Love Me Tender (1956 film)
Encyclopedia
Love Me Tender is a 1956 American black-and-white
CinemaScope
motion picture
directed by Robert D. Webb
, and released by 20th Century Fox
on November 21, 1956. The film, named after the song
, stars Richard Egan
, Debra Paget
, and Elvis Presley
in his film debut. It is in the Western genre
with musical
numbers. Because it was Presley's movie debut, it was the only time in his acting career that he did not receive top billing. Love Me Tender was originally to be titled The Reno Brothers, but when advanced sales of Presley's "Love Me Tender" single passed one million—a first for a single—the film title was changed to match.
for the Confederate Army. The family is mistakenly informed that eldest brother Vance has been killed on the battlefield. After four years of war, the brothers return home and find that Vance's girlfriend Cathy has married Clint. Although Vance accepts this wholeheartedly ("We always wanted Cathy in the family"), the family has to struggle to reach stability with this issue. As a Confederate soldier, Vance is involved in a train robbery in which he steals Federal Government money. A conflict of interest ensues when Vance tries to return the money against the wishes of some of his fellow Confederates. The film reaches its tragic conclusion with a gunfight between the two Reno brothers, ironically ending with Clint's murder.
, Marlon Brando
, and Tony Curtis
during shifts, studying their acting and learning lines from their movies. When he first met his future manager, Colonel Tom Parker
, he expressed an interest in the movies and his desire to be an actor.
In interviews during his rise to fame, Presley would often talk about his hopes of attending somewhere like the Actors Studio
. He also insisted that he would not like to sing in any of his movies because he wished to be taken seriously as a film star. However, Parker had a plan to cross-promote Presley's films with his music and this led to soundtracks being as important, if not more important, as the scripts.
Presley screen-tested for Hal Wallis on March 26, 1956 at Paramount Studios. The test lasted three days and included Presley performing two scenes from The Rainmaker
, and lip-syncing to Blue Suede Shoes. Wallis' partner, Joe Hazen, commented: "As a straight actor, the guy has great potentialities." His first screen test, a scene from the William Inge
play The Girls of Summer, resulted in drama coach Charlotte Clary declaring to her class of students, "Now that is a natural born actor".
On April 2, Wallis offered Presley a contract for one motion picture, with options on six more. The contract was finalized on April 25, and also stipulated that Presley was free to make at least one picture a year for other studios. Wallis, who had produced classics such as Casablanca
, Little Caesar
, and The Maltese Falcon
, had promised Presley that he would look for dramatic roles to let the singer take his acting career seriously. Wallis considered Presley for a role in The Rat Race
, a film about a "naive, innocent boy" who was struggling to make it as a musician in Manhattan, but he decided against it after another studio executive said, "Elvis Presley just doesn't look like that". The film was eventually made in 1960 with Tony Curtis
in the lead role. Another possible idea that Wallis mulled over was to pair Presley with Jerry Lewis
. Lewis had just separated from his comedy partner Dean Martin
after a successful run of seventeen movies together, but again the idea was shelved.
On April 10, Presley confidently announced during a radio interview that his debut feature would be The Rainmaker with Burt Lancaster
and Katharine Hepburn
. However, despite this belief, and due to Wallis being unable to find a project "good enough for the debut of Elvis Presley", he was loaned out to 20th Century Fox on August 13 and began work on Love Me Tender on August 22. Presley's role had originally been turned down by both Jeffrey Hunter
and Robert Wagner
because the part was too small, but when Presley signed up to the picture the role was expanded to take advantage of his current popularity. A somewhat more realistic film telling the story of the Reno Brothers, Rage at Dawn
starring Randolph Scott
, had been released by RKO Radio Pictures
only the year before. According to Presley's then girlfriend, June Juanico, he was reluctant to take the role after realizing that his character died at the end, but he was persuaded to do it after she told him that the characters audiences were most likely to remember were the ones who had a tragic fate.
Presley arrived for filming with all of his lines learned, as well as the lines for all the other parts. He found filming quite tasking, once commenting to a friend that he had spent a whole day "behind a team of mules". In little more than a month Presley had recorded all the songs for the film and had finished filming his scenes.
When Presley appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show during a break in filming the movie, on September 9, he performed "Love Me Tender" for the first time. Two weeks later RCA confirmed that advanced sales of the single had resulted in it going Gold before even being released—an industry first.
