I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone

Last updated
"I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone"
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album Elvis Presley (UK edition)
B-side "Baby Let's Play House"
ReleasedApril 10, 1955 (1955-04-10) [1]
RecordedFebruary–March 1955
Studio Sun Records' Studio, Memphis

"I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" (sometimes called "You're Right, I'm Left, She's Gone" [2] ) is a song written by Bill Taylor and Stan Kesler, and originally recorded by Elvis Presley for Sun Records. [3] [4]

Contents

Released as a single in April 1955 (with "Baby Let's Play House" on the opposite side), [1] the song made it into the top 10 of U.S. Billboard 's C&W Best Sellers in Stores chart. [5]

Composition

The song was written by Bill Taylor and Stan Kesler, members of a Sun Records band called Snearly Ranch Boys. [3]

Recording

The commercial (released) version was recorded by Elvis in February–March 1955 at Sun Records' Studio in Memphis. [1] The recording features Elvis on acoustic guitar and his regular sidemen Scotty Moore on electric guitar and Bill Black on bass. [1] Both are credited on the record's label (as Scotty & Bill). [6] Session drummer Jimmie Lott was "brought in" for this recording by Sam Phillips. [1]

Description and critical analysis

The song's lyrics deal with a heartbreak, but in a humorous way. [3] The singer says to his friend that the friend was right in warning him that the girl would break his heart. But the singer still had to find out for himself [3] if she was "the one" for him. [7]

According to Susan M. Doll in her book Understanding Elvis, the song "features a common characteristic of country music — the passive acceptance of the singer's fate and the subsequent melancholy it brings," as the person who sings the song "passively resigns himself to the fact" that his girl is gone. [8]

Musically, it is a rockabilly ballad. Originally Elvis Presley recorded it in a blues arrangement, but the version that was released was "something of a novelty", which "was more in line with the commercial considerations of the day". [9]

Mike Eder in his Elvis Music FAQ finds the recording too polished and too similar to other Elvis' songs of that time:

In the case of "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone," the rough edges should perhaps have been left on. It's unwise to place the blame for this totally on Sam [Phillips], since Elvis did after all willingly work on the completed master. Yet it's almost uncanny how close this flip side sounded, mood-wise, to "You're a Heartbreaker" before it and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" after. That "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" has more of a sparkle to it than the other two titles shouldn't be overlooked, but upon hearing the outtake, one can't help but feel that some of the life was ultimately polished out of it. [10]

At about the one-minute mark, the song features Elvis' "trademark hiccup vocal break". [1]

Track listing

7" single (Sun 217, 1955) [6]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone"Bill Taylor, Stan Kesler  
2."Baby Let's Play House" Arthur Gunter  

Charts

Chart (1958)Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC) [11] 21

Other recordings

Jerry Lee Lewis, Hayden Thompson, Billy Joe Royal, Billy Fury, Billy Swan, Tom Jones, and Teddy Thompson have also recorded the song.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heartbreak Hotel</span> Song recorded by Elvis Presley

"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being given also to Presley. A newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window inspired the song. Axton presented the song to Presley in November 1955 at a country music convention in Nashville. Presley recorded it on January 10, 1956, in a session with his band, the Blue Moon Boys, the guitarist Chet Atkins and the pianist Floyd Cramer. "Heartbreak Hotel" comprises an eight-bar blues progression, with heavy reverberation throughout the track, to imitate the character of Presley's Sun recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scotty Moore</span> American guitarist (1931–2016)

Winfield Scott Moore III was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968.

<i>The Sun Sessions</i> 1976 compilation album by Elvis Presley

The Sun Sessions is a compilation album by American singer Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Records in 1976. The album contains Presley's earliest commercial recordings, made in Memphis, Tennessee for Sun Records in 1954 and 1955. RCA issued the album in the UK in 1975 under the title The Sun Collection. The album features liner notes by Roy Carr of the New Musical Express. The Sun Sessions features most of the tracks Elvis recorded for Sun Records and produced by Sam Phillips, the head of Sun Studios. The Sun Sessions reached number two on the Billboard Country Albums and number 1 on the Cashbox Country Albums charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Me Tender (song)</span> 1956 song by Elvis Presley

"Love Me Tender" is a 1956 ballad song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by "Elvis Presley Music" from the 20th Century Fox film of the same name. Lyrics are credited to "Vera Matson". The melody is identical to the sentimental Civil War ballad "Aura Lea" and therefore credited to Aura Lea's composer, the Englishman George R. Poulton. The RCA Victor recording by Elvis Presley was No. 1 on both the Billboard and Cashbox charts in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Are You Lonesome Tonight?</span> Song written and composed by Lou Handman and Roy Turk; first recorded by Charles Hart

"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" is a song written by Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It was recorded several times in 1927—first by Charles Hart, with successful versions by Vaughn De Leath, Henry Burr, and the duet of Jerry Macy and John Ryan. In 1950, the Blue Barron Orchestra version reached the top twenty on the Billboard's Pop Singles chart.

