"I Got Stung"!

[Juan Luis]

Aaron Schroeder and David Hill's "I Got Stung", is a catchy humorous rocker that Elvis Presley delivered in a rapid-fire style second to none! The rhythmic, almost hypnotic piano playing by Floyd Cramer on this number gives it that extra "something" many hits have, in my opinion.

Recorded on June 12, 1958 with Steve Sholes producing in RCA Studio B-Nashville. After twenty-four tries, and close to five in the morning. Elvis was done. Not just with the song. But with recording professionally for the 1950's. He would very soon be on a ship off to Germany for the remainder of his army stint. A fitting end (with a rocker) by The King Of Rock 'n' Roll!

"In the early morning hours of June 11 Elvis Presley walked out of the studio, leaving the responsibility for his future recording career in the hands of Tom Parker and Steve Sholes. He'd done everything he could; now it was up to these two men to make sure he'd have a career to return to." -Ernst Jorgensen.




"One Night"/I Got Stung" single cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 with #4 for "One Night", and "I Got Stung" reaching #8.


"If I live to a hundred and two
I won't let nobody sting me but you
I'll be buzzin' 'round your hive
Every day at five
And I'm never gonna leave once I arrive
'Cause I'm done
Uh-uh, I got stung!"



..

Good brother sister act for Columbia Records!
..

[Scarre]

I love it!

[Davelee]

Excellent rocker from our man!

[r&b]

What a great 2 sided single. One of the best. The Elvis I love and thought would never go away.

[Chris Roberts]

What can one add? A fantastic double-sided smash hit, amongst the best couplings ever, in any decade. The Collins Kids were a great act, covering many of the great rock'n'roll songs of the time.

[Rich_TCB]

Funny . . . yesterday my original 45 RPM of "One Night/I Got Stung" arrived in the mail that I just acquired.

One of my all-time favorite singles of Elvis. Not just the music, but also the wonderful picture sleeve.

[bajo]

What a great 2 sided single. One of the best. The Elvis I love and HOPED would never go away.

I second those emotions, but changed one word!

[r&b]

What a great 2 sided single. One of the best. The Elvis I love and HOPED would never go away.

I second those emotions, but changed one word!

Yes and by saying that, I feel a bit selfish. I could never describe that feeling of getting a new Elvis single when I was a kid. The anticipation, the thrill & excitement of rushing home & playing it for the first time. I always thought it was better than the last one, and was amazed that somehow this great artist found a new way to thrill with each new magnificent recording. I basically felt that way the first few years after the Army as well but I get skewered on here for not being much of the same type of fan during the mid-60's, or the 70's, but I cant help it if that feeling was never the same again. Sure I looked forward still to each new single, and for a while (1969) it almost was the same all over again but it never quite matched those initial early years. When 'One Night/I Got Stung' came out, Id say that feeling was at its ultimate!

[OnStage55]

I Got Stung is another one of those fully enjoyable and infectious songs that is as fresh to me today as when the first time i heard it.

[Stvimpe]

What can I say? YES, YES and YES!

It's been more than thirty years since I first heard it and I'm still crazy about it.

[Hobbes]

Imagine hearing this one in 69 with that take-no-prisoners attitude he had then? Would have been fantastic.

[ICanHelp]

Another great post on another great song. Thanks Juan. I really enjoy these positive posts which celebrate the music and only the music. Well done.

[drjohncarpenter]

Both tunes should have charted higher, the single is among the strongest two sides RCA ever released on Presley.

Note that "I Got Stung!" was cut at the June 10-11, 1958 RCA Nashville session, finishing off the single visit in the early morning hours of June 11. Meanwhile, "One Night" had been taped at Radio Recorders on February 23, 1957, a recording Elvis was at the time extremely proud of, playing it in his Beverly Wilshire hotel over and over for his friends. He even included it on his spring 1957 tour. But it got shelved, for some reason. Luckily, he agreed to it being a part of this release in 1958.

581020_RCA 7410_02.jpg

581020_RCA 7410_01.jpg

Elvis Presley "I Got Stung" b/w "One Night" (RCA 7410, October 20, 1958)



The label amusingly let retail know that "Elvis recorded this just before he shipped out for Germany. Let us ship you a batch!" Haw-haw.

