Elvis Presley - Fame and Fortune - From First Take to the Master

“Fame and Fortune” was the fourth song that Elvis recorded during his first post army recording session at RCA’s Studio B in Nashville on 20 March 1960. The song is of the type that Elvis had become fond of during his time in Germany on National Service, and which he would return to time and time again throughout the remainder of his career. Ballads like this, with a powerful narrative and a strong vocal line, always seemed to bring the best out of Elvis and would result in some of his greatest performances both in the studio and on stage. Elvis recorded seven songs at that historic session, but this was the only song which did not result in a single satisfactory master being achieved. After fifteen takes, the decision was taken to create the RCA master using a splice of the last two takes. The song would then be released as the flip side to the worldwide hit “Stuck On You” and would be Elvis’ first post army single. Just six days after recording the song, Elvis would perform it at The Fontainbleau Hotel in Florida during the taping of “The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis”. The “A” side of the single would also be performed during the show and the TV Special aired on 12 May 1960 at 9.30pm on ABC. As with all of these videos, to get the most out of the audio, I highly recommend you use ear /headphones and turn the volume up as much as you dare!