Pot Luck (Elvis Presley album)

Pot Luck with Elvis, the seventh studio album from American singer Elvis Presley, came out on RCA Victor in both mono and stereo on May 18, 1962. Recording took place across several sessions: March 22, 1961, at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, and June 25 and October 15, 1961, plus March 18 and March 19, 1962, at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. The album reached number 4 on the Billboard Top LP's chart.

The album leans heavily on the songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, who had previously written the number one hit "Surrender" and the double-sided hit single "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" backed with "Little Sister". Two tracks, "Kiss Me Quick" and "Suspicion", were later released as a Top 40 single in April 1964, after a cover of "Suspicion" by Elvis sound-alike Terry Stafford became a hit. Other songs came from regular Presley contributors like Don Robertson, Otis Blackwell, and Paul Evans. Blackwell's "(Such an) Easy Question" was issued as a single in June 1965, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number 11 on the Hot 100, during a period when Presley was mainly focused on film and soundtrack work.

"That's Someone You Never Forget" was conceived and titled by Presley, written with Red West, and possibly served as a tribute to his late mother, Gladys Presley. This song later charted at number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1967 as the B-side to "Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On)". Another song from these sessions, "You'll Be Gone", co-written by Presley, West, and fellow "Memphis Mafia" member Charlie Hodge, appeared as the B-side to "Do the Clam". "Steppin' Out of Line" was an unused track originally recorded for the Blue Hawaii sessions.

Like Presley's previous non-soundtrack albums from 1960 and 1961, Elvis Is Back! and Something For Everybody, Pot Luck easily landed in the top ten on the album chart. However, all three were far outsold by the soundtrack albums G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii, a trend that continued through the mid-1960s. The soundtracks benefited from the films as promotional tools, and Colonel Tom Parker broke with standard industry practice by refusing to include hit singles on albums, which would likely have boosted sales. Consequently, Presley shifted focus to his movie career and did not release another non-soundtrack, non-gospel studio album for seven years, until From Elvis in Memphis.

RCA first reissued the original 12-track album on compact disc in 1988. A July 13, 1999, CD reissue changed the track order and added five bonus tracks: two sides of one single, one B-side, and two tracks from the 1965 compilation album Elvis for Everyone. The three single sides were recorded during the March 18 and 19, 1962, sessions that produced the rest of the album. One single had both sides written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, while "You'll Be Gone" had been released as a B-side in 1965. Because the Elvis for Everyone LP compiled songs from a ten-year period, RCA chose not to reissue it as a standalone album, instead adding its tracks as bonus material to other albums. All bonus tracks were recorded at Studio B in Nashville.

In 2007, the Follow That Dream label reissued Pot Luck as a deluxe 2-disc CD set containing the original album and numerous alternate takes from the recording sessions.

Personnel on the album include Elvis Presley on lead vocals; Scotty Moore on rhythm guitar; Jerry Kennedy on lead guitar for "Night Rider"; Hank Garland on lead guitar for "Kiss Me Quick", "Steppin' Out of Line", "I'm Yours", and "That's Someone You Never Forget"; Tiny Timbrell on rhythm guitar for "Steppin' Out of Line"; Harold Bradley and Grady Martin on guitar; Martin also on vibes; Floyd Cramer on piano and organ; Gordon Stoker on piano; Bob Moore on double bass; D. J. Fontana and Buddy Harman on drums; Millie Kirkham and The Jordanaires on backing vocals; and Boots Randolph on saxophone.