1956 - 1966


click pictures to enlarge

 

please note:

from 1956 (lpm-1254 "elvis presley") until 1967 (lpm-3989

"speedway") most albums where released in both - mono & stereo - 

configurations.

the "lpm" prefix was used for mono releases while the"lsp" prefix 

indicates stereo records. also many of elvis ´1950´s mono albums

were re-released in the 1960 ´s  until the mid 1980´s in "electronical

reprocessed stereo". easy to identfy with the "(e)" after the rca 

number. 


1956
elvis presley*

*titled "rock and roll" in the u.k.

this is elvis ´ first rca album. most of the songs were recorded at rca

hollywood studio in january 1956."i love you because", "just 

because", "trying to get to you", "i´ll never let you go (little darlin´)

and "blue moon" were taken from the remaining "sun sessions" 

recorded in 1954 and 1955 respectively. with it´s bold pink and 

green lettering, the cover is one of the most widely recognized and 

imitated in the history of rock´n roll. the design was adapted by rca 

victor affilates in many countries for various elvis compilations. for 

example look at the "elvis la pelvis" lp from argentinia from 1988. 

(look in the  "1987 - " long play section)


lpm-1254 / usa


 


nl-89046 / germany (reissue 1990´s)


 


07863 67735 1 / uk  (reissue 2000)

rare "180g virgin vinyl" pressing with six bonus tracks.




 

us pop #01

us cashbox #01

united kingdom #01

 

1956
elvis*

*titled "rock and roll number 2" in the uk

this is elvis ´2nd rca-victor album, recorded at "radio recorders", 

hollywood in september 1956. as a special challenge for collectors, 

there were at least 12 different back covers available, introducing 

many other rca albums. until today i collected 5 different lp covers 

which are all pictured here. also there are a few discs which are 

mistakenly pressed with an alternate take of "old shep". any copy 

with a "17s" matrix on side 2 is likely to have the alternative. it may 

also appear on some "19s" pressings.


lpm-1382 / usa 


nl-81382 germany (reissue 1990´s)


 

us pop #01

us cashbox #01


united kingdom #03


germany #31

 

1957
elvis presley (10" lp)

cml-3012 (nj-89821) / chile (reprint 1983)



1957
loving you

elvis ´first motion picture soundtrack album. in fact only side 1 

contains tracks from the movie. side 2 contains additional songs also 

recorded in hollywood. his previous movie recordings appeared only 

on singles and  ep´s.


lpm-1515 / usa 


 

nl-81515 germany (reissue 1990´s) 


 

us pop #01

us cashbox #02

united kingdom #01

 

1957
elvis ´christmas album

this is the original u.s. christmas album released in november 1957.

it is surely the ultimative elvis package which rca-victor ever 

produced in the united states. it was only available until october 

1959, when the record was released in a single pocket sleeve with a 

different cover.

(see also lpm-1951 pictured below). it´s also the last album released

before elvis left for the u.s. army. this album re-entered different 

charts around the world many times.

loc-1035 / usa 







ints-1126 / italy (reissue  1978)

reissue of  christmas album above with a slightly different cover. 

very special at this version are the very touching liner notes at the 

backcover written in italian and english.


us pop #01

us cashbox #01


united kingdom #02


1958
king creole

elvis ´4th film and by far his best one. danny fisher (elvis) on the 

narrow path between good and evil. the movie is based on the 

bestseller by harold robins - "a stone for danny fisher". the book is 

about the shady business of a boxer in new york, the filmstory 

slighly changed, features a singer in new orleans.


lpm-1884 / usa


  

lsp-1884 / germany (reissue 1970´s) 


 

nl-83733 / germany (reissue 1980´s) 


 

us pop #02

us cashbox #11


united kingdom #01


1959
elvis ´christmas album

reissue of his 1957 christmas album with different cover.

lpm-1958 / usa


 


1959
for lp fans only

this is one of the compilations released while elvis was in the army.

it only included previously released material which was not available

on lp at the time. 

the u.s. first pressing is easy to identify: 

at later pressings there is a black box  at upper right with title and

contents. (see for example nl-90359 pictured below)


lpm-2370 / usa 


   

nl-90359 / germany (reissue 1990´s) 
last german vinyl reissue including 4  bonus tracks.


us pop #19

us cashbox #20



1959

a date with elvis

one more a compilation released while he was in the army. all songs 

were not available on lp at the time.

lsp-2011 / germany (reissue 1970´s) 


 

us pop #32

us cashbox #08

united kingdom #04

 

1960
elvis is back

his 1st album release after his triumphant homecoming.

pictured here is the gatefold cover including the now rare cover 

sticker. later reissues had the content printed directly on the cover. 

also most of the re-releases had a single pocket cover only.

lsp-2231 / usa 



 

nl-89013 / germany (reissue 1980´s) 

re-issue from germany with single pocket cover.


us pop #02

us cashbox #02


united kingdom #01


1960
g.i. blues

elvis ´first post army movie soundtrack.

as he returned from the army, rock´n roll was not in demand 

anymore. elvis gained many sympathies, he lost his side-burns, 

anyway, what was better than making a movie out of it. it was elvis

´5th film, though his first picture in the family entertainment line,

including 11 songs.


lpm-2256 / usa 

us. mono pressing.


