Promised Land (Elvis Presley album)

Promised Land
Promised Land
Studio album by Elvis Presley
Released	January 8, 1975
Recorded	December 10–15, 1973
Studio	Stax (Memphis)
Genre	Country
Length	28:17
Label	RCA Victor
Producer	Felton Jarvis
Elvis Presley chronology
Singles from Promised Land
	"If You Talk in Your Sleep"; Released: May 10, 1974; "Promised Land"; Released: September 27, 1974;

Promised Land is the twenty-first studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Records on January 8, 1975. It was recorded in December 1973 at Stax Records studios in Memphis and released on Presley's 40th birthday in January, 1975. In the US the album reached number 47 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and number 1 in Billboard's Top Country LPs chart, as well as the Cashbox Country albums chart. In the UK the album reached #21.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B^[2]
MusicHound	^[3]
Rough Guides	^[4]

Content

The material was the second pick from the December 1973 session, as the songs considered strongest had been issued on Good Times. The title track, a cover of the 1965 hit by Chuck Berry, was issued earlier as a single on September 27, 1974, and hit number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK top ten. Its flip side, "It's Midnight", reached 9 on the Country Charts. Another hit single from the album was "If You Talk in Your Sleep" reaching 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Promised Land" was used for the 1997 film Men in Black.

Reissues

RCA reissued the album on CD in 2000, and it added all the tracks of the album Good Times as tracks 11–18 (except "Taking Care of Her" and "I've Got A Thing About You, Baby", which are from the July 1973 sessions) – in effect compiling the Stax sessions of December 1973. In 2011, the FTD (Follow That Dream) collectors label released an expanded, 48-track version of the album including outtakes.

Track listing

Original release

Side A
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Length
1.	"Promised Land"	Chuck Berry	December 15, 1973	2:57
2.	"There's a Honky Tonk Angel (Who'll Take Me Back In)"	Troy Seals, Denny Rice	December 15, 1973	3:01
3.	"Help Me"	Larry Gatlin	December 12, 1973	2:27
4.	"Mr. Songman"	Donnie Sumner	December 12, 1973	2:08
5.	"Love Song of the Year"	Chris Christian	December 12, 1973	3:33

Side B
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Length
1.	"It's Midnight"	Billy Edd Wheeler and Jerry Chesnut	December 10, 1973	3:21
2.	"Your Love's Been a Long Time Coming"	Rory Bourke	December 15, 1973	3:47
3.	"If You Talk in Your Sleep"	Red West, Johnny Christopher	December 11, 1973	2:35
4.	"Thinking About You"	Tim Baty	December 12, 1973	3:00
5.	"You Asked Me To"	Waylon Jennings, Billy Joe Shaver	December 11, 1973	2:52

2000 CD reissue bonus tracks

Tracks 1-10 are from the original release
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Length
11.	"Loving Arms"	Tom Jans	December 13, 1973	2:49
12.	"I Got a Feelin' in My Body"	Dennis Linde	December 10, 1973	3:37
13.	"If That Isn't Love"	Dottie Rambo	December 16, 1973	3:31
14.	"She Wears My Ring"	Felice Bryant and Boudleaux Bryant	December 16, 1973	3:10
15.	"My Boy"	Bill Martin, Phil Coulter, Jean-Pierre Bourtayre, Claude François	December 13, 1973	3:21
16.	"Spanish Eyes"	Bert Kaempfert, Eddie Snyder, Charles Singleton	December 16, 1973	2:22
17.	"Talk About the Good Times"	Jerry Reed	December 14, 1973	2:22
18.	"Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues"	Danny O'Keefe	December 13, 1973	3:09

