Love Letters from Elvis

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Love Letters from Elvis
Studio album by Elvis Presley
Released June 16, 1971 (1971-06-16)
Recorded June 4–9, 1970
Genre Rock
Length 32:40
Label RCA Records
Producer Felton Jarvis
Elvis Presley chronology
You'll Never Walk Alone
(1971)
Love Letters from Elvis
(1971)
C'mon Everybody
(1971)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 2/5 stars1

Love Letters from Elvis is the twelfth studio album by Elvis Presley, released in 1971.

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. However, few of the songs had the rock, country, or gospel feel that inspired Elvis to his greatest performances. As a result the album was critically panned upon release, and failed to crack the top 20 of the Billboard album charts.

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 #53 on the US Billboard Singles chart. It was Elvis's lowest chart position for a single since "Almost in Love" had reached #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.

Track listing

  1. "Love Letters" (Edward Heyman, Victor Young) – 2:53
  2. "When I'm Over You" (Shirl Milete) – 2:28
  3. "If I Were You" (Gerald Nelson) – 3:01
  4. "Got My Mojo Working" (Preston Foster) – 4:36
  5. "Heart of Rome" (Alan Blaikley, Ken Howard, Geoff Stephens) – 2:56
  6. "Only Believe" (D. Paul Rader) – 2:49
  7. "This Is Our Dance" (Les Reed, Geoff Stephens) – 3:16
  8. "Cindy, Cindy" (Dolores Fuller, Buddy Kaye, Ben Weisman) – 2:33
  9. "I'll Never Know" (Fred Karger, Sid Wayne, Ben Weisman) – 2:25
  10. "It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)" (Shorty Hall, Alice Joy Merritt, Neal Merritt) – 2:49
  11. "Life" (Shirl Milete) – 3:102

References

  1. ^ Love Letters from Elvis at Allmusic
  2. ^ "Elvis Presley Albums". Softshoe-slim.com. Retrieved 2012-02-29. 

External links