Elvis Songs: A Big Hunk O' Love

Written by: Sid Wyche, Aaron Schroeder

Recorded: June 10, 1958, RCA Nashville Studios
Released master is a splice of takes 3 and 4

Single: w/ "My Wish Came True", 47-7600, June 23, 1959 (Million Seller)
Also re-released as Gold Standard Series, 447-0626, February 1962

Highest U.S. Charts Position:
#1 on Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks
#10 on Rhythm & Blues chart.

1st LP release: 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong - Elvis' Gold Records, Volume 2 - December 1959

This was one of Elvis' wildest rockers of the '50s, a frantic, noisy, lightning-fast song that would make Little Richard proud. The song opens in full instrumentation, as if you'd switched over to it in the middle of the song, the piano, guitars, and background voices already cranking out at full speed. A few bars into it, Elvis comes in with a shout, "Hey baby!" and you already know it's a classic! Now that he's got your attention, he gets to the main point:

Hey baby, I ain't askin' much o' you
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, baby, I ain't askin' much o' you
Just a big-a big-a big-a hunk o' love... will do!

Like most fast rock songs of the '50s, there's a playful sense of humor, and definitely nothing serious about the lyrics. "A Big Hunk O' Love" contains the typical mix of aggressiveness and silliness, as in the classic lines at the end of the third verse:

You're just a natural-born beehive, filled with honey to the top
But I ain't greedy baby, all I want is all you got

Released a little over a year after Elvis went in the army, this song was probably a welcome sound on the radio, reassuring fans that although he was temporarily out of the public eye, the King could still rock! I first heard it when I got my brother a copy of 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong for Christmas (mainly so I could listen to it myself, of course), and it immediately became my favorite from that album.

Starting in 1972, Elvis began incorporating "A Big Hunk O' Love" into his live performances, with an updated arrangement. Glen D. Hardin starts it off with a piano intro, and after a few bars, Ronnie Tutt's drum builds up to the full band and orchestra kicking in just in time for Elvis' first line, "Hey baby...". Although not as manic as the 1958 studio recording, it was still a rock 'n' roll highlight of his '70s shows. Elvis seemed to get into it more than the performances of his other '50s hits that he felt obligated to sing. He can be seen performing it in the film Elvis On Tour, in the summer of 1972, and on the TV special Aloha From Hawaii, in January 1973. He continued to include it in his concerts until 1974.