Credit: Far Out / Ollie Atkins
While there is no shortage of hits in Elvis Presley’s catalogue for him to be proud of, when pushed for an answer, most artists are able to declare which of their songs sits a little higher than the rest in terms of their own personal appreciation.
As a man who rarely wrote his own material, it’s not necessarily always going to be down to the quality in this area that Elvis would base his own personal feelings on. Of course, he would have appreciated the contributions of the songwriters he worked with, and also the stellar cast of session musicians he worked with, but as far as he was concerned, the merits of his own artistry would need to be measured in different respects.
For him, it was all about the performance, and during his early period in the late 1950s and some of the early 1960s, he was at the absolute peak of his abilities in this regard. The name of Elvis Presley was on everyone’s lips, and it was seemingly impossible to avoid hearing his music or having no knowledge of his existence, and he’d managed to embed himself in the very fabric of culture.
Perhaps it would be one of the earliest songs that registered as a hit that stands out to him, essentially acting as vindication for the belief he had in his talents. Presley had worked hard to be noticed, and when that attention began to come his way, he released a string of singles that were among the most culturally significant of all time, such as ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, his first number one single.
He’d have been young and pure at this point, with no exhaustion settling in and affecting his voice, but at the same time, though, you’re a little green at this point in this career. Perhaps after he’d settled into his fame, he would have been able to produce something of a higher quality, and it may well be one of his later singles that he looks back on most fondly as a sign of his development.
However, there was one thing that made Elvis believe in one particular song more than any other, and when he was asked this question in 1972 during a press conference, the answer, when you think about it, was rather obvious.
Presley declared to the curious reporters that his favourite song he ever recorded was ‘It’s Now Or Never’, recorded and released in 1960. Based on the late 19th-century Neapolitan song ‘O Sole Mio’, it also takes inspiration from singer Tony Martin’s 1949 song ‘There’s No Tomorrow’, with that being the first example of a popular song also based on the classic tune.
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However, when asked which song of his had sold the most copies, his response then began to further illustrate exactly why he loved ‘It’s Now Or Never’ so much. “That one,” he confirmed. “‘It’s Now Or Never’ was the largest selling and the next one to it was ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ I think, then ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ or whatever.”
While ‘It’s Now Or Never’ is absolutely a great example of Presley’s performing capabilities, it being his favourite may not have had anything to do with its quality, but more to do with its success and sales figures. Let’s be honest, what’s not to love about that?
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