''Something for Everybody'' is the sixth studio album by American singer and musician

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, released on RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2370, in June 17, 1961. Recording sessions took place on November 8, 1960, at

Radio Recorders Radio Recorders, Inc. was an American recording studio located in Los Angeles, California. During the 1940s and 1950s, Radio Recorders was one of the largest independent recording studios in the world. Notable musicians recorded at Radio Recorder ...

in Hollywood, and on March 12, 1961 at

RCA Studio B RCA Studio B was a music recording studio built in 1956 in Nashville, Tennessee by RCA Victor. Originally known simply as "RCA Studios," Studio B, along with the larger and later RCA Studio A became known in the 1960s for being an essential fa ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. In the United States, it peaked at number 1 on ''Billboard''s Top Pop LPs chart. It was certified Gold on July 15, 1999 by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album remained at #1 for three weeks.

Background

After his

military discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

from the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in March 1960, any doubts about Presley's ability to recapture the momentum of his career in the 1950s was laid to rest. During that year his three singles all topped the charts, and his first album, '' Elvis Is Back!'', went to number 2 on the albums chart. His musical film '' G.I. Blues'' was wildly successful, its

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

album also going to number 1.Jorgensen, Ernst. ''Elvis Presley, A Life In Music''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998;

Content

Side one of the record contains slow, sentimental love ballads, while side two features uptempo

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

and R&B, hence the album's title. Presley entered the familiar Studio B in Nashville on March 12, 1961 and recorded eleven of the tracks for this album in one twelve-hour session, in addition to the single " I Feel So Bad". The single was initially scheduled to be the twelfth track for the album, but Presley chose, after RCA executive Bill Bullock overruled the Colonel who wanted "Wild In The Country" paired with "I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell" as the single, it to accompany the title track to the film ''

Wild in the Country ''Wild in the Country'' is a 1961 American musical–drama film directed by Philip Dunne and starring Elvis Presley, Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, and Millie Perkins. Based on the 1958 novel ''The Lost Country'' by J. R. Salamanca, the screenplay ...

'' as the promotional 45 for the film. Another track that had appeared in the film but not released commercially on records, "I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell", became the final track for the album.

Reissues

The July 13, 1999,

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

reissue included six bonus tracks, four singles and two b-sides recorded over the span of a year and issued in 1961 and 1962, and altered the album's running order. All of the sides made the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

at a time when '' Billboard'' charted B-sides as well, and two of the singles, "

Surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

" and "

Good Luck Charm In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

", topped the singles chart. "Surrender" had been recorded at the sessions for Presley's

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

album of 1960, ''

His Hand in Mine ''His Hand in Mine'' is the fifth studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on November 23, 1960 by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, catalog number LPM/LSP 2328. It was the first of three gospel albums that Presley woul ...

'', and the sides for 47-7908 and 47-7992 at sessions specifically to produce singles. The entirety of the 1999 reissue appeared on the Legacy Edition reissue of '' Elvis Is Back!'' released in 2011. Bonus tracks were all recorded at Studio B in Nashville. In 2006 ''Something for Everybody'' was reissued on the Follow That Dream label as a special 2-disc CD collection containing the original tracks along with numerous alternate takes.

Track listing

Original release

1999 reissue with bonus tracks

2006 Follow That Dream CD reissue

Note ** signifies previously unreleased

Personnel

On March 12–13, 1961 * Elvis Presley –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, acoustic rhythm guitar *

Millie Kirkham Millie Kirkham (born Mildred Eakes; June 24, 1923 – December 14, 2014) was an American singer who was featured on many classic hit recordings from the mid-1950s through the 1980s. Early life Kirkham was born Mildred Eakes in Hermitage, Tenne ...

–

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocal ...

– backing vocals *

Boots Randolph Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit "Yakety Sax" (which became Benny Hill's signature tune). Randolph was a major part of the "Nashville sound" for most o ...

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic ...

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

Hank Garland Walter Louis Garland (11 November 1930 – 27 December 2004), professionally Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and released a jazz al ...

– electric guitar *

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatu ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

Bob Moore Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented recor ...

–

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

* D.J. Fontana – drums *

Buddy Harman Murrey Mizell "Buddy" Harman, Jr. (December 23, 1928 – August 21, 2008) was an American country music session musician. Career Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Harman played drums on over 18,000 sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Jerry ...

– drums On November 8, 1960 * Elvis Presley – vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar * The Jordanaires – backing vocals * Scotty Moore – electric rhythm guitar * Tiny Timbrell – lead guitar *

Dudley Brooks Dudley Brooks (December 22, 1913 – July 17, 1989) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. Biography Brooks was born on December 22, 1913, in Los Angeles, California.

– piano * Meyer Rubin – double bass * D.J. Fontana – drums

Charts

References

External links

*
LPM-2370 Something for Everybody Guide
part o
The Elvis Presley Record Research DatabaseLSP-2370 Something for Everybody Guide
part o
The Elvis Presley Record Research Database
{{Authority control Elvis Presley albums 1961 albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Steve Sholes