Elvis Presley’s Cover of a Carpenters Hit Was Recorded in Graceland’s Most Famous Room

[NinaFromCanadaEh]

Elvis Presley’s Cover of a Carpenters Hit Was Recorded in Graceland’s Most Famous Room

https://parade.com/news/elvis-presley-c ... amous-room

Elvis Presley’s Cover of a Carpenters Hit Was Recorded in Graceland’s Most Famous Room
The King of Rock and Roll made the song unmistakably his own.

Dec 12, 2025 8:26 AM EST

By Lucille Barilla
Entertainment Writer, Parade

Key Points
Elvis Presley recorded "Solitaire" in Graceland's Jungle Room.
The Carpenters' version of the song reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975.
The song's Lyricist Phil Cody said Karen Carpenter’s performance gave him “chills down my spine” but wasn't a fan of the king's.
In one of Graceland’s most legendary rooms, Elvis Presley transformed a classic Carpenters song into something entirely his own.

In 1976, the King of Rock and Roll recorded “Solitaire” in Graceland’s Jungle Room. The track was part of a series of recordings called the “Jungle Room Sessions,” and the song was featured on the LP From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee, as well as a compilation recording titled Way Down in the Jungle Room, according to the official Graceland website.

The Jungle Room sessions were made possible after RCA Records brought mobile recording equipment to Presley’s home. Wide Open Country reported that From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee ultimately hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Country Music Chart.

However, “Solitaire” wasn’t released as a Presley single. Therefore, it never made an official chart appearance.



One year prior, Karen and Richard Carpenter recorded their version of the song. “Solitaire” appeared on their album Horizon and entered the Billboard Hot 100 in August, eventually reaching No. 17.



U Discover Music quoted Richard Carpenter saying he wasn’t “convinced that the song was right for his sister Karen.” He later called it “one of [her] greatest.”

However, Karen wasn’t a fan of the song. Richard said, “She never liked the song [and]…she never changed her opinion.”

“Solitaire” was written by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody in 1972. The song was included on Sedaka’s LP of the same name.

In an interview with SongFacts, Cody said of Presley’s recording, “It’s kind of a funny version. I mean, I’m happy about it. It’s a wonderful way to sit down and start a conversation.”

He added, “I had an ASCAP country award with Elvis doing the song. That’s always nice on my resumé. But as far as the performance was concerned, I hate to be condescending, but it was like from the fat Elvis days and not the skinny Elvis days.”

“But still, it was Elvis [Presley]. So the other thing you’d want is maybe [Frank] Sinatra. But it was interesting. It was a song that nobody at the publisher believed in. And I think it was through Neil’s efforts that that song started to generate attention.”

As for his take on Karen Carpenter’s version? “I had chills down my spine. As a lyricist, you want that thing where an artist owns your lyric. You can measure success by the amount of money you make off a song, but I measure the success of that song by that particular moment, when she made it totally her own. And it’s still great.”

[NinaFromCanadaEh]

Elvis got fat, get over it
Posted on December 12, 2018 by Nina

Elvis, hero to heel, the sex symbol who got fat



It is strange to see this image and know he died three years before her

I guess this is the infamous where Elvis suggested the Petula Clark and Karen have a threesome, eh? How dumb were they to turn him down?



Mama Cass of the Mama and Papas singing backstage in Vegas with Elvis

Linda Thompson with Elvis at the time

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