# About how many songs did Elvis record in total? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-songs-did-elvis-record-in-total/478201 "2008-12-21T18:00:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-songs-did-elvis-record-in-total/478201/1 "2008-12-21T18:00:05Z")
Listening to his station dedicated to him and him alone on Sirius got me thinking, just how many songs can they possibly play without being to repetitive? But after listening for a few days to them playing his studio takes and all his live stuff, they do a damned good job at being fresh in selections. So that got me thinking, about how many songs does he have recorded, studio songs? Because I’m sure that it would be hard to figure how many live songs are on record. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-songs-did-elvis-record-in-total/478201/2 "2008-12-21T18:41:14Z")
Wiki says: “Without including album reissues, during this period American Presley releases consisted of 102 singles, 30 Extended Play singles, and 72 albums on RCA Records; four albums on the Pickwick budget label; and five singles on the Sun Records label.” I assume the albums included the movie soundtracks. There’s a link to a list of all the titles but I’m too lazy to count them. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-songs-did-elvis-record-in-total/478201/3 "2008-12-21T18:53:29Z")
Looking at Allmusic, there are 16 pages with around 80 songs per page. Some are undoubtely duplicates, but that’s well over 600 songs to choose from if you don’t need to stick to the hits. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-songs-did-elvis-record-in-total/478201/4 "2008-12-22T09:38:56Z")
While still alive Tom Parker (The “Colonel”) milked Elvis’s works for every dime he could get, including that one album of nothing but Elvis singing just vocal tracks - no music at all. So yeah, one has to be careful when counting his songs… Q ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-songs-did-elvis-record-in-total/478201/5 "2008-12-22T14:26:38Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > While still alive Tom Parker (The “Colonel”) milked Elvis’s works for every dime he could get, including that one album of nothing but Elvis singing just vocal tracks - no music at all. > > So yeah, one has to be careful when counting his songs… > Q I think you mean the album entitled “Having Fun with Elvis On Stage (A Talking Album Only)” That was released IIRC in 1974, and was a compilation of Elvis’ in-between song patter. For instance, you get to hear Elvis saying, “Well…well, well, well, well…” and the band starts a song, and he cuts them off, saying, “I don’t want to do that one.” A truly horrendous, virtually nonsensical album. I bought it when it was released, and I still have it. Of course, some of the songs he did release, at least those from his movies, aren’t much better. For instance, “Cane and a High Starched Collar,” and “Yoga is as Yoga Does”. Or “US Male”. I haven’t heard any of those in close to 30 years, and I don’t really consider myself an Elvis fan, but I was when I was a kid. Strange how some things stick with you over a lifetime. Edit: [Having Fun with Elvis on Stage - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Having_Fun_with_Elvis_on_Stage) ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-songs-did-elvis-record-in-total/478201/6 "2008-12-22T14:29:06Z")
My answer would be simple: way too many… ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-songs-did-elvis-record-in-total/478201/7 "2008-12-22T14:40:40Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > I think you mean the album entitled “Having Fun with Elvis On Stage (A Talking Album Only)” No. I really mean an album with an acapella solo voiced Elvis. They just took the vocal tracks only and made an album out of it. Q ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-songs-did-elvis-record-in-total/478201/8 "2008-12-22T16:38:14Z")
That’s another thing, what kind of hold did the Colonel have on Elvis? Did Elvis owe him something? Because for someone to give another person so much control over their music and business without being family is just usually unheard of in the music business. I mean, sure, there are many people who have managers who manage their business who aren’t family. I’m talking about the Colonel having control over almost EVERY aspect of Elvis’ career, even selling the rights to his music and keeping most of the money. WTF? You would think that the way Elvis let The Colonel have control over him that The Colonel saved Elvis’ life one time or something. > [@LH75](#): > > My answer would be simple: way too many… Piss off. Elvis was the man.