Follow That Dream CD reissue

Disc one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Promised Land"
2.	"There's A Honky Tonk Angel"
3.	"Help Me"
4.	"Mr. Songman"
5.	"Love Song Of The Year"
6.	"It's Midnight"
7.	"Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming"
8.	"If You Talk In Your Sleep"
9.	"Thinking About You"
10.	"You Asked Me To"
11.	"Promised Land" (takes 3, 4)
12.	"There's A Honky Tonk Angel" (take 4/composite 5, 3, 8)
13.	"Help Me" (take 1 remixed)
14.	"Mr. Songman" (take 2)
15.	"Love Song Of The Year" (take 1)
16.	"It's Midnight" (take 7)
17.	"Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming" (take 10)
18.	"If You Talk In Your Sleep" (take 5)
19.	"Thinking About You" (take 4)
20.	"You Asked Me To" (take 3A)
21.	"Promised Land" (take 5)
22.	"Love Song Of The Year" (takes 3, 4, 6, 7)
23.	"It's Midnight" (take 11)
24.	"You Asked Me To" (take 2B)

Disc two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"It's Midnight" (takes 1-4, 8, 9)
2.	"Love Song Of The Year"
3.	"Thinking About You" (takes 2, 3)
4.	"You Asked Me To" (take 1)
5.	"Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming" (takes 2, 3, 4)
6.	"Promised Land" (take 2)
7.	"Mr. Songman" (take 1)
8.	"There's A Honky Tonk Angel" (take 1)
9.	"If You Talk In Your Sleep" (takes 6, 9 undubbed)
10.	"It's Midnight" (take 10)
11.	"Thinking About You" (takes 5, 6)
12.	"Love Song Of The Year" (take 2)
13.	"You Asked Me To" (take 3B)
14.	"There's A Honky Tonk Angel" (takes 6, 7, 8 rough mix)
15.	"Mr. Songman" (takes 3, 5)
16.	"Promised Land" (take 6 undubbed)
17.	"Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming" (takes 8, 9 unedited undubbed)

Personnel

Elvis Presley – lead vocals; harmony vocals on "Promised Land"
James Burton – lead guitar
Johnny Christopher – rhythm guitar
Charlie Hodge – acoustic rhythm guitar
Norbert Putnam – bass guitar
David Briggs – piano, Hammond organ, overdubbed tambourine on "Promised Land"
Per Erik "Pete" Hallin – clavinet on "Promised Land", piano on "Help Me" and "Love Song of the Year"
Ronnie Tutt – drums
JD Sumner & The Stamps (Bill Baize, Ed Enoch, David Rowland) – backing vocals
Jeannie Greene – backing vocals
Mary and Ginger Holladay – backing vocals
Susan Pilkington – backing vocals
Voice (Donnie Sumner, Sherrill Nielsen, Tim Baty, Per Eric "Pete" Hallin) – backing vocals
Kathy Westmoreland – backing vocals

Overdubbed

Dennis Linde, Alan Rush – guitar on "Promised Land"
Bobby Ogdin – piano on "Promised Land"
Randy Cullers – cowbell on "Promised Land"
Mike Leech – string and brass arrangements
Bobby Taylor – oboe

Technical

Felton Jarvis – producer
Mike Moran, Dick Baxter, Al Pachucki, Mickey Crofford – engineers

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1975)	Peak position
US Billboard 200^[5]	47
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[6]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1975)	Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[7]	31

References

^ Allmusic review
^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: P". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. pp. 892. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
^ Simpson, Paul (2004). The Rough Guide to Elvis. London: Rough Guides. p. 150. ISBN 1-84353-417-7.
^ "Elvis Presley Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
^ "Elvis Presley Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 1975". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2021.

External links

Promised Land at Discogs (list of releases)

This 1970s rock album–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Allmusic review

[CG-2] Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: P". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.

[3] Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. pp. 892. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.

[4] Simpson, Paul (2004). The Rough Guide to Elvis. London: Rough Guides. p. 150. ISBN 1-84353-417-7.

[ac_Billboard200_Elvis_Presley-5] "Elvis Presley Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 5, 2021.

[ac_BillboardCountry_Elvis_Presley-6] "Elvis Presley Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 5, 2021.

[7] "Top Country Albums – Year-End 1975". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]