A Big Hunk O' Love
Written by Aaron Schroeder and Sid Wyche, this song was recorded at the same
session as "A Fool Such As I" on June 10, 1958, while Elvis was on leave from
the army. The session took place in Nashville at RCA Studio B.
Chet Atkins had gathered together what was known as Nashville's "A-Team" of
session players. On guitar was Hank "Sugarfoot" Garland with Elvis and Chet
also playing guitar. On bass was Bob Moore. And there were two drummers, D.J.
Fontana as well as Murry "Buddy" Harman. Floyd Cramer played piano and The
Jordanaires provided backing vocals. The atmosphere in the session was one of
professionalism and urgency. Elvis would be shipping out to Germany soon and
this would be his last recording session until after his release from the
service in 1960.
A splicing of takes was assembled for the single release, shipped out on June
23, 1959 with "My Wish Came True" as the flip side. RCA and Elvis' manager
Colonel Tom Parker strove to keep a steady flow of Elvis music coming out while
he was far away from home serving in the army. The single had a 14-week run on
Billboard's pop singles chart, peaking at #1 for two weeks. It peaked at #10 in
its 7-week run on the R&B singles chart. It peaked at #4 in its 9-week run on
the British pop singles chart.
Elvis' recording of "A Big Hunk O'Love" was nominated for two Grammy Awards in
1959. One nomination was Best Performance by A Top 40 artist. The winner was Nat
King Cole for "Midnight Flyer". The other nomination was Best Rhythm & Blues
Performance. Dinah Washington won for "What A Difference A Day Makes".