RCA Victor producer
Steve Sholes had commissioned two new songs for this batch of sessions, "
Paralyzed" from
Otis Blackwell and "
Love Me" from
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the authors of Presley's summer hit of 1956, "
Hound Dog," the first record to top all three of the
Billboard singles charts then in existence:
Pop,
R&B, and
C&W. Presley decided upon three
Little Richard covers, and selected three new
country ballads respectively from regular
Everly Brothers writer
Boudleaux Bryant and guitarist
Chet Atkins,
Sun staff musician and
engineer Stan Kesler, and
Aaron Schroeder and
Ben Weisman. The latter two, contracted to Hill and Range, the publishing company of Presley's manager,
Colonel Tom Parker, would write dozens of songs for Presley through the 1960s. Also included was the song with which Presley won second prize at a fair in
Tupelo when he was ten years old,
Red Foley's 1941 country song, "
Old Shep". With all but one track on the album (with the exception of "So Glad You're Mine") recorded at a single set of sessions over three days in September, Presley and his touring band of
Scotty Moore,
Bill Black, and
D.J. Fontana, along with
The Jordanaires, managed to recreate the loose feel from
Sun Studio days, mixing
rhythm and blues and
country and western repertoire items as they had on all of his Sun
singles. They reinforced this effect by including material echoing his very first Sun record: a blues by
Arthur Crudup, author of "
That's All Right (Mama)"; and a song recorded by
bluegrass founder
Bill Monroe, "
When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again". The sessions were attended by a few outsiders, namely his current girlfriend at the time, actress
Natalie Wood and actor
Nick Adams, both of whom had starred in
Rebel Without a Cause, Presley's favorite
James Dean film. Steve Sholes was the RCA man at the session, and handled the paper work and such, but Elvis himself chose the songs and led the session. The piano player on this album is not registered in the official RCA Victor archives, except for the song "So Glad You're Mine", which was cut at a previous session in New York. In a 1984 interview conducted by Jan-Erik Kjeseth, Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires stated that he was the piano player on most of the songs on the album. In an article written by Kjeseth for the
Flaming Star magazine, it was argued that the piano player on "Love Me", "Old Shep" and "How's the World Treating You" was Elvis himself. Ernst Jørgensen, writer of
Elvis Presley - A Study in Music, seems to be of the same opinion. Kjeseth also claims that Elvis played the piano on the single from this session, "
Playing for Keeps". Again, Jørgensen seems to be of the same opinion. Gordon Stoker played the piano on "Rip it Up" and "Anyplace is Paradise". ==Reissues==