I could not think of a better top ten to end the year with than an Elvis Presley Top Ten! However, the credit for this top ten idea goes to my best friend Doug who simply asked me recently, “Hey mate, what are your top ten Elvis tunes?” Challenge accepted!

I’ve been an Elvis fan since the first time I heard “That’s All Right” and I remember watching in awe his TV special Aloha from Hawai’i via Satellite in 1973. His Aloha from Hawai’i show stands as one of his best live performances, along with the 1968 Comeback special on NBC. My mother, also an Elvis fan, bought me an Elvis t-shirt shortly after he passed. I remember that I endured a good bit of bullying for wearing this shirt to school and was taunted with insults from other kids like “He’s dead!”, “King of nothing!”, and “Nobody cares about Elvis!” to just name a few. But I persevered and continued to wear my Elvis t-shirt with pride. This is the only picture I have of me wearing the shirt and it was taken in the J.C. Penneys store in St. Joseph, Missouri in October 1977 (as my mother’s handwriting describes). It was taken with a Polaroid Instant Camera. The sales clerk was trying to talk my parents into buying the latest, greatest camera to be invented and took this picture of my brother and I as a sample/reward for listening to his sales pitch. My parents did end up buying one about six months later!

Elvis had it all from a big, generous heart to a big, golden voice. Although he was crowned the “King of Rock and Roll” by the media, Elvis himself proclaimed Fats Domino as the “real King of Rock and Roll” and was the first to give credit to all the song writers that provided him with great material. Elvis died on August 16, 1977 and I still remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. I was in the cattle barn at the Atchison County Fair Grounds in the little town of Effingham, Kansas feeding my 4-H steer and adding straw to the stall. The entire barn seemed to go silent for a moment. The King was gone.

To celebrate the music of Elvis Presley I compiled ten songs that, in my humble opinion, encompass the King. I did not include anything from his gospel or Christmas albums because if I did, it would become a top thirty list! I give to you my top ten Elvis Presley songs! The debate may begin.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

My Top Ten Elvis Presley Songs

1. Suspicious Minds
2. Mystery Train
3. Trouble
4. Burning Love
5. One Night
6. That’s All Right
7. I Got A Woman
8. Moody Blue
9. Kentucky Rain
10. In the Ghetto

© 2020 Gregory Vessar. All Rights Reserved.

Elvis has left the building.