A Mess of Blues
1960 single by Elvis Presley
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"A Mess of Blues" is a song originally recorded by Elvis Presley for RCA Records in 1960, and written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. Although released as the B-side to "It's Now or Never", "A Mess of Blues" reached number 32 in the U.S. It reached number 2 in the UK as an A-side.
| "A Mess of Blues" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Elvis Presley | ||||
| A-side | "It's Now or Never" (US) | |||
| B-side | "The Girl of My Best Friend" (international) | |||
| Released | July 5, 1960 | |||
| Recorded | March 20, 1960 | |||
| Genre | Blues[1] | |||
| Length | 2:40 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Songwriters | Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman | |||
| Elvis Presley singles chronology | ||||
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| Elvis Presley UK singles chronology | ||||
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The song was published by Elvis Presley Music, Inc.
The recording appeared on the 1968 RCA Victor compilation Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4.
Personnel
Sourced from Keith Flynn.[2]
The Blue Moon Boys
- Elvis Presley – lead vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
- Scotty Moore – lead guitar
- D. J. Fontana – drums
- Additional musicians
- Hank Garland – six-string bass guitar
- Bob Moore – double bass
- Floyd Cramer – piano
- Buddy Harman – drums
- The Jordanaires (Gordon Stoker, Neal Matthews, Hoyt Hawkins, Ray Walker) – backing vocals
Status Quo cover
| "A Mess of Blues" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Status Quo | ||||
| from the album Back to Back | ||||
| Released | 28 October 1983 [3] | |||
| Genre | Boogie rock | |||
| Length | 3:22 | |||
| Label | Vertigo | |||
| Songwriters | Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman | |||
| Producer | Status Quo | |||
| Status Quo singles chronology | ||||
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"A Mess of Blues" was covered by British rock band Status Quo in 1983. It was included on the album Back to Back[4] from which it was the second UK single, reaching a peak position of No. 15.
Due to a printing error, several hundred copies of the picture sleeve for this release were printed with the front and rear photographs inter-changed.
Track listing
7" single
- "A Mess of Blues" (D Pomus/M Shuman) (3.22)
- "Big Man" (Lancaster/Green) (3.40)
12" single
- "A Mess of Blues" (Extended version) (D Pomus/M Shuman) (4.48)
- "Big Man" (Lancaster/Green) (3.40)
- "Young Pretender" (Rossi/Frost) (3.32)
Other versions
The song has been recorded by Tom Jones and Jools Holland, Peter and Gordon, John Hiatt, Jeff Healey, Alexis Korner, Delbert McClinton, Lee Curtis and the All-Stars, Henry McCullough Blues Band, Scotty Moore and Paul Ansell, Robert Gordon and Chris Spedding with The Jordanaires, P.J. Proby, Chris Wilson, and Led Zeppelin as part of a medley.[5]. En français "Un ancien teenager" par Lucky Blondo en 1977.