Burning Love

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Presley initially balked at recording "Burning Love" because he did not think it was appropriate — it was a rock and roll song unlike the romantic ballads he had been recording. His friend Jerry Schilling said, "Elvis didn’t hate the song, he just wasn’t in the mood for it." Everyone else in the room insisted the song had promise, so Presley gave it a good effort. The session took place at RCA Studio C in Hollywood, a small studio Presley preferred for its feeling of intimacy. He sang in the main room with the musicians using a handheld Electro-Voice RE16 microphone, while a blanket was thrown over the piano and gobos positioned around drums and guitar amps to reduce leakage. The song rose to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of October 28, 1972, and reached number 1 on Billboard's rival Cashbox's pop charts during the week of November 4, 1972. It was Presley's 38th and final Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

In Their Own Story

On March 28, 1972, at RCA Studio C in Hollywood, Presley and the TCB Band — guitarist James Burton, John Wilkinson, Charlie Hodge, bassist Emory Gordy Jr., drummer Ronnie Tutt, and pianist Glen Hardin — gathered to record. Presley's personal assistant Joe Esposito was also listed on guitar, though he was not a musician. The gospel quartet J. D. Sumner & the Stamps supplied backing vocals. After Presley's initial reluctance, he gave the song a good effort. The next day, a film crew shot footage of the band playing together, recording more songs including "It's a Matter of Time". In April, the project moved to Nashville's RCA Studio B where overdubs were recorded by engineer Al Pachucki. On April 27, songwriter Dennis Linde laid down the song's intro riff on guitar, and Jerry Carrigan added percussion accents, especially cowbell.

Reader's Guide

To hear the song as it was recorded, focus on the March 28, 1972 session at RCA Studio C in Hollywood. The TCB Band lineup that day included James Burton, Charlie Hodge, Joe Esposito, John Wilkinson on guitar; Emory Gordy Jr. on bass; Glen D. Hardin on piano; Ronnie Tutt on drums; and J. D. Sumner & the Stamps on backing vocals. Dennis Linde later added the intro guitar riff on April 27 at Nashville's RCA Studio B, with Jerry Carrigan adding cowbell. The single was released on August 1, 1972, and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on Cashbox's pop charts. It was also released on an album titled *Burning Love and Hits from His Movies, Volume 2* on November 1, 1972, though the only actual hit on the album was the title song. A new backing track was recorded in 1980 for the *Guitar Man* album but went unreleased until 2000. In 2010, the Las Vegas show *Viva Elvis* by Cirque du Soleil included a radical reworking that sampled the Hives' "Walk Idiot Walk" and added a distorted bassline and pounding drums, retaining only Presley's vocal from the 1972 sessions. In 2015, a new orchestral arrangement was recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and released on the album *If I Can Dream*.

Did You Know?

• Elvis Presley initially balked at recording 'Burning Love' because he thought it was a rock and roll song and wasn't in the mood for it.
• The song was Presley's 38th and final Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 2.
• The song's intro riff was played by Elvis's guitarist James Burton, not songwriter Dennis Linde.
• The 2010 Cirque du Soleil show 'Viva Elvis' used a remix of the song that did not sample the Hives' 'Walk Idiot Walk'.
• A new backing track recorded in 1980 for the 'Guitar Man' album went unreleased until 2000.