Let's Be Friends

Let's Be Friends
Studio album by Elvis Presley
Released	April 1970
Recorded	March 1962 to March 1969
Genre	Rock
Length	21:23
Label	RCA Camden
Elvis Presley chronology
From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis (1969) Let's Be Friends (1970) On Stage (1970)

Let's Be Friends is the thirty-seventh album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Camden Records CAS 2408, in April 1970. It is the second Presley budget album to appear on the RCA subsidiary label. It peaked at number 105 on the Billboard 200 album chart.^[1] It was certified Gold on June 15, 1999 and Platinum on January 6, 2004 by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[2]

Content

Similar to its predecessor Elvis Sings Flaming Star, Let's Be Friends collects mostly unreleased songs recorded for Presley film soundtracks.^[3] Given the recent work of the revitalized Presley, in the past the Colonel might have objected to this kind of market saturation, but under the terms of Presley's agreement with RCA, budget albums brought extra cash outside of contract stipulations.^[3]

Two non-movie outtakes appeared from the winter of 1969 sessions at American Sound Studio in Memphis, "I'll Be There" and "If I'm a Fool (For Loving You)".^[4] "Mama" was sung in the film Girls! Girls! Girls! by The Amigos and Presley's version first appeared on this album, with an alternate, abridged version included on the compact disc Elvis Double Features: Kid Galahad/Girls! Girls! Girls!.^[5] "Let's Forget About the Stars" had been recorded for the film Charro!, but cut from the picture. "Almost" was one of only two tracks from The Trouble with Girls to see release in Presley's lifetime. Three tracks, "Let's Be Friends", "Change of Habit", and "Have a Happy", originated from Presley's then-current film Change of Habit, thus casting the album in the additional role as soundtrack LP for the film (two additional tracks from the movie, "Rubberneckin'" and "Let Us Pray", are omitted, the former being released on a single in 1969 and the latter held until the 1971 budget collection You'll Never Walk Alone).

Like all Presley releases on the budget Camden label, this album has a very short running time, too short for a full-priced album in the 1970s. It 1975 it was re-issued on Vinyl, by Pickwick Camden Records with the original Camden catalog #CAS 2408 and with a black border around the original cover art. It was reissued for compact disc by Sony Music Entertainment in 2006.

Track listing

Side one No. Title Writer(s) Recording date Length 1. "Stay Away, Joe" (from Stay Away, Joe) Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne October 1, 1967 1:37 2. "If I'm a Fool (For Loving You)"   Stan Kesler February 20, 1969 2:43 3. "Let's Be Friends" (from Change of Habit) Chris Arnold, David Martin, Geoff Morrow March 5, 1969 2:41 4. "Let's Forget About the Stars" (from Charro!) A.L. Owens October 15, 1968 2:22 5. "Mama" (from Girls! Girls! Girls!) Charles O'Curran, Dudley Brooks March 28, 1962 2:13

Side two No. Title Writer(s) Recording date Length 1. "I'll Be There"   Bobby Darin January 23, 1969 2:21 2. "Almost" (from The Trouble with Girls) Ben Weisman, Buddy Kaye October 23, 1968 1:47 3. "Change of Habit" (from Change of Habit) Ben Weisman, Buddy Kaye March 5, 1969 3:18 4. "Have a Happy" (from Change of Habit) Ben Weisman, Dolores Fuller, Buddy Kaye March 5, 1969 2:21

See also

• Elvis for Everyone 1965 album

References

1. "Let's Be Friends". Allmusic. Rovi Corp. 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
2. "Searchable database". RIAA. Recording Industry Association of America. 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013. Note: Enter search for "Let's Be Friends"
3. Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998; p. 295.
4. Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998; pp. 266, 275.
5. BMG Music Cat. No. 74321134302 (1993)