Moody Blue

Lore & Background

The album was assembled from limited studio material, as RCA was unable to obtain sufficient new recordings. All but two songs of Presley's 1976 studio recordings had already been used on the previous album, From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee, or released as singles. The company chose to use the contents of two singles not yet included on an album, along with the two last remaining unreleased tracks from the Graceland sessions. The track list was augmented with three live songs recorded in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on April 24 and 26, 1977, which were heavily overdubbed. One of these was his version of "Unchained Melody," on which he accompanied himself on the piano.

RCA producer Felton Jarvis had booked a recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee, for January 1977, to record new tracks, but Presley never appeared, claiming illness. Jarvis also tried to get Elvis to record the song "There's a Fire Down Below" during the October 1976 sessions, but succeeded only in recording the backing instrumental track. With no other new tracks, RCA included "Let Me Be There," which had already been issued three years earlier on the album Elvis: As Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis. The first American copies of Moody Blue were pressed on limited edition translucent blue vinyl, the first time a Presley album had been issued on colored vinyl. The record was soon switched to black vinyl. Following Presley's death, the album was heavily in demand and repressed on blue vinyl, making the original American black vinyl issue the scarcer of the two.

Reader's Guide

Moody Blue holds a unique place in music history as Elvis Presley's final studio album, released just weeks before his death on August 16, 1977. The album reached number three on the Billboard album charts after his death, although it had already entered the top 40 before he died. It was also a number one album on the Country Albums chart. The album's lead single, "Moody Blue," had reached number one on the Billboard Country Singles Chart in November 1976. The follow-up single, "Way Down," initially peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 but soared to No. 18 after Presley's death. The album was certified Gold and Platinum on September 12, 1977, and 2× Platinum on March 27, 1992, by the RIAA. The colored vinyl pressings—particularly the original black vinyl—have become collector's items due to the production shifts following Presley's death. The album's legacy is also marked by its inclusion of live performances, including the piano-driven "Unchained Melody," which was later released as a single and peaked at No. 6 on the country music charts. Critical reception was mixed, with the Los Angeles Times noting that "the voice is still intact, but the arrangements are often off-center and the material is often uninspired."