In 1972, Elvis Presley had some very successful years behind him. His return to full-time music in 1968 had been triumphant, and the years 1969-70 had given him the highest number of chart successes since the early 1960s.
There was however concern about his recent lack of hit singles. None of his singles after 1970 had managed to crack the Billboard Top 30, and the sales had been in decline overall over the past two years, particularly in 1971. Something had to be done to reverse this trend. Recording sessions were booked at RCA’s studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles for three days (27-29 March 1972), sandwiched between the end of yet another Las Vegas residency and preparations for a larger nationwide tour.
Felton Jarvis was Elvis’ regular record producer at this time. He arrived in Los Angeles armed with a lot of material for consideration. He had high hopes for one sing in particular: the energetic Burning Love, written by a young Nashvillian writer named Dennis Linde.
Linde was not particularly well-known at the time. Reclusive by nature, he was at one time tagged “Nashville’s best-kept songwriting secret.” Apart from Burning Love, most of Linde’s successful songs were written for country stars, including Roger Miller, Garth Brooks, and The Dixie Chicks. In Britain, Welsh rock’n’roll revivalist Shakin’ Stevens got a #10 hit with his version of Linde’s A Letter To You in 1984.
Burning Love had already been featured on the self-titled 1972 album by country-soul pioneer Arthur Alexander, but it was not particularly well-known. Jarvis felt Elvis could do a lot more with it. It was also exactly the type of upbeat rock’n’roll material that Elvis needed.
The question was if the main man was up for the task. Elvis arrived from Vegas in a brooding mood, which led dark clouds to hang over the proceedings. Elvis’ marriage with Priscilla was coming to an end, and he was having a hard time accepting the facts of what was happening, swinging between sadness and frustration.
The main focus of these sessions was to get some solid hit material in the can. Two or three high quality singles were needed, and they had to be strong enough to become solid hits. Burning Love in particular was felt to be a credible, contemporary version of rock’n’roll that would suit Elvis very well.
Jarvis soon discovered, however, that Elvis was in no mood for rock’n’roll. He was wallowing in self-pity and simply did not have it in him to perform rock music. He was all about ballads – at that point particularly sad ones. While there would always be room for ballads in an Elvis recording session, there needed to be some more upbeat and varied material as well.
Elvis’ state of mind was of genuine concern. They only had those few days of studio time, during which they ideally had to finish recordings for the next few singles and an album. On the 30th, Elvis would leave to start filming the tour rehearsals for the upcoming tour.
The song that got the sessions going was Separate Ways. When Elvis heard that, he stopped short in his tracks, immediately took it to heart, and plunged into it with a manic dedication. They did a seemingly endless number of takes on that song. It killed Elvis to sing this song about a man’s separation from his daughter and wife, but at the same time, he loved it.
Jarvis was pleased to see his artist so engaged, but he also saw the depression and a total lack of interest in cutting a hit record. Elvis could still do that anytime he wanted, but the trouble was that his focus on the ballad signalled something else. The endless number of takes were not done out of perfectionism. He was trying to get something out of his system. It wasn’t a question of his willingness to work either, because he would go on to try a variety of songs over the course of those studio days. He just wasn’t mentally there for a lot of the material, not able to give what was so desperately needed of him right then. Felton could not shake Elvis out of his gloomy mood.
Still, on the second night, Jarvis finally got Elvis to give Burning Love a try. Elvis only did it at the insistence of Jarvis, and only to indulge his producer, but as long as he did it, that would do just fine.
The track was not close to being laboured over as closely as Separate Ways. They did a total of six quick takes, one after the other, in an almost throwaway style. Everyone could see that Elvis’ heart was not really in it, but he did try his best.
Lord Almighty, I feel my temperature rising
Higher higher, it’s burning through to my soul
Girl, girl, girl, you gonna set me on fire
My brain is flaming, I don’t know which way to go
Your kisses lift me higher
Like the sweet song of a choir
You light my morning sky
With burning love
The encouragement of Joe Esposito and Jerry Schilling (good friends and part of Elvis’ entourage referred to as the ‘Memphis Mafia’) would eventually prove invaluable, as was Charlie Hodge (another ‘Memphis Mafia’) pounding away on acoustic guitar to add to the energy of the proceedings. They actually managed to stir up enough momentum in Elvis for him to deliver a good, energetic version of Burning Love.
Jarvis knew they had a good take when Elvis out of the blue improvised the “Just a hunk – a hunk of burning love”-lyric at the end of the song. A lovely shade of the style of a younger Elvis, and it really makes that part of the song work.
The sessions continued to four in the morning, but they only got only one more satisfactory song that night. The following night they also managed two, including Always On My Mind – another guilt-laden number which again saw Elvis really deliver a strong, emotional take without the need for much prodding.
With Elvis moving on to tour rehearsals on the 30th, Jarvis got to work on finishing the instrumental tracks for the songs. The electric guitar opening and riffs were overdubbed and played by Dennis Linde himself – the young man who had written the song.
The record company was particularly happy with Burning Love and Separate Ways from these sessions, and they were both quickly earmarked as singles. Burning Love was the first of them to be released, but it would take five months for the single to appear on 1 August 1972, with It’s A Matter of Time as the b-side. It climbed all the way to #2 on the Billboard Top 100, frustratingly kept from the coveted #1 spot by Chuck Berry’s silly novelty song My Ding-A-Ling. Still, it was Elvis’ highest US charting song in all of the 1970s. Never again would Elvis see another one of his singles be a Top 10 US hit.
Maybe Elvis should have considered releasing more rock’n’roll tunes as singles? From that point until his death in 1977 he largely focused on ballads without too much success. 1973’s Promised Land was the only rocker released after Burning Love, and the biggest hit after that song – almost as if to prove the point.
Despite not feeling Burning Love right there and then in the studio Elvis must have liked the song somewhat, as he included it in his upcoming tour. He can be seen performing it in the concert film Elvis on Tour (released 1972, but filmed in August 1970 shortly after recording the song), during which he had to use a lyric sheet as the song was still very new to him.
The song became an international hit, reaching the Top 10 in several countries worldwide. Incredibly, as part of a series of re-releases of Elvis songs in the UK in 2007, this re-entered the UK chart at #13.
The song was eventually also released on an album with the awkwardly long title Burning Love and Hits from his Movies: Volume 2 on 1 November 1972.
In early 1973 it was transmitted to the world via satellite as part of the iconic Aloha from Hawaii concert.
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