Questioning The King: Elvis Presley’s five worst covers
Callum MacHattie
Wed 12 November 2025 1:00, UK
During Elvis Presley’s 1968 special, there was a very distinct moment, where we all realised we had been robbed of a superstar.
I appreciate that might sound outlandish, given Elvis’ position as one of the greatest artists of all time. Sure, he was. He was an icon whose charismatic performance style laid the bedrock of modern rock and roll, and so without him, we may not have had The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and a whole load more.
But that night in ‘68 was a comeback. A chance for him to put marketing narratives right and prove he was more than just an artist who lays down glossy film soundtracks and performs other people’s songs. In there was an artist who could deliver more than just his lines and hit more than just his beats. He could provide colour to music in a way others couldn’t, and the way in which Colonel Tom Parker had designed his career ultimately meant otherwise.
So that night, when he performed ‘If I Can Dream’, the world was bizarrely given a glimpse into what it didn’t quite realise it was robbed of. Because that should have been the artist that we saw throughout the entire 1960s. But instead, we saw Elvis confined to the borders of America, where he would be subjected to a relentless schedule of film, movie, record soundtrack and repeat.
Within that were some truly awful covers that were either the result of the films he starred in or just the bizarre commercial intent of his manager, Parker. Everything from nursery rhymes to Beatles covers has featured under the delightfully original voice of Elvis somewhere, and goes to prove that even The King can miss the target every once in a while.
Elvis Presley’s five worst covers:
5
‘<strong>Long Tall Sally</strong>’ – Little Richard
Elvis Presley - Ed Sullivan Show - 1956
Elvis in the mid-1950s was impervious. He had youth, innocence and unbridled talent all on his side, and he was ready to take rock and roll into the stratosphere. So with all that talent, all he needed was an endless bank of songs to record. Flicking through the catalogue of ‘50s blues rock, there was perhaps no one better suited than Little Richard to cover, for he designed that raw delivery of blues rock that Elvis was eventually famed for.
Elvis’ covers of ‘Rip It Up’ and ‘Tutti Frutti’ proved that Richard’s songs were perfectly matched for Elvis, whose breathless performance of each of those songs was truly captivating. But something about the Little Richard classic ‘Long Tall Sally’ felt somewhat contrived. Almost as if he was desperately searching for the gravelly tone that didn’t do anything except neutralise his youthful exuberance.
4
‘Here Comes Santa Claus’ – Gene Autry
OK, I get it, Elvis’ voice is oddly synonymous with Christmas. Maybe it’s the warmth, maybe it’s the pain, but something about his dulcet tones feels inherently linked to the heightened emotion of the festive period. You can almost picture him, standing in front of the fireplace, delivering one last ballad before the embers of the day go out, and there’s a small drop of sherry to still be drunk.
But that’s heard best on his stirring rendition of ‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas’, which has an enchanting string section to boot. On this track, however, he almost sounds like a pantomime villain crossed with Mike Myers’ Cat In The Hat. I get the almost jazz scat style he’s going for, but it’s devoid of all the charm we associate with the great singer.
3
‘My Way’ – Frank Sinatra
The song that gave Elvis Presley his first Grammy
Hear me out, please. There are certain songs that feel inherently linked to Elvis, and any other variations are incapable of scratching the itch. Well, ‘My Way’ and Sinatra’s version of that is the definitive example. Sure, Sinatra’s is also an adaptation, but he took it into his world and made it feel so grand, so stirring and so resonant with the inspiring streets of New York that hearing a deteriorating Elvis desperately strain at the chorus of this, feel off.
It’s not so much a fault of Elvis’ performance as it is his team’s decision-making. Trying to shoulder barge him into the sonic world perfected by Sinatra was always going to be a damaging move, and it should have been left untouched. As he pushes the line “I ate it up”, you can quite clearly see the difference between his and Sinatra’s performance, which just feels more cinematic in its approach.
Elvis is not short of a ballad that feels exclusive to his voice, and so his attempt at claiming this one just felt like a bridge too far.
2
‘Yesterday/Hey Jude’ – The Beatles
Elvis Presley - 1970 - Singer - Perfromer - Actor
When Elvis covered George Harrison’s tremendous hit ‘Something’, you could clearly see his ability to make a song his own. Much like his rendition of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, he took the melody into his own vocal world and did what only he could do. His voice, when it got going on those songs, was unparalleled, and the arrangement supported that.
But on this medley, it’s clear that the band are trying to replicate that sense of Beatles playfulness. In the same way, Elvis can only sing like Elvis, The Beatles can only play like The Beatles, so trying to copy them was never going to fly. Instead, it’s part jazz, part rock and roll, and Elvis is left sadly in the middle, trying to join the dots.
1
‘Old MacDonald’ – Thomas d’Urfey
Elvis Presley - Blue Hawaii - 1961
Not even the well-tailored clothes and immaculately groomed quiff can distract us from what is a true musical abomination. If you ever wanted proof of just how warped a view Colonel Tom Parker had for Elvis’ career, then the sight of him on the back of a fake pickup truck, clucking his arms to the old nursery rhyme will do it.
But that wasn’t all. In pursuit of a healthy payday, it was then released as an actual song, thus immortalising the recording on vinyl and making it an actual possibility for people to listen without context.
The blues riffs were swapped for polka-style guitar melodies, and his truly versatile vocals were confined to the mellow timbre of this nursery rhyme melody. At every inflexion, you can hear him trying to add some colour and character, but to no avail. If Old MacDonald did have a farm, it sounds like Elvis’ voice would have been kept there, in a cage far too small for its own good.