Elvis: The King's Realm Discussion Forum

Some 3 years ago, after I completed my collection of 1st pressings of US Elvis vinyl I started focusing on the reissue labels. During the course of Elvis' career RCA switched labels from time to time and reprinted the (entire) catalog on the new label in use. Please check the excellent Elvisrecords.com website for an in-depth review of all variations. In this post I will hand you an overview of all US labels used up to 1978 with some random examples from the photo database of my collection. To keep it simple I will ignore label variations such as the 60s flat labels and 1968 Orange Deep Groove as this was only a machine modification in my view (older machines producing a groove, new machines producing flat labels). Since each post only allows a limited upload of photos, please allow me to present this over various posts.

1956 - 1962 Silver Long Play Label
All MONO (LPM) releases in the time frame 56 - 62 were released on the Silver Long Play label. You can identify this label as the printing is in silver and the bottom reads LONG 33 1/3 PLAY.
1960 - 1963 Silver Living Stereo Label
The first batch of STEREO (LSP) releases from 1960 (Elvis Is Back) up to It Happened At The Worlds Fair (1963) were issued on the LIVING STEREO label.

1962 - 1964 Silver Staggered Stereo Label
In 1962 RCA released Elvis complete pre-1960 MONO catalog in the new Electronically Reprocessed Stereo format and even designed an adjusted label for it with the word STEREO in staggered lettering.

1963 - 1964 Silver MONO/ STEREO Label
In 1963 the Hollywood pressing plant started a production run in very small volumes of some of Elvis' records on a slightly adjusted labels, similar to the labels on which Fun In Acapulco and Kissin' Cousins were released: "Long Play" by now had been replaced by the word MONO and "Living Stereo" was replaced by STEREO. Reissues of Elvis' Silver Long Play albums on SILVER MONO and G.I. Blues, His Hand In Mine, Something For Everybody and Blue Hawaii on SILVER MONO or SILVER STEREO are amongst the rarest Elvis records around.

And again you show us some very nice vinyl. Your collection must be huge! These mid 60's mono reissues also look very nice.

Nice to see that these nice items still have their original inner sleeves. A lot of times, on record fairs, they are found with new OIS's. Some sellers even proudly say "Look, I even replaced tho old OIS with a new one" with the originalone being thrown away.

I always store my records in, if needed, new inner sleeves but put the old OIS inside the outer sleeve.

In 1964 the RCA Hollywood plant pressed its first batch of the Roustabout album in 1964 on the SILVER MONO/ STEREO label. RCA by then had introduced a new label design and Hollywood was fast to correct the error, which makes this Roustabout batch extremely rare.

1964 - 1968 Black Label White Top Stereo/ Monaural
In 1964 RCA Victor introduced a new label design (Black Label White Top) that became to replace all labels now in use and thus the entire Elvis catalog was repressed in both MONO (called MONAURAL on this label) and STEREO.
By 1964 STEREO was the format the record companies wanted to sell and the public wanted to buy so the Mono versions (LPM) from reissues from most soundtracks and studio albums from 1960-1964 are quite hard to find and expensive. Also soundtracks like Girls, Girls, Girls, Fun In Acapulco and It Happened At The Worlds Fair got a very limited repressing runs and are extremely rare. I unfortunately have no White Top Stereo or MONO reissue of It Happened At The Worlds Fair in my collection yet.

1968 - 1970 Orange Label Rigid Vinyl
In 1968 RCA switched to the Orange Label so the entire catalog got a repress again. Well, not the entire catalog: albums with disappointing sales such as Harum Scarum, Frankie & Johnny, Spinout, Clambake were not repressed. Most 60s releases only got limited repress runs in 1968 so these are quite hard to find. For example: I could not find the insanely rare Double Trouble reissue on Orange label yet.

