Top Five Songs Sang By Elvis Presley

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Marc Molina, Staff Writer

Number Five: Hound Dog 

   The song Hound Dog was originally a song sang by  Big Mama Thornton in 1953. Her version was a #1 R&B hit and by far her biggest success. Despite Thornton not making enough money, she became a big influence to singers around the United States during the 1950’s. Elvis Presley heard the song Hound Dog performed by a Texas group called Freddie Bell and The Bell Boys, who released the song on the Teen label in 1955. Elvis was impressed by the band’s performance and decided to remake the song in his own version.

 

Number Four: Suspicious Minds

The song Suspicious Mind became the last #1 hit in Elvis Presley’s career. Memphis singer Mark James wrote this. He recorded and released his own version, but it didn’t go anywhere. Memphis Soul producer Chips Moman brought this to Presley in 1969, and Elvis immediately fell in love with it and decided he could turn it into a hit, even though it had flopped for James.

Number Three: Blue Suede Shoes

  “Blue Suede Shoes” is a rock-and-roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly records, incorporating elements of blues, country and pop music of the time. Perkins’ original version of the song was on the Cashbox Best Selling Singles list for 16 weeks and spent two weeks in the number two position. Elvis Presley performed his version of the song three different times on national television. It was also recorded by Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran, among many others. Recording cover versions of songs was a common practice during the 1940s and 1950s, and “Blue Suede Shoes” was one of the first songs RCA Victor wanted its newly contracted artist, Elvis Presley, to record.

Number Two: Jailhouse Rock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qka6JrKUM5U

   Jailhouse Rock was a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who were songwriters and producers for Elvis Presley. On September 24, 1957, the song had a film release of Presley’s motion picture under the same name, Jailhouse Rock. Rolling Stone magazine included it at number 67 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Number One: I Need Your Love Tonight 

   Elvis Presley recorded the song on June 10, 1958, in RCA Studios, Nashville, Tennessee. It was the second of several single releases recorded at a final session conducted just prior to Presley leaving the US for Germany to serve in the United States Army; he would not return to a recording studio until the spring of 1960. The song reached number four on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1959. Released as a double A-side with “A Fool Such as I”, the song reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1959 for five weeks.