One more important notice is that reissues arent counted as new releases, instead they are added to original albums. Whats Next for Convicted Sex Criminals Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly? 6 Blue Hawaii (1961) ~ 3 Million RCA During his lifetime, Presley starred in 31 movies and while every soundtrack issued from each film managed to sell a million copies, this one stood out the most. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. How many albums did Elvis Presley sell? Did he really sell one billion records as has been frequently claimed? Hes an impatient lover for the umpteenth time on Do Not Disturb, and chastises The Meanest Girl in Town on the closest this album gets to rock and roll. The best musical instrument is a love triangle. It is clear that no worldwide Elvis release, whether a long playing album or single, has sold less than half a million, including the most forgettable single, which must surely be 1965's 'Do the Clam' (900,000). 27. Youve got some Janning to do! Elvis Now (1972) Elvis Now wouldve been more accurately titled Elvis Recently, presenting a variety of unrelated recordings from 69-71, many better as hit songs for other artists. For everyone else, things get dicier. 19. The album kicks off with the cosmos-summoning theme from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and then goes into a high-speed take on Thats All Right, with able support from a horn section. Harem Holiday speculates about Romeo (Elvis) abandoning his Juliet (whichever current flame) for some action, My Desert Serenade attempts to make a brand-new world appear with arabesque flute and oboe, and the rest is equally ridiculous. This was the first way many people heard some of his best Sun tracks like Thats All Right and Mystery Train, and theres primo r&b like Lawdy Miss Clawdy to show how convincingly versatile young Elvis was. var gcse = document.createElement('script'); In the UK, for example, the now long moribund 'Disc and Music Echo' pop magazine had, by the time it folded, awarded Elvis around two dozen silver discs-currently assumed to be lurking in the vaults - each for AUDITED sales of over 250,000 copies. Did Elvis record a gospel album? Elvis doesnt quite convince you to rock out with the explicit dance instructions on the title track (clap your hands real loud and turn your head to the left) but it starts the album off with vim, which is followed by Elviss pleasant request for heavenly kisses on Angel. The rocker Easy Come, Easy Go comes and goes easily, as does this whole album, which sustains a light tone, unlike the laborious country-oriented material on Elviss other LPs from this period. Elvis' Christmas Album (also reissued as It's Christmas Time) is the third studio album and first Christmas album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley on RCA Victor, . The contents, sadly, aren't nearly as soul . This is the third album recovered from the epic 1970 sessions that produced the competent light-country of Thats the Way It Is and Elvis Country its also the rejects. Promised Land (1975) A 40th-birthday gift from E: the release of a second batch of songs from the same Stax sessions that wrought the middling Good Times, though Chuck Berrys title track opens this album with more energy than its predecessor (even if there are too many words for the singer to enunciate). From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (1976). 43. The newly written title track, released as the single, is lyrically unique as a fairly detailed rundown of Elviss musical upbringing, but doesnt especially rock. 45. Published February 8, 2023, Your email address will not be published. A huge frustration for people interested into Presleys US album sales is the lack of Soundscan data. In fact whilst a fifties classic such as 'Hound Dog' may well have initially sold twice as many copies in the States, as it did elsewhere - which as only the Americans had developed a consumer based society by that stage, should hardly come as a surprise - it is plain from what we do know that subsequently anything up to 70% of the sales of later singles were sold overseas. On Blue Christmas we even get to hear what sounds like audience orgasms and insinuating band-issued instructions to play it dirty. The whole thing is casual and comfortably uncomfortable, vulnerable and confident: Lawdy Miss Clawdy breaks down into some choice ad libs about the singers lip and gets back up as Hound Dog and Heartbreak Hotel; Elviss on-the-spot rewrites and chuckles during Love Me Tender endear. But they were enough. As well as, extended play 45rpm mini-albums and several 45rpm single reissues. Its another group of castoffs from the studio, plus an endearingly schlocky one from a performance at the Las Vegas Hilton, rendered into another one of his vaguely conceptual wholes by the unwise crooners sense of desperation and self-contempt, at its most moving when Elvis is seated at the piano for a few songs, like on Ivory Joe Hunters gorgeously understated Its Still Here., 32. Elvis Presley Career Statistics Data Total number of certified albums sold by Elvis Presley worldwide 206,800,000 Total amount Elvis earned during his career $1,050,000,000 Amount Elvis was paid per week . 29. How many albums has Elvis sold since he died? Album Certifications Total 146.5 Million. A German-inspired release entitled 'Elvis Forever' and its successors swept Europe around 1975/6 and did exactly the same. It kicks off with the lush celeste and pedal steel of the title track, which is a sweet Bing Crosby update, and after the kooky saxophone and clonking sounds of Almost Always True, the island mood remains sustained, complete with frantic ukulele intros. Elvis Is Back! He Touched Me (1972) Elviss final gospel record is his most contemporary-sounding and diversely arranged group of devotional songs, with fewer lulls than its predecessors and beautifully calibrated vocals: tender and sweet when beseeching the Lord, massive once they have his attention. 42. Nevertheless there is still sufficient, if largely circumstantial evidence available, to enable a researcher to arrive at some sort of ballpark figure. It takes you to another world just not the one it was going for. Which is the best? Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. + Plus Bonus DVD Audio. He overreaches on Peggy Lees Fever, but the album often achieves a mid-tempo grace, perfectly sprinkled with Elviss signature corn, and Reconsider Baby has a convincingly bitter blues vocal. Thats the Way It Is (1970) Elvis was cranking out records in 1970, and this one was a cocktail of Jumpsuit Elvis from his longstanding tenure at the International Hotel in Vegas and some Nashville studio stuff loosely tied to a documentary film. Elvis recorded his second gospel album, also titled "How Great Thou Art," over four days in 1966. . By now, I suspect that most fans realize that Elvis Presley's sales figures have also not been immune to the odd spot of massaging over the years. From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee, Elvis As Recorded at Madison Square Garden, Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star and Others, Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas, From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 500,000,000. This year, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the release of Presleys first record, his widow, Priscilla, and RCA have put together a massive box set presenting the Kings original recording career, pretty much unabridged. Please notice that these statistics do not include Follow That Dream releases they will be treated later on this same article. Given the technology of the day, EP's were simply easier to handle and also less costly. how many albums did elvis sell. So, as I have come to appreciate - it is a bit misleading to say that there are actually any 'missing' or 'lost 'sales. Elvis does his best Sinatra imitation on the crooning title track, U.S. Like that earlier collection, the tone is mostly light but in this case, often grating: Yoga Is As Yoga Does gets Elvis tied up in an embarrassing knot, and The Love Machine awkwardly feeds Elvis through a fortune-telling scenario. Some tunes are less rewarding, like the the cutesy Lover Doll, but whats an Elvis soundtrack without its hitches? It Happened at the Worlds Fair (1963) The soundtrack to Elviss expensive Space Needle romp begins with a bland song about going into the unknown (Beyond the Bend) followed by a remake of Fever called Relax, which advises listeners to defrost, and is set to slimy finger-snapping. 1 on the country and pop charts. All told, there is less than 20% of his albums for which we do own that key sales indicator, and for most of them the number is outdated. The final step will consist in crossing the data from all indicators chart runs, certifications, Soundscan, external sales data to establish how many albums the rock n roll legend moved in his native country. Back in the eighties, RCA were saying much the same thing. Ten years ago I researched this subject in depth with help from Ernst Jorgensen and through him Sony BMG and compiled a comprehensive report, which was published on this site. Posthumously, in 2018, Presley was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom. "Good Times" reached number 1 on the Cash Box Country Albums chart. Some idea of the scale involved actually emerged through the 1977/8 interim and the final audited record company reports. The title track on Moody Blue is a would-be camp classic from Mark James, who also wrote Suspicious Minds, and the live half has a couple of enjoyably bouncy countrified versions of Olivia Newton-John hits in If You Love Me (Let Me Know) and Let Me Be There, as well as a goofy take on the doo-wop classic Little Darlin. Of the final studio cuts from October 76, Way Down is an up, and Pledging My Love is a strong-enough musical declaration. Spinout could be the best soundtrack Elvis put out around this time, but thats not saying a lot, and it still has oodles of eminently skippable stuff, like the sex-is-food equation Smorgasbord.. Peppers. