Don't Be Cruel
Song
Hound Dog (song)...on drums and backing vocals from the Jordanaires. Presley recorded this version along with "Don't Be Cruel" and "Any Way You Want Me" on July 2 1956 at RCA's New York City studio. The producing credit was given to RCA's Steve Sholes,... In this article: Elvis Presley, Hound Dog, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, Steve Allen, Bernie Lowe, RCA, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, D.J. Fontana, and Scotty Moore |
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PR Newswire | November 04, 2009
ELVIS 75: GOOD ROCKIN' TONIGHT Commemorates 75th Birthday of Elvis Presley on January 8, 2010
...and panel discussions. For further information, please go to http://www.elvis.com. From the moment in early 1956 when Elvis' first string of hits on RCA Victor proclaimed his arrival on the old 'Top 100' - "Heartbreak Hotel," "Blue Suede...
In this article: Elvis Presley, RCA, Rockin', Junkie XL, Graceland, World Cup, Blue Suede Shoes, and Blue Moon of Kentucky
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PopMatters | September 20, 2009
Bruce Springsteen: Still Going Strong at Age 60 (Feature)
...with makeup painted around his eyes. That night Elvis sang hits like "Don't Be Cruel", "Love Me Tender", and "Hound Dog", shaking his hips and standing on his toes while girls screamed in the audience. And that guitar: it was a weapon and it...
In this article: Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley, Born to Run, Zeitgeist, Oscar, Born to Run, Love Me Tender, and Hound Dog
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Power Line | June 09, 2009
Higher and higher
...them perform during his late 1956 stint in Las Vegas. Wilson performed an Elvis medley as part of the Dominoes' show, and Elvis was bowled over by Wilson's version of "Don't Be Cruel." Elvis returned the following three nights to see...
In this article: Jackie Wilson, Elvis Presley, Roy Hamilton, Lonely Teardrops, Berry Gordy, Detroit, Danny Boy, Reet Petite, Money, and Jackie Wilson Said
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Wikipedia | October 16, 2009
Nashville sound
...published in Heartaches by the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles David Cantwell argues that Elvis Presley's recording of "Don't Be Cruel" in July 1956 was the record that sparked the beginning of the era we now call the "Nashville...
In this article: Nashville sound, Chet Atkins, Jim Reeves, Nashville, Tennessee, Bakersfield sound, Means of production, Four Walls, Tammy Wynette, Bill Porter, and The Nashville A-Team
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L.A. Times - L.A. Unleashed | October 29, 2009
PETA wants to turn Elvis Presley's former ranch into a Don't Be Cruel center
...included in the recipe.) Every young visitor to the center would leave armed with a plush cow bearing the message "Don't Be Cruel: Go Vegan!" and a copy of PETA's pro-vegan comic book "A Cow's Life." Rodger Motz, the real estate...
In this article: Elvis Presley, Commercial Appeal, Gardenburger, Sandwich, and Angus cattle
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Wikipedia | October 20, 2009
Don't Be Cruel
..."Don't Be Cruel" in Paris, France, 1981 for Big Beat Records. Kim Carnes performed Don't Be Cruel live in Savoy New York in 1981 (see Wolfgang's Concert Vault for more details) Jackie Wilson performed the song in Las Vegas in 1956 as part...
In this article: Elvis Presley, RCA, Hound Dog, Otis Blackwell, Jordanaires, Bill Black, Bobby Brown, Scotty Moore, and Don't Be Cruel
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San Francisco Chronicle | June 29, 2009
Letters to Datebook
...of what most white kids came to know as rock 'n' roll in the 1950s. I wonder how many times I've heard "Don't Be Cruel," "Heartbreak Hotel" or "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" Elvis was unique, charismatic, with a voice to match. Very few if any...
In this article: Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Beat It, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Human Nature, Heartbreak Hotel, King of Rock 'n' Roll, Thriller, and Jackson 5
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Wikipedia | November 03, 2009
Otis Blackwell
...background to the song itself is a rather interesting one. Since the huge success of "Don't Be Cruel", Elvis had been anxious to record another song from the pen of Otis Blackwell. Eventually, Blackwell came around with "All Shook Up."
In this article: Otis Blackwell, Elvis Presley, All Shook Up, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fever, Little Willie John, Winfield Scott, Peggy Lee, and Return to Sender
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Wikipedia | May 04, 2009
June Juanico
June Juanico June Juanico (born 1938) is a former beauty queen and an Elvis Presley fan from Biloxi, Mississippi, whom the famous rock 'n' roll singer dated in 1955 and 1956, for instance, when he took three weeks of vacation after having...
In this article: Elvis Presley, Nick Adams, Biloxi, Mississippi, San Francisco Chronicle, Hound Dog, Unchained Melody, and Peter Guralnick
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Description from Wikipedia:
"Don't Be Cruel" is a song by Otis Blackwell, which was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1956. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was listed #197 in Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
"Don't Be Cruel" was originally the A side of RCA single 47-6604, with "Hound Dog" on the B-side, although both sides became chart-toppers, RCA reissuing the single in later decades as double A-side. The single was the first to top all three extant Billboard charts: pop, rhythm & blues, and country & western.
The song was recorded for RCA Victor by Elvis' regular band of Scotty Moore on lead guitar (with Elvis usually providing rhythm guitar), Bill Black on bass, D.J. Fontana on drums and backing vocals from the Jordanaires. Presley recorded this song on July 2 1956 at RCA's New York City studio. The producing credit was given to RCA's Steve Sholes, however the studio recordings reveal that Elvis produced the songs in this session (as well as many others) himself, which is verified by the band members. Presley selected the song, reworked the arrangement himself on piano, and recorded eight takes of the song with the band (number 7 being the take released on the record) during one recording session following the thirty takes of "Hound Dog" (number 28 being released on the record) recorded that day. "Any Way You Want Me" was also recorded in that same session following "Don't Be Cruel". "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" were released on July 13 1956.
Presley reworked the Otis Blackwell demo and changed the music and lyrics, just as he did to other compositions by Blackwell. Hence the reason he received co-songwriting credit.
- Name:
- Don't Be Cruel
- Genre:
- Rock and roll
- Release Date:
- July 13, 1956
- Preceded By:
- "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"
- Produced by:
- Steve Sholes, Elvis Presley
- Written By:
- Otis Blackwell, Elvis Presley
- Recorded By:
- Elvis Presley
- Length:
- 2:04
- Record Label:
- RCA Records
- Recording Dates:
- July 2 1956, New York
- B Side:
- "Hound Dog"
- Audio Format:
- single
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