   

lsp-2256 / usa 

u.s. stereo pressing.


 

something about elvis´usa inner sleeves:

during the first years after elvis signed with rca victor, generic 

paper inner sleeves where used to safe the discs in his albums. in 

1959 however, rca had discovered the value of using the inner 

sleeves to promote other releases of elvis as well as other acts on 

their roster. in 1960, the first of what would eventually be 28 

all-elvis inner sleeves, came with the g.i. blues lp. this is today one 

of the rarest elvis inner sleeve.


lsp-2256 / usa (reissue 1968) 


 

us pop #01

us cashbox #01

united kingdom #01

 

1960
his hand in mine

elvis ´first  full lenght gospel album. all selections were completed in

an one 14 hour session in october 1960. all re-releases had basicly

the same cover exxcept "anl1-1319 "(usa 1976). it has a comletely 

different front and on the back you can find advertising of many rca

albums available at the time. (see record below)

lpm-2328 / usa

u.s. mono pressing


   

lsp-2328 / usa 

u.s. stereo pressing.

 


anl1-1319 / usa (reissue 1976)


nl-83925 / germany (reissue 1990´s) 


 

us pop #13

us cashbox #25


us country #07


united kingdom #03

 


1961
blue hawaii

elvis 8th movie was his most successful one. the story went down 

easily - instead of dialogues elvis sang songs. hollywood had found

the perfect formula: girls, beach some fights and plenty of music. the

picture contained 14 songs, more than any of his previous and later 

films.


lpm-2426 / usa


  

lpm-2426 / germany 

this is the rare german mono pressing.



lsp-2426 / germany (reissue mid 1960´s)

german stereo pressing. 


 

lsp-2426 / canada 


 


lsp-2426 / usa (reissue 1971) 


 


nl-83683 / german (reissue 1980´s) 


 


27 511-5 club edition / germany

very rare club edition with different cover.


us pop #01

us cashbox #01

united kingdom #01

austria #11

germany #17

 

1961
something for everybody

all tracks excecpt "i slipped, i stumbled, i fell"  were recorded at a 

marathon session in march 1961. "i slipped" was lifted from the 

picture "wild in the country" and recorded in august 1960.

first edition covers are easy to identify as the"wild in the country" 

and "his latest flame" compact 33 advertising is replaced by

additional liner notes at later re-releases.

lpm-2370 / usa 


   


sf-5106 / uk (reissue 1971)

here we have in some ways a complete different cover. at this uk 

reissue the front picture look more like a painting than a 

photograph



nl-84116 / germany (reissue 1980´s) 


 

us pop #01

us cashbox #01


united kingdom #02


1962
pot luck

like his predecessors  "elvis is back" and "something for everybody", 

"pot luck" easily made the top ten. but the major sales of "g.i. blues"

and of course "blue hawaii" set the direction of elvis 1960´s career.
.

elvis would not make another non-soundtrack, another-non gospel 

studio album until "from elvis in memphis" in 1969.

lp-rc-v217 / yugoslavia


  

nl-89089 / germany (reissue 1980´s) 


 

us pop #04

us cashbox #03


united kingdom #01

austria #03

germany #07


1962
girls! girls! girls!

elvis ´11th movie was a huge success. "girls, girls, girls" was the first

complete copy of "blue hawaii". a rather good film with plenty of 

music. (13 songs)

lpm-2621 / usa


  

nl-89048 / spain  (reissue probably 1980´s)


 

nl-89048 / germany (reissue 1980´s) 


 

us pop #03

us cashbox #03


united kingdom #02

austria #04

germany #18

 

1963
it happened at the worlds fair

this movie received not very good critics back in 1963. parts of the 

movie were filmed at the 1962 seattle world´s fair. elvis plays mike 

edwards who has a faithful sidekick, danny (gary lockwood), and a 

penchant for singing. the album contains 10 songs, the most 

memorable being "one broken heart for sale.

lpm-2697 / usa



pl-12568 / germany (reissue 1970´s) 



nl-82568 / germany (reissue 1980´s)


bionde, rosse, bruno.......
(it happened at the world´s fair)
yl-42226 / italy (reissue  1982)

reissue from rca-italiana of the movie soundtrack "it happened at

the worlds fair". take a look at the very rare cover.


us pop #04

us cashbox #06


united kingdom #04


germany #19


1963
fun in acapulco

the 13th film was a huge success. a well written story set in mecico, and nearly all 11 songs were top class.


lsp-2756 / usa



nl89014 / germany (reissue 1980´s)


us pop #03

us cashbox #03


united kingdom #09

austria #06

germany #21


1964
kissin ´cousins

in this film elvis played the dual role of look-alike cousins, an 

extremely low-budget musical comedy set in the hills of tennessee 

but mostly shot on hollywood sets.


pl-42355 / uk (reissue 1970´s) 



nl-84115 / germany (reissue 1980´s)


us pop #06

us cashbox #08


united kingdom #05

austria #04

germany #22


1964
roustabout

film number 16 became a big success. the producers found the 

perfect music film with elvis, surpassing by far the success of bing 

crosby, frank sinatra and fred astaire. the reason for that was the 

large and mostly good selection of songs.

lsp-2999 / usa 





nl-89049 / germany (reissue 1980´s) 


us pop #01

us cashbox #03


united kingdom #12


australia #02


1964
roustabout - radio spots


sp-2406 / usa / paramount pictures 

mega rare single sided disc. contains 10 different radio spots 

promoting the "roustabout" movie. 


