This year 1962 begins for Elvis with a summary in Variety magazine, on January 10, of the film “Blue Hawaii“, which has been in the position number 18, with revenues of more than two million dollars since its premiere in November 1961.

On Sunday, January 18, Elvis will start working on sessions in Nashville, whose songs will be part of his new album “Pot Luck“, and a new single, “Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello” on one side, and “She’s Not You “for the other. The song “You’ll Be Gone” remained pending from this session, which will appear as a B-side of a single in 1965.

On March 27 and 28 Elvis returns to another recording session, this time at Radio Recorders studios, to record the soundtrack of “Girls Girls Girls” for Paramount. Previously, on March 20, Elvis had already started filming.

August 27 is the day set to begin filming for “It Happened At The World’s Fair” at MGM studios in California. The exteriors were filmed in Seattle, in the middle of the world’s fair. Two days later the movie “Kid Galahad” opens, sharing the bill in some theaters with “The Nun and The Sargeant“, with Robert Webster and Ann Stern. On August 30 and September 22, Elvis completes the recording of the songs from “It Happened At The World’s Fair“, also at Radio Recorders studios in Hollywood. The musicians for this session would be Elvis’ studio regulars, along with some additional ones from Hollywood and Nashville. Elvis always recorded the soundtrack in Hollywood because according to The Colonel it saves time and money, since they did everything in the same place.

On May 23, the premiere of “Follow That Dream” takes place, shot in 1961. His passes were together with “The Errant Boy“, a film starring Jerry Lewis, now without Dean Martin, and that Jerry had shot in 1961.

On September 22, a poll is published in Billboard, in which Elvis is number 2 among the most broadcast artists on the radio, and number 5 among the favorites for radio hosts.

On the purely sentimental front, and after a year of gentle persuasion, Elvis finally convinces Priscilla’s father to allow his daughter to stay in Memphis with Vernon and Dee while she finishes school.

As you can see, we find ourselves with an Elvis already fully immersed in the maelstrom of the world of cinema that, in the long run, was going to be more harmful than beneficial, and without realizing that the music scene was suffering a convulsion that was going to influence at all levels.

This year 1962 will be a year of changes in music, in a convulsed society that will soon take a 360 degree turn. That year ended as the previous one, with The Tokens and their “The Lions Sleep Tonight” at the top. 1962 will also be the year of the Twist, with Chubby Checker continuing in the lead and with his song “The Twist” being number 1 for two weeks, just like Joey Dee and The Starliters, with their “Peppermint Twist“.

Black singers have their moment of glory with cases like the Chicago-born soul performer, Gene Chandles, who rises to the top with “The Duke Of Earl“, or the genius from Georgia, Ray Charles, who does the same with a country theme by Don Gibson, “I Can’t Stop Loving You“, a theme that Elvis would include in his live performances. Charles would double with this song, taking it to number 1 also on the R&B charts.

Black singer Little Eva (she took her name from a character in the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin“) rose to prominence with “The Loco-Motion,” as did Brooklyn-based composer, pianist, and singer Neil Sedaka with “Breaking Is Hard To Do” and Bobby Vinton with “Roses are Red“.

Female vocal groups were also very fashionable at the time. Some examples: The Crystals quartet, produced by the brilliant Phil Spector, who reached the top with “He’s a Rebel“, as well as The Shirelles, who achieved it with “Soldier Boy“.

Some that did double were The Four Seasons, a male quartet in which Frankie Valli was a member (who would be in the news again in 1978 for being the interpreter of the central theme of the film “Grease“). This group rose to the top with two of their songs, “Sherry” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry.“

An artist related to the Elvis world also triumphed this year: Shelley Fabares, singer and actress who participated with Elvis in three of his films, “Girl Happy”, “Spinout” and “Clambake”. His song “Johnny Angel” was number 1 for two weeks. Elvis himself was also on top for two weeks with “Good Luck Charm“.

More winners of that year: instrumental songs, which were also very fashionable, with artists like the English clarinetist Acker Billk and his song “Stranger On The Shore“, or the composer Dave Rose with “The Stripper”. This composer later achieved great fame, with his music for series like “Bonanza” or “Highway to Heaven“.

The artist of Italian origin Connie Francis had her moment of glory with “Don´t Break The Heart That Loves You“, as well as the Country interpreter Bruce Channel with “Hey Baby“. Bruce performed quite regularly in the Louisiana Hayride. Tommy Roe, with “Sheila“, also reached number 1.

In 1962, a song that talked about vampires and monsters of that style reached number 1: “Monster Mash“, by Bobby “Boris” Picket. Since then, it has become a traditional theme in the United States when celebrating Halloween.

We have started by saying that in 1962 a series of changes would begin that would give a spectacular return to the world of music. Thus, for example, we have that on October 5, four cheeky boys from Liverpool publish their first single in the United Kingdom with the song “Love Me Do“, which would not go beyond a modest 17th position, although it is the beginning of a musical revolution. . Another who would record his first album for Columbia is Bob Dylan, also for Capitol, the Beach Boys, although his first cheerful and carefree surfer single, “Surfin’ Safari“, only reaches a modest number 14.

Three groups were also founded in 1962 that, along with the Beatles, would mark the future of music: The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Eric Burdon’s group, and The Spectres, which over time became the Status Quo.

As for the seventh art, the first film by one of the most famous secret agents, the incombustible James Bond with “007 against Doctor No“, opens on October 5. At the Oscars Peter O’Toole triumphs with “Lawrence of Arabia” and David Niven.

On the social side, the United States increases its military aid in South Vietnam to fight against the Vietcong, which will lead to the Vietnam War, which will be one of the great events of the decade and which had such an influence on the music scene of the future. The missile crisis, the cold war, the fight for racial equality…, social and cultural movements that would mark the coming and going of this decade, while Elvis isolated himself and focused on Hollywood.

Information provided by Cesar Valle (Torrelavega – España)