Elvis Top Ten Hits

In the years after Elvis died, RCA continued to release Presley albums, but there was little attempt to treat the music as his legacy. Each executive who handled the Presley account treated it differently, but most viewed it as commercial output rather than as music history.

The Top Ten Hits includes Elvis Presley's biggest hit tracks.
The Top Ten Hits includes Elvis Presley's biggest hit tracks.

Albums and songs were reissued, and original tapes were overdubbed. Sometimes the instrumentation was overdubbed; sometimes a fake stereo effect was added; sometimes the background vocals were enhanced. This changed in 1986, when the German publishing group Bertlesmann Music Group purchased RCA. The company now issues Elvis' music without vocal and instrumental enhancement, and it tends to package the material in contents that acknowledge the significance of Elvis' music.

Presented as an "Elvis Presley Commemorative Issue," The Top Ten Hits is a two-record set originally released in June 1987. A poster was included in the packaging, and the set came with special commemorative inner sleeves. In 1995, a compact-disc version of The Top Ten Hits was released (RCA 6383-2-R). Chart information, including the recording date, chart debut, and peak position, was included for the record set and the CD set.

Elvis' top-ten hits spanned the three decades of his career, and 38 of them are included here. The packaging of over three dozen top-ten singles into one set focuses on Elvis' career-long ability to chart hit records and indicates the diversity of his singles output.

Organized chronologically by release date, The Top Ten Hits begins with Elvis' first number-one single, "Heartbreak Hotel," released in 1956, and ends with the platinum-selling hit "Burning Love," released in 1972. The Top Ten Hits was awarded gold status by the RIAA in 1992.

The Top Ten Hits

"Heartbreak Hotel""I Want You, I Need You, I Love You""Hound Dog""Don't Be Cruel"
"Love Me Tender""Love Me""Too Much""All Shook Up"
"Teddy Bear""Jailhouse Rock""Don't""I Beg of You"
"Wear My Ring Around Your Neck""Hard Headed Woman""One Night""I Got Stung"
"A Fool Such As I""I Need Your Love Tonight"“A Big Hunk o' Love""Stuck on You"
"It's Now or Never""Are You Lonesome Tonight?""Surrender""I Feel So Bad"
"Little Sister""His Latest Flame""Can't Help Falling In Love"“Good Luck Charm"
"She's Not You""Return to Sender""Devil In Disguise""Bossa Nova Baby"
"Crying In the Chapel""In the Ghetto""Suspicious Minds""Don't Cry Daddy"
"The Wonder of You”“Burning Love"


For more fascinating information about Elvis Presley, see: