Elvis Presley - If Every Day Was Like Christmas - From First Take To The Master

Many attribute Elvis' renaissance to 1968 and the Singer presents Elvis TV Special and the following recording session in Memphis in 1969 but the roots of his return to public musical redemption can be traced a further two years earlier. On 25 May 1966 Elvis entered a recording studio for the first time in almost two and a half years for a purpose other than recording for a movie soundtrack. The resulting session would yield Elvis a critically acclaimed gospel album and his first of three Grammy awards but movie tracks aside for the next four years the standard of studio output would remain at a exceptionally high level culminating in the Nashville marathon of June 1970.


The 25 May 1966 session at RCA's Studio B in Nashville over three days and a mini session a fortnight later would produce some of Elvis' finest recordings of the sixties and amongst them were tracks which showed a change in mindset musically speaking in Elvis. Even what seemed to be standard type ballads such as "Love Letters" felt fresher than the tracks recorded in 63 but others such as "Down In The Alley" saw a change in vocal style and with "Tomorrow Is A Long Time" and "I'll Remember You" two of the finest recordings of his career.





A mini session was scheduled in Nashville on 10 June for Elvis to record three songs but a combination of Elvis supposedly having the cold and not being in the mood for recording meant that he did not attend. However, he instructed Red West and Charlie Hodge to go in his stead and have the band lay down the tracks using them as guide vocals. Three backing tracks were recorded for "Indescribably Blue", "I'll Remember You" and West's own composition "If Every Day Was Like Christmas". Two days later, on the twelfth, Elvis attended the studio and lay down his vocals to the backing tracks from the tenth with Red West's vocals removed. Before Elvis entered the studio there was some apprehension amongst RCA executives as to whether this would be his new approach to recording but even if it was there seemed to be little to be concerned about as each song contained a stunning vocal and Elvis wrapped all three with less than thirty minutes in the studio.





The vocal and arrangement on "If Every Day Was Like Christmas" is absolutely sublime and the combination of Millie Kirkhams's beautiful soprano, the perfectly judged reverb and the steel guitar all add to the songs appeal. The song became a minor hit in the US but reached the top ten in the UK and in subsequent years has become one of the most well known Christmas songs of all time and can be heard in many stores and radio stations during the Christmas period even today. Although "Blue Christmas" and "Merry Christmas Baby", of which are both wonderful recordings, are often seen as the best of Elvis' Yuletide tracks, it is testament to the popularity of "If Every Day Was Like Christmas" that in October 1994 it would become the title track of the first Elvis album to contain all of his Christmas recordings plus a few alternate takes.





Elvis laid down his vocals to the song in just two takes and on 20 June an additional overbub consisting of a celeste played by David Briggs was added to the RCA master before release. For reasons of completeness this video contains, at the beginning, the original backing track containing Red West's guide vocals.

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