Kissin' Cousins (album)

Kissin' Cousins
Studio album / Soundtrack by Elvis Presley
Released April 2, 1964
Recorded May–September 1963
Genre Pop
Length 26:15
Label RCA Victor
Producer Gene Nelson, Fred Karger
Elvis Presley chronology
Fun in Acapulco
(1963)		 Kissin' Cousins
(1964)		 Roustabout
(1964)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Kissin' Cousins is the twentieth album by Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2894, in April 1964. It is the soundtrack to the 1964 film of the same name. Recording sessions took place at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 26 and 27, and September 29 and 30, 1963. It peaked at number six on the Billboard Top LP's chart.[2] The album was certified Gold on March 27, 1992 by the Recording Industry Association of America.[3]

Content

Since the sessions for Viva Las Vegas had gone way over budget, released after but completed before Kissin' Cousins, Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker determined for fiscal prudence to have the songs recorded at Studio B, away from Hollywood and its distractions, and its platoon of available on-call musicians.[4] Demand for songs to fill long-playing soundtrack albums, by now a regularity as the EP single was becoming less and less a viable sales item, strained the resources of the stable of Presley songwriters, with five songs alone originating from the team of Giant, Baum and Kaye.[5]

Ten soundtrack songs were recorded by Presley with members of the Nashville A-Team during two evening sessions in September, with two distinct versions by different songwriters of the title track, one recorded in Presley's normal voice and the other with a mock-hillbilly twang.[6] The latter version of "Kissin' Cousins" would be issued as a single in February 1964, with "It Hurts Me" on the b-side. It would peak at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, its flipside making it independently to #29.[7] It became a gold record. "Anyone (Could Fall In Love With You)", included in the album, was omitted from the film. "Pappy, Won't You Please Come Home", performed by Glenda Farrell, is included in the film but omitted from the album.

As had happened with soundtrack of Fun in Acapulco, two additional tracks, "Echoes of Love" and "(It's a) Long Lonely Highway" by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman were taken from the aborted "lost" album sessions of May 1963, and added here to bring the running order up to twelve tracks. Three selections — "Once Is Enough", "One Boy, Two Little Girls", and the single — were on the 1995 soundtrack compilation, Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II.[8]

Personnel

Track listing

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s)Recording date Length
1. "Kissin' Cousins (Number 2)"  Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence KayeSeptember 29, 1963 1:16
2. "Smokey Mountain Boy"  Lenore Rosenblatt, Victor MillroseSeptember 30, 1963 2:37
3. "There's Gold in the Mountains"  Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence KayeSeptember 29, 1963 1:54
4. "One Boy, Two Little Girls"  Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence KayeSeptember 29, 1963 2:32
5. "Catchin' On Fast"  Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence KayeSeptember 30, 1963 1:21
6. "Tender Feeling"  Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence KayeSeptember 29, 1963 2:33
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s)Recording date Length
1. "Anyone (Could Fall in Love with You)" (omitted from film)Bennie Benjamin, Luchi de Jesus, Sol MarcusSeptember 30, 1963 2:29
2. "Barefoot Ballad"  Dolores Fuller, Larry MorrisSeptember 30, 1963 2:26
3. "Once Is Enough"  Sid Tepper and Roy C. BennettSeptember 29, 1963 1:55
4. "Kissin' Cousins"  Fred Wise and Randy StarrSeptember 30, 1963 2:14
5. "Echoes of Love" (bonus track)Bob Roberts and Paddy McMainsMay 26, 1963 2:20
6. "(It's a) Long Lonely Highway" (bonus track)Doc Pomus and Mort ShumanMay 27, 1963 2:38

"Kissin' Cousins" was released as a single (RCA 47-8307) on February 10, 1964. It reached number 12 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The single's B-side, "It Hurts Me" (not from the film) reached number 29. The British release of the single (RCA 1404) reached number 10.[9]

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1964 Billboard Pop Albums 6
Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[10] Gold 500,000^

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ "Pop Albums". Elvis Presley: Official Site of the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Searchable database". RIAA. Recording Industry Association of America. 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013. Note: Enter search for "Kissin' Cousins"
  4. ↑ Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998; p. 186
  5. ↑ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 186, 199.
  6. ↑ Jorgensen, op. cit., pp. 185-186.
  7. ↑ Jorgensen, op. cit., p. 415.
  8. ↑ Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II at AllMusic
  9. ↑ Guralnick, Peter, From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential '60s Masters (Booklet for CD box-set)
  10. ↑ "American album certifications – Elvis Presley – Kissin' Cousins". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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