Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!
"Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!" is a song first recorded by Elvis Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1957 motion picture Loving You.
| "Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Elvis Presley | |
| from the album Loving You | |
| A-side | "Party" |
| B-side | "Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!" |
| Released | 1957 |
| Label | RCA |
| Songwriter(s) | [1] |
History
The song was written by Aaron Schroeder and Ben Weisman.[1][2] The latter, a songwriter from New York, came (according to the book Elvis Day by Day, "presumably in hopes of seeing that his song, "Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do," [would] be included in the soundtrack“) to the recording studio in Hollywood where Presley was working on the songs for the movie.[3][4] Elvis Presley later recalled:
I looked at him, smiled, asked his name, and why he was in the studio. He said he was Ben Weisman, and he had composed the song "Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do". I hollered at the guys to come out and we started playing the song. After that day, Ben and I became really good friends and he would wind up writing fifty-seven songs for me. Funny how chance meetings end up![5]
No other songwriter wrote as many songs for Presley as Ben Weisman did.[4]
Reception
In Europe "Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!" was released as a single with "Party" on the other side.[6] Both songs appeared on the UK Singles Chart (as published by the Official Charts Company): "Party" charted 15 weeks, peaking at number 2 for the week of October 10, while "Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!" charted 4 weeks, peaking at number 17 for the week of October 24.[7]
Musical style and lyrics
The song is a sprightly,[8] speedy number[9] Its lyrics include the line: "There's a moon that's big and bright".[10]
Charts
| Chart (1957) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart (Official Charts Company)[7] | 17 |
References
- Wyborn Senna (11 March 2015). The New Elvis. Full Fathom Five Digital. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-1-63370-037-6.
- Bar Biszick-Lockwood (2010). Restless Giant: The Life and Times of Jean Aberbach and Hill and Range Songs. University of Illinois Press. pp. 207–. ISBN 978-0-252-07694-7.
Got A Lot 'O Livin' To Do Ben Weisman Loving You.
- Peter Guralnick; Ernst Jorgensen (1999). Elvis Day by Day. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-42089-3.
- Jay Warner (2004). On this Day in Music History. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 17–. ISBN 978-0-634-06693-1.
- Rebecca June (22 April 2015). The King Or A Pauper A Story Told to Me by Elvis. Lulu.com. pp. 119–. ISBN 978-1-329-00294-4.
- "Elvis Presley And The Jordanaires - Party at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
- "Elvis Presley - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
- Patrick Humphries (2 March 2003). Elvis The #1 Hits: The Secret History of the Classics. Andrews McMeel Publishing. pp. 40–. ISBN 978-0-7407-3803-6.
- Ken Burke; Dan Griffin (1 August 2006). The Blue Moon Boys. Chicago Review Press. pp. 101–. ISBN 978-1-56976-409-1.
Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do.
- William D. Goodfellow (4 February 2014). SongCite: An Index to Popular Songs, Supplement 1. Taylor & Francis. pp. 55–. ISBN 978-1-135-68117-3.
