. 53 on the US Billboard Singles chart. It was Elvis's lowest chart position for a single since "Almost in Love" had reached No. 95 in late 1968. "Heart of Rome" was placed on the B-side of the non-album track "I'm Leavin'" released as a single in August 1971 it reached No. 23 in the UK and No. 83 in Australia.

Track listing

Original release

*Love Letters from Elvis* – Side one^[5]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Length
1.	"Love Letters"	Edward Heyman and Victor Young	June 7, 1970	2:53
2.	"When I'm Over You"	Shirl Milete	June 7, 1970	2:28
3.	"If I Were You"	Gerald Nelson	June 8, 1970	3:01
4.	"Got My Mojo Working"	Preston Foster	June 5, 1970	4:36
5.	"Heart of Rome"	Alan Blaikley, Ken Howard, Geoff Stephens	June 6, 1970	2:56

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Length
1.	"Only Believe"	D. Paul Rader	June 8, 1970	2:49
2.	"This Is Our Dance"	Les Reed, Geoff Stephens	June 6, 1970	3:16
3.	"Cindy, Cindy"	Fred Wise, Buddy Kaye, Dolores Fuller, Ben Weisman	June 4, 1970	2:33
4.	"I'll Never Know"	Fred Karger, Sid Wayne, Ben Weisman	June 5, 1970	2:25
5.	"It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)"	Shorty Hall, Neal Merritt, Alice Joy Merritt	June 6, 1970	2:49
6.	"Life"	Shirl Milete	June 6, 1970	3:10

Follow That Dream reissue

Disc 1
Original album (tracks 1–11); new bonus songs (tracks 12–15); first takes (tracks 16–22)^[6]
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Letters"
2.	"When I'm Over You"
3.	"If I Were You"
4.	"Got My Mojo Working" / "Keep Your Hands Off of It"
5.	"Heart of Rome"
6.	"Only Believe"
7.	"This Is Our Dance"
8.	"Cindy, Cindy"
9.	"I’ll Never Know"
10.	"It Ain’t No Big Thing (But It’s Growing)"
11.	"Life"
12.	"The Sound of Your Cry"
13.	"Sylvia"
14.	"Rags to Riches"
15.	"Something"
16.	"The Sound of Your Cry" (takes 1, 2, 3)
17.	"Cindy, Cindy" (take 1)
18.	"I’ll Never Know" (take 1)
19.	"It Ain’t No Big Thing (But It’s Growing)" (takes 1, 2)
20.	"Life" (take 1, 2)
21.	"Heart of Rome" (take 1)
22.	"If I Were You" (take 1)
23.	"Rags to Riches" (rehearsal, take 2)

Disc 2
Session outtakes and undubbed masters
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Radio Commercial"
2.	"The Sound of Your Cry" (takes 4, 5, 6)
3.	"Cindy, Cindy" (takes 2, 3; undubbed master)
4.	"Got My Mojo Working" / "Keep Your Hands Off Of It" (take 1; undubbed master)
5.	"I'll Never Know" (takes 2, 3)
6.	"It Ain't No Big Thing (But It’s Growing)" (takes 3, 4, 5, 6)
7.	"This Is Our Dance" (takes 6, 7, 9,11; undubbed master)
8.	"Life" (take10)
9.	"Heart of Rome" (take 2; undubbed master)
10.	"Love Letters" (takes 3, 1)
11.	"If I Were You" (takes 2, 3, 4, 5)
12.	"Only Believe" (takes 1, 2, 3, 4; undubbed master)
13.	"Sylvia" (takes 1, 2, 3, 4, 9)
14.	"Rags to Riches" (take 3)

Personnel

Elvis Presley – lead vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
James Burton – lead guitar
Chip Young – rhythm guitar
Charlie Hodge – harmony vocals on “Heart of Rome” and “This Is Our Dance”, acoustic rhythm guitar
Norbert Putnam – bass
David Briggs – piano
Jerry Carrigan – drums
Charlie McCoy – harmonica, vibraphone, organ
The Imperials Quartet – backing vocals
The Jordanaires – backing vocals on "When I'm Over You"
The Nashville Edition – backing vocals on "It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)"

References

^ Love Letters from Elvis at AllMusic
^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (19 June 1971). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 49–. ISSN 0006-2510. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. pp. 892. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
^ Simpson, Paul (2004). The Rough Guide to Elvis. London: Rough Guides. p. 146. ISBN 1-84353-417-7.
^ "Elvis Presley Albums". Softshoe-slim.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
^ "Love Letters From Elvis". Elvis Presley Enterprises. 2013. Archived from the original on February 19, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2013.