October 28, 1956
Elvis Presley added a second consecutive record-setting feat to his early resume when Love Me Tender replaced Hound Dog b/w Don’t Be Cruel at #1 on the Billboard Top 100.
For the first time in Billboard’s chart history, an artist replaced himself at the top spot with another one of their own recordings.
[Note] At that time, Billboard’s national chart was called the Top 100, which debuted on November 12, 1955. It was a combination of three separate, previously used charts – Best Sellers In Stores, Most Played By Jockeys and Most Played In Jukeboxes.
The former three continued to be published simultaneously with the Top 100 until August 4th, 1958, when Billboard switched to one all-inclusive chart called the Hot 100.
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‘Love Me Tender’ also ended the King of Rock And Roll’s record-setting 11 weeks at number one for the double-sided single – an accomplishment that would hold up for 36 years until broken by the group Boyz II Men. Their song, End Of The Road, spent 13 weeks at the top in 1992. But later that year, I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston would reset the record with 14 consecutive weeks at #1.
[Note] The current record for time spent at number one now belongs to the Buffalo, NY rock band the Goo Goo Dolls. Their huge hit, Iris, held the top rung on Billboard for a whopping 18 weeks in 1998.
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‘Love Me Tender’ was the title track from Elvis’ first movie, which starred Richard Egan, Debra Paget, and Presley in his acting debut (see Movie Trailer below).
The song was based on a Civil War song called Aura Lee, published in 1861. New words were written by American songwriter-arranger Ken Darby (left, in the studio with Elvis) who gave the writing credit and royalties to his wife Vera Matson.
[Note] Presley is listed as co-writer on the record label from a deal with his music publishing company which gave him one-half of songwriting royalties if he recorded an original version of the writer(s) new song.
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[Note] Some audio song files may not play on smartphones, tablets or connected devices. A laptop, desktop PC or Mac may be required for optimal enjoyment.
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LOVE ME TENDER
Elvis Presley
[1956]
Recorded on August 24th, 1956, LMT was released as an RCA single on October 6th.
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HOUND DOG
Elvis Presley
[1956]
Written by the legendary songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Hound Dog was first recorded by Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton in 1953, and released as her single in March of 1954.
Recorded on July 2nd, 1956, Elvis’ cover of ‘Hound Dog’ was the A-side of the RCA single released on July 13th.
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DON’T BE CRUEL
Elvis Presley
[1956]
Also recorded on July 2nd, 1956, the B-side of the monumental single, Don’t Be Cruel, was penned by a great songwriter named Otis Blackwell, who also wrote All Shook Up and Return To Sender by Elvis, in addition to several big hits by other artists.
And for the same reason noted for ‘Love Me Tender’, Presley again received co-writing credit and royalites.
Besides it’s historic 11-week run at the top on Billboard, ‘Hound Dog’ b/w ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ sold 10 million copies worldwide; the former is ranked 19th on the “Top 100 Songs of All Time” compiled by Rolling Stone magazine.
Also, ‘Hound Dog’ introduced the revolutionary side of this new genre of music known as rock’n’roll.
RCA promotional copy of the double-sided single – rare and worth big bucks!
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DEEP TRAK!
LOVE ME TENDER
Elvis Presley
(Rare Stereo Version)
[1956]
This crystal-clear stereo version of LMT really shines! The work of Elvis’ famed backup vocalists, The Jordonaires, can really be appreciated here.
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BONUS!
LOVE ME TENDER
Movie Trailer
(Video)
[1956]
Released by 20th Century Fox, the film Love Me Tender premiered at New York City’s Paramount Theater on November 15, 1956, with nationwide release six days later. The movie cost $1.25 million to make, but ending up grossing $4.5 million.
Elvis Presley plays Clint Reno, the youngest of the four Reno brothers who stays home to take care of his mother and the family farm as older brothers Vance, Brett and Ray fight in the American Civil War for the Confederate Army.
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Songs Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits, Inc.
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat