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Little Richards Rip It Up starts the album off with plenty of oomph and one of the fiercest-ever Scotty Moore guitar breaks, and the two other Little Richard cuts are equally hard-hitting. Things you buy through our links may earnVox Mediaa commission. Just because it never happened doesnt mean they cant get back together. According to Forbes' list of top earning dead stars, he earned $27m (21m) in 2016 and sold one million albums. We can read virtually anything when we talk about the number of albums the King issued in the US. "" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. Girls! After the success of Elvis's 1973 Hawaiian TV special, an album only needed to have E looking like an impassioned eagle on the cover to sell well. We no longer need to make a song and dance over so-called lost sales. Double Trouble (1967) Advertised as an adventure filled with dames, diamonds, discotheques, and danger, this movie featured a soundtrack for which the recording sessions once again got Elvis so mad that he stormed out of the studio. He knew it was a stinker from the get-go. I dont see anywhere in the Elvis articles where its noted that RIAA certification of 1 million is units not copies shipped. So Glad Youre Mine, a great mocking Arthur Crudup song left over from an earlier session kicks off the second side, and when Elviss mournful desire peeks out on Hows the World Treating You, as elsewhere, the effect is spellbinding. Learn how your comment data is processed. 21. The band brings a bigger ruckus here than on Elviss previous gospel outings, matching the levitating purport of songs like Ive Got Confidence to a fierce instrumental attack, and the backing singers sound possessed when counting down angels against the lockstep groove of I, John., 16. So, with a hip-swivel and a lip-curl, heres our ranking of every LP containing new or previously unreleased tracks put out by RCA during Elviss lifetime. " Hound Dog" Release date: July 1, 1956. Before and during the holiday season after Presley's death in August 1977, the Pickwick LP was advertised and sold on television via mail order to enormous sales . 3. 56. (The remaining 500 were digital album purchases.) " Jailhouse Rock" Release date: Sept. 4. Elvis is the leading sales artist for both Solo Artist or Group. That's about as many records as Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin have sold during their entire existence! Until Now! 50. 23. Indeed not only did the 1974/5 single 'My Boy' actually sell more copies (450,000) in the UK than it did in the States, but a 1970/71 single 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me' did likewise in Japan. Three Grammys were given to Presley, and at the age of 36, he was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. 37. If you subtract 260 million from 500-600 million, that suggests Elvis Presley has sold anywhere from 240 to 360 million records after he was dead. A total of 162,247,784 albums were sold by Elvis Presley, including 140,450,001 in the United States and 9,881,000 in the United Kingdom. 24. This page lists albums, singles, and compilations by the musician Elvis Costello, distinguishing between United States and United Kingdom release dates and record labels. Elvis Gold Records, Volume 4 (1968) Not quite a collection of hits from the then-cooling star only (Youre the) Devil in Disguise went top-ten in the U.S. this was the final Gold Records collection issued during his lifetime. According to Elvis records, more than one billion records have been sold around the world, making him the most popular artist ever. Why was the 1982 claim ever made? This is definitive feel-bad Elvis. This is an excellent release no fan should be without it. So the next question then turns on whether Elvis' sales conformed to this pattern. It is not generally appreciated, that during the 1950's Elvis probably sold more extended play albums, than he did long-playing albums. In 1956, the famous singer known as Elvis Presley released his first album.