If Every Day Was Like Christmas

"If Every Day Was Like Christmas"
"If Every Day Was Like Christmas"
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album Elvis' Christmas Album (1970)
B-side	"How Would You Like to Be"
Released	November 15, 1966
Recorded	June 10, 1966
Studio	RCA Studio B, Nashville
Genre	Christmas
Length	2:51
Label	RCA Victor
Songwriter(s)	Red West
Elvis Presley singles chronology

"If Every Day Was Like Christmas" is a song written in 1965 by Red West and popularized by his friend and employer Elvis Presley in 1966 when he recorded and released it as a single.^[1]^[2] Presley released it again in 1970 on his Camden Elvis' Christmas Album.

Background

Around August 1965, Presley's friend and bodyguard Red West wrote the song "in about an hour, and [sic] hour and a half".^[1] He recorded it and released it the same year under his own label for the 1965 Christmas season, with little success.^[2] The following year, he gave the song to Presley to record, as Presley had been wanting to record a Christmas song.^[1] The backing track was recorded on June 10 1966 at RCA Studio B in Nashville, with background vocals provided by Millie Kirkham, The Jordanaires, and The Imperials Quartet.^[3]^[4] Two days later, on June 12, Presley's vocals were added.^[2] According to West, the vocals were sung and recorded in a hotel room after an enthusiastic Presley heard a copy of the just-recorded backing track on a two-track tape recorder.^[1]^[2] The song was released on November 15, 1966 as an RCA Victor 45 single, 47-8950, backed with "How Would You Like To Be" from the movie It Happened at the World's Fair.^[3]^[4]

The song was included on the 1970 RCA Camden reissue of Elvis' Christmas Album collection, which was re-released by Pickwick Records in 1975 and by RCA in 1985. The album was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2011 with sales of over 10 million copies.

Personnel

Guitar: Harold Bradley, Scotty Moore, Chip Young.
Bass: Bob Moore.
Drums: D. J. Fontana.
Drums & timpani: Buddy Harman.
Piano: David Briggs.
Organ: Henry Slaughter.
Steel guitar: Pete Drake.
Saxophone: Rufus Long.
Backing vocals: Millie Kirkham, June Page, Dolores Edgin, The Jordanaires, The Imperials

Charts

The single reached No. 2 on the Billboard "Best Bets For Christmas" survey in 1966, and returned to the chart in 1967, spending a total of eight weeks in the chart. In the United Kingdom, the song reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1966.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sharp, Ken; West, Red (24 June 2017). "Red West Remembers Writing For The King". Elvis.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019. One night we [,Elvis and I,] were in the theatre and for some reason the urge hit me to write a holiday song. It was August, I think. I got home, didn't say anything to anybody and wrote If Every Day Was like Christmas in about an hour, and hour and a half. I recorded a demo with Chips Moman at Stax. I spent a lot of money like an idiot to put it out locally here. Then Elvis was getting ready to record a Christmas song and I had him listen to it. He went to Nashville to record three songs and then he got sick or faked sickness. He didn't feel like going into the studio at the time so I went in and did the vocals for those three songs. I sang while the band played. We had a tape recorder with us and I took it back to the hotel. Elvis wanted to hear it. It was a two track tape recorder and right there in the hotel he put his voice over it. He loved the songs.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Neale, david (17 September 2019). "Elvis Presley - The Originals". Davidneale.eu. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019. [Presley's lead vocals were] recorded by Elvis on Sunday, 12 June 1966... [Red] West was something of a songwriter, too, and he provided Elvis with several half-decent numbers, including this one. He wrote "If Every Day Was Like Christmas" in 1965 and recorded his own version on the Brent label, which was his own label, named after his son. Although the writing credits on the label show Red West's own name, the artist is shown as Bobby West. 2,000 copies were pressed and sold locally in the Memphis area around Christmas 1965.
^ ^a ^b If Every Day Was Like Christmas. Discogs.
^ ^a ^b If Every Day Was Like Christmas. 45cat.

[westinterview-1] Sharp, Ken; West, Red (24 June 2017). "Red West Remembers Writing For The King". Elvis.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019. One night we [,Elvis and I,] were in the theatre and for some reason the urge hit me to write a holiday song. It was August, I think. I got home, didn't say anything to anybody and wrote If Every Day Was like Christmas in about an hour, and hour and a half. I recorded a demo with Chips Moman at Stax. I spent a lot of money like an idiot to put it out locally here. Then Elvis was getting ready to record a Christmas song and I had him listen to it. He went to Nashville to record three songs and then he got sick or faked sickness. He didn't feel like going into the studio at the time so I went in and did the vocals for those three songs. I sang while the band played. We had a tape recorder with us and I took it back to the hotel. Elvis wanted to hear it. It was a two track tape recorder and right there in the hotel he put his voice over it. He loved the songs.

[neale-2] Neale, david (17 September 2019). "Elvis Presley - The Originals". Davidneale.eu. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019. [Presley's lead vocals were] recorded by Elvis on Sunday, 12 June 1966... [Red] West was something of a songwriter, too, and he provided Elvis with several half-decent numbers, including this one. He wrote "If Every Day Was Like Christmas" in 1965 and recorded his own version on the Brent label, which was his own label, named after his son. Although the writing credits on the label show Red West's own name, the artist is shown as Bobby West. 2,000 copies were pressed and sold locally in the Memphis area around Christmas 1965.

[Discogs-3] If Every Day Was Like Christmas. Discogs.

[45cat-4] If Every Day Was Like Christmas. 45cat.

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