"Don't Be Cruel" is a song that was recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was ranked No. 197 in Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Elvis Presley
Recording
"Don't Be Cruel" was the first song that Elvis Presley's song publishers, Hill & Range, brought to him to record. But if Presley liked the song, the writers would be offered a guarantee of a million records and they would surrender a third of their royalties to Elvis'."
Presley recorded the song on July 2, 1956, during an exhaustive recording session at RCA Victor Studios in New York City. The song featured Presley's band of Scotty Moore on lead guitar (with Presley usually providing rhythm guitar), Bill Black on double bass, D. J. Fontana on drums, Shorty Long on piano, and backing vocals from the Jordanaires. The producing credit was given to RCA's Stephen H. Sholes, although the studio recordings reveal that Presley produced the songs in this session by selecting the song, reworking the arrangement on piano, and insisting on 28 takes before he was satisfied with it.
Certifications and sales
The Beatles versions
According to author Mark Lewisohn in The Complete Beatles Chronicles (p. 362) the Beatles performed "Don't Be Cruel" live from about 1959 to 1961, though no recording is known to survive. The band did record a laid-back version during the massive 1969 Get Back sessions, but it has never been officially released. However, ex-Beatles John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Pete Best and Lennon's former bandmembers the Quarrymen as well as Tony Sheridan all later recorded versions of it.
Other versions
Many other artists including Connie Francis (1959, Rock 'n' Roll Million Sellers), Annette Peacock, Barbara Lynn (1963, Jamie #1244 45 RPM, No. 93 on the Hot 100), Bill Black's Combo, Billy Swan, Devo, the Residents, Cheap Trick, Daffy Duck, Merle Haggard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Neil Diamond, and Jackie Wilson have recorded the song. Presley was said to be so impressed with Wilson's version that he would later incorporate many of Wilson's mannerisms into future performances. A cover by American country music duo the Judds peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1987. Cheap Trick's version of this song, the second single released from the band's tenth studio album Lap of Luxury, reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in October 1988.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers lip-synched the original version of the song in a scene from the 2005 miniseries Elvis, where he is shown performing the song at the Jacksonville Theater.
A cover of the song was performed by Everlife for the 2006 Disney feature Leroy & Stitch.
The new wave band Devo covered this song on their album “Total Devo.”
Chart positions
Bill Black's Combo
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (1960)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|Canada CHUM Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|13
|-
|UK Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|32
|-
|US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|11
|-
|US R&B Singles (Billboard)
| style="text-align:center;"|9
|}
Billy Swan
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (1975)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|Austrian Top 40
| style="text-align:center;"|16
|-
|South African Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|12
|-
|Swiss Music Charts
| style="text-align:center;"|4
|-
|UK Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|42
|-
|West German Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|26
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (1975)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|Swiss Music Charts
| style="text-align:center;"|19
|}
The Judds
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (1987)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|Canada Top Country Tracks (RPM)
| style="text-align:center;"|4
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1987)
!align="center"|Position
|-
|Canada Top Country Tracks (RPM)
| style="text-align:center;"|68
|}
Cheap Trick
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (1988)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|Australia (ARIA)
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|Canada Top Singles (RPM)
| style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|4
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1988)
!align="center"|Position
|-
|Canada (RPM)
| style="text-align:center;"|53
|-
|US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|70
|}
References
External links
- BBC – Desert Island Discs – Castaway : Suzi Quatro (Adobe Flash or MP3) at BBC (streamed copy where licensed). Desert Island Discs is a radio programme in which guest castaways choose eight records to take with them to a mythical desert island. Quatro's first choice is "Don't Be Cruel" (at time 2:04) <!-- This is a licensed stream for the song, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->
- "American Songwriter Otis Blackwells Triumph"