15 Best Elvis Presley Songs of All Time, Ranked

Elvis Presley was "The King," and these 15 songs are the best he ever recorded.

People can’t seem to get enough of Elvis Presley, even more than 50 years after his death. From “Love Me Tender” to “Burning Love” and beyond, the King of Rock and Roll continues to enchant generations of audiences around the world.

While he recorded an estimated 710 songs over his lifetime, these Elvis Presley songs are arguably the best he ever recorded. Do you agree?

15. A Little Less Conversation

A Little Less Conversation one of Elvis Presley's best songs

Discogs

Year released: 1968

Album: Almost in Love

Facts About ‘A Little Less Conversation’

AP Photo

Written by 1970s crossover country artist and actor Mac Davis (with Billy Strange), the song was originally performed in the “Live a Little, Love a Little” film.

It was a minor hit until 2001, when it was remixed into a dance track by Junkie XL for the movie “Ocean’s Eleven.” Within a few months, it became a smash, topping the charts in nearly a dozen countries.

14. In the Ghetto

Discogs

Year released: 1969

Album: From Elvis in Memphis

Facts About ‘In the Ghetto’

Wikimedia

Also penned by Mac Davis, “In the Ghetto” was a first for Elvis in regards to its socially conscious message. It described a boy who cannot overcome his impoverished surroundings and turns to a life of crime that leads to his tragic end.

Elvis was reluctant to do the song at first but felt people would respond to it. According to his friend Marty Laker: “Colonel Parker [Elvis’s manager] had always drilled into his head, ‘Don’t do message songs. If you do message song, it’s just like taking a political side. Whatever side you’re gonna take is gonna offend the others.

“I was in the control room after Elvis and the musicians had been working on ‘In The Ghetto’ a little bit. He said, ‘Look, I don’t think I should do this song.’ I said, ‘Elvis, if you’re ever gonna do a song like this, this is the one’. He looked over at Chips [producer Chips Moman], and Chips said, ‘This is a hit record. But I’ll tell you what, if you don’t want it, can I have the song?’ Elvis didn’t blink. He said, ‘No, I’m gonna do it.'”

13. Burning Love

Discogs

Year released: 1972

Album: Burning Love and Hits from His Movies, Volume 2

Facts About ‘Burning Love’

Elvis Presley playing the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas

AP Photo

Elvis was, once again, reluctant to record this track. He was going through a separation at the time, and its theme — the breakdown of a relationship — was not something he wanted to tackle.

He also didn’t like the lyric “hunk a hunk a burnin’ love,” which was a clear reference to his 1960 hit, “A Big Hunk o’ Love.”

Thankfully, he relented. “Burning Love” was Elvis’s biggest hit in 1969, and his last to reach the top 10 in the U.S.

12. Love Me Tender

RCA Victor

Year released: 1956

Album: Love Me Tender (EP)

Facts About ‘Love Me Tender’

AP Photo

“Love Me Tender” is actually older than you think by about 100 years. Its melody is based on the Civil War song “Aura Lee,” written in 1861 by George R. Poulton and W. W. Fosdick. Before

Elvis recorded it with new lyrics (written by Ken Darby, who was the voice of the Munchkinland mayor in “The Wizard of Oz”). Before that, it was a favorite of barbershop quartets and glee clubs.

At the time Elvis’s version was released, he was beginning his film career and had a small part in a Western called “The Reno Brothers,” which was renamed “Love Me Tender” to cash in on his popularity. His role in the film was also expanded, and the rest is rock ‘n’ roll history.

11. All Shook Up

Discogs

Year released: 1957

Album: Loving You

Facts About ‘All Shook Up’

AP Photo

“All Shook Up” is the second of songwriter Otis Blackwell’s three hits with Elvis, and it was written on a dare.

Blackwell was working for Shalimar Music but was struggling with a follow up his first success with “Don’t Be Cruel.” One of the publishing company’s owners came into his office shaking a bottle of Pepsi and suggested he write a song called “All Shook Up.”

That lit the spark, and he finished the song within a couple of days. It became Elvis’s second-biggest U.S. hit, spending eight weeks at the top of the charts.

10. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear

45cat

Year released: 1957

Album: Loving You

Facts About ‘(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear’

AP Photo

Written for Elvis’s second movie, “Loving You,” “Teddy Bear” was released just before the film opened and stayed at the top of the charts for about seven weeks.

It was rumored by fans that Elvis loved stuffed animals, and they sent the cuddly toys to him in droves. Songwriters Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe took advantage of this and wrote this classic.

The day after Christmas in 1957, Elvis donated the stuffed collection to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.

9. Return to Sender

Discogs

Year released: 1962

Album: Girls! Girls! Girls!

Facts About ‘Return to Sender’

Elvis at Graceland in Memphis with girlfriend Yvonne Lime

AP Photo

“Return to Sender” was the third of Elvis’ hits written by Otis Blackwell (with Winfield Scott). It was written for the film “Girls! Girls! Girls!” and recorded in just two takes.

