Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old)

Infobox Album |
Name = Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old)
Type = Album
Artist = Elvis Presley


Released = January 2, 1971
Recorded = June and September 1970
Genre = Rock
Length = 38.49
Label = RCA LSP 4460
Producer = Felton Jarvis
Reviews = *Rolling Stone (not rated) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/elvispresley/albums/album/220891/review/5946260/elvis_country link]
* Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:abfyxq8kldje~T0 link]
Last album = "That's the Way It Is"
(1970)
This album = "Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old)"
(1971)
Next album = "You'll Never Walk Alone"
(1971)

"Elvis Country" (I'm 10,000 Years Old)" is the thirty-seventh album, not counting budget compilations on the RCA Camden subsidiary, by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Records, LSP 4460, in January of 1971. Recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, it reached #12 on the Billboard 200, eventually going gold with sales of over 500,000 copies. It peaked at #6 in the United Kingdom, selling over one million copies worldwide. The lead single for the album, "I Really Don't Want to Know" b/w "There Goes My Everything," released on December 8, 1970, peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Content

The bulk of the album came from one series of sessions recorded over the course of five days in June 1970, which yielded a total of 35 usable tracks. In line with his usual recording practice, Presley recorded all the songs for the album "live," doing his vocal part along with his basic backing of guitar, bass, drums, piano. While in process, Presley and producer Felton Jarvis realized they had several country songs in hand, and decided to record several more to create a full album of country material. Needing two more satisfactory tracks, Elvis returned to the same studio in September, at which he recorded "Snowbird" and a manic, one-take version of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On."

Along with his "second LP", "Elvis' Christmas Album", "Elvis Is Back!", and "From Elvis in Memphis", ""Elvis Country"" stands as one of Presley's cohesive musical works, the closest he came to concept albums, a mere handful from his large catalogue. The country theme is maintained throughout, with Elvis walking the listener through a history of nearly every style of the music, including bluegrass, honky tonk, Western swing, rockabilly, countrypolitan, and even the then-nascent "outlaw" movement. Snippets of the song "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" act as a bridge between each track to enhance the sense of continuity. After this, Presley would return to his usual practice of recording a seemingly random batch of songs on each trip to the recording studio, letting his producer assemble them into albums.

The June 14, 2004 reissue for compact disc included six additional bonus tracks, all recorded at the same sessions for the album. Three songs had been previously released on the LP "Love Letters from Elvis"; the others were the b-side "Where Did They Go, Lord," a track first issued on the , and the unabridged version of "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago," later released on "Elvis Now".

Personnel

* Elvis Presley – vocals
* James Burton – guitar
* Charlie Hodge - guitar
* Chip Young - guitar
* Eddie Hinton - guitar
* Harold Bradley - guitar
* David Briggs - keyboards
* Norbert Putnam - bass
* Jerry Carrigan – drums
* Farrell Morris - percussion
* Weldon Myrick - pedal steel guitar
* Bobby Thompson – banjo on "Little Cabin on the Hill"
* Buddy Spicher – fiddle on "Little Cabin on the Hill"
* The Imperials - backing vocals
* The Jordanaires - backing vocals
* Joe Babcock - backing vocals
* Millie Kirkham - backing vocals
* Mary Holladay - backing vocals
* Ginger Holladay - backing vocals
* June Page - backing vocals
* Sonja Montgomery - backing vocals
* Dolores Edgin - backing vocals
* Mary Greene - backing vocals
* Temple Riser - backing vocals
* Cam Mullins - string arrangements
* Don Tweedy - string arrangements
* Bergen White - horn arrangements

Track listing

ide One