Test screenings of the film resulted in people being upset at the death of Presley's character. Attempting to reach a compromise between the death and pleasing his fans, Presley filmed an extra scene and recorded an extra verse to the title track to be played over the end credits.
Love Me Tender had its premiere on November 15 at the Paramount Theater in New York City, and was released nationally on November 21, 1956. 20th Century Fox released 575 prints, a record for its studios at the time; normal releases were only 200-300. Presley attended a private screening of the film on November 20 at Loew's State Theater in Memphis prior to its national release. During this private screening Presley's mother, Gladys, cried at the death of her son's character at the end, leading Presley to insist that his characters would never die on screen again.
In its first week of release the film grossed $540,000, #2 at the box office for that week, beaten only by James Dean's posthumous release Giant, and had made back the money it cost the studio to produce it. Within weeks it had recouped the costs of the negatives, and despite being released in November, the film finished 1956 as the 23rd highest grossing film of the year. Despite many critics giving it a lukewarm reception, a number of critics viewed it in a positive light. The Los Angeles Times wrote: "Elvis can act. S'help me the boy's real good, even when he isn't singing." Presley would later express regret at making the film, and was disappointed that the additions of songs had set up the future of his Hollywood career.
In his book Me And A Guy Named Elvis, Jerry Schilling recounts the atmosphere inside Loew's State Theater in Memphis during the premiere screening: "The screams of the girls around me made it just about impossible to follow the story—this was the first time I'd seen an audience treat a film like it was a live concert, loudly responding to every move made and word uttered by their favorite star." Presley would later tell his friend Cliff Gleaves that he found this type of reaction from his cinema-going fans embarrassing, and that it had prevented him from being accepted as a serious actor.
's desire to promote Presley's films with a soundtrack and vice versa, four songs were added to the film.
Instead of a full long-playing album
soundtrack
, for Love Me Tender the four songs appearing in the film were released as an extended-play
, seven-inch 45 RPM
record on RCA Records
, Love Me Tender, catalog EPA 4006, during November 1956. It peaked at #9 on Top Pop Albums
chart with sales of over 600,000, as well as making it to #35 on the singles chart
. The four EP soundtrack songs were recorded at Fox's Stage One
in Hollywood, at three sessions on August 24, September 4, and October 1, 1956.
The title song had already been released as a single
on September 28, 1956, and went to #1 on the singles chart
. The music was based on the Civil War
ballad
"Aura Lee
," with new lyrics by Ken Darby
. Darby, in fact, wrote all of the soundtrack songs, but credited them to his wife, Vera Matson, while Parker cut his publishing company, Hill and Range, in on the royalties by further crediting the writing to Presley as well. A reprise of "Love Me Tender" was recorded on October 1 and is heard at the end of the film; this short track was not released until after Presley's death. The sessions for these songs were the only time in the decade that Presley recorded with musicians outside his regular coterie.
member, Jerry Schilling. The disc includes three featurettes: "Elvis Hits Hollywood", "The Colonel & The King", and "Love Me Tender: The Birth & Boom Of The Elvis Hit". Also part of the disc are original trailers for Love Me Tender, Flaming Star
and Wild in the Country
.
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
motion picture
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Robert D. Webb
Robert D. Webb
Robert D. Webb was an American film director. He directed 16 films between 1945 and 1968.-Selected filmography:* Beneath the 12-Mile Reef * Seven Cities of Gold * White Feather...
, and released by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
on November 21, 1956. The film, named after the song
Love Me Tender (song)
"Love Me Tender" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music, adapted from the tune of "Aura Lee" , a sentimental Civil War ballad.- History :...
, stars Richard Egan
Richard Egan (actor)
Richard Egan was an American actor. In some films he is credited as Richard Eagan.-Career:Born in San Francisco, California, Egan served in the United States Army as a judo instructor during World War II...
, Debra Paget
Debra Paget
Debra Paget is an American actress and entertainer who rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s in a variety of feature films including Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments and Love Me Tender, the film début of Elvis Presley.-Early life and career:Paget was born in Denver, Colorado...
, and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
in his film debut. It is in the Western genre
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
with musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
numbers. Because it was Presley's movie debut, it was the only time in his acting career that he did not receive top billing. Love Me Tender was originally to be titled The Reno Brothers, but when advanced sales of Presley's "Love Me Tender" single passed one million—a first for a single—the film title was changed to match.