 

1965
girl happy

excluding the singles compilation elvis' golden records volume 3, this

was the sixth original elvis album in a row that was a soundtrack to 

a feature film.eleven songs were recorded and all were used, with 

"the meanest girl in town" originally released as "yeah, she's evil!"

by bill haley & his comets and released on decca records in july 

1964, though haley actually recorded his version six days after elvis. 

an error in mastering resulted in elvis'voice being speed up on 

several of the recordings, most notably the title track. rca finally 

released a corrected (though outtake) version of the title track in its

1991 compilation collectors gold from the movie years. eventually, 

the proper speed version was issued. (see also in the "box sets" 

chapter for more infos)

nl-83338 / germany (reissue 1980´s) 


us pop #08

us cashbox #10


united kingdom #07


australia #05


1965
hör zu - golden boy elvis

one of the most sought after "german" lp´s 
distributed by the famous

tv magazine "hör zu".withdrawn shortly after it´s release, when col.

parker got aware of it. in 1981 rca finally released this record in 

germany.one more time in cooperation with "hör zu", with a slightly

different cover and a standard rca label, which were used in 

germany in the 1980´s.

shzt-521 / germany 





25037 (smr 1084-c) / switzerland 

this one is even rarer than the "hör zu" pressing listed above. it was 

produced by teldec as a switzerland club edition.

please note: 

a few years ago a reprint of this record was available.
 

it is easy to identify as it has "rca reissue 2001" engraved int the 

trail off wax on side 1.


germany #31


1965 (1981)
golden boy elvis - reissue

pl-43559 / germany

in 1981 rca - germany re-released the "golden boy "lp one more time 

in cooperation with the "hörzu" magazine. this lp is easy to identify 

as the "hörzu" logo on the front is a different one. also new

additional line notes on the back were added.



1965
elvis for everyone


this is a compilation of mostly unissued leftovers from various 

sessions,spanning more than a decade. this album anticipated the 

elvis budget releases with a similar concept that would appear in the

late 1960´s and early 1970´s on the rca-camden label. also, mainly 

in europe there appeared many budget releases until the mid 1980´s 

by the rca-camden /pickwick record label.


lsp-3450 / usa 





nl-84232 / germany (reissue 1980´s) 


us pop #10

us cashbox #11


united kingdom #08


1965
harem scarum

***please note: 

in some countrys including the u.k. this soundtrack album  was 

named "harem holiday"

eleven songs were recorded for harum scarum, and all were used and

issued on the soundtrack with two of the tracks omitted in the film.

as with roustabout, no singles were issued in conjunction with the 

album. a single was issued a month later, using the leftover 1957 

track "tell me why" backed with "blue river" from the aborted may 

1963 "album" sessions. in an onimous sign of things to come, it only 

made it to number 33 on the billboard hot 100, the lowest charting

single of elvis´ career to date.with the release of the beatles' album

rubber soul a mere thirty days following harum scarum's release,

elvis´ career was clearly in jeopardy with no end in sight.

lpm-3468 / usa 




us pop #09

us cashbox #14

united kingdom #11

 

1966
frankie and johnny

"frankie and johnny" was the first soundtrack album which failed to 

make the u.s. top ten album charts.

nl-82559 / germany (reissue 1980´s) 


us pop #20

us cashbox #26


united kingdom #11


1966
paradise hawaiian style

"paradise hawaiian style" was ment to recall the good times of "blue 

hawaii" but the story was not overwhelming. the aerial filming shows

hawaii in a way not seen by the average tourist. but this alone could

not compensate the weak production of this film.


sf-7810 (lsp-3643) / uk



lsp-3643 / germany (reissue 1970´s)



nl-89010 / germany (reissue 1980´s)


us pop #15

us cashbox #21


united kingdom #07


1966
spinout*

*please note: 

in most countries outside the u.s. this sountrack album was named

 "california holiday" (see nl-82560 below)

the spinout sessions still adhered to the same formula of the past 

four years. nine songs were recorded for the soundtrack, all of which

appeared in the film. most of the songs derived from the standard 

pool of songwriters, their publishing rights signed over to "elvis 

presley music" and "gladys music", the companies owned by elvis and 

the colonel. there are very good "bonus songs" included in this album.

one of them is "tommorrow is a long time" written by the young bob 

dylan. dylan confessed to rolling stone in june 1969 that elvis´ 

version of "tomorrow is a long time" was the cover of one of his songs

that he "treasured the most."


lsp-3702 / usa 



california holiday
nl-82560 / germany (reissue 1990´s) 

european version of the spinout movie soundtrack.


us pop #18

us cashbox #18


united kingdom #17


australia #10