| "Return to Sender" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byElvis Presley | ||||
| from the albumGirls! Girls! Girls! | ||||
| B-side | "Where Do You Come From" | |||
| Released | October 2, 1962 | |||
| Recorded | March 27, 1962 | |||
| Studio | Radio Recorders,Hollywood | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:09 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor[1] | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers | Steve Sholes andChet Atkins[1] | |||
| Elvis Presley singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Return to Sender" (audio) onYouTube | ||||
"Return to Sender" is a song recorded by American singerElvis Presley and featured in the filmGirls! Girls! Girls!. The song was written byWinfield Scott andOtis Blackwell to suit Presley'srock and roll musical style. The singer laments his relationship with a spiteful partner. Released on October 2, 1962, and published by Elvis Presley Music, the song became a commercial hit and received praise for its lyricism and melody.
The song peaked at number one on theUK Singles Chart,[2] and was theUK Christmas number one in 1962. It was also the firstChristmas number one in the Irish Singles Chart. In the United States, "Return to Sender" reached No. 2 on the AmericanBillboard singles chart, kept out of the top spot byThe Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry."[3] However, the song reached No. 1 on the rivalCash Box andMusic Vendor singles charts. "Return to Sender" also went to No. 5 on theBillboard R&B charts.[4] The single was certifiedplatinum by theRIAA for sales in excess of one million units in the US.
SongwriterOtis Blackwell had already written several of Presley’s biggest hits, including "Don't Be Cruel" (1956) and "All Shook Up" (1957).Winfield Scott was a frequent collaborator with Blackwell, and writer of the hit song “Tweedle Dee” (1954).[5] So it was logical forFreddy Bienstock, vice president of the record companyHill & Range, to turn to Blackwell and Scott to write songs forPresley's films,[6] and for the Presley vehicleGirls! Girls! Girls! (1962) specifically. Following the # 5 pop hit of Presley'spop ballad "She's Not You" (1962), the record company wanted him to return to therock and roll genre without alienating fans who enjoyed hiscrooning.[7]
Scripts for Presley films would note places where a song was to be inserted into the film as well as suggested titles and genres for the songs. While other songwriters would adhere to those notes, Blackwell and Scott would not, because they were used to the creative freedom of the rhythm and blues field. They decided to write a great song without any concern about whether fitted into the film's storyline.[8] After penning a track about fishing, entitled "Coming in Loaded", as well as other material they disliked, the two gave up on writing other songs until they found inspiration in a returned piece of mail. Ademo that they had sent to a record company was returned to them with the words "Return to sender! No such person! No such zone!" stamped onto it. Blackwell and Scott decided to use those phrases as lyrics in a song about a failing relationship between "a spiteful woman and a heartbroken man".[9]
Within only nine months of its release, it was the use of the word "zone" that became an anachronism when the USPOD orUnited States Post Office Department (the forerunner of theUnited States Postal Service) replaced all zones in 1963 with the nationwide rollout ofZIP Codes, thus making the song seem dated before its time, although 60 plus years later it is less of a footnote and an accepted part of the song, assumed[by whom?] to be used for rhyming purposes.[citation needed]
On March 27, 1962, Presley was handed the task of recording all thirteen songs on theGirls! Girls! Girls! soundtrack. He was unenthusiastic about the material and went through the recording process at a quickened pace.The Jordanaires,Dudley Brooks,D. J. Fontana, andScotty Moore were in the studio, and other instrumentation on the album was provided byBoots Randolph on saxophone, Ray Siegel on bass,Barney Kessel andTiny Timbrell on guitar, andHal Blaine and Bernie Mattinson on specialty drums. When he began singing "Return to Sender," Presley became more energetic. He found the song easy to perform and recorded it in just two takes, modelling his vocal stylings on Blackwell's. While watching Presley perform the track, Moore and Fontana felt that the "old magic" of the singer's earlier work had returned.[10]
"Return to Sender" is a pop[11] and rock and roll song[12] with a length of two minutes and nine seconds,[11] and an up-tempo, "gently rock[ing]" beat.[10] Per Presley's decision, the lead instrument of the song's chorus is Randolph's saxophone rather than a guitar, which was more characteristic of Presley's music.[13] According to Ace Collins inUntold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis's #1 Hits, the track "recaptured the happy enthusiasm and unbridled joy" of the rock and roll music of the mid-1950s.[14] The song is about a heartbroken man whose mail to his lover is always returned unopened. Collins also noted a contrast between the song's joyful instrumentation and its lyrics, which are those of a "woeful ballad".[14]
NME said that "Return to Sender" and another song penned by Blackwell,Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" (1957), stand as "some of the most enduring classics in the rock and roll canon".[12] In his bookUntold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis's #1 Hits, Ace Collins claims that while Blackwell wrote hits like Lewis' "Breathless" (1958) and "Fever" byPeggy Lee (1958), and influenced artists like Presley andStevie Wonder, "it is doubtful that he ever wrote anything quite as innovative as 'Return to Sender'."[15] Thomas Ward ofAllMusic praised the song's lyrics, production, and melody, as well as Presley's vocal performance. Ward concluded his review by saying that "Although 'Return To Sender' is not a huge artistic triumph, it's a great pop song that still sounds good to modern audiences".[11]
Gerri Granger later recorded ananswer song: "Don't Want Your Letters". The song was arranged and conducted by Bert Keyes, and was released on the singleBig Top 45–3128.[16]
"Return to Sender" came back into vogue in 1993 when theU.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring Presley on what would have been his 58th birthday. Fans mailed envelopes franked with first-day issues of this stamp to fictitious addresses so that they would receive their letters back, marked with the words "return to sender".[17]
The phrase "Return to Sender" was engraved on the coffin ofFreddie Starr, a comedian andElvis impersonator.[18]
|
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[34] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| Norway | — | 25,000[35] |
| United Kingdom Physical sales | — | 750,000[36] |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[37] Digital sales since 2004 | Gold | 400,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[38] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Its follow-up, 'Return to Sender', issued during November, fared better by reaching No. 2 [in the United States], while in Britain it sold in excess of 750,000 copies to dominate the chart for three weeks.
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