Synopsis
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 WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
for the Confederate Army. The family is mistakenly informed that eldest brother Vance has been killed on the battlefield. After four years of war, the brothers return home and find that Vance's girlfriend Cathy has married Clint. Although Vance accepts this wholeheartedly ("We always wanted Cathy in the family"), the family has to struggle to reach stability with this issue. As a Confederate soldier, Vance is involved in a train robbery in which he steals Federal Government money. A conflict of interest ensues when Vance tries to return the money against the wishes of some of his fellow Confederates. The film reaches its tragic conclusion with a gunfight between the two Reno brothers, ironically ending with Clint's murder.
Cast
- Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
: Clint Reno - Richard EganRichard Egan (actor)Richard Egan was an American actor. In some films he is credited as Richard Eagan.-Career:Born in San Francisco, California, Egan served in the United States Army as a judo instructor during World War II...
: Vance Reno - Debra PagetDebra PagetDebra Paget is an American actress and entertainer who rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s in a variety of feature films including Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments and Love Me Tender, the film début of Elvis Presley.-Early life and career:Paget was born in Denver, Colorado...
: Cathy Reno - Robert MiddletonRobert MiddletonRobert Middleton, born Samuel G. Messer , was an American film and television actor known for his large size and beetle-like brow. With a deep, booming voice, Middleton trained for a musical career at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
: Mr. Siringo - William CampbellWilliam Campbell (film actor)William Campbell was an American actor who appeared in supporting roles in major film productions and also starred in several low-budget B-movies, including two cult horror films.-Career:...
: Brett Reno - James DruryJames DruryJames Child Drury, Jr. is an American actor probably best known for his success in playing the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series The Virginian, broadcast on NBC from 1962-1971...
: Ray Reno - Neville BrandNeville BrandNeville Brand was an American television and movie actor.-Early life:Neville Brand was born in Illinois. He was born to Leo and Helen Brand as one of seven children. Leo, was an electrician and bridge building steel worker in Detroit, where Neville was raised...
: Mike Gavin - Mildred DunnockMildred DunnockMildred Dunnock was an American theater, film and television actress.- Early life :Born in Baltimore, Maryland and graduated from Western Senior High School, Dunnock was a school teacher who did not start acting until she was in her early thirties...
: Martha Reno - Russ ConwayRuss Conway (actor)Russ Conway was a Canadian-American character actor who appeared on film and television between 1947 and 1975.-Early years:...
: Ed Galt - Ken ClarkKen Clark (actor)Kenneth Donovan "Ken" Clark was an American B-movie actor. He appeared in movies in America and Europe, including the Secret Agent 077 trilogy....
: Mr. Kelso - L.Q. Jones: Pardee Fleming (uncredited)
- Dick SargentDick SargentRichard Stanford Cox , known professionally as Dick Sargent, was an American actor, notable as the second actor to portray Darrin Stephens on the television series Bewitched...
: Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
Background
Before success as a singer Presley had shown interest in becoming an actor. He had worked as a cinema usher in his youth and would often watch his screen idols James DeanJames Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
, Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, and Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
during shifts, studying their acting and learning lines from their movies. When he first met his future manager, Colonel Tom Parker
Colonel Tom Parker
"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley...
, he expressed an interest in the movies and his desire to be an actor.
In interviews during his rise to fame, Presley would often talk about his hopes of attending somewhere like the Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
. He also insisted that he would not like to sing in any of his movies because he wished to be taken seriously as a film star. However, Parker had a plan to cross-promote Presley's films with his music and this led to soundtracks being as important, if not more important, as the scripts.
Presley screen-tested for Hal Wallis on March 26, 1956 at Paramount Studios. The test lasted three days and included Presley performing two scenes from The Rainmaker
The Rainmaker (1956 film)
The Rainmaker is a 1956 film directed by Joseph Anthony and adapted by N. Richard Nash from his play The Rainmaker. The film tells the story of a middle-aged woman, suffering from unrequited love for the local town sheriff; however, she falls for a con man who comes to town with the promise that he...
, and lip-syncing to Blue Suede Shoes. Wallis' partner, Joe Hazen, commented: "As a straight actor, the guy has great potentialities." His first screen test, a scene from the William Inge
William Inge
William Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
play The Girls of Summer, resulted in drama coach Charlotte Clary declaring to her class of students, "Now that is a natural born actor".