1971 - 1975 Orange Label Flex Vinyl
Between 1971-1974 the oil crisis made raw materials for the record production more expensive. So prfit was on the line here. How to cut costs? Use less material and make the records thinner. Thus Dynaflex (super thin records) was born. Original 1st pressings got by way of marketing a Dynaflex logo on the label (see Elvis - Fool album for example), reissues of the back catalog were simply repressed on the thinner vinyl without the Dynaflex logo.
Also, when covers needed to be reprinted, adjustments in design were made and the new 70s RCA logo was included (see both flex issues of GI Blues). Some late 60s releases like NBC TV Special, From Elvis In Memphis, From Memphis To Vegas and On Stage had had a formidable run in 1970 so the 1971 repressing run was exceedingly small and therefor these are brutally hard to find nowadays.

Man, you're killing me with those beauties!

1975 - 1976 TAN Label
Did a post on this label recently, so scroll a few pages back for some in-depth context.
1976 - 1977 Black Label Dog Near Top
In the summer of 1976 RCA changed the Tan label for the Black Label Dog Near Top we know of the 1977 Welcome To My World and Moody Blue albums. This label was in use when Elvis died on August 1977 and the pressing plants were feverishly pressing out huge volumes of Elvis' back catalog to meet sales demand. Almost all records from Elvis' back catalog on this label are cheap and easy to find in decent quality so this label would be an excellent choice if you start collecting US labels.
1977 Black Label Dog Near Top AFL1-prefix
In the fall of 1977, RCA wanted to modernize the serial numbers of the Elvis catalog and bring them more in line with the recently released Moody Blue LP, which carried the AFL1 prefix. Therefore, RCA began changing the numbering on all Elvis LPs: LSP became AFL1. Initially, RCA placed stickers with the new AFL1 numbers on the covers (in place to cover the old LSP numbering), but as the supply of old covers dwindled, RCA pressed new editions with the AFL1 prefix. These AFL1 releases would sometimes remain in use well into the 1980s, but are nevertheless quite difficult to find and sometimes even extremely rare.

Bilbobaggins wrote: September 24th, 2025, 4:35 am And again you show us some very nice vinyl. Your collection must be huge! These mid 60's mono reissues also look very nice.

Nice to see that these nice items still have their original inner sleeves. A lot of times, on record fairs, they are found with new OIS's. Some sellers even proudly say "Look, I even replaced tho old OIS with a new one" with the originalone being thrown away.

I always store my records in, if needed, new inner sleeves but put the old OIS inside the outer sleeve.

Thanks. I store each album in a protective sealable sleeve with the (cleaned) record in a new inner sleeve and record and OIS in the protective sealable sleeve but outside the album cover, to avoid further ring wear and other damage to the cover.

Alexander72 wrote: September 24th, 2025, 6:00 am

Bilbobaggins wrote: September 24th, 2025, 4:35 am And again you show us some very nice vinyl. Your collection must be huge! These mid 60's mono reissues also look very nice.

Nice to see that these nice items still have their original inner sleeves. A lot of times, on record fairs, they are found with new OIS's. Some sellers even proudly say "Look, I even replaced tho old OIS with a new one" with the originalone being thrown away.

I always store my records in, if needed, new inner sleeves but put the old OIS inside the outer sleeve.

Thanks. I store each album in a protective sealable sleeve with the (cleaned) record in a new inner sleeve and record and OIS in the protective sealable sleeve but outside the album cover, to avoid further ring wear and other damage to the cover.

Indeed, I do the same. The record outside the album cover.

Hi Alexander , wow man what a huge collection with originals . Do you have it from e bay or vinyl fairs
You fantastic !

Alexander72...Only How Great Thou Art is missing. I remember buying it but could not locate it when photographing the series

with regards to this one Alexander72, my copy is etched BB but it`s on the black silver label, was this not also on the green label or not?? My TTWII copy is the same black silver label with BB etched...thanks

Sweet-Angeline wrote: September 24th, 2025, 9:00 am Alexander72...Only How Great Thou Art is missing. I remember buying it but could not locate it when photographing the series

with regards to this one Alexander72, my copy is etched BB but it`s on the black silver label, was this not also on the green label or not?? thanks

Yes it was and I am sure I'll have had it in my collection. Either sold or misplaced the record (surely can't find it). Can't stand that it is missing and been looking for a replacement ever since I noticed its absence, however HGTH probably had a significant run on the 1980 Black Label and therefor only got a very limited run on the Green INTS label. Same happened to Blue Hawaii which also is quite hard to find on Green INTS. From Elvis In Memphis was also released on the 1980 BLack but did not get a Green INTS rerelease, which is a shame.