<i>Elvis Is Back!</i> 1960 studio album by Elvis Presley

Elvis Is Back! is the fourth studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, released on April 8, 1960 by RCA Victor. It was Presley's first album released in stereo. Recorded over two sessions in March and April, the album marked Presley's return to recording after his discharge from the U.S. Army. It was Presley's first album of new material since Elvis' Christmas Album was issued in 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Night (Elvis Presley song)</span> 1958 single by Elvis Presley

"One Night" is a song written by Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, and Anita Steinman. It originally was an R&B hit for Smiley Lewis in 1956, before being recorded with greater commercial success by Elvis Presley in 1957.

<i>Sunrise</i> (Elvis Presley album) 1999 compilation album by Elvis Presley

Sunrise is a two-disc compilation of Elvis Presley's studio recordings at Sun Studio from 1953 to 1955, released in 1999, RCA 67675-2. This set features all of the surviving master recordings made by Presley and his accompanists, Scotty Moore and Bill Black, occasionally augmented by other musicians, prior to his arrival on RCA Records in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Forgot to Remember to Forget</span>

"I Forgot to Remember to Forget" is a 1955 rockabilly and country song, first recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers. It was Elvis' first no. 1 record nationally. The single was the fifth and final single released on Sun Records before Elvis moved to RCA Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">That's Someone You Never Forget</span> 1967 single by Elvis Presley

"That's Someone You Never Forget" is a song co-written by Elvis Presley in 1961 and published by Elvis Presley Music, which appeared as the closing track on his 1962 album Pot Luck and was released as a single in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You'll Be Gone</span> 1965 single by Elvis Presley

"You'll Be Gone" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music and released in 1965 on the Girl Happy soundtrack album and as a 45 single. The song was recorded in 1962 and was one of very few which Presley was involved in writing; his co-writers were his bodyguard Red West and Charlie Hodge. The other song that Elvis Presley composed was "That's Someone You Never Forget" in 1961 with Red West, which was on the Pot Luck LP released in 1962. The song was recorded on Sunday, March 18, 1962, at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Blue Moon Boys</span> American rock and roll band

The Blue Moon Boys were an American rock and roll band that was formed by Elvis Presley, lead guitarist Scotty Moore and double bass player Bill Black. The group members were introduced by Sun Studio owner Sam Phillips in 1954, except for D.J. Fontana, who joined the group during a Louisiana Hayride tour in 1955. The Blue Moon Boys were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007. The band was named after Bill Monroe's song "Blue Moon of Kentucky".

"Milk Cow Blues" is a blues song written and originally recorded by Kokomo Arnold in September 1934. In 1935 and 1936, he recorded four sequels designated "Milk Cow Blues No. 2" through No. 5. The song made Arnold a star, and was widely adapted by artists in the blues, Western swing and rock idioms.

Stanley Augustus Kesler was an American musician, record producer and songwriter, whose career began at the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. He co-wrote several of Elvis Presley's early recordings including "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", and played guitar and bass on hit records by Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. As a producer, his successful records included "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memories (Elvis Presley song)</span> 1969 single by Elvis Presley

"Memories" is a 1968 song originally recorded by Elvis Presley.

"Playing for Keeps" is a song originally recorded by Elvis Presley. Its first release on record was on January 4, 1957, on a single with "Too Much" on the other side. "Playing for Keeps" reached number 34 in the United States, while "Too Much" spent 3 weeks at number 1. In 1959, the song was included on Elvis's album For LP Fans Only.

"Doncha' Think It's Time?" is a song written by Clyde Otis and Willie Dixon and originally recorded by Elvis Presley.

"Any Way You Want Me" (sometimes titled "Anyway You Want Me" and "Any Way You Want Me (That's How I Will Be)") is a song written by Aaron Schroeder and Cliff Owens and originally recorded and released by Elvis Presley. Presley's recording reached number one on the U.S. Billboard's Most Played in Jukeboxes chart (as a double A-side with "Love Me Tender").

"King of the Whole Wide World" is a song written by Bob Roberts and Ruth Batchelor and originally recorded by Elvis Presley for the 1962 United Artists motion picture Kid Galahad. The track opened the 6-track soundtrack EP released in August 1962 to coincide with the film's premiere.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone". Elvis Presley Official Web Site Elvis The Music. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  2. ↑ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (August 6, 1955). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  3. 1 2 3 4 "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone by Elvis Presley". Songfacts. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  4. ↑ "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone by Elvis Presley - Samples, Covers and Remixes". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
    "Cover versions of I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone by Elvis Presley, Scotty & Bill". SecondHandSongs. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  5. ↑ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (August 6, 1955). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. 1 2 "Elvis Presley, Scotty & Bill – Baby Let's Play House / I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (Vinyl)". Discogs . April 1955. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  7. ↑ "Elvis Anos 50". Clube de Autores (managed). 17 February 2015 – via Google Books.
  8. ↑ Doll, Susan M. (December 5, 2016). Understanding Elvis: Southern Roots vs. Star Image. Routledge. ISBN   9781317732976 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "Elvis Anos 50". Clube de Autores (managed). 17 February 2015 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Mike Eder (1 September 2013). Elvis Music FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the King's Recorded Works. Backbeat. pp. 35–. ISBN   978-1-61713-581-1.
  11. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.