Although they have common recording origins, two of the three singles, "It's Now or Never" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight," were very quirky by the standards of Elvis songs at the time -- the former inspired by Elvis's admiration for Tony Martin's 1949 hit "There's No Tomorrow," while the latter was recorded at the request of Col. Parker as a favor to his wife. They add to the diversity of sounds on this record, which shows a mature Elvis Presley. "Dirty, Dirty Feeling" and "It Feels So Right" showed he could still rock out and challenge authority and propriety, while "Reconsider Baby" and "Like a Baby" offer some of his best blues performances; but "The Thrill of Your Love" (a very gospel-tinged number), "Soldier Boy," "Girl of My Best Friend," and "Girl Next Door Went a' Walking," also displayed the rich, deep vocalizing that would challenge critics' expectations of Elvis Presley playing rhythm guitar throughout. He also comes off better than on any of his other albums since arriving at RCA, as a musician as much as a "star" (he'd always had a lot more to say about running his sessions than the critics who loathed his RCA years indicated). [The 1999 remastering of this classic album features the complete contents of the March 20, 1960, RCA Hollywood session plus the dawn-to-dusk April 2 Nashville session that rounded out the album, for a total of 18 songs, including the three singles and their B-sides from those sessions. The sound is extraordinarily close yet natural, giving the listener full value for the presence of Scotty Moore, Hank Garland (who also plays bass on a few tracks), D.J. Fontana, Boots Randolph, and Floyd Cramer.] ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
The first album by Presley after his military discharge from the army, the first day of its sessions were attended by the Colonel, his assistant Tom Diskin, and representatives from RCA in a show of interest regarding whether or not Elvis still "had it" after two years in uniform.[2] His long-serving guitarist Scotty Moore, pianist Floyd Cramer, and drummer D. J. Fontana had returned, along with his back-up vocal quartet The Jordanaires, but the other musicians had only played on one previous session with Elvis.[3] One new face at the sessions whom Presley had befriended while in the service, Charlie Hodge, would become a Presley regular, member of the Memphis Mafia and a mainstay in his return to live performance at the end of the decade. Pressure aside, the sessions were successful, the album a highlight of the entire decade and a declared favorite by Presley regarding his own work. He moved beyond his standard rock and roll sound of the 1950s, combining doo-wop, gospel, blues, and even jazzy tones from his version of "Fever" following so close to that of Peggy Lee from 1958. The results yielded a new sound for Presley, with a varied song selection, moving him further toward the pop music he would undertake as the decade progressed.[4] Prior to this, only his second album fully derived from a specific set of sessions undertaken expressly to make a particular album.
The May 18, 1999, reissue included six bonus tracks, recorded at the same two sessions for the album and issued as the sides to three singles. Those three singles, "Stuck on You", "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", and "It's Now or Never" all topped the singles chart; the b-sides all also charted independently in the Top 40. "It's Now or Never" had been adapted from the 1898 Neapolitan song "'O Sole Mio", and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", a ballad from 1926, had been the only time the Colonel had requested Elvis record a specific song.[5]
The album was first released on compact disc in 1988; additional reissues include a Gold CD prepared from the original tapes in 1997, and an expanded edition by the Follow That Dream collectors label on April 1, 2005.