AfoolSuchAsI. wrote: September 24th, 2025, 8:41 am Hi Alexander , wow man what a huge collection with originals . Do you have it from e bay or vinyl fairs
You fantastic !

Thanks. Since I am from The Netherlands thrift shops, record fairs and garage sales are not really an option to find US pressings in the wild. All my records come from Ebay and Discogs. Not too long ago I made a video on my YouTube channel about how I operate. In case you missed it:

Alexander72 wrote: September 24th, 2025, 9:03 am Yes it was and I am sure I'll have had it in my collection. Either sold or misplaced the record (surely can't find it). Can't stand that it is missing and been looking for a replacement ever since I noticed its absence, however HGTH probably had a significant run on the 1980 Black Label and therefor only got a very limited run on the Green INTS label. Same happened to Blue Hawaii which also is quite hard to find on Green INTS. From Elvis In Memphis was also released on the 1980 BLack and did not get a Green INTS rerelease, which is a shame.

..also have TTWII etched by Bob on the black label...so even though these labels are not on the green label the sound would be no different because they are both done by BB...correct??

Sweet-Angeline wrote: September 24th, 2025, 9:13 am

Alexander72 wrote: September 24th, 2025, 9:03 am Yes it was and I am sure I'll have had it in my collection. Either sold or misplaced the record (surely can't find it). Can't stand that it is missing and been looking for a replacement ever since I noticed its absence, however HGTH probably had a significant run on the 1980 Black Label and therefor only got a very limited run on the Green INTS label. Same happened to Blue Hawaii which also is quite hard to find on Green INTS. From Elvis In Memphis was also released on the 1980 BLack and did not get a Green INTS rerelease, which is a shame.

..also have TTWII etched by Bob on the black label...so even though these labels are not on the green label the sound would be no different because they are both done by BB...correct??

I have GI Blues and Blue Hawaii on Black and Green INTS and these sound absolutely similar for what I can hear.

Alexander72 wrote: September 24th, 2025, 9:22 am

Sweet-Angeline wrote: September 24th, 2025, 9:13 am

Alexander72 wrote: September 24th, 2025, 9:03 am Yes it was and I am sure I'll have had it in my collection. Either sold or misplaced the record (surely can't find it). Can't stand that it is missing and been looking for a replacement ever since I noticed its absence, however HGTH probably had a significant run on the 1980 Black Label and therefor only got a very limited run on the Green INTS label. Same happened to Blue Hawaii which also is quite hard to find on Green INTS. From Elvis In Memphis was also released on the 1980 BLack and did not get a Green INTS rerelease, which is a shame.

..also have TTWII etched by Bob on the black label...so even though these labels are not on the green label the sound would be no different because they are both done by BB...correct??

I have GI Blues and Blue Hawaii on Black and Green INTS and these sound absolutely similar for what I can hear.

thanks that`s what I figured done by the same person BB so should not be any difference thanks again

Alexander72 wrote: September 24th, 2025, 3:58 am In this post I will hand you an overview of all US labels used up to 1978 with some random examples from the photo database of my collection.

Thiank you Alexander for doing these posts and for listing the label variations. Much appreciated!

These posts were was really classic Alexander, meaning that you can make really informative posts with much detail and clarifying photos, yet they are not flooded with non-relevant information. In the end the subject is understandable and the story flows in logical ( chronological in this case) manner.

These posts will be my go-to source when I will identify the year of pressing of my existing lp's and any new ones that I might be aquiring in the future!

Hi Alexander, thanks for the youtube channel i will thank you for youre information .
Great video s .

Alexander has the stuff and the knowledge of sharing his info with relevant pics.
Thank you so much for the insight!