On April 2, Wallis offered Presley a contract for one motion picture, with options on six more. The contract was finalized on April 25, and also stipulated that Presley was free to make at least one picture a year for other studios. Wallis, who had produced classics such as Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
, Little Caesar
Little Caesar (film)
Little Caesar is a 1931 Warner Bros. Pre-Code crime film. It tells the story of a hoodlum who ascends the ranks of organized crime until he reaches its upper echelons. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, the film stars Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.. The story was adapted by Francis Edward...
, and The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and a remake of the 1931 film of the same name...
, had promised Presley that he would look for dramatic roles to let the singer take his acting career seriously. Wallis considered Presley for a role in The Rat Race
The Rat Race
The Rat Race is a 1960 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds as struggling young entertainment professionals in New York City. Filming took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.- Plot :...
, a film about a "naive, innocent boy" who was struggling to make it as a musician in Manhattan, but he decided against it after another studio executive said, "Elvis Presley just doesn't look like that". The film was eventually made in 1960 with Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
in the lead role. Another possible idea that Wallis mulled over was to pair Presley with Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
. Lewis had just separated from his comedy partner Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
after a successful run of seventeen movies together, but again the idea was shelved.
On April 10, Presley confidently announced during a radio interview that his debut feature would be The Rainmaker with Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
and Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
. However, despite this belief, and due to Wallis being unable to find a project "good enough for the debut of Elvis Presley", he was loaned out to 20th Century Fox on August 13 and began work on Love Me Tender on August 22. Presley's role had originally been turned down by both Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
and Robert Wagner
Robert Wagner
Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
because the part was too small, but when Presley signed up to the picture the role was expanded to take advantage of his current popularity. A somewhat more realistic film telling the story of the Reno Brothers, Rage at Dawn
Rage at Dawn
Rage at Dawn is a 1955 American Western film by RKO Pictures starring Randolph Scott and Forrest Tucker, and featuring Denver Pyle, Edgar Buchanan, and J. Carrol Naish...
starring Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
, had been released by RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
only the year before. According to Presley's then girlfriend, June Juanico, he was reluctant to take the role after realizing that his character died at the end, but he was persuaded to do it after she told him that the characters audiences were most likely to remember were the ones who had a tragic fate.
Presley arrived for filming with all of his lines learned, as well as the lines for all the other parts. He found filming quite tasking, once commenting to a friend that he had spent a whole day "behind a team of mules". In little more than a month Presley had recorded all the songs for the film and had finished filming his scenes.
When Presley appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show during a break in filming the movie, on September 9, he performed "Love Me Tender" for the first time. Two weeks later RCA confirmed that advanced sales of the single had resulted in it going Gold before even being released—an industry first.
Test screenings of the film resulted in people being upset at the death of Presley's character. Attempting to reach a compromise between the death and pleasing his fans, Presley filmed an extra scene and recorded an extra verse to the title track to be played over the end credits.
Love Me Tender had its premiere on November 15 at the Paramount Theater in New York City, and was released nationally on November 21, 1956. 20th Century Fox released 575 prints, a record for its studios at the time; normal releases were only 200-300. Presley attended a private screening of the film on November 20 at Loew's State Theater in Memphis prior to its national release. During this private screening Presley's mother, Gladys, cried at the death of her son's character at the end, leading Presley to insist that his characters would never die on screen again.
In its first week of release the film grossed $540,000, #2 at the box office for that week, beaten only by James Dean's posthumous release Giant, and had made back the money it cost the studio to produce it. Within weeks it had recouped the costs of the negatives, and despite being released in November, the film finished 1956 as the 23rd highest grossing film of the year. Despite many critics giving it a lukewarm reception, a number of critics viewed it in a positive light. The Los Angeles Times wrote: "Elvis can act. S'help me the boy's real good, even when he isn't singing." Presley would later express regret at making the film, and was disappointed that the additions of songs had set up the future of his Hollywood career.
In his book Me And A Guy Named Elvis, Jerry Schilling recounts the atmosphere inside Loew's State Theater in Memphis during the premiere screening: "The screams of the girls around me made it just about impossible to follow the story—this was the first time I'd seen an audience treat a film like it was a live concert, loudly responding to every move made and word uttered by their favorite star." Presley would later tell his friend Cliff Gleaves that he found this type of reaction from his cinema-going fans embarrassing, and that it had prevented him from being accepted as a serious actor.
Soundtrack
The film was originally intended to be a straight acting role for Presley, but due to the popularity of the single "Love Me Tender" and Colonel Tom ParkerColonel Tom Parker
"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley...
's desire to promote Presley's films with a soundtrack and vice versa, four songs were added to the film.
