B - Sides ?

[dennyelvis]

Having watched THE JOY OF THE SINGLE last night they focused on the importance of the B side, illustrating that many B sides were better than the A, and often not found on the albums ?
That brings me to the question, which B sides do u find more enjoyable than the A, ALSO, over the years which have become the rarer B sides ?

[Tony..]

One better B side I can think of was "It hurts me".

[poormadpeter]

Going by the list of singles in A Life In Music, I would suggest the following B-sides were better than their A-side. (A-side given in brackets)

My Baby Left Me (I Want You, I Need You, I Love You)
Trying To Get To You (I Love You Because)
Blue Moon (Just Because)
Fame and Fortune (Stuck on You)
Anything That's Part of You (Good Luck Charm)
They Remind Me Too Much of You (One Broken Heart for Sale)
It Hurts Me (Kissin' Cousins)
You'll Be Gone (Do The Clam)
That's Someone You Never Forget (Long Legged Girl)
Let Yourself Girl (Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby)
Patch It Up (You Don't Have To Say You Love Me)
For Ol' Times Sake (Raised on Rock)

It might be worth adding that, while I think the B-sides listed above are better recordings, performances and/or material than their A-side counterparts, that doesn't mean they were necessarily as commercial (eg. They Remind Me Too Much of You).

In the UK, I Really Don't Want To Know was the B-side to There Goes My Everything, which was also a travesty of a reversal.

[dennyelvis]

Great examples Peter, esp, It Hurts Me (Kissin' Cousins) and Patch It Up (You Don't Have To Say You Love Me)

[JerryNodak]

Don't care much for "Patch It Up."

[promiseland]

Going by the list of singles in A Life In Music, I would suggest the following B-sides were better than their A-side. (A-side given in brackets)

My Baby Left Me (I Want You, I Need You, I Love You)
Trying To Get To You (I Love You Because)
Blue Moon (Just Because)
Fame and Fortune (Stuck on You)
Anything That's Part of You (Good Luck Charm)
They Remind Me Too Much of You (One Broken Heart for Sale)
It Hurts Me (Kissin' Cousins)
You'll Be Gone (Do The Clam)
That's Someone You Never Forget (Long Legged Girl)
Let Yourself Girl (Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby)
Patch It Up (You Don't Have To Say You Love Me)
For Ol' Times Sake (Raised on Rock)

It might be worth adding that, while I think the B-sides listed above are better recordings, performances and/or material than their A-side counterparts, that doesn't mean they were necessarily as commercial (eg. They Remind Me Too Much of You).

In the UK, I Really Don't Want To Know was the B-side to There Goes My Everything, which was also a travesty of a reversal.

Excellent list totally agree!

[drjohncarpenter]

Elvis' greatest B-side is 1956's "Hound Dog." One wonders why they didn't issue a single from Harum Scarum or Paradise, Hawaiian Style. Lots of B-side potential there.

[jeanno]

My Baby Left Me
A Mess Of Blues
Little Sister
Any Day Now
Rubberneckin´

Some great music there!

[Keith]

Elvis' greatest B-side is 1956's "Hound Dog."

According to the RCA "Listing Notice" for the single - 'Hound Dog' is listed first, indicating that it's the "A" side



Hope this helps!

[drjohncarpenter]

Elvis' greatest B-side is 1956's "Hound Dog."

According to the RCA "Listing Notice" for the single - 'Hound Dog' is listed first, indicating that it's the "A" side

560713_RCA document.JPG

Hope this helps!

First of all, you need to upload your files as attachments, to keep things neat. Note how I do it.

Does it help? Well, no it doesn't, as the line in my post that caught your attention was tongue-in-cheek, as was the entire post. The 1956 single was in essence a "double A" release, and RCA ended up with each side hitting #1 at different times. That was the joke -- hope this helps!

Here is some more information about this classic single that may enlighten you.

Billboard's preview of RCA Victor 6604 indicated both sides were salable.

Billboard Jul 21 1956 p44.jpg

Billboard - July 21, 1956


Every serious Elvis fan is well aware Presley pushed "Hound Dog" on TV twice before he even recorded it (Berle, 6-05-1956 and Allen, 7-01-1956), setting a fever pitch in the public mind for the Leiber and Stoller tune. Nothing else would satisfy.

Also, one does not need any RCA documentation to determine which side was originally intended to be pushed by the label -- the answer is right there on the disc. If you have an original single as I do, or even a later pressing, the lower matrix number on the label almost always indicates the A-side. For RCA Victor 6604:

Hound Dog = G2WW-5935
Don't Be Cruel = G2WW-5936

And, of course, what was planned as the A-side also appeared in RCA's advertising.

Billboard Jul 28 1956 p31.jpg

Billboard - July 28, 1956
Gotta love that Elvis blew up tubes from coast-to-coast with "the song."


Thanks for stopping by a second time. You once said you'd NEVER be back!

Please do let us know if you make headway on the 1957 concert with "I Love You Because."

[stevelecher]

IIRC, Please Don't Stop Loving Me is a B side to Frankie and Johnny. How about Always On My Mind over Separate Ways?

I personally would pick YDHTSYLM over Patch It Up as the A side of that single. It was a big hit too.

