Record #0705: If I Can Dream / Edge of Reality – ELVIS PRESLEY

 

RCA Victor 47-9670 (original) USA, 3. December 1968
Words & Music by:  Side A – Walter Earl Brown; Side B – Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye
Musicians: Elvis Presley (lead vocals), Tommy Tedesco (guitar on side A), Michael Deasy (guitar on side A), Alvin Casey (guitar), Charles Britz (guitar on side B), Neil Levang (guitar on side B), Joseph “Bobby” Gibbons (guitar on side B), Larry Knechtel (bass / keyboards), Charles Berghofer (bass), Hal Blaine (drums), Don Randi (piano), John Cyr & Elliot Franks (percussion on side A), Gary Coleman (percussion on side B), Tommy Morgan (harmonica on side A), Bob Alberti & Tommy Wolfe (keyboards on side A), the Blossoms (backing vocals on side A), B.J. Baker, Sally Stevens, Bob Tebow & John Bahler (backing vocals on side B) and an orchestra conducted by Billy Goldenberg (on side A), side B orchestra conductor unknown.
Recording sessions: Produced by Steve Binder (Side A) and Billy Strange (side B) at Western Recorders Studio 1, Hollywood, CA; Side A – on 23. June 1968; Side B – 7. March 1968
Highest chart positions:  Side A - US #12, Canada #6, UK#11, Australia #2: Side B – US #112, Australia #2

“If I Can Dream” was the grand finale of Elvis’ “’68 Comeback Special” on 3. December 1968, which was also the release date of the single.

Earlier that year Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. Walter Earl Brown was asked to write a song for the grand finale of the show and he got the inspiration from these tragic events.

“Edge of Reality” appeared in Elvis’ 1968 movie “Live a Little, Love a Little”. It was recorded in the same session with “A Little Less Conversation”, which became a posthumous international hit for Elvis in 2002, when JXL released a remix version of it.

Majority of the session musicians were members of “the Wrecking Crew”, hence I didn’t put links to their individual information.

This was Elvis’ first single with an orange RCA label.

List price:  Very Good+ is $4, Near Mint is $8. Picture sleeve is VG+ $2, NM $4.