Billboard Oct 27 1958 p43.JPG

Billboard - October 27, 1958

581020_I Got Stung sheet music.JPG

"I Got Stung" sheet music (U.K.) - October 1958



David Hill, AKA David Dante, AKA David Hess, wrote or co-wrote at least three songs for Presley:

1958: "I Got Stung" (Aaron Schroeder, David Hill)
1965: "Come Along" (David Hess)
1965: "Sand Castles" (Herb Goldberg, David Hess)

As David Hill he also issued the first cover of "All Shook Up," appearing about a month after Presley's single. Hess went on to have a varied and successful life in the entertainment business. He passed away in October 2011:

David Hess
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hess

David Hess, Corte Madera songwriter and actor, dies at 75
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_19116641

Funny . . . yesterday my original 45 RPM of "One Night/I Got Stung" arrived in the mail that I just acquired.

One of my all-time favorite singles of Elvis. Not just the music, but also the wonderful picture sleeve.

It's a wonderful image. It was used in the above ad, and seen in less-cropped form on the U.K. sheet music. It's curious that RCA chose a portrait from the previous year's "Jailhouse Rock" photo sessions. Elvis looked terrific in publicity photos for "King Creole," too. Maybe management had a lot of images given to them from MGM which they then sold to the RCA art department.

Imagine hearing this one in 69 with that take-no-prisoners attitude he had then? Would have been fantastic.

Oh, it would have been a stunning moment, a show highlight. Ron Tutt would have had his work cut out for him, playing like the two drummers on the original recording.

If only.

[Ciscoking]

Thank you Juan Luis for another wonderful posting about the man and his music. Love it !!!

[Mike C]

Most likely, the songs didn't chart higher because they battled so hard for air play on radio. A great shame.

[Chris Roberts]

So the same guy wrote both 'I Got Stung' and 'Come Along' - incredible

[JohanD]

By far the coolest rocker our guy did, wild, exiting and stunning!

[Juan Luis]

Co-writer Aaron Schroeder wrote more than a dozen for Elvis Presley including five that reached number one:
"A Big Hunk o' Love"
"Good Luck Charm"
"I Got Stung"
"Stuck on You"
"It's Now or Never"

Forgot to mention in the OP the A-side "One Night" reached the top of the chart in the U.K..
"I Got stung" in the 2005 U.K. re-release reached the top with "One night" as a double A-side.

Thanks everyone for posting!

[drjohncarpenter]

So the same guy wrote both 'I Got Stung' and 'Come Along' - incredible

It's surprising what you learn when you dig deep.

[LSP-4445]

"I Got Stung" is one of my favorites from the 50s....definately in top 5
I only wish it was a little longer

[Pete Dube]

I very much like I Got Stung, but it's a kind of harbinger of the softening of Elvis' rock & roll sound that took place in the early 60's. It's hard to believe that it was cut at the same session with the same musicians as A Big Hunk O' Love.

[drjohncarpenter]

I very much like I Got Stung, but it's a kind of harbinger of the softening of Elvis' rock & roll sound that took place in the early 60's. It's hard to believe that it was cut at the same session with the same musicians as A Big Hunk O' Love.

What's most evident is no guitar solo, the sound is dominated by the rhythm and backing vocals, supplemented by Floyd Cramer's piano, and driven by Elvis' free and easy vocal. If this was "softening" his rock sound, it wasn't awful by any means. What hurt after he left the army was lesser material soon followed by a lessening commitment from Elvis.

[r&b]

I very much like I Got Stung, but it's a kind of harbinger of the softening of Elvis' rock & roll sound that took place in the early 60's. It's hard to believe that it was cut at the same session with the same musicians as A Big Hunk O' Love.

What's most evident is no guitar solo, the sound is dominated by the rhythm and backing vocals, supplemented by Floyd Cramer's piano, and driven by Elvis' free and easy vocal. If this was "softening" his rock sound, it wasn't awful by any means. What hurt after he left the army was lesser material soon followed by a lessening commitment from Elvis.

If this was considered softening of his sound, I wish he would have done it throughout the 60's! I love this song as much as the harder stuff he did in the 50's. Its timeless, and really not very well known outside the Elvis world.

[Pete Dube]

If this was considered softening of his sound, I wish he would have done it throughout the 60's! I love this song as much as the harder stuff he did in the 50's. Its timeless, and really not very well known outside the Elvis world.

Softening in comparison to raucous rockers like Hound Dog; Jailhouse Rock; Hard Headed Woman; A Big Hunk O' Love, which are harder-edged vocally and musically. But again, I very much like I Got Stung.

[Chris Roberts]

I have mentioned the following elsewhere. On a UK TV show, possibly Oh Boy or Boy Meets Girl, they played both sides of this, at the time, brand new disc. First they spun One Night and the announcer said something like "If you thought that was wild, wait until you hear the other side later in the show". I remember this so well and I was totally knocked out by both sides.

Memories that money can't buy.