| Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 2 | |
| Type: | greatest |
| Artist: | Elvis Presley |
| Cover: | Elvis'_Gold_Records,_Vol._2_original_LP_cover.jpg |
| Released: | November 13, 1959 |
| Recorded: | February 1957 – June 1958 |
| Genre: | Rock and roll, pop |
| Length: | 22:00 |
| Label: | RCA Victor |
| Producer: | Steve Sholes |
| Prev Title: | A Date with Elvis |
| Prev Year: | 1959 |
| Next Title: | Elvis Is Back! |
| Next Year: | 1960 |
50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong: Elvis' Gold Records, Volume 2 (or simply known as Elvis' Gold Records, Volume 2) is the fourth compilation album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor in November 1959. It is a compilation of hit singles released in 1958 and 1959 by Presley, from recording sessions going back as far as February 1957.
Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 2 peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.[1] It was certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for a Gold Record Award (based on $1,000,000 in wholesale sales) on November 1, 1966. It was certified for a Platinum Record Award for sales of one million copies in the US on March 27, 1992.[2]
There has long been some confusion over the actual title of this album. The title is shown on the original record's labels as Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 2, with a comma and an abbreviation of "Volume", but on the jacket, it appears as Elvis' Gold Records – Volume 2. The phrase "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong" does not appear on the labels on any of the original records, and it is the title of the records on the labels—not the jacket—that is usually given preference when conflicting titles appear on albums. Therefore, the phrase was not part of the original title of the album. Beginning no later than 1962, RCA Victor added "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong" to the labels of a few mono records and to the then newly released "electronically reprocessed stereo" records. The boasting on the label appears nearly exclusive to records manufactured at RCA Victor's Hollywood pressing plant; copies pressed at the other plants tended to use the proper title only. The "50,000,000" phrase remained there for several years, but by 1968, it was removed from the new orange RCA Victor labels and was not found on any record labels for years afterward. The phrase was added again to the first compact disc releases of this album in 1984, where it has remained.
Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 2 consists of both sides of five singles released during 1958 and 1959. Two sides made number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and six others reached the Top 10. In the 1950s, a Gold Record awarded to a single required certified sales of one million copies in the United States. This is different from the definition in use since the 1990s, when a Gold Record for a single was reduced to sales of 500,000 units.
RCA first reissued the original 10 track album on compact disc in 1984; this issue, in reprocessed (fake) stereo sound was quickly withdrawn and the disc was reissued again in original monophonic. RCA reissued the album again in 1997 in a 20 track expanded edition, adding one A-side ("Hard Headed Woman") and one B-side ("Playing For Keeps"), along with tracks from top-selling EPs (e.g., "Peace In The Valley"). Several of those EP tracks were hit singles in other countries, notably the UK (i.e., "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me"). The bonus tracks are interspersed within the original tracks, with the original running order of the album substantially altered.
The unified Billboard Hot 100 singles chart was not created until August, 1958. Chart positions for records (below) prior to this date were taken from the magazine's "Best Sellers in Stores" chart. In some cases, the early measurement of success of rock and roll records also came from the "Most Played on Jukeboxes" chart. Chart positions (below) for the bonus tracks on the CDs were taken from the peak position that the EP album achieved on Billboard's then extant EP chart (1957–60).
The famous cover photo, of multiple images of Elvis wearing the gold lamé suit designed by Nudie's of Hollywood,[3] has been copied many times. Album covers so inspired include:
The meme has also been adopted to other media, such as:
The blurb "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong" that became an on-and-off part of the album's title originated with a one-page article titled "Can Fifty Million Americans Be Wrong" by Les Brown that appeared in the September 19, 1956, issue of Down Beat magazine. The article was an unfavorable look at Elvis and his fans, with Brown bemoaning the lack of appreciation of the "fine talents" of Jeri Southern, Dick Haymes, and "other serious vocal artists." The article concludes, "The educational responsibility seems to fall mainly on the disc jockey, who still has the greatest proximity to, and the greatest influence over, the record-buying public. Fifty million Americans can easily be misled."[15] The article was written in response to a statement from Steve Sholes, Elvis' producer, estimating that fifty million Elvis Presley records had been sold over the course of his career up to that point. Sholes said: "Every record Elvis has ever made for us has sold over a million. Since January, 1956, we've sold 50 million Elvis Presley records in this country alone, not counting foreign sales or albums."[16]
