Attention British Elvis and Christmas Fans! Check out next week’s Mail on Sunday for your free Elvis Christmas Album! This will include 15 of ‘The King’s greatest Christmas recordings and is free with every copy of The Mail on Sunday.
Here is the Track List (from the Daily Mail website):
Here Comes Santa Claus
For a young rebel, Elvis had quite traditional tastes, and this jaunty tune was another Forties classic, written by ‘The Singing Cowboy’, Gene Autry.
Blue Christmas
Elvis’s version of this 1948 country lament added rock ’n’ roll touches while enshrining the song as a Christmas standard.
Santa Claus Is Back In Town
This erupts into a storming, somewhat lascivious blues number and
was Elvis’s choice to open his first festive record.
Silent Night
Elvis is one of more than 300 artists to have recorded a version of this. Bing Crosby, the Christmas specialist, got there first, of course.
I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Another adaptation of an old Bing Crosby hit which was the most popular request among serving American soldiers during the Second World War. Within months of releasing his own version, Elvis would be drafted.
O Come All Ye Faithful
A grand interpretation with crashing drums, orchestra and choir, this opened Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas, his second Christmas album.
Santa Bring My Baby Back
One of two songs commissioned for Elvis’s Christmas Album, this swinging number was penned by two Presley writers, Schroeder and Demetrius. Schroeder later wrote It’s Now Or Never.
O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Back in reflective mood, The King croons his way through this timeless carol in its less familiar US version.
The First Noel
Elvis captures the sound of a church recital with this take on a devotional favourite, adorned with organ, piano and choir.
Winter Wonderland
Back to his country and rock ’n’ roll roots, Winter Wonderland was 37 years old by the time Elvis recorded it.
If Every day Was Like Christmas
Red West, one of Presley’s Memphis Mafia entourage, wrote this for his old high school friend. It was recorded in Nashville in 1966 and released as a single.
On A Snowy Christmas Night
Sentimental ballad recorded, like the rest of The Wonderful World Of Christmas, in May 1971.
The Wonderful World Of Christmas
Christmas was indeed a wonderful world for Elvis, who would shower family and friends with presents. His gifts for wife Priscilla included a horse, a pearl and diamond ring, and a toy poodle she named Honey.
It Won’t Seem Like Christmas (Without You)A song of regretful absence closes Christmas Peace. Elvis spent many Christmases away from home, but 1971 found him at Graceland, though trouble was looming. He and Priscilla would split in February, 1972.