Instead of a full long-playing album
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, for Love Me Tender the four songs appearing in the film were released as an extended-play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, seven-inch 45 RPM
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
record on RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, Love Me Tender, catalog EPA 4006, during November 1956. It peaked at #9 on Top Pop Albums
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart with sales of over 600,000, as well as making it to #35 on the singles chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. The four EP soundtrack songs were recorded at Fox's Stage One
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
in Hollywood, at three sessions on August 24, September 4, and October 1, 1956.
The title song had already been released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on September 28, 1956, and went to #1 on the singles chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. The music was based on the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
"Aura Lee
Aura Lee
"Aura Lea" is an American Civil War song about a maiden. It was written by W. W. Fosdick and George R. Poulton .-Lyrics:The lyrics as written by Fosdick:...
," with new lyrics by Ken Darby
Ken Darby
Kenneth Lorin Darby was an American composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and conductor. His film scores were recognized with three Academy Awards and one Grammy Award.- Personal life :...
. Darby, in fact, wrote all of the soundtrack songs, but credited them to his wife, Vera Matson, while Parker cut his publishing company, Hill and Range, in on the royalties by further crediting the writing to Presley as well. A reprise of "Love Me Tender" was recorded on October 1 and is heard at the end of the film; this short track was not released until after Presley's death. The sessions for these songs were the only time in the decade that Presley recorded with musicians outside his regular coterie.
Personnel
- Elvis Presley - vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Vito Mumolo - Acoustic lead guitar
- Luther Rountree - Acoustic Rhythm guitar
- Dom Frontieri - accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
- Carl Fortina - accordion
- Mike "Myer" Rubin - bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Richard CornellRichard CornellRichard Cornell was an English Quaker ironmaster and resident of Long Island who is generally considered the first European settler on the Rockaway Peninsula in the present-day Borough of Queens, New York City...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Rad Robinson - backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Jon Dodson - backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Charles Prescott - backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- In The Movie It has Banjo player But In session studio not have but it has rhythm guitarist
Side one
| Track | Recorded | Song title | Credited writers | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 8/24/56 | "Love Me Tender Love Me Tender (song) "Love Me Tender" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music, adapted from the tune of "Aura Lee" , a sentimental Civil War ballad.- History :... " |
Elvis Presley, Vera Matson | 2:41 |
| 2. | 9/4/56 | "Let Me" | Elvis Presley, Vera Matson | 2:08 |
Side two
| Track | Recorded | Song title | Credited writers | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 8/24/56 | "Poor Boy" | Elvis Presley, Vera Matson | 2:13 |
| 2. | 8/24/56 | "We're Gonna Move" | Elvis Presley, Vera Matson | 2:30 |
DVD releases
In the summer of 2006, the film was released on DVD in a special 50th anniversary issue. It was featured in a slipcase, and included a set of 4 lobby card reproductions. The disc contains the movie in its original widescreen letterbox format, plus audio commentary by noted Elvis historian, and Memphis MafiaMemphis Mafia
The "Memphis Mafia" was the nickname for a group of friends, associates, employees and "yes-men" whose main function was to be around Elvis Presley from 1954 until he died. Several filled practical roles in the singer's life. For instance, they were employed to work for him as bodyguards or on tour...
member, Jerry Schilling. The disc includes three featurettes: "Elvis Hits Hollywood", "The Colonel & The King", and "Love Me Tender: The Birth & Boom Of The Elvis Hit". Also part of the disc are original trailers for Love Me Tender, Flaming Star
Flaming Star
Flaming Star is a 1960 western film starring Elvis Presley, based on the book Flaming Lance by Clair Huffaker. Critics agreed that Presley gave one of his best acting performances as the mixed-blood "Pacer Burton", a dramatic role. The film was directed by Don Siegel, and had a working title of...
and Wild in the Country
Wild in the Country
Wild in the Country is a 1961 film drama starring Elvis Presley in which he portrays a troubled young man from a dysfunctional family who pursues a literary career. The screenplay was written by playwright Clifford Odets.-Synopsis:...
.
External links
- For Elvis Fans Only Website dedicated to Elvis Presley's Movies.
Movie reviews
- Review by Janet Branagan at Apollo Movie Guide.
DVD reviews
- Review by Brett Cullum at DVD Verdict, March 30, 2006.
- Review by Mark Zimmer at digitallyOBSESSED!, August 18, 2002.