The expression "Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong," originating in a 1927 song by Willie Raskin, Billy Rose, and Fred Fisher and performed by Sophie Tucker, predated its use in Brown's article.[17] The song prompted the creation of a popular snowclone about fifty million people being wrong. Methodist pastor J. Resler Shultz of Harrisburg, PA, used "Can fifty million Americans be wrong" as the title of a sermon in 1931.[18] Articles with similar titles have appeared somewhat frequently since that time—some being about food, politics, or religion.[19]
Chart positions for LPs and EPs from Billboard Top Pop Albums chart; positions for singles from Billboard Pop Singles chart
| Side one | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Song title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Catalogue | Release date | Chart peak | Time | |
| 1. | "I Need Your Love Tonight" | June 10, 1958 | 47-7506b | March 10, 1959 | 4 | 2:04 | ||
| 2. | 0"Don't" | September 6, 1957 | 47-7150 | January 7, 1958 | 1 | 2:48 | ||
| 3. | "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" | Bert Carroll and Russell Moody | February 1, 1958 | 47-7240 | April 1, 1958 | 3 | 2:13 | |
| 4. | 0"My Wish Came True" | September 6, 1957 | 47-7600b | June 23, 1959 | 12 | 2:33 | ||
| 5. | "I Got Stung" | June 11, 1958 | 47-7410b | October 21, 1958 | 8 | 1:49 | ||
| Side two | ||||||||
| No. | Song title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Catalogue | Release date | Chart peak | Time | |
| 1. | "One Night" | Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, Anita Steiman | February 23, 1957 | 47-7410 | October 21, 1958 | 4 | 2:29 | |
| 2. | 0"A Big Hunk o' Love" | June 10, 1958 | 47-7600 | June 23, 1959 | 1 | 2:12 | ||
| 3. | "I Beg of You" | Rose Marie McCoy and Cliff Owens | February 23, 1957 | 47-7150b | January 7, 1958 | 8 | 1:50 | |
| 4. | 0"(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I" | Bill Trader | June 10, 1958 | 47-7506 | March 10, 1959 | 2 | 2:36 | |
| 5. | "Doncha' Think It's Time" | February 1, 1958 | 47-7240b | April 1, 1958 | 21 | 1:54 | ||
| No. | Song title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Catalogue | Release date | Chart peak | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Big Hunk o' Love" | Aaron Schroeder and Sidney Wyche | June 10, 1958 | 47-7600 | June 23, 1959 | 1 | 2:12 | |
| 2. | 0"My Wish Came True" | September 6, 1957 | 47-7600b | June 23, 1959 | 12 | 2:33 | ||
| 3. | "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I" | Bill Trader | June 10, 1958 | 47-7506 | March 10, 1959 | 2 | 2:36 | |
| 4. | 0"I Need Your Love Tonight" | June 10, 1958 | 47-7506b | March 10, 1959 | 4 | 2:04 | ||
| 5. | "Don't" | September 6, 1957 | 47-7150 | January 7, 1958 | 1 | 2:48 | ||
| 6. | 0"I Beg of You" | Rose Marie McCoy and Kelly Owens | February 23, 1957 | 47-7150b | January 7, 1958 | 8 | 1:50 | |
| 7. | "Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)" | September 7, 1957 | LOC 1035 | October 15, 1957 | ~ | 1:54 | ||
| 8. | 0"Santa Claus Is Back in Town" | September 7, 1957 | LOC 1035 | October 15, 1957 | ~ | 2:22 | ||
| 9. | "Party" | January 21, 1957 | LPM 1515 | July 1, 1957 | ~ | 1:26 | ||
| 10. | 0"Paralyzed" | Otis Blackwell and Elvis Presley | September 2, 1956 | LPM 1382 | October 19, 1956 | 59 | 2:23 | |
| 11. | "One Night" | Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King | February 23, 1957 | 47-7410 | October 21, 1958 | 4 | 2:29 | |
| 12. | 0"I Got Stung" | June 11, 1958 | 47-7410b | October 21, 1958 | 8 | 1:49 | ||
| 13. | "King Creole" | January 23, 1958 | LPM 1884 | September 19, 1958 | ~ | 2:08 | ||
| 14. | 0"Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" | Bert Carroll and Moody Russell | February 1, 1958 | 47-7240 | April 1, 1958 | 3 | 2:13 | |
| 15. | "Don'cha Think It's Time" | February 1, 1958 | 47-7240b | April 1, 1958 | 21 | 1:54 | ||
| 16. | 0"Mean Woman Blues" | January 13, 1957 | LPM 1515 | July 1, 1957 | ~ | 2:15 | ||
| 17. | "Playing for Keeps" | Stan Kesler | September 1, 1956 | 47-6800b | January 4, 1957 | 34 | 2:50 | |
| 18. | 0"Hard Headed Woman" | January 15, 1958 | 47-7280 | June 10, 1958 | 2 | 1:53 | ||
| 19. | "Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do" | January 12, 1957 | LPM 1515 | July 1, 1957 | ~ | 2:31 | ||
| 20. | "Peace in the Valley" | January 13, 1957 | EPA 4054 | April 1, 1957 | 39 | 3:22 |
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