From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"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.
[edit] Content
The bulk of the album came from one series of sessions recorded over the course of five days in June of 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 as a basic band of guitar, bass, drums, piano, and sometimes harmonica played behind him. Any horns, strings, and background singers that were required were added later. While in process, Presley and producer Felton Jarvis realized they had several country songs "in the can," 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 nearly every style of the music, including bluegrass, Western swing, rockabilly, countrypolitan, and even the then-nascent "outlaw" movement. Snippets of the song "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (from the "Elvis Now" album released in 1970) 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.
RCA reissued the album for compact disc in 2000, with six additional bonus tracks. The included items were all recorded at the same sessions for the album: three songs previously released on the LP Love Letters from Elvis, the b-side "Where Did They Go, Lord," a track first issued on the seventies box set, and the unabridged version of "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago."
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Side One
[edit] Side Two
[edit] 2000 Reissue Bonus Tracks
Chart positions for albums from the Billboard 200