In the early 1990s, the U.S. Postal Service released a stamp commemorating Elvis, and fans put the stamps on letters with bogus addresses so they would be marked “return to sender.”

8. One Night

Discogs

Year released: 1957

Album: N/A

Facts About ‘One Night’

AP Photo

Elvis recorded the original version of this song, called “One Night of Sin,” in 1957, but it would not be heard until 1983. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, felt the lyrics were too suggestive.

However, Elvis loved the song and wanted it released. He rewrote the lyrics while filming “Loving You.” The words went from “One night of sin is what I’m now paying for” to “One night with you is what I’m now praying for.”

It was released as a single with the new lyrics a year later and became a smash hit.

7. Are You Lonesome Tonight?

Discogs

Year released: 1960

Album: N/A

Facts About ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’

AP Photo

The song dates back to 1926 and was a hit for a number of people before Elvis recorded it, including Al Jolson. The song was a favorite of Colonel Tom’s wife, and he asked Elvis to record it.

“Are You Lonesome Tonight?” spent six weeks at the top of the charts. Elvis felt it would broaden his musical horizons, and it did. He gained many new fans because of it.

6. Hound Dog

45 cat

Year released: 1956

Album: N/A

Facts About ‘Hound Dog’

Wikimedia Commons

The song was written by songwriting legends Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller in 1952 as a vehicle for blues artist Big Mama Thornton, whose version was at the top of the R&B charts for seven weeks.

Elvis performed “Hound Dog” on national TV before recording it. When he sang it on “The Milton Berle Show” in June 1956, his appearance generated controversy due to his suggestive dancing, which earned him the nickname “Elvis the Pelvis.”

When he appeared on “The Steve Allen Show” a few weeks later, he sang the song to a basset hound without any dancing. It was, of course, forbidden since this was family-friendly TV.

5. Can’t Help Falling in Love

Discogs

Year released: 1961

Album: Blue Hawaii

Facts About ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’

Wikimedia Commons

Written for the film “Blue Hawaii,” the song’s melody is based on “Plaisir D’Amour,” written in 1784 by German composer Jean-Paul Egide-Martini.

This is Elvis’ most popular and famous love song, and it is often used as a “first dance” song at weddings.

4. Don’t Be Cruel

Amazon

Year released: 1956

Album: N/A

Facts About ‘Don’t Be Cruel’

Wikimedia Commons

“Don’t Be Cruel” was the first of three hit songs written by Otis Blackwell for Elvis.

Blackwell was struggling at the time he wrote it. On Christmas Eve 1955, he was on the streets in front of New York’s legendary Brill Building with holes in his shoes attempting to sell his songs.

He sold six of them to a music publisher for $25. One of them was “Don’t Be Cruel.” It became Elvis’ first hit and sold over six million copies by 1961.

3. Suspicious Minds

Discogs

Year released: 1968

Album: From Elvis in Memphis

Facts About ‘Suspicious Minds’

IMDb

The song, written about a dysfunctional relationship, was penned by Mark James and was Elvis’ first hit in seven years.

It followed “Singer Presents … Elvis,” more commonly known as the “’68 Comeback Special” and showcased Elvis’s new direction, which comprised several genres, including rock, gospel, country, and R&B.

2. Jailhouse Rock

Discogs

Year released: 1957

Album: Jailhouse Rock

Facts About ‘Jailhouse Rock’

Wikimedia Commons

The song was written by Leiber and Stoller for the movie of the same name. While it was a massive hit, it wasn’t even his biggest in 1957. “All Shook Up” was at the top of the charts that year.

A few of the characters Elvis namechecks in the song were real people. “Shifty Henry” was a well-known session musician, and the “Purple Gang” was an actual gang of bootleggers in Detroit during Prohibition.

1. Heartbreak Hotel

Amazon

Year released: 1956

Album: N/A

Facts About ‘Heartbreak Hotel’

Wikimedia Commons

“Heartbreak Hotel” was written by steel guitar player Tommy Durden (with Mae Boren Axton) who claimed to be inspired by a new story about a man who committed suicide and said in his parting note, “I walk a lonely street.”

However, that was an urban legend. In 2016, “Rolling Stone” uncovered the origins of the famous line. It was written by Alvin Krolik, a petty criminal with an unpublished memoir that began:
“This is the story of a person who walked a lonely street. I hope this will help someone in the future.”

“Heartbreak Hotel” made Elvis a superstar around the world. Beatle George Harrison recalled hearing it for the first time while riding his bike past a house playing the record and said it changed his life.

“I couldn’t believe the sound of that record, and it’s the same, I suspect, for everybody! But you’ve got to remember that in the 1950s, America was more cool than Britain, with everybody having their little Chevys or Cadillacs. We were coming out of a world war, and it was depression. So for us, that was like the sound of hope.”