Elvis Presley’s Backing Band Recalls His Strange Studio Habits During the Making of His First Concept Album

As someone who was too young to ever meet Elvis Presley, my closest point of reference to knowing what that experience was like is an in-law who once shook hands with the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Memphis and promptly threatened to never wash her right hand again. Sure, she was a young girl at the time, but I’d imagine most adults felt the same way.

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Presley was a larger-than-life force, even when he wasn’t at his technical professional peak. Stories from Presley’s backing band on his thirteenth studio album, Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old), make the rock star sound incredibly intimidating. Though I feel like anyone who walked into a room wearing such odd clothes and saying such odd things would be at least a bit intimidating.

Intimidation by sheer confusion, if you will.

Elvis Presley Made Quite the First Impression in the Studio

I’d imagine the anticipation was thick in the air of RCA Studios in Nashville as the backing musicians waited for Elvis Presley to arrive on the first day of Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old) sessions. These players were no slouches of their own, but the King is the King. Bassist Norbert Putnam was a highly successful musician in his own right, yet he later told Uncut that he was “totally stiff with fright before that first session.” And if he was nervous before Presley showed up, then we’d imagine the nature of Presley’s arrival to the studio that day was enough to make his stomach turn.

“I remember seeing him for the first time,” Putnam told Uncut. “He comes bursting into the studio. And he’s wearing a long, black cape, and he’s carrying a walking stick with a lion’s head with ruby eyes. He walked in like Prince Leopold and took his cape off. And he tossed it. He stood up and said, ‘I was wondering if any of you guys would like to help me make a few phonograph records?’ Then he burst out laughing. He reminded me of the kids I knew in high school.”

Putnam said Presley never wore the cape again, musing that it might have been his way of making a flashy first impression. (And clearly, he did.) “I looked at him when he came in and thought, ‘He’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen,’” Putnam said. “Elvis was on a different planet.”

He Turned Recording Sessions Into Miniature Stage Shows

In the same Uncut interview, Elvis Presley’s lead guitarist and dobro player, James Burton, recalled how Presley managed to turn the recording sessions into miniature performances. Instead of standing away from the instruments in an isolated vocal area, Presley opted to record in the live-tracking room, dancing and performing in front of the band. “It was very difficult for the engineer,” Norbert Putnam added. “He wasn’t interested in recording technique whatsoever.” Technique or no technique, it certainly seemed to work.

Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old) peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard 200 and No. 6 in the U.K. In addition to its chart success, the album is notable for its conceptual format. Presley’s previous albums sometimes had themes. Other times, the film for which the album was the soundtrack was the connecting thread. But the original 12-track album—and the additional tracks in subsequent re-issues—all shared a common theme and style. The traditional song, “I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago”, serves as the glue, linking each song through musical snippets interspersed between tracks. 

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