Elvis' Gold Records Volume 5 is the final album in the RCA Victor Golden/Gold Records series by American singer and musician Elvis Presley (which began in 1958), and the only volume in the series to be issued posthumously. The album was released by RCA Records in March 1984 on both LP and compact disc. The album is a compilation of hit singles released between 1968 and 1977. It is the only one of the series to not appear on the Billboard album chart, "bubbling under" at #207 for two weeks. It was certified Gold on 7/15/1999 by the RIAA.

Content Gold Records Volume 5 comprises nine Top 40 A-sides along with one b-side, "For the Heart" from 1976. Released more than sixteen years since the previous installment in the series, it covers a span of almost ten years. The first side of the album focused on Elvis' late 1960s comeback-era recordings: "If I Can Dream" was taken from his comeback special, three singles from the American studios sessions "Suspicious Minds", "Kentucky Rain", and "In The Ghetto", and "Clean Up Your Own Backyard" was a soundtrack recording from The Trouble with Girls. The second side contained Elvis' late period singles including "Burning Love" and "Moody Blue". RCA apparently did not base the track selection solely on commercial factors, as two top ten hit singles from this time period, "Don't Cry Daddy" from 1969 and "The Wonder of You" from 1970, were omitted.

Originally recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, RCA Studio C in Hollywood, Western Recorders in Burbank, California, Stax Studio and in The Jungle Room in Memphis, Tennessee. Original recordings produced by Felton Jarvis, Chips Moman, Bones Howe and Billy Strange.

Reissues RCA reissued the album on July 15, 1997, and added six bonus tracks taken from a three-year span from 1967 to 1970, including three additional Top 40 singles. The original album sequence was largely left intact, though "If I Can Dream" was moved to the end of the disc. RCA's selection of bonus tracks is somewhat puzzling as it features several of Elvis' pre-comeback recordings, rather than 1970s hits; "Always On My Mind", "Promised Land", "Steamroller Blues", "Separate Ways", "Hurt", "T-R-O-U-B-L-E", "I Really Don't Want To Know", and "Until It's Time for You to Go" were among Elvis' top forty hits during the decade. Inexplicably, “The Wonder of You” and “Don’t Cry Daddy”, both top 10 hits in 1970, were still not included on the reissued expanded version.

Only "Memories" which was featured on Elvis' comeback special and "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", a top twenty single in 1970 are consistent with the selection from the original album. Three of the bonus tracks are from soundtrack recordings. "Big Boss Man" and "Guitar Man" were originally released as top 40 singles and as bonus songs on the Clambake album. "Edge of Reality" is from Live a Little, Love a Little (it was also the B-side to "If I Can Dream"). The remaining track, "U.S. Male" was a 1968 single.

