Elvis Songs: Are You Lonesome Tonight

Written by: Roy Turk, Lou Handman

Recorded: April 4, 1960, RCA Nashville Studios
Released master is a splice of take 5 and an unknown other take

Single: w/ "I Gotta Know", 47-7810, November, 1960 (Million Seller)
Also released in stereo, 45rpm, 61-7810
Also re-released as Gold Standard Series, 447-0629, February 1962

Highest U.S. Charts Position:
#1 on Billboard Hot 100 for 6 weeks
#3 on Rhythm & Blues chart.
#22 on Country chart

1st LP release: Elvis' Golden Records, Volume 3 - September 1963

According to Chet Atkins, Elvis wanted to create a mood in the studio when recording "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", and turned all the lights way down low. When the recording was done, Elvis and the musicians and crew all listened to it over and over and Elvis was in a great mood "because he knew he'd made a great record". I concur with Elvis. :>

"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" was already a golden oldie when Elvis decided to record it in the spring of 1960. Supposedly it was the only song that Colonel Tom Parker ever urged Elvis to record, and it's certainly a tune that's more of the Colonel's generation than Elvis'. Roy Turk and Lou Handman wrote it in 1926, and over the years there were quite a few popular versions, including those by Vaughn Deleath, Henry Burr, the Blue Barron Orchestra, Jaye P. Morgan, and Al Jolson. I'm sure that Elvis didn't need much urging by the Colonel to record it, however, as this was a perfect fit for his voice, and the perfect showcase for his new vision of his career: He wanted to be more than a rock 'n' roll singer! Elvis had been working on his voice methodically while away in the army, making a conscious effort to improve his range and ability. Along with "It's Now Or Never", this song would assure his comeback as a true all-around pop singer.

The song has a simple but catchy main melody, which Elvis sings over a background of acoustic guitar and the Jordanaires, and nails perfectly, but probably the most memorable aspect of the recording is the spoken middle section. Elvis delivers the "speech" with much more confidence and authority than he had before in, for instance, "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". Based on lines from Jacques' speech in Act II, Scene VII of Shakespeare's As You Like It, the speech has Elvis comparing his love to a stage play.

You know someone said that the world's a stage and each must play a part.
Fate had me playing in love with you as my sweetheart.
Act one was when we met, I loved you at first glance
You read your lines so cleverly and never missed a cue
Then came act two, you seemed to change, you acted strange
And why I'll never know.

As a showcase of Elvis' vocal versatility, "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", selling roughly 4 million, was a great follow-up to "It's Now Or Never", which eventually sold around 22 million! At the end of the year 1960, Elvis was truly back from the army, and back on top of the charts with two major hits, and neither of them rock 'n' roll. Although Elvis would never abandon rock, he would now continue to experiment with different styles throughout his career.

Elvis performed "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" in his 1968 Comeback Special, playing with the idea of doing the spoken part, then laughing it off and continuing to sing the melody.

On August 26, 1969, Elvis sang the song in Las Vegas and jokingly changed the words to "do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair". He then gets a case of the giggles and laughs his way through the rest of the song. I've never heard this verified by anyone present at the concert, but legend has it that the reason Elvis begins to lose it is because immediately after he made the bald joke with the lyrics, a man in the audience, close to the stage, lifted up his toupe in a salute to Elvis! That kind of sounds like urban-legend material but it makes for a much better story. :> This "laughing version" was released as a single in England in 1982 and showed up on Elvis - A Legendary Performer, Volume 4 in 1983.

A sadder performance was captured on the Elvis In Concert TV special, filmed on Elvis' last tour. This time, his stumbling over the words and his attempts to laugh it off become a bit painful to watch. I like the line about "plus tax", though. :>