When it was released, was Stay Away considered the A side over US Male? Obviously, US Male became the A side, based on radio play.

[promiseland]

IIRC, Please Don't Stop Loving Me is a B side to Frankie and Johnny. How about Always On My Mind over Separate Ways?

I personally would pick YDHTSYLM over Patch It Up as the A side of that single. It was a big hit too.

When it was released, was Stay Away considered the A side over US Male? Obviously, US Male became the A side, based on radio play.

"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" was the A-Side.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Elvis_Presley_hit_singles#1968-1977

[Pete Dube]

I prefer the following B-sides over their respective A-sides: Any Way You Want Me; Don'cha Think It's Time; Witchcraft.

[stevelecher]

IIRC, Please Don't Stop Loving Me is a B side to Frankie and Johnny. How about Always On My Mind over Separate Ways?

I personally would pick YDHTSYLM over Patch It Up as the A side of that single. It was a big hit too.

When it was released, was Stay Away considered the A side over US Male? Obviously, US Male became the A side, based on radio play.

"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" was the A-Side.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Elvis_Presley_hit_singles#1968-1977

I know. I was just sticking up for it as someone else picked Patch It Up as the better choice for an A side.

[poormadpeter]

IIRC, Please Don't Stop Loving Me is a B side to Frankie and Johnny. How about Always On My Mind over Separate Ways?

I personally would pick YDHTSYLM over Patch It Up as the A side of that single. It was a big hit too.

When it was released, was Stay Away considered the A side over US Male? Obviously, US Male became the A side, based on radio play.

"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" was the A-Side.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Elvis_Presley_hit_singles#1968-1977

He knows this. He is simply saying that would have been his choice of A-side too.

[poormadpeter]

Elvis' greatest B-side is 1956's "Hound Dog."

According to the RCA "Listing Notice" for the single - 'Hound Dog' is listed first, indicating that it's the "A" side

560713_RCA document.JPG

Hope this helps!

First of all, you need to upload your files as attachments, to keep things neat. Note how I do it.

Does it help? Well, no it doesn't, as the line in my post that caught your attention was tongue-in-cheek, as was the entire post. The 1956 single was in essence a "double A" release, and RCA ended up with each side hitting #1 at different times. That was the joke -- hope this helps!

So, if you hadn't attempted to be a smart-alec, you would have saved yourself a lot of time and not essentially derailed a thread. Bravo.

[Tony..]

Great examples Peter, esp, It Hurts Me (Kissin' Cousins) and Patch It Up (You Don't Have To Say You Love Me)

Don't let Ernst hear you say this about his favourite song!

[poormadpeter]

Great examples Peter, esp, It Hurts Me (Kissin' Cousins) and Patch It Up (You Don't Have To Say You Love Me)

Don't let Ernst hear you say this about his favourite song!

Which one is his favourite?

[frus75]

When both sides of the singles could enter the charts (until 69?) don't you think that so many strong b sides hurt the A side commercial potential? If they had paired his latest flame with uncommercial song like In My Way, would flame have reached number 1? From strictly a commercial point of view, where do you come from was spot on. Pleasant enough, but it didn't give doubts about which side was the hit to play .

[dennyelvis]

Great examples Peter, esp, It Hurts Me (Kissin' Cousins) and Patch It Up (You Don't Have To Say You Love Me)

Don't let Ernst hear you say this about his favourite song!

Thats right, hey is it on the new PFAP release oh yeh, twice

[keninlincs]

I prefer I gotta Know over Are You Lonesome Tonight

[likethebike]

It's funny but Ernst dismisses "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" in his Life in Music but seems to anthologize every chance he gets. It was a big hit, though, and I think a deserved A-side.

Frus it definitely hurt some songs chart potential when airplay was split especially after Billboard instituted the Hot 100 which was pretty airplay crazy. On the other hand, such an arrangement generally boosted overall sales because listeners could have one of two songs or both to enjoy. I think the record companies would happily take that arrangement in exchange for chart positions. That's what happened with "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel." The chart it topped forever was the Best Sellers' list, in the Top 100 "Hound Dog" travesty of travesties only made #2 as if airplay even mattered for it after Elvis advertised it on network television.

Back in the day, they often did not what the B-side was going to be. Very often DJs would jump on a flip and play the flip instead. This would infuriate Phil Spector who went to great pains to create his A-side. Very often he would purposely junk, re-releases or random instrumentals on the B-sides in an attempt to take the issue out of the DJ's hands. No record drove him more crazy than the Righteous Brothers' hit "Unchained Melody" which the Brothers tossed off with some studio time at the end of one of their sessions. The other side was a downright Spector masterpiece attempt "Hung on You." The next record "Ebb Tide" was almost a spiteful comment to the public who, in Spector's opinion, showed an appalling lack of taste in choosing the oldie over his latest slice of genius.

[Mike C]

One great B-side not mentioned, which one could argue was an A-side, was Little Sister. The split airplay definitely cost it and His Latest Flame from peaking higher than #4 and #5.

[brian]

Mystery train
My baby left me
Dontcha' think it's time
They remind me too much of you
It hurts me
Patch it up
For ol' times sake
For the heart

[A. C. van Kuijk]

"Too Much" is also a great b-side.