Track listing Chart positions taken from the Billboard singles chart

Original release Side one No. Z Song Title Writer(s) Recorded Catalogue Release date Chart Peak Time1. "Suspicious Minds" Mark James January 22, 1969 47-9764 August 26, 1969 1 3:282. "Kentucky Rain" Eddie Rabbitt and Dick Heard February 19, 1969 47-9791 January 29, 1970 16 3:143. "In the Ghetto" Mac Davis January 20, 1969 47-9741 April 14, 1969 3 2:454. "Clean Up Your Own Backyard" Billy Strange and Mac Davis October 23, 1968 47-9747 June 17, 1969 35 3:075. "If I Can Dream" Walter Earl Brown June 23, 1968 47-9670 November 5, 1968 12 3:11Side two No. Z Song Title Writer(s) Recorded Catalogue Release date Chart Peak Time1. "Burning Love" Dennis Linde March 28, 1972 74-0769 August 1, 1972 2 2:502. "If You Talk In Your Sleep" Red West and Johnny Christopher December 11, 1973 APBO 0280 May 10, 1974 17 2:343. "For the Heart" Dennis Linde February 5, 1976 PB 10601b March 12, 1976 ̶ 3:224. "Moody Blue" Mark James February 4, 1976 PB 10857 November 29, 1976 31 3:225. "Way Down" Layng Martine Jr. October 29, 1976 PB 10998 June 6, 1977 18 2:381997 CD reissue No. Z Song Title Writer(s) Recorded Catalogue Release date Chart Peak Time1. "Suspicious Minds" Mark James January 22, 1969 47-9764 August 26, 1969 1 3:282. "Kentucky Rain" Eddie Rabbitt and Dick Heard February 19, 1969 47-9791 January 29, 1970 16 3:143. "In the Ghetto" Mac Davis January 20, 1969 47-9741 April 14, 1969 3 2:454. "Clean Up Your Own Backyard" Billy Strange and Mac Davis October 23, 1968 47-9747 June 17, 1969 35 3:075. "Burning Love" Dennis Linde March 28, 1972 74-0769 August 1, 1972 2 2:506. "If You Talk In Your Sleep" Red West and Johnny Christopher December 11, 1973 APBO 0280 May 10, 1974 17 2:347. "For the Heart" Dennis Linde February 5, 1976 PB 10601b March 12, 1976 ̶ 3:228. "Moody Blue" Mark James February 4, 1976 PB 10857 November 29, 1976 31 3:229. "Way Down" Layng Martine Jr. October 29, 1976 PB 10998 June 6, 1977 18 2:3810. "Big Boss Man" Luther Dixon and Al Smith September 10, 1967 47-9341 September 26, 1967 38 2:5011. "Guitar Man" Jerry Reed September 10, 1967 47-9425 January 9, 1968 43 2:1212. "U.S. Male" Jerry Reed January 16, 1968 47-9465 February 28, 1968 28 2:4213. "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" Vicki Wickham, Simon Napier-Bell, Pino Donaggio, Vito Pallavicini June 6, 1970 47-9916 October 6, 1970 11 2:3014. "Edge of Reality" Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye March 7, 1968 47-9670b November 5, 1968 ̶ 3:3315. "Memories" Billy Strange and Mac Davis June 23, 1968 47-9731 February 25, 1969 35 3:0316. "If I Can Dream" Walter Earl Brown June 23, 1968 47-9670 November 5, 1968 12 3:11

Personnel

Elvis Presley – lead vocals Scotty Moore – guitar Chip Young – guitar James Burton – guitar John Wilkinson – guitar Charlie Hodge – guitar, backing vocals Jerry Reed – guitar Mike Deasy – guitar Tommy Tedesco – guitar Harold Bradley – guitar, six-string bass Gerry McGee – guitar Morton Marker – guitar Joseph Gibbons – guitar Neil LeVang – guitar Charles Britz – guitar Al Casey – guitar Dennis Linde – guitar Billy Sanford – guitar Reggie Young – guitar Ed Kollis – harmonica Charlie McCoy – guitar, organ, harmonica Pete Drake – steel guitar Floyd Cramer – piano Glen D. Hardin – piano Don Randi – piano David Briggs – piano Bobby Wood – piano Bobby Emmons – organ Bob Moore – bass Larry Knechtel – bass Charles Berghofer – bass Max Bennett – bass Norbert Putnam – bass Emory Gordy – bass

Jerry Scheff – bass Tommy Cogbill – bass Mike Leech – bass D. J. Fontana – drums Buddy Harman – drums Hal Blaine – drums Gary Coleman – drums Frank Carlson – drums John Guerin – drums Jerry Carrigan – drums Ronnie Tutt – drums Gene Chrisman – drums Boots Randolph – saxophone The Jordanaires – backing vocals J.D. Sumner and the Stamps – backing vocals Millie Kirkham – backing vocals The Blossoms – backing vocals B.J. Baker – backing vocals Sally Stevens – backing vocals Bob Tebow – backing vocals John Bahler – backing vocals Dolores Edgin – backing vocals June Page – backing vocals Kathy Westmoreland – backing vocals Joe Babcock – backing vocals Dolores Edgin – backing vocals Mary Greene – backing vocals Ginger Holladay – backing vocals Mary Holladay – backing vocals June Page – backing vocals Susan Pilkington – backing vocals Sandy Posey – backing vocals Donna Thatcher – backing vocals Hurschel Wiginton – backing vocals

References

External links