Elvis Sings Flaming Star
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star and Others is the thirty-third album by Elvis Presley, released by RCA Records in stereo, PRS 279, in October 1968. It spent five months available only at select retail stores featuring products by the Singer Sewing Machine Company as a promotional tie-in with Presley's upcoming Christmas television special on the NBC network, which Singer had sponsored.[2] It was reissued for normal retail channels as Elvis Sings Flaming Star in March 1969, becoming the first Elvis Presley budget album on the RCA Camden subsidiary label, catalogue CAS 2304.[3] The 1969 release peaked at number 96 on the Billboard 200 album chart.[4] It was certified Gold on July 15, 1999, and Platinum on January 6, 2004, by the Recording Industry Association of America.[5]
Contents
All tracks were compiled from sessions for Presley film soundtracks, with the exception of "Tiger Man" from the Singer Christmas Special.[6] The cover of Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" was a warm-up at a session for film songs to Stay Away, Joe.[7] Excepting "Flaming Star," the title song from Presley's 1960 movie of the same title which had been released on the Elvis by Request extended play single in February 1961, all tracks were previously unreleased.
The "Texas" medley and "All I Needed Was the Rain" appeared in Viva Las Vegas (1964) and Stay Away, Joe (1967), respectively, while "Wonderful World" appeared over the opening credits to Live A Little, Love A Little (1968). "Flaming Star" had been one of only two songs performed in that film. The live performance of "Tiger Man" was held off the initial broadcast of the NBC television special, but replaced the segment with "Blue Christmas" for the repeat broadcast of the special in the summer of 1969. This track has the distinction of being the first live recording by Elvis ever commercially released. The remaining songs were not actually used in their respective films.
Due to the success of this album in making the charts upon reissue in 1969, RCA elected to continue with Presley product on the budget Camden label through 1972, LPs containing less than the standard running time, with unused soundtrack recordings and reshuffled previously released items. It was reissued in 1975 by Pickwick Records, and again for compact disc by Sony Music Entertainment in 2006.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Flaming Star" (from the film Flaming Star) | Sid Wayne and Sherman Edwards | October 7, 1960 | 2:25 |
| 2. | "Wonderful World" (from the film Live A Little, Love A Little) | Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett | March 7, 1968 | 2:14 |
| 3. | "Night Life" (from the film Viva Las Vegas) | Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye | July 9, 1963 | 1:53 |
| 4. | "All I Needed Was the Rain" (from the film Stay Away, Joe) | Sid Wayne and Ben Weisman | October 1, 1967 | 1:49 |
| 5. | "Too Much Monkey Business" | Chuck Berry | January 15, 1968 | 2:25 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Yellow Rose of Texas" / "Eyes of Texas" (from the film Viva Las Vegas) | Traditional / Fred Wise and Randy Starr | July 10, 1963 | 2:58 |
| 2. | "She's A Machine" (from the film Easy Come, Easy Go) | Fred Wise and Ben Weisman | September 29, 1966 | 1:39 |
| 3. | "Do the Vega" (from the film Viva Las Vegas) | Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye | July 10, 1963 | 2:26 |
| 4. | "Tiger Man" (from Singer NBC-TV Special) | Lewis Burns, Al Lewis, Joe Hill Louis | June 27, 1968 | 2:41 |
RCA originally released "Flaming Star" on the extended play single Elvis By Request – Flaming Star (RCA LPC 128), which peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[8]
Chart performance
Album
| Chart (1969) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Albums Chart[9] | 4 |
| Norway Albums Top 40 Chart | 11 |
Certifications/sales
| Region | Certification | Sales/shipments |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA) | Platinum | 1,000,000 |
See also
- Elvis for Everyone 1965 album
- Let's Be Friends 1970 album
References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998; p. 245.
- ^ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 418-419.
- ^ "Elvis Presley (awards)". Allmusic. Rovi Corp. 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- ^ "Searchable datebase". RIAA. 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013. Note: Enter search for "Flaming Star"
- ^ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 229-230.
- ^ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 137, 182, 223, 239, 243, 255.
- ^ Jorgensen, op. cit., p.414.
- ^ Dutch Charts - Elvis sings Flaming Star
External links
- PRS-279 Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star and Others Guide part of the The Elvis Presley Record Research Database
