Elvis - The Toni Arden Connection

[AndrewJ]

During the Brooklyn press conference just before he departed for Germany in 1958, Elvis is asked what his favourite song is.

He replies "My favourite song, is a song called 'Padre', are you familiar with it by Toni Arden?"



'Padre' had been released that August and eventually reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is a tearjerker of a ballad. In the lyrics, the protagonist recalls how their love had bloomed but has now left them, and asking for solace from their padre.

Elvis cut this tune twelve and a half years later in Nashville and it was later released on the Fool album. What is interesting is how his phrasing mirrors that of the original; he remembers almost every nuance of Arden's vocal, although a bit of distortion does creep into the finished master. So, the song obviously meant something to Elvis; perhaps during the dark period of August/September 1958 following the sudden death of his mother the melancholy theme of the song struck a chord with him?



And that's not all. The following year Arden released an album entitled 'The Exciting Toni Arden' which contained her versions of 'Come Back to Sorrento' and 'I'll Hold You in My Heart'.

R-8483669-1551413023-7330.jpg (140.85 KiB) Viewed 47 times

R-8483669-1551413016-7077.jpg (84.4 KiB) Viewed 47 times

As we know, 'Come Back to Sorrento' was the basis for Elvis' hit 'Surrender' recorded in October 1960. Arden's version was not new, she had performed it on the Ed Sullivan Show back in 1952 (perhaps Elvis was watching). However, the recording on the album may have had some influence on how Elvis tackled 'Surrender' two years later. Of course, this is supposition. There is no evidence of a direct link. However, on that same album Arden included a cover of Eddy Arnold's 'I'll Hold You in My Heart', another song Elvis later recorded. Again, there is no direct evidence, but could Elvis have been listening while in Germany? Was it this that cemented these tunes in his mind to be picked up later?

You can check out the full album here:



Sadly, Toni died in 2012 at the age of 88. However, she had a successful career and also played a small, but interesting, part in Elvis' career.

young-toni.jpg (6.3 KiB) Viewed 47 times

[Bilbobaggins]

A very nice post. Thank you very much!